I never thought I would see the day when my daughter would become a United States Marine. That was the proudest day of my life. What she and many other recruits endured at Parris Island, SC I can only imagine. I totally agree that female Marines have no nickname, they trained like the men and endured like the men and succeeded like the men. Female Marine ARE "MARINES"! AND GOD BLESS EVERYONE OF THEM!

quote:

Originally posted by hulinmr:
Next month I will have been in the Army National Guard for a year. I must say that the hair on some of the females looks like the hair of this girl in the blue shirt!


There are some things I miss about the Corps, other than the camaraderie, pride and tradition!

Hulinmr,you're probably gonna see schidt that's gonna drive you nuts! LOL seen the Irish peneants yet?

Oh yes, they are atrocious! I just got back from the rifle range and on the first day, we waited for a couple hours before we could start shooting because they didn't have the ammo there. It's kinda crazy at times!

A Few Good Women: All-female Marine Team Conducts First Mission in Southern Afghanistan




Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan

Story by LCpl. Monty Burton
Date: 09 March 2009

FARAH PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Marines of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), the ground combat element of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan, now have a special group of individuals to help them complete their mission in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The Marines employ a select group of all-female Marines from within SPMAGTF-A who are trained to interact with the Afghan female population – a task considered culturally unacceptable for their male Marine brethren operating in the Islamic republic.

A similar program has been used in combat operations in Iraq, but this is the first time Marine forces in Afghanistan have employed the concept.

Capt. Mike Hoffman, commanding officer of 3/8’s Company I, said the all-female team is an important asset for his Marines.

“[The team] provides us access to half of the population that we normally do not have access to,” Hoffman said. “They did extremely well interacting with the female villagers.”

2nd Lt. Johanna Shaffer, the team leader, said their first mission, a cordon and search in support of Operation Pathfinder, was very successful.

“We were accepted by both the men and women villagers and were able to obtain valuable information about the way they lived and what they thought about the Marine Corps operating in the area,” Shaffer said.

During their first mission, the female Marines deliberately donned brightly colored head and neck scarves as a sign of cultural respect to the Afghan women.

“The scarves showed the Afghan women that we were women too, and we respect their culture,” said Shaffer. “They automatically felt more comfortable with us. They showed us their homes, and even though they didn’t have much they were still very generous to us. They accepted us as sisters, and we’re glad that we were here to help them.”

Although Afghan women tend to be more reserved than Afghan men, they still have a large influence on their children, Shaffer said, so engaging with them is important.

“If the women know we are here to help them, they will likely pass that on to their children,” she said. “If the children have a positive perspective of alliance forces, they will be less likely to join insurgent groups or participate in insurgent activities.”

Hoffman said the female Marines were also accepted by the village men.

“They were not opposed by the villagers,” Hoffman said. “They had no problem allowing [the team] the chance to interact with their women.”

According to Shaffer, the concept employed by her team varies greatly from the program in Iraq because of differences in Afghan culture.

“The cultural background here is completely different than that of Iraq,” Shaffer said. “Women here are more timid than in Iraq. There is less of a chance that an Afghan women would try to harm us because they understand that we are here to help them.

“We also do not know much about the daily life of Afghan women,” she said. This provides us not only the opportunity to learn about the women, but also to build and maintain faith and trust of the Afghan women.”

The mission of SPMAGTF-A is to conduct counterinsurgency operations, with a focus on training and mentoring the Afghan national police. Operation Pathfinder was a deliberate counterinsurgency engagement conducted in coordination with Afghan national security forces along Route 515 in southern Afghanistan.

Hey, in your 3/10 post, I know Sarah Wentzel, I grew up with her. I knew she joined...that's pretty cool to see those pictures of her. Thanks for posting those.

Women Marines,

These pictures and stories that Hollywood Marine graciously posted are very inspiring. Thank you for you service ladies! Stay strong and stay beautiful!

God Bless Marines and God Bless America!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HollywoodMarine,

holy crap! the second pic is of my guide, the third is my plt and the 4th is my sister plt doing their crunches.
where did you find those pics?

quote:

Originally posted by Marine__Bugler:

So, you drank from the fountain at Belleau too eh? Looks like we're the only two "real" Marines here huh?

^ I drank from that fountain in Belleau too, looks like me and MB are the only "true" Marines here

You would think that the water would taste like zhit, but it was actually cold and refreshing especially in June when I was there.

Don't be jealous, Hollywood. Just bow down to us now and give us the respect we deserve

Agreed, AHill!! With moss growing dangerously close to its "mouth" I was a bit apprehensive. But, it was delicious. Everyone was saying how we were all going to get sick. I'm going back next week actually. NOMNOMNOMNOM hahah

Hollywood,

Every year we go to France and do around 3-4 performances to include Belleau (I hope that's how you spell it... it looks odd) Wood and the Embassy.

The REALLY COOL part about this year is that I'm the Ceremonial Bugler. At Belleau Wood I'll be in an authentic WWI uniform playing taps at Iron Mike as well as on top of the tower. Don't worry... pics WILL be posted. I'm pretty much in LOVE with the uniform.

That sounds awesome, congrats! Can't wait to see the pics!

I drank from the Devil Dog fountain in 1999....about this time actually....

so that makes 3 of us...legend has it you will do 20 years...

I only did 10...

I concur..

quote:

Originally posted by HollywoodMarine:
Ah ha! That explains why A_Hill re-enlisted.

1. I didn't re-enlist, it's non-ob time while in the IRR.

2. I'm well aware of the legend.

3. You both suck

last night at MCT



MOTO RUN...im the one giving the horns lol



last day at MCT



Sgt Zavala, Sgt Calderon, and myself on the fantail on the USS Boxer



Sgt Miner and myself painting a church in Guatemala

Thanks for sharing and contributing to this forum Kailey!

Semper Fi!
HM

Welcome aboard ladymarine1, and thanks for sharing your personal pictures with us.

SIDE NOTE: WOW! OUTSTANDING!!!

quote:

Capt. Monica “Moose” Marusceac is a Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier pilot. She is the second ever female Marine Combat pilot. At the Watsonville Fly-In and Air Show she flew a demo in her AV-8 Harrier.

She was commissioned into the Marine Corps on December 2001.

I did not do ROTC or come from a military family. I really just wanted to fly and I also like the Marine Corps and their ethos and what they stand for, so it seemed like the perfect mix to fly for the Marine Corps.

I went to OCC which is Officer’s Candidate Course at a college after I graduated. Like I said, I earned my commission in 2001. I went to flight school and that took altogether, with the Marine training and flight school, about four years, so I was winged in 2005. Out of the flight school I selected Harriers. It's like a two-part thing, you go first to primary and you select helos, jets, or multi engine's and I got jets and then I went to advanced training in Kingsville and there you went to get winged you select either Harriers, Hornets, or Prowlers for the Marines. They gave me Harriers with the duty station of Yuma Arizona which is where I'm based out of right now. I've been flying the Harrier for four years.

Thank you for these pictures. I served with some great Woman Marines and I would be proud to fight alongside any of them. Earlier in the thread I saw someone mentioning women in combat, I agree 100% if women can defend our citizens as police officers and Federal agents, and defend our country as officers in intelligence agencies, let them serve right along side us male Marines.

OohRah.

The King of Pics strikes again!



Hollywood you should write or co-write a book on Women in the Marine Corps or Women Marines. You surely have the photo library for it...

my fav so far....

Man, this thread gets better every time I visit. Especially with the addition of ladymarine1. Damn, why in God's name did I ever join the infantry?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HollywoodMarine,