LATEST - "Stop Calling The Army Woke, I Don’t Get It" (Sec of the Army) - ua-cam.com/video/5uxDdPbOAjo/v-deo.html. Is this perserving the Marine Corps Brand? USMC Social Experiment:Gender Integrated Combat Training - ua-cam.com/video/-dF36TRGXcM/v-deo.html. And these type of recruits WONT Help Retention - ua-cam.com/video/fbWu-sX39aU/v-deo.html.
as a person of color, i have half the people in this country telling me to hate my white friends because of "the white patriarchy/supremacy", and the other half telling me to "stop playing victim" whenever i talk about racism and discrimination. i also have people telling me my masculinity is "toxic" and employers telling me i'm "lazy and entitled" because i don't want to work overtime for free. and these are the people i'm supposed to join the military to defend?! *nope!!!*
Military life is what it is. It’s for some folks, and not for others. Each of us has our first tour of duty to decide. Is this what I want or not. If folks do 3 or 4 years and decide it’s not for them, and get out, God Bless em. If others decide they like it and want a career, God Bless em ! Should be no hard feelings either way !
@@markschneider8103 nah man we all know there be some bullshit on some units that shouldn’t be a thing, unless u one of those who likes kissing ass, have u been to Okinawa? Come on
@@Mr.A.J.1 Bro there is BS in any career. I guess we all pick the BS that we’re willing to put up with. 5 years on the Rock 77-78, 82-83, 87-88, 91-93. One of my favorite places on the planet. Semper Fi Devil Dog
@@markschneider8103 you're entitled to your opinion and although it is true that in the military is not the only place an individuals going to run into dealing with BS and dealing with the dog and pony show. What is important for the military to look at is to assess and see what they can do to strengthen retain and empower. If they can Implement positive changes cool by all means go for it
99' Medical Discharge I probably survived because I didn't go to the Middle East after 9/11. I only know of one guy I knew that came back from it. The Grinder to the wood chipper. 🤦♂️
I was a lifer for about a year. I came to realize I had absolutely zero power over myself and I was stuck in a contract. Doesn't matter the terrible leadership, the hypocrisy, the favoritism, you're now stuck. If you complain too loud one person can make your life hell. You're completely at the mercy of other people and you can only hope their character is decent. I've heard the "you're going to have to put up with stupidity in the real world too" argument. Yeah but I still disagree. I've been out for 18 years and haven't once regretted it. The difference is, in the civilian world I can tell my boss he's an idiot and quit. I'm not legally required to put up with favoritism, hypocrisy, incompetence, "punishment", and so on.
My dad and brother are jarheads but my brothers DI broke 2 privates backs in bootcamp so he was busted down. Broke their backs. But my dad a WW2 MARINE Was different type of jarhead.
Being told to apply for food Stamps, after waiting for base housing, then seeing toxic leaders being promoted over war hardened veterans or standing through a extremist training. I don’t regret enlistment being deployed, but I’m not exactly sad to be medically retired.
I knew airmen that were on food stamps in 89. It is no different. I actually qualified and had another airman tell me I should apply. I was an E-4 and my wife stayed home with the kids. Lived in base housing. I went to the office and saw the folks that were applying and said to myself, "We are not that bad off." My wife was a wonder woman at stretching a dollar. The kids were more important to her than a job outside the home.
General von Seeckt did not recruit the Officer corps of the Reichswehr on the measure of war hardened, that does not necessarily include the abilities you need for a good leader
I left in 2010 because of deployments and non sensical training/dog and pony show bullshit. But mostly deployments. I was airborne infantry active duty. The money gets quite good after E-5. Not sure why people are bitching about the money. Benefits and time off are actually great.
My last 2 years in the Marines: Requested to go to MCMAP Instructor Trainer course: No Requested a lat move to aircrew (already winged A/O): No Requested a B billet (any of them): Nope Requested an IA billet to deploy: Not gonna happen Requested my next duty station be west coast since my ex got orders to Hawaii: Sorry about your luck, not gonna happen 7 years active duty, meritorious Cpl and Sgt, PME complete (distance and resident), NCOIC of two shops and qualified A/O, 1st class CFT/PFT, expert rifle/pistol, etc... Meanwhile, Sgt's that look like a beach ball wearing childrens uniforms get promoted. They don't want good Marines. They want to only hear yes and the sound of slurping...
Unfortunately that does not just apply to the military it also applies quite a bit to the civilian world where Optics often takes more presidents over subst ance and the dog important show tends to prevail.
Leadership didn't mature in any way other than becoming more toxic. This Sgt Major is out of touch. His time politicking in DC and puckering up to the brass has left him in a position that he has no idea what the enlisted entrusted to his care are experiencing. When they bring it up, they're ignored.
@@CarlosC77 The Marine Corps doesn’t see the Physical Fitness Test as an indicator of character. It sees it as an indicator of Physical Fitness. If you are not physically fit the Marine Corps doesn’t have a place for you, even if you’re an admin clerk.
I explain to my civilian friends that being in the Marine Corps is like being in a toxic relationship. I love the Marine Corps and being a Marine, but unfortunately, the Marine Corps doesn't love you back.
It explains how I feel years after I got out. I miss the Clowns. But I don't miss the Circus. I have friends from when I was in that I still talk to most every day. And there's some shitbag blue falcons I was in with that I wouldn't even tap the brakes on my car if they walked out in front of me on the highway.
100%. I would do just about anything for my fellow brothers, but the institution lost its way. It is a bigger issue than just the Corps too, as this has been going on for just about as long as the Corps has been around. "War is A Rackett" says it all.
I did one enlistment from 2017-2021. There were a lot of reasons to get out, but the one that stuck with me the most was our leadership. In my experience, it became very apparent that if Daddy Sgt Major didn't like you, then he was going to do everything in his power to ruin your career. I was stationed with a small and unusual unit, so interactions with high level enlisted were unavoidable. Now that I think about it, it is unbelievably fucked how our "leadership" tried to ruin us. It was literally a bunch of 35-40 year olds just walking over 18-24 year olds because they could.
It happens anywhere and it is honestly disgusting. Imagine some crooked guy at the top who could ruin your career prospects just because he feels like it. And to not have any recourse whatsoever. Meanwhile, everyone they like gets kickbacks and more.
It twists my brain up now at 43 years old that the senior NCOs that gave me hell at 18,19,20 were younger than I am today, whole lot of ignorant people
@@baluskin1420 Dog, I was a 24 year old being told I wasn't allowed to drink coffee because "only SNCOs rated it." It is mind boggling how childish most seniors are.
The waste of time is what got me... I was in the Navy for 4 years and got out in 2019. When I first got to my ship I really liked it, I really felt like a sailor pulling the lines, dropping the anchor, doing well deck ops with the Marines and their amphibious vehicles. The Captain of our ship would constantly walk the ship during working hours to every department, ask how we all are doing, and move about his day. Your job is finished and there's nothing left to do? enjoy your time off with your family because we are going underway for a month next Friday which is preparing us to be on DEPLOYMENT for 8 months. This man retired as an 06, and the moment he left it continuously got worse. Sweeping compartments that weren't dirty for HOURS, rules that didn't make sense and weren't necessary purely in the name of "because I said so". Toxic leadership ruined the military for me, and it was always due to a leader who were busy chasing a star or an anchor to add to their rank rather than being there FOR and WITH the junior sailors who made this warship set sail. I'll never forget the time I was on duty (6 sections.) on Christmas eve, sweeping the pier in the rain.....
Dog I can remember if it was the greenbay or the Ashland but they tried to have us clean the ship like that with y’all my plt Sgt was like naw that stupid as hell
My SSgt would tell me that we were all going to stay late because he had nothing to do at home. No exaggeration. No one can challenge people in charge making these decisions without ruining your career. They don't treat you like a team member until punishment becomes a thing.
Mass punishment led me to start committing the "crimes" because I was going to get punished for it anyways. Being treated like a child left led me to become numb to people's rank. Asking for authority to wipe my ass led me to audibly laugh at peoples talking points. The low pay and slow promotion led me to earn 6x the pay of what the O-6 leading the unit earned that year was paid due to teaching myself how to invest. Watching a staff NCO not receive punishment for a DUI and a lower enlisted get knocked down for the same offence taught me a lot about the real world at age 20. Listening to wookies get plowed by senior NCOs and get promoted faster than someone with near perfect promotion criteria led me to distrust female coworkers competence. Listening to my leadership say "we're family" or "we're brothers" while I witnessed a "brother" blow the back out of another "brothers" wife led me to believe that we are, in fact, not family.
Preach brother preach! This is truth! Marine Corps doesn't want to hear the truth on what the real Marines putting in the grind really think. SNCO's and Officer only caring about how they are viewed for their fitreps for their advancement. I couldn't stand those higher ranks that always had a rebuttal or solution to a problem but it was always so unrealistic. I.E. Ssgt: Why you 2 minutes late I could write you up for being UA Devil Dog? LCpl: Traffic accident caused traffic to back up SSgt. Ssgt: Well Devil Dog then you should've left earlier so youd get here 15 minutes early. LCpl: I did SSgt. Ssgt: Then you should've left to be here 30 minutes early to account for a traffic jam.
I served between 2017 to 2022 and I wanted to do 20-30 years. Meritoriously promoted twice, received Marine Of The Year 2019, career average Pros and Cons of 4.6/4.6. I got out Honorably as a Sergeant. I got tired of being mistreated, misused, and tired of being treated like a child despite my accomplishments because other Marines couldn't conduct themselves as such. I always wanted to be the poster Marine, what other Marines wanted to emulate. After encountering absolutely terrible leadership 95% of the time and toxic leadership that would punish improvement, I cut my ties. Everything I learned about the Marine Corps was a lie. All of it degraded into nothing because of old Marines ruining it for all the new Marines. I did everything I could for my Marines before getting the hell out of there.
I wish I could have had a Sergeant like you. I got out as a Corporal. I had a Staff Sergeant give me 3.9/3.9 pros and cons when my Master Gunz went on vacation and all the officers turned over one summer. I didn't even know how bad the Staff Sergeant screwed me until I saw my pros and cons after he left the unit.
