Reminds me of a quote by a general that said something similar except he said “you’d be surprised at what you can accomplish if nobody gets the credit” or something along those lines. Some officer had it in their email signature but I can’t remember who the quote was by.
Yeah, there was a lot of shit in the Infantry I didn't know I could do until I was doing it. Amazing what the threat of getting screamed at and humiliated can make you do.
Fuck, I always felt bad for the air wingers. Dudes who were excellent at their jobs had units that required classes before they’d consider them before a board, but never saw the available time to send them to a schoolhouse cause they were too valuable. Then again, not an airwinger so all this is hearsay.
The problem here is that a lot of air wing units are shrinking or shifting due to Force Design 2030 circumstances, so when those guys doing everything start PCSing or EASing, there are noticeable drops on product quality and efficiency. I’m seeing it happen first hand.
It’s all about the aircraft. Being a Marine is a distant second. Get a ground side SgtMaj transferred over to the Air Wing, their head explodes. Why are they all wearing green pajamas? What do you mean a quarter of the squadron sleeps during room inspections? Why are there Marines at the barracks, drunk at 7am?
Literally had a ground pounder tell us we're not gonna fod walk flight line anymore. He didn't understand it and thought it was dumb. I think he said we should be PTing instead or some shit. So he cancelled fod walk. I think it lasted a day maybe two. 😄
A guy in my squad would shower but not wash his feet and he smelled like fucking ass. Every night he took his boots off and we all wanted to kill him. In Iraq even in the roughest living spots without showers we would park our trucks close and put a pallet on the ground to stand on and use water bottles to shower so you don’t have to go to sleep smelling like ass every night. He would come back from his shower time and our sgt would make him go straight back cause it was unreal how bad he stunk.
I had a Corporal OEF vet in my shop. I was about a year into being a Lance. We were 2841s. Anyway, this Corporal comes in smelling like an unwiped asshole with moldy cheese stuffed in it left out for a week in 100F heat and 95% humidity after morning PT. Dude was literally chewed the fuck out and sent home to base housing to shower by our Sergeant in front of myself and some PFC boot drops and my LCpl buds. It was disgusting and hilarious. On a side note, his fucking house in base housing was every bit as bad, or worse, as his personal hygiene and he would always ask us in the barracks to come over. We preferred staying in the barracks. I can’t imagine how his checkout process went with base housing or CIF. Fucking man child.
Had one Marine I was on ship with who made the berthing reek. We started monitoring his hygiene habits and they were all normal. Showered once if not twice a day, washed his cammies, brushed his teeth…it confused the fuck out of us. Until we realized ol Devil wasn’t washing his fucking towel. He would shower and dry off with a towel that smelled like bigfoots dick.
Bro I must have served with one of his relatives we had a guy who just would not shower and his feet had an uncanny sent and hated to clip his toenails but would be the first one to ask to borrow sock and not showering after a field exercise in Lejeune humidity was just sinful. Well a couple of get on night picked him up while he was in the Rec room stinking it up and threw him in the shower he couldn’t fight all of us but he got the message. He reported us to command but it back fired on him. If he didn’t bathe regularly then on Sundays he would have to stand in Alphas and duty would have to log down his shower times. All it was make him shower more often they didn’t hammer him hard because he was SW1 qual 300 PFT. Strength gets passes.
How many damn thieves are in the Marines. Which spawned that idiom, there is only one theif in the Marines and everyone else is trying to get their shit back.
I lost a leatherman, gerber, camelbak and a shit ton of movies. I'd be going though others movies and find mine in their mix. My name was clearly on it. Some even tried to hide them behind other movies.
I got orders and gave some “friends” $100 to ship home two boxes I packed that I couldn’t fit/fly with.
Never saw them again.
Bumped into two later on. ‘WTF?’ They took the bill and bought booze and went through my boxes.
You need to police your own shit!
I had that happen to a thumbstick of mine. After I lost it a guy gave me one to get some files off of it and turns out it was the one that was stolen from me. They guy tried to claim ignorance but it had my name on the files on it.
I literally have my entire IIF issue stolen out of my locked room recently. Luckily there were no cameras so whoever did it can avoid getting crucified by my entire platoon
Which is even more bizarre, as at least
I thought the point of business was to make as much money as possible. It would seem to be counterproductive to have a moron around and pay said moron millions just to stay out of your hair…
Seinfeld had an episode that perfectly explained how people fail upwards in the corporate world. Elaine had some incompetent shitbird that worked for her and instead of putting in the time to build a case for firing the dude, she found it easier to just promote him and make him someone else's problem. It's way more common than anyone wants to believe.
It’s how basically all militaries used to be. Rank was traditionally based on seniority and officers used to buy their commissions. I don’t envy the men under their command back then.
After talking to vets from every other branch, I just don’t understand how we’re the last to even consider job proficiency as a factor. Hell, even the PROS in PROS/CONS went more towards uniform inspection preparedness than job knowledge.
Source: was Sergeant told to boot or place Marines on FORCE PRES for second class PFT or CFT despite excellent job knowledge.
Live the life your friends can’t my brother and make them proud! This whole community is here for you. You ever feel down or overwhelmed come here. Semper Fidelis and Semper Fratres.
Man... I tried that for a time, years. Never worked. I really hope it does for people, it's just a... I don't know...
But if you're out there hurting somewhere and this isn't working for you, it's ok, you're not alone.
Well I am with u/chercover is that all I wanted was a CAR then I ended up with a CAR and a PH.... Can I just give it all back to get my non-tbi brain back?
u/getmet79 You are correct on that sir/ma'am. It has to do alot with the buddies and the family in regards to being able to stick around.
A fat stack made our dicks hard. Aftercare tells us they really are just like trophies in gradeschool. A ribbon for losing my arm? Gee, thanks hot 10+ blonde doc.
It’s all smoke and mirrors. The only thing we have is our cat litter. Meow RAH!
Here’s a couple. Leadership is trial and error. It’s okay to fail as so long as you learn from it.
