RE: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,143219,00.html

Rip muscle from bone!?! YIKES!

This is a good move that will benefit the Corps and each individual Marine. I wish it was a requirement back in the 70's. As a truck driver, I was usually not in a unit that PTd regularly so the quarterly PFQ always kicked my butt. When I went to Okinawa in my last year, I had a rude awakening at 3rd Combat Engineer Bn. when even truck drivers had to run PT every morning.

In the police academy they taught us all kinds of wiz bang martial arts moves to take down an opponent. Once I hit the streets I forgot them all and it was just a free for all if the fight was on. Later in my career regular training was instituted and we focused on a few basic techniques that became ingrained by repetition.

This seems like a great idea. Excelent training. I only hope they don't adopt the old disco tune...

"Everybody was kung-fu fighting.
Yahhh!!!
Those cats were fast as lightning...."

That would be a little bit frightning!

This indicates two things to me.
A. We will soon be fighting in our streets hand to hand.
B. We must do away with the Army and make just one fighting ground force. We don't need two.

quote:

Originally posted by Duster6:
This indicates two things to me.
A. We will soon be fighting in our streets hand to hand.
B. We must do away with the Army and make just one fighting ground force. We don't need two.

I can't quite see how you manage to conclude "A" from the report, but "B" is already effectively a reality since Bush quietly started giving himself dictatorial "emergency powers".

Personally, I reckon there should always be a strict division between police and military powers and AORs. Not for nothing do other countries enshrine such a division in their constitutions. Some geezer called Adolf also did away with any distinctions and look at what happened there!

I was, however, a little surprised to find this:

quote:

Those changes include moving the climactic "Crucible" exercise — where Marines march about 40 miles over 54 hours with little food or sleep — to the end of basic training.

It seems a bit whimpy and makes me wonder how marines would fare on the British Army Parachute Regiment P Company course.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3342083745772979144

For anybody watching the vid and wondering why CSM Dryden sticks two fingers up to the camera about 30 seconds in; it's the Brit way of saying "Fück off!" See? You get all sorts of cultural lessons on mil.com.

MsG

Duster6, Fighting in our streets hand to hand?? Not while there is a good 1911 series 45 to be had!

Wondering how the Marines would fare is like considering apples and slightly different apples.

quote:

Originally posted by bugsy48:

quote:

Originally posted by Duster6:
This indicates two things to me.
A. We will soon be fighting in our streets hand to hand.
B. We must do away with the Army and make just one fighting ground force. We don't need two.

I can't quite see how you manage to conclude "A" from the report, but "B" is already effectively a reality since Bush quietly started giving himself dictatorial "emergency powers".

Personally, I reckon there should always be a strict division between police and military powers and AORs. Not for nothing do other countries enshrine such a division in their constitutions. Some geezer called Adolf also did away with any distinctions and look at what happened there!

I was, however, a little surprised to find this:

quote:

Those changes include moving the climactic "Crucible" exercise — where Marines march about 40 miles over 54 hours with little food or sleep — to the end of basic training.

It seems a bit whimpy and makes me wonder how marines would fare on the British Army Parachute Regiment P Company course.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3342083745772979144

For anybody watching the vid and wondering why CSM Dryden sticks two fingers up to the camera about 30 seconds in; it's the Brit way of saying "Fück off!" See? You get all sorts of cultural lessons on mil.com.

MsG

quote:

Originally posted by OFANDFORTHETROOPS:
Duster6, Fighting in our streets hand to hand?? Not while there is a good 1911 series 45 to be had!

That makes 2 of us, and mine runs hollow points...

Awesome, good for them!!!...I am sure the Army will counter with a new block of Equal Opportunity training or maybe those classes where a male has to wear a device that simulates pregnancy so he can be more understanding and empathetic towards pregnant soldiers.

Phew, for a moment there I was misreading it as Marines being required to get their "fan" belts.

While my niece was stationed in Iraq everyone in her unit continued their martial arts training and tried to advance through the belt ranks. It helped unit cohesion, gave them an outlet for their stress, released endorphins and improved their outlook, and overall increased their chances of coming out of an encounter with the enemy safely. Martial arts training emphasizes agility, quick response, and knowing how to fall without injuring oneself. As a woman in an almost exclusively male unit the martial arts training helped give my niece a sense of self-confidence and allowed her to bond in a productive way with her male colleagues. No downside to any of that.

so whats the new saying gonna be now. "every Marine is a weapon" period? haha.. rifleman would be an understatement now.

i hope they do this for aviators too. i dont wanna miss out on this.