@@jimmyjohnjuan proficiency and conduct grading. Every 3 or 4 months youd get a pro/con counseling with your scores. Sometimes it gets hidden like this though
90% of the problems in the Marine corps stem from bad leadership at both the NCO and officer level. The concept of officers has needed a massive overhaul for decades but nobody wants to upset the Apple cart. It used to be that going to college meant you were significantly smarter than your fellow Marines. Now it just means you are 4 years older than the average boot but with about the same knowledge base. I’ve watched a 24y/o 1st Lt try to explain how the real world is to a 27y/o Cpl who joined later in life…ironically who had a bachelors degree himself and was working on his masters. What’s worse is the environment where officers feel they can never be wrong and cover for each others mistakes rather than owning their mistake and moving forward. You aren’t fooling anyone except the lowest common denominator and you are alienating your “smart” Marines. At the NCO level you see far too often the competent get passed over for the command favorites and then the few good leaders who make it become jaded and leave so you are left with mostly bad leaders with a small sprinkling of good leaders who still think they can change the corps for the better. Another pair of anecdotes. A true genius of a leader, also the command favorite. Worked his ass off and was meritoriously promoted all the way to Sgt. Made SSgt in under 5 years. As soon as his first contract was up (5year contract) he left the service because he was tired of dealing with the bullshit. The other example is a Sgt who picked up in his first 4 years. Extended in country to provide support to a specific mission. After a week of night operations where he barely slept so he could provide insight into the planning stages and go on every raid, his dummy cord on his pistol broke and the pistol fell out during an evac from the last raid of the night. His Lt offered him NJP and reduction of rank but he could stay in country with his team or he could choose to fight the charge and return home. He chose NJP to stay with his team. So the Lt NJP’d him took his rank and then shipped him Home still. Why? Because the Lt. made a mistake by over using this guy to the point of exhaustion but couldn’t take responsibility for driving him too hard. When the now Cpl returned home he was within 6 months of EAS. His Company commander and eventually even the battalion commander tried to get him to reenlist; promising to promote again as soon as possible. He told them both where to go. Biggest reason, bar none, for why good Marines leave the service is because commands are incompetent at best, malicious at worst.
@@KoolTNot necessarily wrong about the dynamics, but the thing is, it has always been this way for the 225 years the Marines have been around. It's nothing new. So why more problems now?
Left the Marines in 2017, was my dream to be a Marine since 6th grade. Pushed myself 110% everyday. Black Belt MAI, MCIWS, RSO, and color guard. No matter how hard I tried though the command never changed. I was thrown under the bus by every level of my command. My gunny, my MSG, my Capt, and the SgtMaj. The mentality of Marine command has always been turn and burn. Who cares what the NCOs or lower enlisted want. There gonna be gone in a few years anyways (actual words I heard from a officer). It’s just now that they can’t recruit like they use to that they actually give a damn about retention. Notice how they will always blame everything but leadership. “Ohhh it’s cause they want more freedom, Ohh it’s cause of the living conditions or the food or the not being able to see their family” they always blame everything EXCEPT the toxic leadership. That is why nothing has changed in the last 30 years. Also the word is out and it’s well known that USMC recruiters are straight lying to kids. I’d say about 70% of Marines I met in the Corps were doing a MOS they didn’t pick. Finding out that your recruiter (the first Marine most people meet) was a liar. Starts you off on the wrong foot with the corps.
Recruiters are scumbags. Unless you go with someone who knows what is bullshit or what isnt the recruiter will just spew lies to entice you in. Its worse now because of the personnel shortages and low faith in the armed forces. They will just shove you into whichever job needs filling because theyre so behind on numbers
I'll never forget when my 1st Sgt. got mad at me because I wanted to get out because of all the BS. Around a week later he told me that the only reason he re enlisted was because he purchased a bunch of things he couldn't pay for if he got out.
I joined single, then got married and had 1 kid and another on the way. Wife put her personal goals on hold while I was in. It’s difficult being e1-e-4 and being married with kids. Not impossible just more difficult. I could see the toll it was taking. I was more focused on my job than my family because you don’t have a choice. You don’t get to decide when you go into work, what time you leave, all the time you are away from them. My breaking point was getting home from a long day, wife goes out to the gym and I’m giving my 1 year old a night bath, get recalled to the barracks for a all hands issue that had nothing to with me. Knew it wasn’t worth staying in if it would hurt my relationship with my wife and kids
You’re a true man. A lot of frivolous marriages develops in the military and I’m glad you seem dedicated to yours. There are better ways to support your family and your country at the same time.
We must've seen a 75% divorce rate in my unit amongst guys who were E1-E4. Woman get tired of their husband being gone 24/7. If we weren't deployed, guys still wouldn't be around their families much because we'd be training or be forced to hang around the motor pool for hours on end doing nothing. Kudos to you and your wife for making it work, she's a strong woman!
@@TheBatugan77 still shouldn’t be like that, why join the military when you have to make trade offs like that when civilian employers are more accommodating to such situations
@@TheBatugan77 But we DESPERATELY NEED E1-E4 volunteers in our armed forces. With retention and recruitment rates at historic lows, we need to be doing all that we can to encourage young mothers and fathers to join the military.
My oldest son just retired with 20 years.He is a physical wreck, my baby son was not allowed to reenlist at 11 years after he extended for extra time in Afghanistan, and my baby boys wife was med released after 4 years. Still proud of them.
When I worked for the VA i heard that story a lot...a lot of these young guys felt like they where used and abused then discarded like they were nothing.
Just a guess that your clientele had a bit different take than prior service dudes hammering down beers at the golf course because the Corps equipped them to become successful in their chosen careers.
That's exactly per word the truth... if you get leaders that are stupid and kiss ass.. They can be as stupid as a leader as they want, and nothing will happen to them... If you're young and not taught to be a leader properly, then you end up with the toxic leadership.
Man, you're spot on. I'm an active duty Army Warrant Officer. I thought that if I stayed in this sh*t game long enough, I'd be living the good life in the military. Not true, at all. I'm close to retirement, but if I could change it all, I wouldn't have stayed this route. You want to know how to recruit and retain military personnel? You provide them with the job skills that they initially signed up for, you keep them in that job unless they want to go into a broadening assignment. You provide adequate pay to that job skill that is equal, near or little below equivalent to the civilian sector. Medical physicians, and others alike, receive payment compensation. Why not do the same with other high skilled jobs like cyber, MI, engineer, etc.? The housing piece these Marines mentioned is key. Fix the environment of the barracks and dinning facilities to a point where single service members want to feel like they are being taken care of by their organization. If you look up UA-cam videos of the living conditions of civilian installations on Antarctica, you'll see why civilians that worked on Antarctica want to return to that harsh environment. Good living quarter, food, and quality of life. Lastly, for me, I think localized stabilization could be a driving force to raise military recruiting. By this I am mean, people in these times don't want to be relocated. That's the negative of military service for majority of these intellectual kids when they also apply with the civilian industry. Give them the option to pick their duty locations. If they want to be stationed at the nearest specific service component base closet to their hometown, let them. And after their initial enlistment, if they want to remain close to their hometown, allow them to. Give leniency to the MTOE system. It's a broken system anyways. Army Human Resource Command is a broken system, and I'm willing to bet that other service component HRs are also in the same hole of donkey sh*t. Kids these days, their culture is about the family unit. We've had two decades of war, with war veterans not sugar coating their experiences over seas. We are now a culture where we don't want to be separated from our families. And us war veterans are doing that ourselves. I've been to Afghanistan and Iraq a total of six times, with a couple of recent European rotations. I would never tell my children to join the military due to the likelihood that they could be separated from me, and my internal family, for an extended period of time. Allowing these new recruits an option to stay local, or at least closer to their hometowns, could mitigate that gut wrenching feeling of being away from family.
I was in paratrooper in Iraq while my son was born and while there got offered my dream contract a flight medic with the 160th SOAR and a slot in the W1 combat medical course along with a 20k bonus. I talked to some of my senior ncos and asked about how much time they missed with their kids having not even met mine yet. The answer I got that stood out was "ive missed 6 birthdays and countless life events". At that moment is when they lost me. I loved the army and I loved combat medicine but I will always love my family more.
Never understood why they put people on levy for Korea when there's plenty of guys that wanted to go. I didn't have a year so I signed my quitin papers upon return from a NTC rotation.
I chose to punch out and retire at 20 years of service (Camp Pendleton) because I saw the direction the Corps was going and the politics of it all. The wokeness of the military and poor leadership only interested in statistics instead of the individual Marine. The Marine Corps failed to evolve. They don't give young Marines second chances anymore. They love to ruin young Marine's careers only after one offense. Young kids make mistakes. The barracks is worse than a college dorm. Give young Marines a choice. Treat single marine's like adults.
I just sat on an AD SEP board for a young PFC who was busted down for taking shrooms. All 3 members of the board voted to retain. I think you are right it is an issue that some leaders only care about themselves and statistics, but not all. After 16 years in, I think the issue is there are still people in who have a mindset from back in Iraq days (01-06, etc.) Times have changed, and with the way recruiting efforts are failing across the board, leaders need to adjust, the problem is they dont want to.
@@systemsevil1 Good leadership is a set thing. Sound judgement and warrior mindset is not one thing 50 or 20 years ago from today. The changes, such as the woke BS and the lowering of standards ARE the problem, not failure to lower everything to a gutter standard.
Some good points Thio. The Marine Corps lost the war against the zero-defect mentality which is really not even an accurate way to put it. Warrior qualities are often not quantifiable and those have not been given their due. Optics and careerism have been the silly criteria for retention, but such things are not true excellence where it matters: readiness for combat. I myself know what it's like to get the short end of the stick by prioritizing mission and men leaving virtually nothing toward self-interest. Eight promotions and 13+ years of honorable service everyday was not enough. Nevertheless, I had quality experiences most of the time, and I dodged some bullets of the kind that hit others like LtCol Schecter. The formula for success isn't even complicated. It's older than the first firearm. It takes leaders of warriors who care less for themselves than for victory in battle, the welfare of their men, and the freedom of their nation. But those kind of leaders don't make good 'yes-men' and thus are not very much welcome, not at the higher levels anyway, a few of them to catch the worst flak are tolerated in the trenches is about all, ar least where I saw it.