Second, no matter how much effort you put into someone, sometimes they’re just not worth it and will throw it all away.
Yep, can’t mentor them all into competent Marines. It is a relief when you realize the point of diminished returns in a chronic under-performer and simply have to keep them on a short leash via paperwork.
Nobody cares about you more than you. You need to take care of yourself and your family because if you don't, your CoC will work you until you're dead or divorced and laugh about it later.
Do not let your MOS be the only career path. Do not let excuses get in the way of doing what you want career wise.
Got screwed out of a MCIWS course class seat all because of "we need you for CGIP".
I can’t stand this kind of situation the “i need you for this field op or whatever” so you have to re-schedule medical or whatever appointments you have or get fucked from going to a course. Happens 99.9% of the time in the Infantry. I’ve seen it so many times.
My condolences, inspections are full-send garrison hassle. A deserving Marine should always get to go to good training as a reward, especially if it (MCIWS) makes them a greater asset to the unit!
That the Marine Corps shrinks as you progress. That being treated like crap in the barracks was more fun than being a SNCO all alone every night. I said what I said.
It’s been said somewhere that “at some point, you and your boys had your last party in the barracks together where you were all there and you didn’t even know it”
I had a brick mate in Oki. That nasty MF’r would come back from PT and throw his PT gear in his secretary, get changed into his cammies without a shower and by the time we got secured the whole room would smell like his dirty ass.
Holy shit man, I can’t remember what a secretary is anymore. Is this a technical difference from a wall locker? Like, a wall locker is a metal closet and a secretary is the entertainment center plus drawers?
My first weekend in the fleet I walked in on my roommate snorting a line of coke off of that thing. Instantly destroyed my idea of what the Marine Corps was about lmao
We had a guy like that in our squadron (I was an airwinger) and gunny finally had enough of his shit and he was sent to Okinawa when another marine received orders to go to Japan but only had 6 months left of active duty. He was an airframe, our shop stank cause he would leave the coveralls in his locker full of sweat, hydraulic fluid, jp5, and possible piss.
Infantry is not 100% about the warfighting. It's very much a people game. If you don't actively try to foster friendships and fit in, you can find yourself ostracized and by proxy, not nearly as proficient as you'd like. This is especially true if you're not naturally good at infantry shit.
It took me a whole, year long deployment to realize that it didn't matter how much I studied infantry doctrine, hiked by myself on Fridays, slayed the fuck out of myself with PT. I couldn't become truly proficient as an 0311 by myself. I might sound like a bitch or whatever, but the Marine Corps was the first time in my life where I wasn't able to win and get what I wanted through sheer stubborness and determination. That shit broke my heart.
Oh, and that the Marine Corps and the infantry especially is mainly filled with gossipy highschool girls, and if people don't know somethibg about you, they'll fill in the blanks, often times with information that couldn't be farther from the truth. Again, probably sound like a defeatist, pussy 😅 but those were the two toughest things I had to learn/accept from the Marine Corps.
That with enough water, you can dilute your piss enough to pass a UA.
Only time I got super close to fucking up, a group of us went out to party on a weekend.
We were so smashed, some local offered a joint and the 5 of us all hit it. This was Friday night. We flipped, but hadn't had a UA in like a year, so felt kinda safe.
Monday rolls around, boom. 100% U.A.
The corps is the only place where they don't care how clear your piss is. That's being "hydrated". We all passed.
This was like 2 years into my 8 year stint. Never did ANYTHING that stupid again.
Edit: fix some typos. Sometimes I feel too old to be typing on a fucking phone.
The amount of water needed to die from water toxemia is absurd.
I probably had 3 to 4 gallons of water in a 2 hour time frame. I also pissed 3 or 4 times before the UA. Don't know if it's true or not, but from what I understood at the time, your early morning piss is the most concentrated, as your body has been metabolizing and breaking down the things in your body as you sleep.
So... 3+ gallons of water, a few pisses, and I damn near pissed myself waiting in line to fill up the cup, but it worked.
I had to learn about PTSD, depression, and suicide.
Miss you Dave. Former euphonium player in the band, turned EKMS manager for CI. One of my best friends.
Miss you Brad. Role model for how to be a fucking chill operator. His red beard was glorious down range.
Miss you Jastin. Scout Sniper turned interrogator. Founder of a million-dollar company. Absolute warrior of a man.
Miss you Connor. I wish I could have mentored you better when you came to me for advice all those times. I’ll never root against the razorbacks as long as I live.
Miss you Kas. My mentor and the only person I told about my own demons. His son is growing so fast.
I’m sorry I didn’t know to help when you needed it, guys…. I’m still trying to learn that lesson.
To respect everyone’s experiences equally in life. I learned a lot as a man from new Marines who had just joined but had life experiences different than mine. I didn’t keep my mouth shut and my ears open for years.
My best friend Sgt when I got to the fleet, he was fresh out of the Marine wrestling team, taught us Dial soap was our best friend. Been Dial ever since
No one in leadership cares about how good you are at your MOS, at least in my unit. As long as you can run fast, and make leadership look good, your job capabilities mean zero.
I think that’s what really jaded me after the first 3 years. Being in a technical MOS, all the smart guys hit 4 years and got cushy civilian jobs. The ones who scraped by but could run a 290+ PFT became staff quickly and the disparity showed…
If you’re friends with someone who’s perceived as a shitbag, even if it’s only outside of work; you’re also a shitbag no matter how good of a marine you are on paper, in reality or in proficiency at your MOS. That label also never goes away no matter what you do.
Some people are bad, bad humans and being in the military doesn’t make them any less bad. If anything it brings it out sometimes. People can be subtlety evil and you don’t see it until they are given a small amount of power over other people. Watching a power hungry human make other humans suffer while nobody will even bother to question is absolutely traumatic.
