Leading Marines.com: Recent Comments

Comment on Former Joint Chiefs Chairman recalls lessons from battlefield

Jim Rooney — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:41:58 GMT

General Pace, awesome all the time! A great leader and practicioner of Lejeuene's leadership model.

Comment on Long live the United States. And success to the Marine Corps

David Gervais — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:39:13 GMT

I had the distinct honor to be the Commanding Officer of the Naval Medical Clinic, Quantico, VA, from October 1996 to October 2000. I witnessed so many young Marines pass through OCS and TBS during my 4 years. I felt so confident in the sovereignty of the US as I watched these young Marines graduate and cross the highway to TBS. I spent several tours with the Marines, including a tour as a Corpsman in Vietnam. I am so proud to have served with the United States Marine Corps.
CAPT David Gervais, MSC, USN (RET)

Comment on Extracts from a 1942 USMC First Sergeants Handbook

David — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:22:16 GMT

The handbook referred to in this post was written by Marine Gunner Walter Hooper. I cannot find much about him on the internet. My dad was selected to go through the first class of the First Sergeant School at Quantico. After graduation the school was moved to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where Dad served as an instructor at the school before going to the Pacific in WWII.

Comment on Marine Officers Don't Run!

Dave Gran — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:11:02 GMT

Good post. Brought back some memories.

Comment on Leadership Lessons from "A Few Good Men"

Cpl C — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:21:13 GMT

2nd Plt; RSC Windward. WarPigs! That was our nickname as I arrived Nov 1985. It's amazing how stong a Cpl can demand "loyalty" such as Cpl Rowe did. We arrived in November, about a half ddozen, taught about loyalty. The truth was there was no real leadership. We were young! The SNCOs were good peeps, so was Capt Robb & the Co GySgt. It was when Rowe & a few others turned to the dark side; they split the platoon into two. Alvarado had the hot girl & the long hair & was afraid of the fenceline. By that time Rowe, Perez, and some LCpls decided not to include others into their "WarPigs" club. Alvarado whined to get PCS's... Lt Adams told Rowe not to throw him off the balcony... but if Alvarado fell a few stairs down the ladderwell at the barracks... oh well. After the club that night 10 of them visited Alvarado, tired, cut hit hair, the rag had pine oil, things went horrible. By 5am we were told Alvarado my not live. Later that day 10 Marines in the Brig. It wasn't Col Adams or SgtMaj Berry's fault. It was plain & simple Lt Adams, Cpl Rowe, Cpl Perez, & 8 others. Allegedly Hartman shot rounds at the Cuban post (Cayo Redondo tower) & when NCIS was investingating they used the scare tactics to make others think you told on them. Soomeone was told that Alvarado tattled on them... wasn't true. Alvarado knew nothing. It was just boot Corporals barely a year or two in the Corps having a power trip with know real leadership ability. Rowe should had stayed in prison for his part. I heard he went on to 29 Palms to serve. Sgt Dudas came back from emergency leave... helped to keep the good guys together & the trouble from corrupting them. Cpl Stover came back from a Squad Leaders course; he was Rowes friend... we never did get along well. I guess the ammo count was off a bit... some extra in the bunker at the NorthEast gate... but not for the wrong reasons. When some ammo was found in the barracks on Leeward is when everyone panicked and the Windward side dumped a litttle too much 5.56 into the Bay to be off count. Corporals were eager to lead, but required more training & supervision. That was the fault. Lt Adams may have went to the club once or twice with the Marines... but it was as a Platon function always!!! His fault was he "admired" Cpl Rowe. Rowe had that oerge Clooney/Clark Cable about him. But ended up like Darth Vader if you ask me. Alvarado was a good kid; just scared. He would had been great if the Corporals would had helped him instead of letting the other LCpls tease him. Harrassment has no place in the Corps; thats for sure. I think the movie version was about 2% correct; the rest was 98% Hollywood. But I feel if the world really knew what happened they'd be just as alarmed & displeased. I know I was. We had some Marines come from the Fleet to help fill in. They were right - we were boots & didn't know how to lead. Sorry if I was too hard on any of you. I was just trying to fix what others destroyed. Cpl C

Comment on USMC Slang

Sgt Hogan — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:17:12 GMT

BC's-Issued glasses. Referred to as BC's or Birth Control.

Comment on Leadership Lessons from "A Few Good Men"

T. Myers — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:06:58 GMT

I just stumbled on your post while on the web. I am a former Marine and I was stationed in Gitmo from 1985-1987. I was there! Alvarodo... I think that was his name, wanted off of the island. (It was a hard duty station) He wrote a letter to his home state Congressman/Senator requesting a new duty station. In his letter he advised that he knew things that were going on at the base and he would exchange this information for help with a transfer. When other Marines put 2 and 2 together, they nearly killed him. Two Marines beat him really bad. (By the way, I had never heard the term "Code-Red" until I saw the movie.) Alvarodo was crying out during the beating and one of the Marines got a sock out of a "Cleaning Foot-locker" and put it in his mouth. Later they determined that the sock had Pine Oil cleaner on it which caused Alvarodo to nearly drowned in his own vomit. I saw him a few months later and he had made a full recovery. Now, what did Alvarodo know that he was willing to tell? He knew about Fence-Line shootings. That's about it. Some Marines were shooting Banana Rats while on post. But, what did NIS find during their investigation? They found it all. It was CYA (Cover your A$$)time in Gitmo! There were bunkers after bunkers filled with "hidden" off the books ammo. There was enough stuff to support a small war. This is why the command was changed. Also, Col. J.S. Adams was still the C.O. when I left in August 1987. He had not been relieved of duty. Just my two cents!

Comment on GySgt Carlos Norman Hathcock, A Marine we should know

sled — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:42:16 GMT

The picture posted of the sniper is my buddy Dalton Gunderson (now deceased)taken in 1965 during operation Hastings.Not Hathcock.Please correct.

Comment on Former Commandant Gen. Carl Mundy on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

MarineO — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:10:06 GMT

The Commandant hit the nail on the head.

Comment on The Warrior Ethos and DADT

Leading Marines.com — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 02:34:15 GMT

Thanks for your service and feedback.

We hear what your saying about boots on the ground and agree. Sounds more like you are for bringing back the draft or having the size of the Army and Marine Corps increased again.  We also wish that were the case.

If you haven't seen the latest recommendation, the latest personnel number recommended was 145k for the Marine Corps (down from 202k now). The Army numbers had a similar drop.  Those are most likely a post OEF, but you never know with the economy.

You're implying that gay citizens will suddenly "volunteer" in droves, but that won't happen. Even if they did volunteer, the above capped numbers wouldn't increase so there are no extra BOG.

If you followed what happened in the UK, Australia, Canada etc.,   Their militaries have continually been gutted over the past 30-40 years to pay for the their social programs inside and out of the military. I'm sure you ran into Allied company and Bn units in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it has been a very long time since any of our allies has fielded anything larger than an Bn. Even then, none of them have a forced entry capability. It is entirely possible you'll see the same thing happen in the US within the next 5-10 years.

As the defense budget is Presidential discretionary spending, you could likely see cuts in personnel, equipment and R &D to cover the increasing costs of government mandates, programs (socialization). Some of these costs will surely be to cover increased US Gov't spending on domestic partner benefits such as health care, insurance etc.   When it comes to the services it is likely they will be told to take it out of hide (meaning cut more and pay for it yourself.

Semper Fi,
LM.Com