The irony is that the real issue in the military is that it is TOO conservative. Why do you think they are not keeping up with the times... You dont like it so you call it "wookeness" to have it fit with your own ideals. You really think very liberal societies have military like what you call "wookness" in US context...
6 years for me, lost motivation at around year 4 mark. It's the treated like a child and doing stuff the dumbest way possible for me. And toxic leadership.
I recently got out of the navy, and it was honestly just the poor leadership. I agree with the marine who got out; just wanting to be a normal person and not have to answer to another adult who treats others like children.
change leadership to who is good not who jumped through ocs hoops. i hear leadership has gotten more focused on their success rather than the young marines success.
Yeah, I enjoyed parts of the military. Definitely not for everyone, but I’m not surprised that all of the branches are suffering with retention. The navy is offering recently separated sailors thousands of dollars to stay in or come back. I was in an exped squadron, so life was good. Still not worth staying in.
@@jamessephar9458 Poor me? I never got into trouble. I got out honorably and had a well enough experience. I was speaking generally. The leadership above your immediate supervisors w/ the exception of select COs don’t care about personnel.
I got out in 2019, I love the Marine Corps due to its history of doing the impossible, and true definition of brotherhood. However, my squadron killed my dream of staying in due to its hypocrisy, favoritism, lack of basic common sense, double standards, and now how we need to change to “be approved” by the world. The Marine Corps doesn’t need to change its military mindset to “be approved” by soft people. It needs to change military mindset on “if the enemy is adapting, we need adapt even fast, get stronger, and what to expect if Plan A, B and C doesn’t work”
Got out in 1992…on the heels of Desert Storm. What they discussed is on-point. When I lost my mother February 14, 1992, the frustration of staying in and my family issues clashed. I fought the hardship discharge, as I was misinformed about it being other than honorable. I returned to finish my duty and got in the crosshairs of the Sergeant Major. When I got offered the early release, I took my terminal leave and applied it to get out. Three decades later, I got my Master’s degree and am working on my second.
Accountability will never happen until we can get the politicians playing military dress up out of our military. At this point there is almost no difference between military life and civilian life. A military force can not function with a civilian mindset.
@@jamessephar9458 I hate how people try to tack it onto him, the public has always wanted the US out of there and you had republicans whining about Joe going to start another Middle East war but he did the opposite. Remember the hippies crying about being us being there? They were real quiet when we left and some of them flipped their views instantly and wanted us back there. This is on the public
Honestly Devil, I am a former US Army SSG and the problems are quite numerous and similar across all branches. I think this would be a great opportunity for you to do a long form live stream and allow folks to call in so we, as brothers and sisters, can have these conversations to air out what is and has been going on. Our military is in a really bad way right now and it's not the right time to be like that. I sincerely hope we get a new president next election that recognizes this and fires every CoS and starts putting in place people who care not just about retention but budget and training. We need our warrior force back.
oh yeah, i know the Marine COrps is not special in that way. My wife is an Officer I see the non sense even at her level. You idea is solid about a call in. Me managing it is another issue. lol.
@@JamesonsTravels there's got to be one high speed desk flyer/channel-viewer that can help you out. Your Discord sounds like a good place to have interviews. EDIT: Brother your discord is full of high school memesters and wicked step-children haha
Yeah, a live stream would work for me. I retired after 20years in the US Navy in 09. I joined at age 27 back in the late 80's. To be honest I liked the military and would of stayed if it had not been high year tenure. As for poor or good leadership, one of the benefits of being able to transfer every 3 or so years is leadership moves or changes. All of these complaints are age old complaints. I heard them when I was in and I am hearing them now and of course I heard them from the old timers too. Good video, keep up the good work.
I got out the marine corps after 5 yrs. Meritoriously promoted twice, became a black belt MCIPAC instructor, range coach, and crossed trained into another mos. I remember just not being appreciated and constantly s**t on. Even with my overseas experience I still got treated poorly. I know marines rip on each other but it comes from a good place, what my leadership was doing was not from a good place. I don’t know if it was because I made them look bad or what? But, when my intelligence was questioned because I was open to the idea of college I decided it was enough. Sad it ended that way but I loved being a sergeant and training guiding my marines. Many still talk to me.
thanks for your service, so sad to hear what happened to you, you were clearly outstanding and a great asset to the corps, glad to hear other Marines still contact you, you have their respect and no one can take that from you
I experienced the same thing, I went out of my way to train other Marines to bring them up and got stepped on for my troubles. Too many others were lacking and when they were not up to speed it made them look bad. I found out over the years most who talked Billy bad Ass couldn't cut it in combat,most would roll up in a ball until the shooting stopped an then wanted to take charge again, I would not let them.
I was in the Marines from 1974 to 1978. When I got within two months of either reenlisting or discharging the Marine Corp decided to remove several MOSs from receiving reenlistment bonus of $10000. I was a 2531 Radio Communication Operator. Then when I was sent from Marine Barracks Adak Alaska to 29 Palms with thirty days left, I went to a career counselor who was reading a magazine with his shoes propped on his desk and he frankly could of cared less whether I reenlisted or not. I was only 21 years old and really was wanting to stay in but the Marine Corps was in a force reduction and not wanting to retain veteran Marines since you were going to be paid more and recruits at the time were being paid $700 a month as opposed to an E-4 making $1200 a month. I enjoyed my time in the Marines but I decided to use my GI Bill educational benefits and go to school. I earned a degree in electronic engineering technology and made a nice living. I am now 65 and retired.
I was in 69-72 as a 2531 with one tour in Vietnam. After I landed stateside at Pendleton, a few months later I transferred to a Marine Barracks in Bremerton, Washington for my last year. I counted the days to my EAS and applied for college to get a 3 month early out. I think I was making $360 a month as an E-3 when I got out. Reenlistment bonus' were something like 3 or 5 thousand dollars, choice of duty stations and a promotion.
@@vicO1323 Adjusted for inflation, 360 dollars in 1972 was 2556 dollars, that enlistment bonus: 21k - 35k. Damn you're making more money than E-3's today, must've been nice. lmao
- Mass punishment - Unequal standards for fitness tests - Being told we staying late due to xyz - Recruting/ Drill instructors having no lives (could be improved) - Unstable hours (deployments are exceptions) - Toxic leadership - Being treated like a child
My son's recruiter worked seven days a week with very little brake after he got my son and a few other signed he got promoted but that just ment more responsibility.
I just recently got out of the Corps and the issues that made me leave were how political everything became, how the leadership was toxic and that they never held their peers accountable but would burn any Marine to the max for the smallest infraction, and the biggest one for me is that I felt lied too. I was recruited believing we were one big marpat family and what I witnessed was devil dog eat devil dog. Not friendly competition but sabotage and separation. Letting a fellow marine fall flat on their face so you can step over them to gain the CO's favor. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss being in the gun club but I kept giving it a chance at several different duty stations and they all disappointed me.
Too much racism and discrimination, I was raised across the border, born in Texas, went to High school on this side, but my English was not very fluent, I was bullied by some white racist recruits and one black drill instructor from a different platoon during PT, I reported it to my senior drill instructor who was black, and told me " he will take care of it" but the discrimination from the recruits never stopped, and after the crucible, they got worse, they told me if we were in combat they would kill me, which I simply ignored, I was very disappointed about the military, I took advantage of the dont ask dont tell policy to get out, got an OTH discharge, but thanks to the Obama administration, it was changed to Honorable discharge, so I always bash people who always say " THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE" to anyone who was in the military, thanks for what??? No foreign government has tried to invade the U.S., however, if some day Russia, Iran or North Korea sends a missile to the US, then I would be willing to defend the U.S.
I just left active duty coast guard and I'm finishing in the reserves for the same reasons that you just said. Its not just marines. Talk about shitty gear cg always gets the left overs cuz we aren't dod even the bases are from other branches from a long time ago.
I was in the Airborne Infantry for six years. Got out as a sergeant. I became so disillusioned at every thing about the Army that I had to take the opportunity to get out when I could. I loved the deployments, I loved the training, I loved the jumps. Hated the semantics, the horrible leaders, the castration of the combat arms, and etc. The list of reasons to stay in continues to shrink and the reasons to get out continues to grow.
@@TomASwift I wouldn’t call the military my peak at all lol. I’m doing much better in life generally now, most people in my life have no clue I was ever in and I certainly don’t mention it to strangers unprompted so get fucked. I only mentioned it here because it’s a fucking video about the problems in the military.
As a former Marine, the worst and saddest part of the Corps is that if 1 staff NCO doesn't care or like a certain Marine, especially 1st contract ones. Then all the staff will do what they can to shitbird that Marine and destroy any chance of them wanting to make a career. Getting out hopefully with at least a general discharge is all they can hope for. Very very sad.
I joined the Marines in 1968 after having read numerous biographies about Marine heroes who led their people in combat. That was in theory not in practice in my experience. I found out that in a combat situation there are more managers than leaders. They were good at directing those under them from a safe position where to go and what to do without doing it themselves. During my time in Viet Nam I only met 2 officers who were leaders, who led their Marines from the front, not the rear. Sad to say, they were the exception, not the rule. As a result, I vowed when I came home I would not allow anyone to manage me anymore. I'm 71 now and I've held to that practice. It's caused me a fair amount of trouble now and then but it was worth it. Chesty Pullers are in rare supply in any service.
I understand completely. "Leadership" in the Army is every NCO or Officer that outranks you so they'd have you believe. I was fortunate early on in the fact that I had a few Mentors that didn't let their stripes or brass confuse what real "Leadership" should be. If things ever went sideways, I would have hoped that they were in charge.
Im currently serving in the Army Guard, I've met a lot of Marines who go out of the corps and joined the Guard. The most common reasons I hear for leaving the corps are toxic leadership, bad quality of life, want to spend more time with family, and/ or bad funding.
So true of prior service Marines in the Guard. A lot of them. Many also love to remind everyone they were in the Marines. Like ok Soldier, thanks. Was trying to figure out whose car out there had about 20 Marine stickers/decals on it 😂 Must be a requirement for their POVs?