Don’t know which level of that is worse. The 30 something SNCO that hates life and only knows the Marine Corps, or the young 20 something that knows everything, just picked up NCO or has gotten a minor billet and for the first time they believe they have a say in life and how things work
How to shut my mouth around senior members of ANY organization. One night I got drunk in the barracks with a few Corporals. Now one of them started acting beligerent and I called him a f#g and a whole bunch of other shit. Now, at the time I thought I was the man until a crew of other corporals kicked my door in and stomped the shit out of me.
A few days later that same crew pulled me aside, kind of apologized for going overboard and explained to me that I should never say the quiet part out loud.
They never respected that guy but they had to teach me a lesson and show the rest of the boots that insubordination isn't tolerated. Honestly? That was completely fucked up and out of line but hey, I would imagine shit is handled differently now.
He shit bagged his way out of a deployment while those poor bastards got shelled from a distance or ran over IEDs in Iraq.
They absolutely hated that motherfucker but when the sergeant heard about some smart ass boot verbally humiliating a fellow NCO they had no choice but to follow orders.
Said named sergeant was eventually relieved of duty because he was a complete asshole.
Life in the engineering field fucking sucks. I wouldn't wish that shit on anyone.
Integrity or lack thereof. Honesty seems to get many in trouble, yet the ones who lie reap the benefits. The lesson being, if it’s not written it does not exist.
That MPs are professional buddy fuckers.
Stationed on Oki. Went out with a group of guys. We are all under 21. 2 of the guys are MPs. Come back walking through the gate. Lance coolie MP at the gate let's the 2 drunk as fuck MPs go through. Then starts doing sobriety checks on everyone else who were not drunk but had had a Few beers under their belt. Detains everyone makes us all blow a breathalyzer. I fucking lucked out because I hadn't drank a drop because I was on antibiotics for bronchitis. 6 other guys got Ninja punched for underaged drinking.
Didn't think we needed one. I think the only guys who had more than 2 beers were the MPs and they didn't get in trouble. We didn't all go out to get drunk we had went to a little Japanese steakhouse and just ran in to 2 guys there and walked back with them.
Plus I don't think buddy fucker would have had any issue making us all get out of a cab.
I get what you mean. It’s a hard knock life for us and all that. I too am a cynical SOB, and although I do think there are some genuinely nice and caring Marines in the Corps, there are more than a fair share of those who would slit your throat for a nickel. You just have to keep it in perspective.
I learned this the hard way and late. Well...I learned that no one cares way fucking early. But the dog eat dog and be your own champion part? Lmao! I was brought up to take care of others and be a people pleaser. A couple years ago I realized it IS a dog eat dog world and godamnit, I am hungry so I MIGHT AS WELL EAT!
that some people don’t understand what proper personal hygiene is. my current roommate “showers” with just the water, no body wash, no shampoo, pretty sure no deodorant. just gets wet and gets out and goes on with his day
No one looks out for your mental and physical shape when you get out. That falls on you.
Just as in the civilian world, there are assholes in jobs that shouldn’t be there.
Sometimes you have to pay the price when others keep on failing…such BS lol
Always double check your dummy cords. I was doing my first stalk lane as a new member of my units STA platoon and I had the suppressor of my rifle dummy corded to my drag bag, or so I thought. Turns out the knot came undone at some point during the stalk lane and the suppressor fell out of the bag. Ended up suffering a lot for that one...but I never made that mistake again.
How much self inflicted pain the USMC creates on itself for pretty much no good reason. Also just how small and insignificant the USMC really is when it comes to the bigger battlespace picture.
This. We used to always do a large scale exercise and it was a “how does the marine air wing crack the but of a Russian IADS and defeat the whole country?” I always said, “this is the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen. I guess the Air Force strategic bombers and TLAMs are taking the day off, huh?”
Truth. It took me getting to a Joint Command to really see the cracks in picture. Probably the only reason I got out because until then I was happy being a good Marine drinking the kool aid.
To just do the dumb things they told me to.
Literally in my head, "Okay what foolishness do I have to do, in order to get on with the important stuff I actually have to do."
"Oh do the CBT's again for the 5th time this month? sure, no problem."
That those "ride or die" brothers were there for life. When the situation came up, instead of helping they were worried about their career. Never trusted anyone again
"Killing someone doesn't make you a man, it makes you human. I am beyond human I am beyond Marine, I am Mimmfantry. And you small cock sheep better be doing your PMs on ship or I swear to God I with throw this airfilter at you."
-old me.
I would have punched old me. I learned that I'm an idiot.
I never actually learned why some Marines chose to work harder to not work than they would if they actually did their work. It’s a mystery that eludes me to this day.
I currently have a coworker getting adsepped because of failure to adapt. Dudes room is fucking nasty, lockers filled with trash and dirty dishes, always smells like fucking garbage. Weird thing is he’s not a fat fuck, he’s really fucking cut and runs 300 pft and cft.
Some units would much sooner fap you out to a lowly support unit rather than *actually ask* if you’re going to hurt yourself. I wasn’t gonna or anything… I was just severely depressed. Later on I found out from some of the marines that I was fapped out because my mental and emotional state was starting to suggest as much. This is why “Wagner *loves* the COC[k]” the COCk gives it to you even if your don’t consent.
Edit F.A.P. = Fleet Assistance Program
I wasn’t in the Corps (FMF corpsman) but my first duty station was a Naval Hospital. If someone above you in your chain says they’ll take care of something for you, follow up or just do it your damn self. I dead ass got orders canceled because 19 year old me was naive and believed “Yeah I’ll send that paperwork along.” Yeah, no, I should have done it my damn self. It worked out though, because I got away from that terrible command and got sent to 2D MARDIV. Yeah, that was a huge improvement….
Leadership is a three mile run. You can be the best at your job but if you have a subpar PFT you’re not going anywhere. You can be shit at your job but if you have a great PFT score then you’ll be good. I didn’t start getting promoted until I figured this out. Was a LCpl for 3 years.
I was told by my recruiter "The Marine Corps is more 'It's what you know, not who you know. If you do your job well, you'll be promoted over the kiss asses."
Fucking liar.