Skuse me for going a bit off-thread, chaspesses and chasps, but do wimmin actually serve in front-line Marine units? I don't mean doing the dodge-the-rounds number, but up near the sharp end. Come to that, are there any wimmin at all in the Marines?

That may sound a bit naive, I know, but humour me, please.

MsG

This is basically a very good idea, and I expect that the Marine Corps will make it a requirement for the girls, too.

While serving with the South Korean Special Forces, I noticed that Tae Kwon Do was the essential element in all physical conditioning routines. It was very impressive; and -having participated myself- I believe that it reinforces the soldier's inner sense of being a "warrior" and his readiness for combat. Had our soldiers, who were frequently "ambushed" during confrontations in the "Peace village" of Panmunjon during the 1970s, been so trained, I imagine that there would have been different outcomes.

I think, overall, it's a great idea. I wish it'd been in effect when I was in.
However, unless the Corps has raised the standards on whom they allow to enlist, it could prove detrimental in some cases.
I know, I was mugged by fellow Marines while stationed at Camp Pendleton. Imagine what that kind of Marine would be able to do to the Average Civilian.

quote:

Originally posted by Nous_Defions:
Awesome, good for them!!!...I am sure the Army will counter with a new block of Equal Opportunity training or maybe those classes where a male has to wear a device that simulates pregnancy so he can be more understanding and empathetic towards pregnant soldiers.

Unfortunately I agree with you even though you had tongue in cheek. The Army needs to toughen up and quit catering to females. There is a place in the Military for Women but it is not alongside of men.

A selection of a few good moves from the arts along with some wrestling and boxing will do the trick......and don't forget .44, always a crowd pleaser.

quote:

Originally posted by bugsy48:
Skuse me for going a bit off-thread, chaspesses and chasps, but do wimmin actually serve in front-line Marine units? I don't mean doing the dodge-the-rounds number, but up near the sharp end. Come to that, are there any wimmin at all in the Marines?

That may sound a bit naive, I know, but humour me, please.

MsG

I was going to slam you into the ground with my fan belt but found out you're a Brit, so you get a pass from me.

Women are technically not supposed to be in front line units. At least they don't have what are considered to be combat MOS's; however, they have support MOS's which have brought many of them into harm's way, especially military police, nurses, transportation specialists, and truck drivers. To date at least 76 American military women and 12 American civilian women have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dozens of others have been wounded or become ill as a result of their service. Here's a website List/Bios of Women Killed in OIF. This site lists every woman killed and gives details about her service. My niece's MOS was Mortuary Affairs. She went over right after her 18th birthday and returned for a second tour at age 20, during which she ended up being seconded to a light armored recon unit as their mobile PX person. This meant she got to drive a not very well armored 7 ton truck around the backroads of the Anbar province, selling gum and cigarettes to Marines stuck in the middle of nowhere. This is neither here nor there, but after being medevacked out for seizures brought on by exhaustion and heat she was medically released, moved to Florida for school, and was cited for underage alcohol possession by some over-eager Florida ATF agent who found her sipping a beer with her friends. She showed him her Marine ID, told him that she'd just returned from her second tour and asked him to give a vet a break. He replied that he'd done his time in uniform, too, but no. I asked her if she'd asked him whether he got a purple heart for any of the paper cuts he surely got from his service. He couldn't have been OIF.

So the long and short of it is that as a woman she can be asked to do some pretty awful things in the military even though they are technically not considered front line, including picking up our dead soldiers/Marines (and their body parts) killed in IED attacks, but she's not old enough to have a lousy beer. Now, doesn't that all make sense to you?

quote:

Originally posted by Nous_Defions:
Awesome, good for them!!!...I am sure the Army will counter with a new block of Equal Opportunity training or maybe those classes where a male has to wear a device that simulates pregnancy so he can be more understanding and empathetic towards pregnant soldiers.

Your post is way off.

quote:

Originally posted by MarineAuntie:
Martial arts training emphasizes agility, quick response, and knowing how to fall without injuring oneself.

Actually, the fighting arts emphasize restraint and self control. Both of which can definitely help our troops come home alive.

While stationed at Ft. Gordon in the early 70's, I spent about a year teaching MP's how to fight dirty. Lots of fun was had by all, ESPECIALLY us instructors!

quote:

Originally posted by MarineAuntie:
So the long and short of it is that as a woman she can be asked to do some pretty awful things in the military even though they are technically not considered front line, including picking up our dead soldiers/Marines (and their body parts) killed in IED attacks, but she's not old enough to have a lousy beer. Now, doesn't that all make sense to you?

Yup! Her mama and papa should have had her a year earlier. She served in order to preserve the Constitution, and to uphold the laws. That includes the laws about the drinking age. Sorry 'bout that.