Was able to speak to SgtMaj Black a few months ago and asked him why we can’t get Marines out of the barracks at earlier ranks like the other services do. Came down to “funding” and the excuse that the unit cohesion goes away when you don’t “know” the people you work with. The AF will literally push E-4’s out of the dorms to open space up for the junior airmen, even in other countries. While Marines in Japan have to request permission as an E-6 to live off base, just to be put on a first-come, first-serve list.
My senior enlisted advisor and I talk about this often. Hopefully things change here on Okinawa and we can get younger Marines out of the barracks the way that the other services do.
Same goes for the Navy except, if you get fucked up you better pray that your immediate COC looks out for you otherwise it's going to be years of falling through cracks and watching your life go down the tubes. The DOD business model blows and the Generals, Admirals, SGM's and MCPO's don't have a clue on how to fix it. Try talking to E-6 and below who have been there done that and know what they're talking about? 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
The Marine Corps gifted me with a relentless mindset, great lifelong friends and the opportunity to visit places I would’ve never gone to and title I proudly claim. I gave them my time and effort, I may have only did 4 years but I can live with that. Bad leadership was in fact a large contributing factor to me saying goodbye to active duty.
I will say, as a Retired Marine, is leadership makes a whole world of difference. After working under some bad models, I vowed that if I make it to that point that things were going to change. I retired as a CWO-5, and will tell you that almost every Marine that worked for me re-enlisted. Unfortunately we promote those that should not make it up the food chain. Hold those accountable, through counselling, that are borderline and make them better. Its hard to do that because you want to be liked. Most cant control the Professional and Personal relationships.
That's one thing I never understood You are the tip of the spear, first in, and yet no one in leadership understands that takes a larger cut of funding. It's very aggravating. Thanks, Jameson.
The thing that pissed me off the most was wanting to take time off but never being allowed to and all we were doing was sitting around doing nothing and playing videogames.
I tried joining the Marine Corps 3 times but was denied because I had “too much” tattoos. I joined the Army instead, became an Infantryman and now an Apache Pilot.
Currently been in the Marines for about 5 yrs and get out in 3 weeks. My experience has been awful not only with leadership but peers as well. I joined for career guidance and this so called brotherhood but every chance my peers would get to have an appointment, say their kid is sick, they think they have covid or make some dumb excuse during a crappy detachment or inspection (I'm airwing) and leave me the only person to do everything they would. My leadership once accepted a tattoo appointment my peer had as a good excuse to not go on an important recovery and sent me for quite literally my 11th det at the time. My counterparts have been on maybe 3 total 4 at the most and some have been on 0. They get all this extra time off and money cause they married someone they met months ago and have a whole house valued at 600k to sell when they get out meanwhile im struggling in the barracks with all these rules set in place so I can't have a decent living. I see shitty marines get promoted over me for the sole fact that they did cpls course even though they underperformed me in every way. Military PME is near useless for college so why bother? I'm treated like a child at 24 yrs old and over the years it really did start messing with my head. I'm stationed in California and there is such a negativity surrounding marines so it's made relationships hard to hang on to a few times. They took away the bonus for my current MOS for the Osprey and then ask me why I don't want to reenlist when right next door is a job that pays $43 an hour with benefits and none of the other BS and I also have a GI Bill. Why would I want to be broke, overworked, depressed, single, and live in the barracks for another potential 3-6 yrs until I hit staff with no bonus? At the end of the day though I met a handful of a few lifelong friends and did in fact get a little bit of guidance so I got what I wanted after 5 yrs but things could've been wayyyy better if the workload and stress was evenly split and we worked as a team instead of as individuals. Also the new generation underneath me simply doesn't care to take responsibility anymore. They see people like me stressing and instead of thinking I wanna help him not be stressed by getting qualifications the mentality is well there's this shitbag that knows nothing and does nothing so I wanna be him cause he gets paid the same anyways. All I have to say to those types of Marines is I hope you're not around when an actual war begins. Hope your experience in the Marines was or is better. I don't mean to sound like a negative nancy throughout this paragraph but I'm hoping there's other Marines that will read this and know they're not the only ones that went through something maybe similar.
I feel you I just got out after 4 years and honestly believe that the Mass majority of the Marine Corps went from kicking ass to kissing ass, don’t get me wrong I loved every thing they taught me and made some of my best friends in there, but I believe most people in now are just trying to play the system. I’m not about having to throw my co workers under the bus, and treating grown men to stop acting like children by treating them like it whilst to look good on paper. I do feel like it’s just my first experience with my first unit but I’m not about to chance spending another 16 of this taking a toll on my mental health.
I wish you the best in your life outside of the service as someone that's been out for 19 years I can sell you I took advantage of the services that were offered to me it was brutal taking the maximum amount of classes in school and my social life suffered quite a bit by managed to get my bachelor's degree in master's degree. I left off my GI Bill and in Illinois my use the Illinois veterans grant to pay for college. Keep in mind you can use military service account towards civilian education it's important to get with the VA rep at any college to get an ace transcript that's when they transfer your military education into civilian education. One thing I would also recommend is once you complete your time and service and your DD-214 definitely gives a decisive date in which you have completed your contractual obligation then I would recommend signing up for unemployment you would get it right away and you don't have to be on it for the rest of your life. For some people call just for them first others it's not but what I've found that it tends to screw soldiers over is that there's a level of desperation when they get out in which they'll deplete their savings and settle for any job offer to them. I can tell you collecting unemployment it's not going to be something you're going to be rich awful but it gives you a study income where you can strategize what you want to do next in your life and you can decide what option is best for you without depleting all your savings or settling for a job that is beneath your skill set or interest. While you're in and when you get out it's important to be strategic and get what you need. Make sure while you're in you have all the medical documentation you need in case you want to file disability claim and also while you're in try to complete getting updated prescription for glasses, and you Dental or any medical because in the civilian world all those are going to be more expensive. Good luck and I wish you the best
@@icetray2727 if you're planning on joining and want a good quality of life 100% the air force. I can't promise you'll love the air force but I can say my ex was air force and their amenities blew everyone's out of the water
@@icetray2727 everything was better and I've been to 5 separate air force bases all of which were much nicer than mine. For an even better comparison the base I stayed on is known to be one of the nicest marine bases and still was no match
I EASd after my 4-year enlistment in the Infantry after I was denied a lateral move into another MOS. My career planner was just lazy and said my only option was to reenlist on station in same MOS. I used my GI Bill to get an Engineering Degree, I get paid more money for doing less work and I don't get treated like a child.
Former Navy here. I always noticed the difference between how sailors and marines are treated as low ranking/young adults. The Navy was big boy rules where as long as you did your job and stayed in regs, you got plenty of time off and treated pretty well. I left the Navy due to medical and became a police officer. Cops have to follow similar rules and regs as military folk, but it’s similar to the Navy where it’s big boy rules (at least at my agency). I don’t think any grown man wants to play the f*** f*** games past 22-23 years old and most marines I came across were getting treated like idiot children. We didn’t have anything to do one particular day in Italy. Navy side got cut loose after a field day and pt at around 1000. Marines got told to carry their gear from one end of the base to the other. And then got told to do it again. They weren’t even allowed off the base.
@@treyspencer3101 Yeah you fight good, you also kill yourselves good from PTSD and stress, you also tend to go off the rails faster than anyone else and it's kept under the radar. It's almost like creating a unit of blood thirsty always angry retards doesn't work well when there's nothing to give an outlet for their anger besides a superior who will beat you down.
Exact same problem in the Royal Marines Commandos. Exact thing! Retention is absolutely horrendous. Trained to death then no one cares when you are in. Lads trained to an excellent standard then left to mince around camp picking up litter. 2022 it’s not cutting the mustard
Hey good to see you. I cannot get either of our countries churning out guys that have experience for new prospects who may work out. Or because of some new dbag Lt who just finished a gender studies degree and ocs.
@@JamesonsTravels Roger that. The new military seems way too political for me ..I served from 78-85.. the reason I saw people not joining was the optics...they were cutting folks out ..I guess you couldn't be big boned and fail that punch test...and I guess times were better...so the Army felt the need to trim some fat from the ranks ..
My dad was a tunnel rat in Korea. The army later denied benefits for years . He would have done anything he could to keep me from service. 880bil $ a year . & We have private citizen orgz.taking care of the vets who need a leg. Applaudable & yet heartbreaking at the same time.
When I first joined the Marines in the year 2000, it was quite clear from the beginning we did not have very much funding. It was no secret, and even my drill instructors would tell us that historically speaking Marines had a reputation of getting the toughest jobs done with the least amount of gear. My M.O.P suit had at least a dozen patches from previous users, and look to be at least a decade old or more. Even the rain poncho I was issued was more patches than Pancho. The first M16 I was issued in the fleet was so covered in rust I spent about 5 hours busting it off. This used to be somewhat of a point of pride for us, knowing we were still the most badass Force in the world, while using the most crap!
izreeull has received over 2 trillion dollars in military aid since 2003.... there's where our money goes. This doesn't even take into account the wars we fight to keep them in control by sending our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters to fight izreeuhlls wars in the middle east to keep them and their central banking cartel in power. They are our misfortune
my brother was Marine 76-80, he said the same thing -- poor gear, leftovers from earlier times etc. I guess things haven't changed that much -- the key questions for the Pentagon to ask every branch is" do you have what you need? do you have enough of it? does it work well? is there something better available we can or should get? people are your best assets, they CANNOT do their job well w/o the right tools - you don't send people into battle poorly equipped -- that undermines their confidence and ability to win
When you wear a MOPP suit in actual combat where NBC protection is needed you would be given a new one still in plastic. I was given a US MOPP suit and a British MOPP suit in Desert Storm.
My first duty station we had a new first sergeant. He wanted 100% accountability for Pt formation. We had 2 F ups how never showed up and were getting an Article 15. 1SG keep making the company come in earlier and earlier. We would be out in the snow 2 hours before morning accountability standing at parade rest, and this went on for over a month. 3/4 of the company could tell you how many days, minutes, and seconds they had left before their ETS.