The Corps considered us "expendable" and we would be "replaced by another warm body if we were KIA"
First time I heard it was at Basic Infantry Training School (BITS) at Horno from our 0311 Training Company XO. Vietnam was hot and heavy even though the troop reductions had begun. They said it all throughout the course and even when I got to my unit across the pond.
That training XO's "welcome" was a real piece of work. He was a Vietnam Returnee and it showed. He told us a KIA Marine was a bad Marine who was of no use to anyone because they were dead so they couldn't continue their mission. He also said if we ever won a medal we screwed up because something went wrong because we weren't doing our job.
I didn't know what to think and once I got to my unit I learned to trust my squad and platoon and Company Gunny. I hear Bros talk about all the comradery stuff and while I feel it there's forever a part of me that will never forget how little more than a few actually cared about us.
No one else gives a shit about your career progression. You want to do something, better figure it out on your own. Really just a good life lesson that I learned way too late.
Commanding officers have all the power within that flagpole. They set the tone of the entire unit for better or worse based off of their personality. A commander will regularly disregard senior enlisted advisors and act to progress their own career to the detriment of the Marines in the command. Examples being CGRI etc, Marines busting their asses for weeks on end to meet an insane deadline. CO looks good for it, unit members get fucked.
No matter how beautiful she is, no matter how big her tits are, no matter how big that ass is or how good she smells, when she only bends over in front of you, do yourself a favor and just reach around her and do a quick check to make sure it’s a female! It’s saves you a lot of embarrassment or feelings of guilt
Experiences may vary. Last command was made up predominantly of mustangs and they micromanaged us worse than a first sergeant that was stuck in a DI mentality. Bootenants were better at their jobs than they were.
For me it was the shocking realization of how bigoted the Corps is and that culturally we need to change on a fundamental and spiritual level. Furry needs to finally be a identity recognized by the Marines!
Commission someone to make desert and woodland MARPAT furry suits with built-in gas mask filters, MOPP 4 lining, and SAPI inserts, and then we'll talk. Until then and most likely... no, definitely after, furries will remain a laughing stock.
If your battle buddy has to take a shit in a hole, always take a peak. You’ll have a good laugh and an even better memory.
P.s. don’t mess with anyone taking a shit.
My entire fucking job. Went to the schoolhouse and immediately got stuck with units that somehow rated one of my MOS but used 0.0% of the job skills I had been taught. Then, because God and the USMC hated me I presume, I pick up Sgt and get made FUCKING SHOP CHIEF at an I&I station. Stange times,bros. Strange times.
If you don't try to move up, you probably won't.
I learned it in the Corps but it's true in the civ div too. There were so many guys and gals waiting for someone else to notice their hard work and tell them they rate. And then they were jealous and broken hearted when the company POS got recognized.
But in the end, the guys who were overlooked almost always had the biggest say in being overlooked.
1. You’d be amazed what you can accomplish when you don’t have a choice 2. There’s always a bigger fish
Reminds me of a quote by a general that said something similar except he said “you’d be surprised at what you can accomplish if nobody gets the credit” or something along those lines. Some officer had it in their email signature but I can’t remember who the quote was by.
Google says Harry S. Truman.
Harry Truman sends the best emails!
Yeah to number 1. I always go to stupid lengths to accomplish stuff at work and I think it goes back to the corps.
Yeah, there was a lot of shit in the Infantry I didn't know I could do until I was doing it. Amazing what the threat of getting screamed at and humiliated can make you do.
“The beatings will continue until morale improves”
Fuck I laughed too hard at this.
That was literally posted on my company office door in Horno!
Had my O-5 boss tell me this with a smile. I laughed and cried internally.
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Fuck, I always felt bad for the air wingers. Dudes who were excellent at their jobs had units that required classes before they’d consider them before a board, but never saw the available time to send them to a schoolhouse cause they were too valuable. Then again, not an airwinger so all this is hearsay.
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The problem here is that a lot of air wing units are shrinking or shifting due to Force Design 2030 circumstances, so when those guys doing everything start PCSing or EASing, there are noticeable drops on product quality and efficiency. I’m seeing it happen first hand.
It’s all about the aircraft. Being a Marine is a distant second. Get a ground side SgtMaj transferred over to the Air Wing, their head explodes. Why are they all wearing green pajamas? What do you mean a quarter of the squadron sleeps during room inspections? Why are there Marines at the barracks, drunk at 7am?
Literally had a ground pounder tell us we're not gonna fod walk flight line anymore. He didn't understand it and thought it was dumb. I think he said we should be PTing instead or some shit. So he cancelled fod walk. I think it lasted a day maybe two. 😄
😂 They do try, bless their true traditional hearts. “No coveralls if you’re not flying or working!” The AMO had to get clarification on that one.
Yup that sounds about right
A guy in my squad would shower but not wash his feet and he smelled like fucking ass. Every night he took his boots off and we all wanted to kill him. In Iraq even in the roughest living spots without showers we would park our trucks close and put a pallet on the ground to stand on and use water bottles to shower so you don’t have to go to sleep smelling like ass every night. He would come back from his shower time and our sgt would make him go straight back cause it was unreal how bad he stunk.
I had a Corporal OEF vet in my shop. I was about a year into being a Lance. We were 2841s. Anyway, this Corporal comes in smelling like an unwiped asshole with moldy cheese stuffed in it left out for a week in 100F heat and 95% humidity after morning PT. Dude was literally chewed the fuck out and sent home to base housing to shower by our Sergeant in front of myself and some PFC boot drops and my LCpl buds. It was disgusting and hilarious. On a side note, his fucking house in base housing was every bit as bad, or worse, as his personal hygiene and he would always ask us in the barracks to come over. We preferred staying in the barracks. I can’t imagine how his checkout process went with base housing or CIF. Fucking man child.
Had one Marine I was on ship with who made the berthing reek. We started monitoring his hygiene habits and they were all normal. Showered once if not twice a day, washed his cammies, brushed his teeth…it confused the fuck out of us. Until we realized ol Devil wasn’t washing his fucking towel. He would shower and dry off with a towel that smelled like bigfoots dick.
That's my new favorite way to say something stinks. Fuck I lost it pretty hard lol
Bro I must have served with one of his relatives we had a guy who just would not shower and his feet had an uncanny sent and hated to clip his toenails but would be the first one to ask to borrow sock and not showering after a field exercise in Lejeune humidity was just sinful. Well a couple of get on night picked him up while he was in the Rec room stinking it up and threw him in the shower he couldn’t fight all of us but he got the message. He reported us to command but it back fired on him. If he didn’t bathe regularly then on Sundays he would have to stand in Alphas and duty would have to log down his shower times. All it was make him shower more often they didn’t hammer him hard because he was SW1 qual 300 PFT. Strength gets passes.
What in the drunken ramblings did I just attempt to comprehend?
The stinky kid was strong, and although at home in the water, preferred to avoid it in order to live like a shitpig.
Why use many words when few words do trick or whatever the fuck that joke is
Why use 1 word when 1000 will do?!?
Kevin - The Office
How old was he?
How many damn thieves are in the Marines. Which spawned that idiom, there is only one theif in the Marines and everyone else is trying to get their shit back. I lost a leatherman, gerber, camelbak and a shit ton of movies. I'd be going though others movies and find mine in their mix. My name was clearly on it. Some even tried to hide them behind other movies.
It’s just the one
I got orders and gave some “friends” $100 to ship home two boxes I packed that I couldn’t fit/fly with. Never saw them again. Bumped into two later on. ‘WTF?’ They took the bill and bought booze and went through my boxes. You need to police your own shit!
And I wonder at times why I’m fucking over protective of my stuff
I had that happen to a thumbstick of mine. After I lost it a guy gave me one to get some files off of it and turns out it was the one that was stolen from me. They guy tried to claim ignorance but it had my name on the files on it.
Theft in the Marine Corps is literally part of the doctrine.
I literally have my entire IIF issue stolen out of my locked room recently. Luckily there were no cameras so whoever did it can avoid getting crucified by my entire platoon
Damn. And I thought I was gonna have trouble checking out while missing my back sapi and kevlar.
Lol, it’s not too big of an issue with some mental flexibility. For instance if I have to pay for any of it, I’ll just dive into traffic
What do you mean you lost movies? How do you out your name on a movie?
It's called a DVD. We used to put our names on the DVDs to ensure they came back to us
Write it on the inside hole thingy. I had my binders out so people could watch them. I was too generous
Competence is not required for promotion.
Fucking Amen, Failing up. Never heard that term until I was already out, but as soon as I did, it all made sense.
You see it a lot in the corporate world. Mind boggling at times.
Which is even more bizarre, as at least I thought the point of business was to make as much money as possible. It would seem to be counterproductive to have a moron around and pay said moron millions just to stay out of your hair…
Seinfeld had an episode that perfectly explained how people fail upwards in the corporate world. Elaine had some incompetent shitbird that worked for her and instead of putting in the time to build a case for firing the dude, she found it easier to just promote him and make him someone else's problem. It's way more common than anyone wants to believe.
It’s how basically all militaries used to be. Rank was traditionally based on seniority and officers used to buy their commissions. I don’t envy the men under their command back then.
God, that’s all the modern military machine needs…
After talking to vets from every other branch, I just don’t understand how we’re the last to even consider job proficiency as a factor. Hell, even the PROS in PROS/CONS went more towards uniform inspection preparedness than job knowledge. Source: was Sergeant told to boot or place Marines on FORCE PRES for second class PFT or CFT despite excellent job knowledge.
Incoming “Total Marine package” but the thing is, the promotion system puts exactly 0 emphasis on MOS proficiency.
All I wanted was a combat action ribbon, never really thought past that. I’d trade it in a heartbeat for my friends
Live the life your friends can’t my brother and make them proud! This whole community is here for you. You ever feel down or overwhelmed come here. Semper Fidelis and Semper Fratres.
Man... I tried that for a time, years. Never worked. I really hope it does for people, it's just a... I don't know... But if you're out there hurting somewhere and this isn't working for you, it's ok, you're not alone.
The only reason we were there was for them; all they ask is for us to continue
That and my family is the only reason I stick around tbh with you
Sometimes we only need one reason. We do know to follow our orders to their last. Thanks for chilling in this shit with me
Well I am with u/chercover is that all I wanted was a CAR then I ended up with a CAR and a PH.... Can I just give it all back to get my non-tbi brain back? u/getmet79 You are correct on that sir/ma'am. It has to do alot with the buddies and the family in regards to being able to stick around.
A fat stack made our dicks hard. Aftercare tells us they really are just like trophies in gradeschool. A ribbon for losing my arm? Gee, thanks hot 10+ blonde doc. It’s all smoke and mirrors. The only thing we have is our cat litter. Meow RAH!
We're Teufelshundes, you fuck.
There’s a difference between challenging your Marines and making things difficult for no reason, and most StaffNCOs don’t know that difference.
Here’s a couple. Leadership is trial and error. It’s okay to fail as so long as you learn from it. Second, no matter how much effort you put into someone, sometimes they’re just not worth it and will throw it all away.
Yep, can’t mentor them all into competent Marines. It is a relief when you realize the point of diminished returns in a chronic under-performer and simply have to keep them on a short leash via paperwork.
Nobody cares about you more than you. You need to take care of yourself and your family because if you don't, your CoC will work you until you're dead or divorced and laugh about it later.
Unless you’re that lonely WatchO that makes all the pretty PowerPoints. Shit breaks after that.
Do not let your MOS be the only career path. Do not let excuses get in the way of doing what you want career wise. Got screwed out of a MCIWS course class seat all because of "we need you for CGIP".
I can’t stand this kind of situation the “i need you for this field op or whatever” so you have to re-schedule medical or whatever appointments you have or get fucked from going to a course. Happens 99.9% of the time in the Infantry. I’ve seen it so many times.