I was in the Marines from 1976 to 1980. By the time I had a year in, I knew how many days I had left. I still remember how many days are in 4 years and 3 years
I was in the Marines for 8 years. I was really good at it. I have a folder full of letters of appreciation, meritorious masses, Marine of the month x4, NCO of the quarter x2. I love everything about the corps but the bull $hit! I was an E-6. I was not allowed to be friends with certain people, I had to salute and follow orders from people who were incompetent and irresponsible. no matter how dangerous or mucked up the order. I don't like doing stupid crap hour after hour for no reason other than the LT said so. I didn't like stupid crap, wasting time day after day and being told it was good training! how is raking the vehicle tracks from the sand in the motor pool lot training! I was a combat engineer, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to build things, not clean a squad bay hour after hour that was not dirty! mostly I didn't want to be told who I could be friends with, officer or enlisted. I got out, went to nursing school and have a great career I love! One other thing, I could not stand the immature, arrogant and horrible behavior of the young Marines and officers. Drugs, alcohol and gangs fill the ranks now. it's sad! I still and will always love the Marine Corps. I carry it with me every day.
GANGS.....One "four letter word" ,to me. My home town was ruined by gang violence. I can just imagine those gangsters, having been taught to shoot and fight correctly....Nightmare.
I feel like guys like you have it the hardest when it comes to choosing to stay in and be a lifer or get out (youngish E-6s). Since you're basically at your prime years and could stay in and retire with pension after 20 years or whatever, or use your prime years to do something else in the civilian world.
My son got tired of dealing with a bunch of depressed teenagers with drinking issues and dumb asses that were right only because they had weight on their collars.
I got out of the Marine Corps in 1994 after my enlistment was up. I can say I had enough of being owned and micromanaged for 4 years. It was actually I guess what it feels like to get out of prison. It took me over a year to adjust to civilian life. I was not used to making my own decisions and being in control of my own life. I'm very proud to be a Marine and would never take it back. It did teach me discipline and accountability. I also loved the comradery, but the Marine Corps is certainly not for everyone.
I'm getting out in a few months after 1 enlistment with basically the same gripe. Why would I spend any more time being treated like a child when my dad did that for 18 years
As a sailor my had goes off. My first year was on a training command run by Marines. After going to a navy squadron things were more laid back, but still structured a certain way. Adapting after getting out was the same PITA your describing.
One of the biggest reasons I didn’t re-up was that my brain wasn’t valued. There was no incentive to use my mind. Physically & on the rifle range I was a mediocre Marine. My commands always relied heavily on me because I was responsible & level headed, but that doesn’t get you promoted. It just gets you more responsibility than the knuckleheads. There were several opportunities for promotion boards but I was too proud & too (internally) rebellious to play to that song & dance. I’ll always be super glad that I enlisted. For the most part I had a great time. I’d like all of my kids to serve one term, I just don’t see any long term benefit from being a lifer. Yes, I’d be retired by now if I’d stayed in, but I’d still have to work to supplement my income. If you can think halfway decent for yourself, do your four years and get out.
I had my twin sister die in car accident. My 1SG acted like I was lying, told me that I had X days, if I was a minute late he would charge me. I never had any issues in the Marines. I earned E5 in 4 years. Anyway, when I got back from burying my twin, he asks me "how was your vacation?". That was when I decided to leave. I was on the fence but saw I was just a number.
@@castlebarron1788 Easier said than done. I'm in the Navy and have seen Sailors in similar situations and they reported the toxic leadership only to get reprisal against them.
I got out to be a father and husband. Best decision I ever made. My kids are 20, 17, and 14. I have the best relationship with all of them. I couldn’t imagine not being there through the most important years growing up in a confusing world without their father.
I was a teenager working for the AF as a grass cutter around our airfield at Aviano Italy in 1974. We had a break room where we had a sandwich vending machine with a microwave. Some Army guys were amazed at this small, well kept break room that served tasty sandwiches. I never forgot that difference between how AF took care of their airmen vs other services after 26 years as an aviator. I got a chance to work with great Marines during a joint exercise and they were awesome. There was always the underlying discussion that they weren’t being taken care of. It’s all known issue, but never been fixed; hence, recruitment issue and re-enlistment shortages. Culture makes a difference along with leadership follow through.
I really enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps 2007-2012. If I could do it all over again I would have joined any other branch after realizing that people were getting 100k signing bonuses for doing the same job as I was doing. Not only making less money, every other branch had better gear, better food, better living accommodations, and way less supervision and f#@*$& f#$*& games. I had buddies in different branches at different bases in Japan. I remember my Air Force buddy had his own room as an E-1 while I had 2 roommates as a E-4 Corporal. When I first arrived in Japan, it was just the end of a huge lock down for the punishment of a SSgt who had r@p3d a local. The entire Corps suffered because of one persons actions. Screw that. Earning the title Marine is great, but clout doesnt pay the bills.
i feel your pain to the core. It was the same for me in oki. i loved that place. but seriously i was cpl with a roomate sharing the head with two other people while the fucking airforce had a danm mini kitchen for one person.
Went from Marine Corps AD to Reserves and man it’s much better. The more maturity in the leadership is insane. Leaders who relate to the real world and then level with their Marines makes a big difference. My current FS is amazing, treats everyone as grown men and women.
SO many good points raised here. It's hard to pick a single one that stand above the rest. Quality of life. Mass punishments. How we are treated like children. Having to ask permission to go home as an adult man. At a normal job, you clock out when your shift ends and that's that. Now, we have even more issues. People with objections to certain shots being forced out. People who have absolutely no interest in serving the America we have become under this administration. It's a myriad of problems.
To throw in my 2 cents, the hardest realization for me when it came to the Corps was that the Marine Corps I fell in love with, was not the Marine Corps I enlisted into.
that was my reaction. The Marine Corps that I wanted and expected from reading, movies etc wasn't the reality. I was disappointed and wouldn't stay in something like that. I realize there is no perfection but this went beyond that. The reality didn't live up to the image. In case any one attacks my perception. Meritorious promotion to Cpl. never had office hours and left after four years as a Sgt 0311. I was an 0311 because I wanted to be infantry. I wanted to be at the sharp end.
Getting treated like a child even as a squad leader, constantly getting lied to, undercooked chowhall food are things that come to mind within 3 seconds
I reason I left the corps was because I was tired of being treated like a child being checked on every hour. My senior leaders also took half of my CIF gear and I was blamed for not having it and when I said something they denied it
That's the ridiculous part about the military grown men haveing to treat other grown men like they are five years old when it's only the small number of idiots that's are the screwups. Its a one team one fight when one screws up up we all screw up, but some times the person who screwed up is their fault and their fault alone and nobody else's. One of the many reasons on why I never went in.
-Terrible living standards -Pathetic wages -Mass punishments -Ridiculous Punishments -Treating adults like children -Lack of logical decision making -Showing up to an event hours early to wait around -Unnecessary Training requirements -Overworked and undermanned -Broken promises -Lack of base housing
My time in the Marines is something I’m barely proud of. I’m proud that I did it, but I was treated like garbage at every moment and every rank. by the time I left I was filled with so much hatred for the leaders who abused us and neglected us. People got hurt and were treated worse than when they were well. The minor and worthless things that we got screwed over for made the experience worthless and damaged the character of everyone I worked with. Most got out jaded and filled with regret. For the record, I was a god damn good Marine. Outstanding pros and cons, great rifle qual, great swim qual, great PFT, and what I was actual taught my knowledge was acceptable.
"Know when to push hard and when to pull back" I loved that quote from you old man. As young man who grew up in a tough household and a tough neighborhood I can safely say I've achieved some sort of enlightenment, in terms of reading people. I was 17 going into the Army National Guard and the only thing on my mind was, "How can I lead these men and women?" because I've always had that sense in me. The sense of appeasing those around me in order to boost morale because judgement is flawed and clouded when under extreme stress 24/7, speaking from experience. Sometimes the battles you fight are not overseas, but at home and I understand that. That's why I love hearing and listening from older generations like yourself because it solidifies my values and reinforces my beliefs. Not all men are created equal, but hell I'll make sure we all come out alive, together.
Requiring college for officers is an old holdover that can probably be done away with. Back in WWII when about 7% of the population was going to college it may have meant a little something, but not that much. Now with over 30% going it doesn't mean as much. If you do a little research, there are studies showing that as the quality of college admissions has gone done, the quality of officers has also gone down.
so many enlisted guys have degrees. frankly, the best leaders should lead. not based on a history degree and ocs. No other business would have such an outdated system.
@@JamesonsTravels If that's the case then something like an OCS version of the British Sandhurst school would be a good idea. Maybe it would work well enough that the college requirement could be waived for good leaders.
The whole system is ridiculous and is a holdover from medieval times. The officers are the nobility and the enlisted are the peasant farmers. No other organizations put inexperienced college grads in charge just because of a piece of paper. Think about if police forces, fire departments, federal law enforcement etc worked like this? The new police chief is 23 yo and got the job because he has a degree…yeah not gonna happen. I’m in my 40’s and I’m sick and tired of working for people that were wearing diapers when I joined.
College only produces "Power Point Heros". I retired as a CW4 and have always said, promote all officers from the ranks. I went through the Army on the "high school to flight school" program. I flew some of the most complex helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for 28 years with zero college, no other service allows this anymore. I honestly couldn't recommend ANYONE go into the military today. It is going to get to the point here in the near future that they are going to have to resort to the draft to put meat in a seat. I retired in 2011 and it was getting bad then, I can't even imagine how bad it is today.
@@JamesonsTravels I strongly agree that the officer ranking system is obsolete and is nothing more than class warfare within the ranks. How the hell is a boot lieuey higher in rank then a SNCO?
When our son was at Pendleton (2017), he carried a 120 lb pack. As a radioman he had a 10 lb radio plus 2 each 4 lb batteries (from the 90s). Each guy in his squad also had to carry 2 batteries became the radio was so old and heavy. In. SOI, they were only served spaghetti, hamburgers and hot dogs for 13 weeks. He was spending his pay at the food trucks because the chow was so awful.