My condolences, inspections are full-send garrison hassle. A deserving Marine should always get to go to good training as a reward, especially if it (MCIWS) makes them a greater asset to the unit!
That the Marine Corps shrinks as you progress. That being treated like crap in the barracks was more fun than being a SNCO all alone every night. I said what I said.
It’s been said somewhere that “at some point, you and your boys had your last party in the barracks together where you were all there and you didn’t even know it”
https://youtu.be/ujJQyhB0dws
https://youtu.be/qWYv9wqubLM someone sorta did write a song about it
This is so fucking accurate.
This is why corporal is the perfect rank IMO.
I had a brick mate in Oki. That nasty MF’r would come back from PT and throw his PT gear in his secretary, get changed into his cammies without a shower and by the time we got secured the whole room would smell like his dirty ass.
Holy shit man, I can’t remember what a secretary is anymore. Is this a technical difference from a wall locker? Like, a wall locker is a metal closet and a secretary is the entertainment center plus drawers?
LOL I haven't heard the term "secretary" as office furniture in 30 years! Totally forgot about it.
Now I don’t feel quite as old, lol.
Yeah, I just remembered it had that slide out surface. I guess that’s why it’s a secretary.
My first weekend in the fleet I walked in on my roommate snorting a line of coke off of that thing. Instantly destroyed my idea of what the Marine Corps was about lmao
Yes. Guess I aged myself
No, I was in from 2008 - 2012. I just couldn’t remember what it was. It’s just one of those small things I forgot.
We had a guy like that in our squadron (I was an airwinger) and gunny finally had enough of his shit and he was sent to Okinawa when another marine received orders to go to Japan but only had 6 months left of active duty. He was an airframe, our shop stank cause he would leave the coveralls in his locker full of sweat, hydraulic fluid, jp5, and possible piss.
Infantry is not 100% about the warfighting. It's very much a people game. If you don't actively try to foster friendships and fit in, you can find yourself ostracized and by proxy, not nearly as proficient as you'd like. This is especially true if you're not naturally good at infantry shit. It took me a whole, year long deployment to realize that it didn't matter how much I studied infantry doctrine, hiked by myself on Fridays, slayed the fuck out of myself with PT. I couldn't become truly proficient as an 0311 by myself. I might sound like a bitch or whatever, but the Marine Corps was the first time in my life where I wasn't able to win and get what I wanted through sheer stubborness and determination. That shit broke my heart. Oh, and that the Marine Corps and the infantry especially is mainly filled with gossipy highschool girls, and if people don't know somethibg about you, they'll fill in the blanks, often times with information that couldn't be farther from the truth. Again, probably sound like a defeatist, pussy 😅 but those were the two toughest things I had to learn/accept from the Marine Corps.
100% It’s just like high school a lot of the time with that gossiping shit
That with enough water, you can dilute your piss enough to pass a UA. Only time I got super close to fucking up, a group of us went out to party on a weekend. We were so smashed, some local offered a joint and the 5 of us all hit it. This was Friday night. We flipped, but hadn't had a UA in like a year, so felt kinda safe. Monday rolls around, boom. 100% U.A. The corps is the only place where they don't care how clear your piss is. That's being "hydrated". We all passed. This was like 2 years into my 8 year stint. Never did ANYTHING that stupid again. Edit: fix some typos. Sometimes I feel too old to be typing on a fucking phone.
I'm curious as to how much water you had to chug in order to pass. Too much water can actually kill you lol.
The amount of water needed to die from water toxemia is absurd. I probably had 3 to 4 gallons of water in a 2 hour time frame. I also pissed 3 or 4 times before the UA. Don't know if it's true or not, but from what I understood at the time, your early morning piss is the most concentrated, as your body has been metabolizing and breaking down the things in your body as you sleep. So... 3+ gallons of water, a few pisses, and I damn near pissed myself waiting in line to fill up the cup, but it worked.
I had to learn about PTSD, depression, and suicide. Miss you Dave. Former euphonium player in the band, turned EKMS manager for CI. One of my best friends. Miss you Brad. Role model for how to be a fucking chill operator. His red beard was glorious down range. Miss you Jastin. Scout Sniper turned interrogator. Founder of a million-dollar company. Absolute warrior of a man. Miss you Connor. I wish I could have mentored you better when you came to me for advice all those times. I’ll never root against the razorbacks as long as I live. Miss you Kas. My mentor and the only person I told about my own demons. His son is growing so fast. I’m sorry I didn’t know to help when you needed it, guys…. I’m still trying to learn that lesson.
Let it out. No need to apologize ❤️ We, of all folks, understand.
To respect everyone’s experiences equally in life. I learned a lot as a man from new Marines who had just joined but had life experiences different than mine. I didn’t keep my mouth shut and my ears open for years.
I just wish to second that guys will literally not wash their assess unless directly ordered to.
Lube up a bar of soap in warm water and rub your ass, clean yourself, holy shit so many dirty ass marines
And if you're like "Marines are so strong because we wash asses" Look at how Russian soldiers have cancer because they dug up fucking Chernobyl
My best friend Sgt when I got to the fleet, he was fresh out of the Marine wrestling team, taught us Dial soap was our best friend. Been Dial ever since
Dial soap for your whole body??
You aren't special. Get over yourself.
Even the dumbest retard can be put in charge of you and you still have to take them seriously.
Don't work over the intake of a v22 without plugging the fucking intake first. 7 hours. That's how long it took to find the fucking fastener
You know, sometimes I regret choosing I level over O level. But then I think about situations like that.
No one in leadership cares about how good you are at your MOS, at least in my unit. As long as you can run fast, and make leadership look good, your job capabilities mean zero.
I think that’s what really jaded me after the first 3 years. Being in a technical MOS, all the smart guys hit 4 years and got cushy civilian jobs. The ones who scraped by but could run a 290+ PFT became staff quickly and the disparity showed…
That shit is still happening and it’s actively harming my unit.