I was going to be a lifer but my command actively was forcing people out of the corps as our contracts ended. I got lied to about being ineligible for reenlistment and only found out I was eligible on my last handful of days processing my exit. One of my friends was a motivated hard charger who lived for the corps and pushed hard to try out for MARSOC, but as his contract was ending and he was looking to reenlist he was told they wouldn't give him the opportunity and we're looking to not have him reenlist, he ended up taking his own life not long after. But they still wonder what is keeping people away when many of us are willing to give up all comforts to just be in the corps and are told we aren't wanted. Ive found my own path and I'm glad I've gotten out of that mess, but if I was given an offer to go back in I'm pretty sure I would still take it even up to this day. I love the corps and they are my brothers, but God damn there's some deep issues they refuse to address and will keep eating away at it.
@@qua7771 yes but for a marine the further you try to go up the "branch totem pole" when you try to get back in (Airforce>Navy>Army) they seem to take in less prior service.
@@shauny2285 yeah I did something similar and chose to find somewhere that would actually apply my skills and would see me as useful. I'm sad that I wasn't able to continue but I'm also glad I've found this whole new path which I never would have considered going down before. But not everyone can make that change when the corps really matters to them and it leads to some pretty tragic situations. I wish I was able to talk to more guys finding themselves on the bad side of things and try to help them.
I think the biggest reason first term enlisted get out is the senior staff nco’s that have no humane attitude toward junior Marines. 12-15-65 I reported into NAS MEMPHIS to MARTD, as a LCpl with a 6 month pregnant wife. After checking in and getting assigned to the Flight Line crew I requested 2 hrs off to take my wife to the base hospital for a check up. I went through the chain of command receiving permission all the way up to the SgtMaj who stated “if the Marine Corps wanted you to have a wife we would’ve issued one to you at group supply” and declined my request. I immediately requested mast to the CO, who happened to walk into the office as i made the request. After explaining I was granted the requested. I then had hell to pay for the next 11 months. Crap like that is what will sour a young Marine.
The reasons retention is bad is because of leadership from the very top, all the way down to base/post/camp commander level. It's a loss of confidence due to the lack of ability of leadership to push back on what every other military member can see as BS. When everyone at the top is just "following and pushing BS orders", everyone else loses the thing inside them that caused the desire to join in the first place.
top leadership needs to be held accountable (fired) based decision making. (See afgan withdrawal) NOT promoted to higher ranks. military burns major and below but promote above for the same crap.
Just left 2 months ago after 8 yrs. Couldn’t agree more. I wanted Grandpa’s USMC but it just wasn’t it. Although I couldn’t ever deny that many lessons learned translate directly into civilian life and you have alot of “aha!” moments. Lots of civilian managers, supervisors, administrators etc out there that don’t have a clue how to be in a leadership role, but that’s probably not their fault. BY THE BOOK USMC leadership teachings from all the MarineNet courses we clicked through, etc, really is applicable when the right driver is in the seat.
@@JamesonsTravels ie Commander in Chief. Y'all almost demoted George Bush. Would have went all the way but 'Mission Accomplished' stopped the coup. I remember... little bit of history that's prolly written out
The military has taken on a corporation approach, and that model doesn't present pride in retention. When you people feel replaceable by those higher-ups, it shows in retention.
I was in the Marine Corps 1990-2001. After boot camp, MCT, and SOI I went to Saudi Arabia. Then went to Okinawa 91/92. Then to Somalia 92/93, then back to Okinawa 93/94. In between those deployments we did a JTF in New Mexico and many other field ops. I loved the first 4 years in the Marine Corps. I re-enlisted and PCS to Quantico to train officers at TBS. I re-enlisted for FAST Co and did a little over a year at FAST then was transferred to MCSF Training Company. I received orders to 29 palms back to an infantry unit, that’s when I denied orders and that’s when I knew I was going to get out. It was my decision, I had good leaders and bad leaders. It was a tough but easy decision, I saw my life going in another direction and I wanted to get into law enforcement. I’ve been in law enforcement now 22 years. I tell people all the time, I grew up in the military, but I matured as a police officer. Marines want to be treated like men, not like children. Hold the standards for all, you don’t need a grown man yelling and belittling a subordinate just because that person has rank. Marines want leadership and guidance. Yes, there is a time to get in that ass, but you can be professional about it. The games and mass punishment doesn’t go well with Marines. Punish those that are deserving of the punishment. Just because you have stripes or wear a star on your collar doesn’t make you a leader. Leadership is a continuous education. We need to teach Marines that when they make mistakes, they will be held accountable, but I have seen where Marines are NJP’d for minor infractions that may cost them a reenlistment. I’ve also seen shitbird Marines skate by and not held accountable. When that happens, it’s noticeable. Not Marine Corps related, but when I was coming back from Iraq in 08, I was with the ARNG. We landed in Germany and many of us wanted to get a beer, well we had this SgtMaj on the plane that was dead set against it and referenced General Order number 1 about alcohol in theatre. Grown men, just served a year in a war zone and could not even get a beer. Again, another issue, and I know happens in the Marine Corps as well. I’ve been out for 22 years now, there is no way I have to yell to get my point across. I don’t have to play games to get things done. Boot Camp and when rounds are coming down range is when you need to yell. I can write forever, but it comes down to treat men like men, stop the BS games.
My sons grew up as Army brats. They were very gungho to try the Marines. And they thrived the first few years. But they got tired of NCOs who did not care to let them achieve their professional and educational goals, even when they did not conflict with unit missions and needs in any way. They were both very proud to have served in the Corps, and very happy to have gotten out. With a little better cooperation and encouragement, they could have made a career in the Corps.
I relate so much to the Lance who got out. I myself am a Lance, and I relate so much to being treated like a child. I’ve had my leaders to tell me to stop acting like a Lance Corporal, but the second I show some sort of initiative? I’m immediately beaten down to “You’re just a Lance”.
@@icetray2727 none. It woulda always been the corps. None compare training wise, but if you have a social life and close ties with family that’ll probably go out the window. Peoples lives move on while you’re gone for 7 months - 1 1/2 years without coming back for a few days then heading right back to work.
@@jackrambo3071 I heard that the CG got the most intense training, and that people who went in for basic training with the CG can skip out on basic training if they were to go to any other branch
I was going to re-enlist, my proficiency and conduct marks were high enough to warrant the base commander to talk me into re-enlisting. I told him I wanted to transfer out of the grunts and learn a skill and then he told me that a Marine wasn't a Marine unless he was in the 03 field. The career planner (jammer) said the 03 field was locked and nobody could make a Lateral transfer to another MOS. That was the straw and I got out. I really liked being there but I couldn't deal the stupid games. No, games ARE NOT TRAINING. Instead of treating the men like professional soldiers we were treated like a class of people just a little better than slaves. My squad leader was denied promotion because he refused to iron his field cammies because that destroyed the infrared protection. So a lot of very illogical and childish leadership. So it wasn't the Marines I had an issue with, it was the leadership. Fast forward and my son joined the Marines. I promised to get my revenge by hooking him up with a great admin job that had extremely low cutting score. I got meritorious Lance and was a Corporal in 4 years. He got Corporal with no meritorious board in 2 years. So funny that when I joined people singed up for 6 years guaranteed Corporal. I also as a civilian able to keep him on my insurance until 26. I am just waiting to service relate an injury because they really have no power to stop him from going to a civilian doctor if he gets hurt. You shouldn't have pissed me off Marines, we are going to drain you as much as possible. Payback is a biotch.. Hoo fkn Rahh. Now anyone that doesn't think we cannot fight a war with just technology is a fool we don't really need foot soldiers and door to door anymore. Sadly Marines are cheaper than tech. If you want to retain the larger portion of nonspecial forces, then you treat all Marines like your do Force Recon or Raiders and maybe they will stay in. Currently my son with only 2 years experience is the go to in his unit for info because the turn over is so high. There is no expertise because Marines either get out, or they have some stupid rule that they have to go to another MOS or duty like the drill field or recruiting to get promoted to staff NCO, which drains the organization of knowledge and experts. I was amazed there are no references or documented procedures for what my son does. There is training but it goes very fast but there are no references but his notes. If my company caught me running my area this way I would be fired. Someone has turned the Marines into a bunch of people just doing stuff extremely inefficiently. Lastly this crap about going back to island hopping is a joke. With today's technology trying to do island hopping against China is suicide. I was amazed when I saw footage of Marines in Afghanistan fighting with full damn packs on their backs.. slow moving targets...whatever happened to leaving your pack at a staging area and going fast and light with ammo? WTF??? That is why they are leaving the Marines.
I had to deal with a terrible Sgt for two years. I was fortunate to be able to go home on the weekends because home was nearby for me. venting to my family about her was a relief to avoid losing it. The last seven months sealed the deal about putting the life behind me. E-4's and below, we had to march back and forth from the barracks to work. It was humiliating because the LT putting us through that was the same age as me at the time. There were a lot more reasons for leaving.
Too funny about the marching to and from your work place. There is a time and place for it, just not all the time. We had a Sergeant Major who wanted everyone marching. If there was more than one of you going to the same place at the same time, marching was how he wanted you to get there. So we did it, Rough step, March!!! Of course that drew his ire. Oh well, as Soldiers it is our God given right and duty to complain, AFTER doing as told. Peace Friend.
@@larryspiller6633 same for me while at the school house. At NAS pensacola if we were in uniform and more than one person we were forced to March. We'd take routes to avoid the flag poles because if we would come up to one we would have to stop to salute. Never seen any other higher ups stopping to salute....
@@scotfarnwalt911 I forgot about the flag poles, getting caught in traffic in the morning and evenings, slamming into park and getting out to do the military thing. Had to time things to miss all of that.
@@larryspiller6633 Bro, when I was checking out from overseas, we had a new BC that stripped all of the PltSgt billet from Sgt and gave it to SNCO. Every PltSgt I knew dropped their packs 😆.
Just got out a month ago. I loved being a Marine and I had an absolute blast with my last unit. Unfortunately my first unit was awful to me. I was treated horribly and felt isolated, and it didn't help that I was marked as useless after my first month when I got a blood clot in my lung that took me out for almost 9 months. That first deployment was miserable. I wanted to stay in for a while when I first joined, but after my Cpls and Sgts treated me like I was worthless and tanked my pros and cons I couldn't stay in after that. If I had been with my last unit the whole time, I probably would have stayed in. They treated me with respect and realized my potential and utilized my abilities to the fullest and they did their damndest to get me promoted. It never worked out because my pros and cons had been tanked at my first unit. I love my boys and I'll miss them, but I'm finally able to spread my wings and I'm happy that I got out, but I'd do it all again for my boys at my last unit.
Circa early 2000’s AF. Mass punishment was definitely a thing. Lost weekends for say less than intelligent people, PT, cleaning and briefings. The hurry up and wait, civilian outlook in a military town, daft leadership and asbestos ridden buildings are not unique to the USMC.
It is a tale as old as time. When SGM was young he would rage against the machine and knew how he was going to change things. Now he simply rages for the machine because he knows that it is self serving to do so.
@@JamesonsTravels Those board seats do pay well if you are willing to compromise yourself to play the game. It has been an interesting experience retiring as a 1SG with an earned doctorate still trying to find a position in the civilian job market.
@@jerrycrouch427 It's the same with politicians like Congressmen / Congresswomen, Governors etc.... Wow you have a doctorate? That's a very high level of education however there could be a limited number of jobs. You'll probably get another career in the government.
I got out in '93 after 8.5 years. As much as I loved the comradery and would have liked to have made a career of it, I just got tired of the toxic leadership, lack of promotions, really low pay (I was a Sgt). At some point, I needed to think about my family's future.
Navy here, I went in ready and willing to make it a career and do my 20+. I wanted to be a Sailor. But once in...i seen how no one in my chain of command really seemed interested in shaping me or helping me to grow, so I too learned pretty early on I would be getting out. The Navy was not investing in me (sending me to schools, advanced training, etc). Now the guys that found someone to mentor them ended up having great careers...couple guys made E-9 and a couple went warrant or O.
Lol I thought the same thing you should’ve seen me I was so excited when I flew out. All my family members think I just couldn’t handle or something but it was more than that it was their mentality. When did you start training?
My situation with the Army was pretty similar. I loved my job, I was proud of it. I was deployed immediately after basic and I had a clear vision of how I wanted my career to play out going into the last year of my contract. But when push came to shove, the Army didn't have my back. I was mocked and belittled by my chain of command for wanting to go on emergency leave when my hometown was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. So I transferred services over to the USAF and spent the rest of my career there. Immense culture shock. I had to completely relearn every bit of "leadership" I'd been taught by the Army. You looked to NCOs because of the competence and integrity they displayed, not because they barked when you took personal initiative. Junior enlisted were taught to lean on their NCOs for guidance, not cower in fear of judgement. If you made a mistake, the focus was on teaching you what the mistake was and why it was wrong, the focus was not inflicting the maximum amount of suffering on you. Leaders lead from the front, working right beside you showing you exactly how they do it and expected equal effort. As an NCO, we were held to account for planning, performing, documenting, and reviewing training for all of our subordinates. Senior leadership checked constantly to ensure we were hitting our marks and we were expected to produce competent, motivated, and loyal airmen that could and would leave the Air Force stronger than they found it. I could go on, but I'll save it for the novel I'm never going to write. But I'll leave with this. The branches each have their specific strengths and weaknesses. There are things the Army did well that the USAF did terribly. Top leadership should probably take some comprehensive notes on why service members leave and compare their deficiencies with their sister services. Lean on each other to figure out how to implement changes to processes and procedures that will make them all stronger. /rant
If there isn’t already, then there should be a rotational program. Allow leaders to spend 1-6 months with other branches. Corporate world does this. Cycle people to a few companies or branches and they come back seasoned with great experience
Coming from the corporate world and studying organizational behavior (not my major) there have been a lot of studies on what it takes to maintain a healthy culture in the org and what motivates subordinates to excel and progress. It seems from what I have been reading they are doing almost everything contrary
The issue with the Marine Corps is that it is so unforgiven outside of being at war. The line is razor thin and often individuals like myself that wanted to stay in tend to get passed over for promotion while watching guys I taught get E6. I couldn't imagine being on active duty during peace time.
Peace time combat arms soldiers/Marines are practically janitors and the equivalent of undesignated sailors being put to work on meaningless tasks. Kids need to realize this and opt for specialties with transferable skills instead.
I was in the Corps for 8 yrs then the Corps decided to send me back to Oki. My previous duty station was Oki then i was sent to PI at weapons bn. They were going to send me back to Oki. I said i would go if i could go accompied. Nope! So when my time was up i got out. I went to join the Army and was told the MC had given me a RE30 re enlistment code. Meaning i refused a set of orders. Never did. After the Army did an investigation the RE30 code was dropped. I stayed in Army Artillary until i retired. 77-98. Marines that get dcrewed get out! I had every intention on staying Marine. Their loss!
I was never in the military, I wasn't cut out for it. It takes a special kind of person to be in the military. I have friends who are marines, they are a cut above the rest. The woke thing is bringing down the military, that's what I am observing....
@@FORDultra what is woke in the military? You mean you're upset that you can't call the wrong person something messed up? Within my division in the navy, we're all cool with each other so we can still say and do fucked up things to each other. It becomes a problem when you say and do fucked up things to someone you don't know. If that's woke that you can't call some random person you don't know a faggót, then I don't know what to tell you.
The problem in the Navy has always been leadership that treats enlisted extremely bad. Look at the trial of Ryan Mays, the Navy tried way too hard to place the blame on an lowly enlisted sailor for a fire that destroyed a billion dollar ship. He was treated as a scapegoat and failed when the trial acquitted him of the act. The same with Edgar Gallagher when he was prosecuted due to some disgruntled E-5 and his leadership not liking him. Failing and getting exposed. We need to start from the top and remove people who's leadership has destroyed what it meant to be a military service member. Eliminate the good old boys club and punish anyone who think double standards is a right. For the love of God increase the funding to the Marine Corps. The Navy wasted so much money on defective ships and ir could have been used on improving the Corps.
Speaking of the navy protecting their officers. Back in the 1970s, the Navy did a joint training exercise with the Air Force off the Italian coast. The naval aviator was a true psychopath, he knew this was a training mission, but he told the admiral "I'm locked on, can I fire my sidewinders at him?" The admiral, thinking he was joking, said, "sure, light em up." Well, the guy intentionally, not accidentally, fired his sidewinders and downed the AF F4. Did he get court-martialed or reprimanded for intentionally shooting down a blue plane? No, the Navy covered the whole incident up. Quite the opposite, in fact, he went on to have a distinguished career, and was selected to become an admiral. After Congress discovered his crime, however, the Navy rescinded their recommendation. Essentially, the Navy covered the entire thing up to cover for the admiral who gave the pilot permission to fire a live sidewinder at the AF plane. By the way, the poor AF WSO was essentially paralyzed.
@@jayklink851 I've never heard of that story while serving in the Navy. They did one hell of a job covering that up and it is not surprising st the very least. If you recall the insane Captain that was fired for waving a gun at sailors during an UNREP (ship's refueling) or made an enlisted play the piano at one of her paties was never kicked out. Nope they sent her to Dahlgren to finish out her career.
I almost joined the Navy 16 years ago, and have been Enlisted Air Force since. What threw me off is the phrasing "Petty Officer", which literally means "of secondary or lesser importance, rank, or scale; minor." That was what deterred me from joining, but then the Air Force just masks the same ill-sentiments of Enlisted being lesser always regardless of leadership quality or superior admin/ops skills.
First of all thank you Jameson for doing this video because it's really a good one. As a former soldier in the army for 26 years there's not enough good things that can be said about the United States Marine Corps. They are the best of the best in the entire world and I always have and I always will have the highest respect for the corp. When I went in 1978 I served two years under Jimmy Carter and I will say morale was at the lowest for that time period And as far as food and equipment what we had was junk and we didn't have too much of either. When Reagan got in we had the best food, equipment and sizable pay raises and boarded it make a difference for morale. My understanding now is that a big problem is that morale is shot to hell and they are trying to weed out anyone with conservative thoughts from all branches of the service. To have a country you need two things and they are a strong border and a strong military. The Democrats always have a way of trying to destroy the military and they always have and they always will.
The part you said about weeding out those with conservative thoughts, that genuinely concerns me. I’m getting out shortly myself, but me and my buddies still in talk sometimes about what if they tried ordering is against the populace, and most of everyone I know would reject it, after all that goes against our oath. But this newer woker generation that are seemingly more on the democrat side who may not hold the Constitution in such high regards, what will they do if they’re told the same thing? Scary to think about
The Democrats want to weed out the Conservatives so that they will have nothing but freedom-hating Liberal snowflakes left who will have no problem opening fire on US citizens when they are given that order
@@maxb4210 the only administration that considered to illegally use the military against the populace for its own benefit was trump, so idk where you were going with that lol
LATEST - "Stop Calling The Army Woke, I Don’t Get It" (Sec of the Army) - ua-cam.com/video/5uxDdPbOAjo/v-deo.html. Is this perserving the Marine Corps Brand? USMC Social Experiment:Gender Integrated Combat Training - ua-cam.com/video/-dF36TRGXcM/v-deo.html. And these type of recruits WONT Help Retention - ua-cam.com/video/fbWu-sX39aU/v-deo.html.
ty brother, god bless
Why no mention of the jab and those leaving because they wouldn't do it? 20 thousand more getting out at the end of October.
Vaccines a big one.
The one guy is a joke. He doesn't hate the Marine Corps as he claims, he just hates anything and everything about it.
as a person of color, i have half the people in this country telling me to hate my white friends because of "the white patriarchy/supremacy", and the other half telling me to "stop playing victim" whenever i talk about racism and discrimination. i also have people telling me my masculinity is "toxic" and employers telling me i'm "lazy and entitled" because i don't want to work overtime for free. and these are the people i'm supposed to join the military to defend?! *nope!!!*
The whole “being treated like a child” and “asking another grown man if I can go home see my family” is so accurate
Military life is what it is. It’s for some folks, and not for others. Each of us has our first tour of duty to decide. Is this what I want or not. If folks do 3 or 4 years and decide it’s not for them, and get out, God Bless em. If others decide they like it and want a career, God Bless em ! Should be no hard feelings either way !