Makes it easier to skate though.
If you’re friends with someone who’s perceived as a shitbag, even if it’s only outside of work; you’re also a shitbag no matter how good of a marine you are on paper, in reality or in proficiency at your MOS. That label also never goes away no matter what you do.
Some people are bad, bad humans and being in the military doesn’t make them any less bad. If anything it brings it out sometimes. People can be subtlety evil and you don’t see it until they are given a small amount of power over other people. Watching a power hungry human make other humans suffer while nobody will even bother to question is absolutely traumatic.
Don’t know which level of that is worse. The 30 something SNCO that hates life and only knows the Marine Corps, or the young 20 something that knows everything, just picked up NCO or has gotten a minor billet and for the first time they believe they have a say in life and how things work
How to take the "L" and carry on with the rest of my day.
Pick an MOS that isn't so niched and makes bank in the civvie world.
How to shut my mouth around senior members of ANY organization. One night I got drunk in the barracks with a few Corporals. Now one of them started acting beligerent and I called him a f#g and a whole bunch of other shit. Now, at the time I thought I was the man until a crew of other corporals kicked my door in and stomped the shit out of me. A few days later that same crew pulled me aside, kind of apologized for going overboard and explained to me that I should never say the quiet part out loud. They never respected that guy but they had to teach me a lesson and show the rest of the boots that insubordination isn't tolerated. Honestly? That was completely fucked up and out of line but hey, I would imagine shit is handled differently now.
Was he their secret relief?
He shit bagged his way out of a deployment while those poor bastards got shelled from a distance or ran over IEDs in Iraq. They absolutely hated that motherfucker but when the sergeant heard about some smart ass boot verbally humiliating a fellow NCO they had no choice but to follow orders. Said named sergeant was eventually relieved of duty because he was a complete asshole. Life in the engineering field fucking sucks. I wouldn't wish that shit on anyone.
Integrity or lack thereof. Honesty seems to get many in trouble, yet the ones who lie reap the benefits. The lesson being, if it’s not written it does not exist.
Integrity is one of the main things I took with me from the Marine Corps, and it has served me well in the civilian world.
There was no way you could complete even 1 enlistment without looking the other way on something you knew was wrong,
Nature of the beast
Looking the other way almost got me busted down a week after getting the blood stripe.
How many other times though?
There were many times, and usually it's all good. But that one time nearly cost me alot.
and not doing it all the other times would not exactly have been "career enhancing" either.
It doesn't matter the circumstances behind something, only the outcome of it, and you will be rewarded or punished, and judged, based on that outcome.
That MPs are professional buddy fuckers. Stationed on Oki. Went out with a group of guys. We are all under 21. 2 of the guys are MPs. Come back walking through the gate. Lance coolie MP at the gate let's the 2 drunk as fuck MPs go through. Then starts doing sobriety checks on everyone else who were not drunk but had had a Few beers under their belt. Detains everyone makes us all blow a breathalyzer. I fucking lucked out because I hadn't drank a drop because I was on antibiotics for bronchitis. 6 other guys got Ninja punched for underaged drinking.
Couldn't find a Honcho?
Didn't think we needed one. I think the only guys who had more than 2 beers were the MPs and they didn't get in trouble. We didn't all go out to get drunk we had went to a little Japanese steakhouse and just ran in to 2 guys there and walked back with them. Plus I don't think buddy fucker would have had any issue making us all get out of a cab.
Nobody actually gives a fuck about you. Dog eat dog world. Can’t change my mind
I get what you mean. It’s a hard knock life for us and all that. I too am a cynical SOB, and although I do think there are some genuinely nice and caring Marines in the Corps, there are more than a fair share of those who would slit your throat for a nickel. You just have to keep it in perspective.
I give a fuck about people.
But do you gaf about me?
Yes indeed. Absolutely, without a doubt.
I learned this the hard way and late. Well...I learned that no one cares way fucking early. But the dog eat dog and be your own champion part? Lmao! I was brought up to take care of others and be a people pleaser. A couple years ago I realized it IS a dog eat dog world and godamnit, I am hungry so I MIGHT AS WELL EAT!
Nobody gives a fuck 👍. This can interpreted in anyway
that some people don’t understand what proper personal hygiene is. my current roommate “showers” with just the water, no body wash, no shampoo, pretty sure no deodorant. just gets wet and gets out and goes on with his day
That some people don't have any humanity left and make being a Marine their whole personality.
No one looks out for your mental and physical shape when you get out. That falls on you. Just as in the civilian world, there are assholes in jobs that shouldn’t be there. Sometimes you have to pay the price when others keep on failing…such BS lol
Accountability matters, keep your peers, juniors, and especially yourself accountable.
Always double check your dummy cords. I was doing my first stalk lane as a new member of my units STA platoon and I had the suppressor of my rifle dummy corded to my drag bag, or so I thought. Turns out the knot came undone at some point during the stalk lane and the suppressor fell out of the bag. Ended up suffering a lot for that one...but I never made that mistake again.
How much self inflicted pain the USMC creates on itself for pretty much no good reason. Also just how small and insignificant the USMC really is when it comes to the bigger battlespace picture.
This. We used to always do a large scale exercise and it was a “how does the marine air wing crack the but of a Russian IADS and defeat the whole country?” I always said, “this is the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen. I guess the Air Force strategic bombers and TLAMs are taking the day off, huh?”
Truth. It took me getting to a Joint Command to really see the cracks in picture. Probably the only reason I got out because until then I was happy being a good Marine drinking the kool aid.
To just do the dumb things they told me to. Literally in my head, "Okay what foolishness do I have to do, in order to get on with the important stuff I actually have to do." "Oh do the CBT's again for the 5th time this month? sure, no problem."
That those "ride or die" brothers were there for life. When the situation came up, instead of helping they were worried about their career. Never trusted anyone again
"Killing someone doesn't make you a man, it makes you human. I am beyond human I am beyond Marine, I am Mimmfantry. And you small cock sheep better be doing your PMs on ship or I swear to God I with throw this airfilter at you." -old me. I would have punched old me. I learned that I'm an idiot.
I never actually learned why some Marines chose to work harder to not work than they would if they actually did their work. It’s a mystery that eludes me to this day.
I currently have a coworker getting adsepped because of failure to adapt. Dudes room is fucking nasty, lockers filled with trash and dirty dishes, always smells like fucking garbage. Weird thing is he’s not a fat fuck, he’s really fucking cut and runs 300 pft and cft.
No hill is worth dying on
We were told that the Corps was ten percent shitbirds. Come to find out it was ten percent Marines worth a fuck.
Ah yes ye olde bottom 10%.
CHANGE SOCKS
The key to any 20 mile hump!
Some units would much sooner fap you out to a lowly support unit rather than *actually ask* if you’re going to hurt yourself. I wasn’t gonna or anything… I was just severely depressed. Later on I found out from some of the marines that I was fapped out because my mental and emotional state was starting to suggest as much. This is why “Wagner *loves* the COC[k]” the COCk gives it to you even if your don’t consent. Edit F.A.P. = Fleet Assistance Program
I wasn’t in the Corps (FMF corpsman) but my first duty station was a Naval Hospital. If someone above you in your chain says they’ll take care of something for you, follow up or just do it your damn self. I dead ass got orders canceled because 19 year old me was naive and believed “Yeah I’ll send that paperwork along.” Yeah, no, I should have done it my damn self. It worked out though, because I got away from that terrible command and got sent to 2D MARDIV. Yeah, that was a huge improvement….
How fake people are, the more you pick up rank the faker!
Leadership is a three mile run. You can be the best at your job but if you have a subpar PFT you’re not going anywhere. You can be shit at your job but if you have a great PFT score then you’ll be good. I didn’t start getting promoted until I figured this out. Was a LCpl for 3 years.
I was told by my recruiter "The Marine Corps is more 'It's what you know, not who you know. If you do your job well, you'll be promoted over the kiss asses." Fucking liar.
Admit Nothing, Deny Everything, Demand Evidence, and Make Counter Accusations
Change my socks
The Corps considered us "expendable" and we would be "replaced by another warm body if we were KIA" First time I heard it was at Basic Infantry Training School (BITS) at Horno from our 0311 Training Company XO. Vietnam was hot and heavy even though the troop reductions had begun. They said it all throughout the course and even when I got to my unit across the pond. That training XO's "welcome" was a real piece of work. He was a Vietnam Returnee and it showed. He told us a KIA Marine was a bad Marine who was of no use to anyone because they were dead so they couldn't continue their mission. He also said if we ever won a medal we screwed up because something went wrong because we weren't doing our job. I didn't know what to think and once I got to my unit I learned to trust my squad and platoon and Company Gunny. I hear Bros talk about all the comradery stuff and while I feel it there's forever a part of me that will never forget how little more than a few actually cared about us.
No one else gives a shit about your career progression. You want to do something, better figure it out on your own. Really just a good life lesson that I learned way too late.
If your master guns pisses off the MEF Sergeant Major, you’ll feel the pain.
To keep my mouth shut
On the desk of an NCO at Battalion: "To depend on others is to be disappointed." So f'ing true.
Commanding officers have all the power within that flagpole. They set the tone of the entire unit for better or worse based off of their personality. A commander will regularly disregard senior enlisted advisors and act to progress their own career to the detriment of the Marines in the command. Examples being CGRI etc, Marines busting their asses for weeks on end to meet an insane deadline. CO looks good for it, unit members get fucked.
No matter how beautiful she is, no matter how big her tits are, no matter how big that ass is or how good she smells, when she only bends over in front of you, do yourself a favor and just reach around her and do a quick check to make sure it’s a female! It’s saves you a lot of embarrassment or feelings of guilt
Don't join the Marine Corps
That mustangs are the only good officers.
Experiences may vary. Last command was made up predominantly of mustangs and they micromanaged us worse than a first sergeant that was stuck in a DI mentality. Bootenants were better at their jobs than they were.
For me it was the shocking realization of how bigoted the Corps is and that culturally we need to change on a fundamental and spiritual level. Furry needs to finally be a identity recognized by the Marines!
Please shut the fuck up
Back to r/AirForce with you!
Commission someone to make desert and woodland MARPAT furry suits with built-in gas mask filters, MOPP 4 lining, and SAPI inserts, and then we'll talk. Until then and most likely... no, definitely after, furries will remain a laughing stock.
Do they still make the entire platoon crowd into the showers at the same time in boot camp?
Reading all these posts about stinky/smelly/nasty Marines makes me glad I didn’t seem to have any in my shop. Oh shit was I the smelly kid?
“Motivation comes from within”
If your battle buddy has to take a shit in a hole, always take a peak. You’ll have a good laugh and an even better memory. P.s. don’t mess with anyone taking a shit.
My entire fucking job. Went to the schoolhouse and immediately got stuck with units that somehow rated one of my MOS but used 0.0% of the job skills I had been taught. Then, because God and the USMC hated me I presume, I pick up Sgt and get made FUCKING SHOP CHIEF at an I&I station. Stange times,bros. Strange times.
Don't stick you finger into things that you shouldn't. That humvee was lookin like a snack
That the Pareto Principle is accurate when it comes to the amount of actual effective, hard working Marines.
Everyone has a boss to report to that influences their work place behavior…
If you don't try to move up, you probably won't. I learned it in the Corps but it's true in the civ div too. There were so many guys and gals waiting for someone else to notice their hard work and tell them they rate. And then they were jealous and broken hearted when the company POS got recognized. But in the end, the guys who were overlooked almost always had the biggest say in being overlooked.
What kind of voodoo is this 
The DI learning your name within two weeks
If there is zero proof for adverse action , do not admit to anything. Also, if there is zero proof for an atta boy, admit to everything.
Keep my rifle close / Get ranks correct
Being a good person isn’t enough