@@markschneider8103 Well put, Mark
@@markschneider8103 nah man we all know there be some bullshit on some units that shouldn’t be a thing, unless u one of those who likes kissing ass, have u been to Okinawa? Come on
@@Mr.A.J.1 Bro there is BS in any career. I guess we all pick the BS that we’re willing to put up with. 5 years on the Rock 77-78, 82-83, 87-88, 91-93. One of my favorite places on the planet.
Semper Fi Devil Dog
@@markschneider8103 you're entitled to your opinion and although it is true that in the military is not the only place an individuals going to run into dealing with BS and dealing with the dog and pony show. What is important for the military to look at is to assess and see what they can do to strengthen retain and empower. If they can Implement positive changes cool by all means go for it
Joining the military was one of the best decisions I ever made, so was getting out.
Feel that
That seems to be the case a lot
Very true for many
Truth!
99' Medical Discharge
I probably survived because I didn't go to the Middle East after 9/11. I only know of one guy I knew that came back from it. The Grinder to the wood chipper. 🤦♂️
I was a lifer for about a year. I came to realize I had absolutely zero power over myself and I was stuck in a contract. Doesn't matter the terrible leadership, the hypocrisy, the favoritism, you're now stuck. If you complain too loud one person can make your life hell. You're completely at the mercy of other people and you can only hope their character is decent.
I've heard the "you're going to have to put up with stupidity in the real world too" argument. Yeah but I still disagree. I've been out for 18 years and haven't once regretted it. The difference is, in the civilian world I can tell my boss he's an idiot and quit. I'm not legally required to put up with favoritism, hypocrisy, incompetence, "punishment", and so on.
You can't just quit any job any time you want. Well maybe a deadbeat can. You sound like a whiny candyass.
Facts
During the Viet Nam war, a lot of black soldiers wore bracelets made of boot laces woven to look like chains, as the last slavery.
My dad and brother are jarheads but my brothers DI broke 2 privates backs in bootcamp so he was busted down. Broke their backs. But my dad a WW2 MARINE Was different type of jarhead.
That type of leadership turns into "accidental" friendly fire in battle.
The two happiest days of a marine's life: The day he gets in and the day he gets out...
The same as having a boat?
@@Agent1Wthat’s the joke.
Sounds like jail from The Wire. “You only serve two days in jail; the day you go in, and the day you get out.”
that sounds more like a boat owner
True!
Being told to apply for food Stamps, after waiting for base housing, then seeing toxic leaders being promoted over war hardened veterans or standing through a extremist training. I don’t regret enlistment being deployed, but I’m not exactly sad to be medically retired.
Friends politics man, friends politics.
I knew airmen that were on food stamps in 89. It is no different. I actually qualified and had another airman tell me I should apply. I was an E-4 and my wife stayed home with the kids. Lived in base housing. I went to the office and saw the folks that were applying and said to myself, "We are not that bad off." My wife was a wonder woman at stretching a dollar. The kids were more important to her than a job outside the home.
General von Seeckt did not recruit the Officer corps of the Reichswehr on the measure of war hardened, that does not necessarily include the abilities you need for a good leader
I left in 2010 because of deployments and non sensical training/dog and pony show bullshit. But mostly deployments. I was airborne infantry active duty. The money gets quite good after E-5. Not sure why people are bitching about the money. Benefits and time off are actually great.
I feel this heavily!!
This Sergeant Major is the definition of a human power point.
lol
you did not
All Generals and their SgtMajs are basically politicians in uniform.
Truth
Who needs talking points when you are rhetoric incarnate?
My last 2 years in the Marines:
Requested to go to MCMAP Instructor Trainer course: No
Requested a lat move to aircrew (already winged A/O): No
Requested a B billet (any of them): Nope
Requested an IA billet to deploy: Not gonna happen
Requested my next duty station be west coast since my ex got orders to Hawaii: Sorry about your luck, not gonna happen
7 years active duty, meritorious Cpl and Sgt, PME complete (distance and resident), NCOIC of two shops and qualified A/O, 1st class CFT/PFT, expert rifle/pistol, etc...
Meanwhile, Sgt's that look like a beach ball wearing childrens uniforms get promoted.
They don't want good Marines. They want to only hear yes and the sound of slurping...
Yes, gawk, gawk, gawk, gawk
It’s like that in the army too.
Unfortunately that does not just apply to the military it also applies quite a bit to the civilian world where Optics often takes more presidents over subst ance and the dog important show tends to prevail.
IYAOYAS
@@DanteRiley a pathetic slogan perpetuated by individuals that lack ability to grow
USMC thinks higher PT scores makes a man worthy of leadership. It's the character not the piece of paper they have.
Leadership didn't mature in any way other than becoming more toxic.
This Sgt Major is out of touch. His time politicking in DC and puckering up to the brass has left him in a position that he has no idea what the enlisted entrusted to his care are experiencing. When they bring it up, they're ignored.
That’s why the army they have total army concept… shoot, move and communicate
@@CarlosC77 The Marine Corps doesn’t see the Physical Fitness Test as an indicator of character. It sees it as an indicator of Physical Fitness. If you are not physically fit the Marine Corps doesn’t have a place for you, even if you’re an admin clerk.
The bureaucracy is the case that military doesn't hold accountable
I explain to my civilian friends that being in the Marine Corps is like being in a toxic relationship. I love the Marine Corps and being a Marine, but unfortunately, the Marine Corps doesn't love you back.
I think most Marines feel that. It’s more like you love you’re brother and sisters in with you but everything els is ass.
IT IS RAN BY RIGHT WING CHRISTOFASCIST BOOTLICKERS. IT DOESNT KNOW HOW TO LOVE ANYTHING BUT THE PURSUIT OF POWER.
Yep
It explains how I feel years after I got out. I miss the Clowns. But I don't miss the Circus. I have friends from when I was in that I still talk to most every day. And there's some shitbag blue falcons I was in with that I wouldn't even tap the brakes on my car if they walked out in front of me on the highway.
100%. I would do just about anything for my fellow brothers, but the institution lost its way. It is a bigger issue than just the Corps too, as this has been going on for just about as long as the Corps has been around. "War is A Rackett" says it all.
I did one enlistment from 2017-2021. There were a lot of reasons to get out, but the one that stuck with me the most was our leadership. In my experience, it became very apparent that if Daddy Sgt Major didn't like you, then he was going to do everything in his power to ruin your career. I was stationed with a small and unusual unit, so interactions with high level enlisted were unavoidable. Now that I think about it, it is unbelievably fucked how our "leadership" tried to ruin us. It was literally a bunch of 35-40 year olds just walking over 18-24 year olds because they could.
I’ll say I’ll agree with this because I’ve seen it happen.
It happens anywhere and it is honestly disgusting. Imagine some crooked guy at the top who could ruin your career prospects just because he feels like it. And to not have any recourse whatsoever. Meanwhile, everyone they like gets kickbacks and more.
It twists my brain up now at 43 years old that the senior NCOs that gave me hell at 18,19,20 were younger than I am today, whole lot of ignorant people
@@baluskin1420 Dog, I was a 24 year old being told I wasn't allowed to drink coffee because "only SNCOs rated it." It is mind boggling how childish most seniors are.
@@reversi_dovah4995 I'm not surprised, I served under some quality douchebags as well
The waste of time is what got me... I was in the Navy for 4 years and got out in 2019. When I first got to my ship I really liked it, I really felt like a sailor pulling the lines, dropping the anchor, doing well deck ops with the Marines and their amphibious vehicles. The Captain of our ship would constantly walk the ship during working hours to every department, ask how we all are doing, and move about his day. Your job is finished and there's nothing left to do? enjoy your time off with your family because we are going underway for a month next Friday which is preparing us to be on DEPLOYMENT for 8 months.
This man retired as an 06, and the moment he left it continuously got worse. Sweeping compartments that weren't dirty for HOURS, rules that didn't make sense and weren't necessary purely in the name of "because I said so". Toxic leadership ruined the military for me, and it was always due to a leader who were busy chasing a star or an anchor to add to their rank rather than being there FOR and WITH the junior sailors who made this warship set sail.
I'll never forget the time I was on duty (6 sections.) on Christmas eve, sweeping the pier in the rain.....
I use to joke about having to sweep in the rain. It makes me depressed to hear that was your reality.
@@eligreg99 I had to mop in the rain, direct orders from my SECO lol. I am glad I left.
I want to join but is it that hopeless?
Dog I can remember if it was the greenbay or the Ashland but they tried to have us clean the ship like that with y’all my plt Sgt was like naw that stupid as hell
Sweeping in the rain is funny AF! 😂
Its a leadership problem and its not just in the military. It's everywhere.
My SSgt would tell me that we were all going to stay late because he had nothing to do at home. No exaggeration. No one can challenge people in charge making these decisions without ruining your career. They don't treat you like a team member until punishment becomes a thing.
A lot of people overwork because they have nothing to do at home. That's everywhere now.
@@Player19961 Depending on who you ask, some feel the need to be AWAY just as much as their spouses need them around!
Really?!😮 He told himself if I'm alonly you guys are going to keep me company, if you like it or not.
@@Agent1Wthis is such a dumb response🤣
@@EatDatBitchAwp The truth is that dumb!
Mass punishment led me to start committing the "crimes" because I was going to get punished for it anyways. Being treated like a child left led me to become numb to people's rank. Asking for authority to wipe my ass led me to audibly laugh at peoples talking points. The low pay and slow promotion led me to earn 6x the pay of what the O-6 leading the unit earned that year was paid due to teaching myself how to invest. Watching a staff NCO not receive punishment for a DUI and a lower enlisted get knocked down for the same offence taught me a lot about the real world at age 20. Listening to wookies get plowed by senior NCOs and get promoted faster than someone with near perfect promotion criteria led me to distrust female coworkers competence. Listening to my leadership say "we're family" or "we're brothers" while I witnessed a "brother" blow the back out of another "brothers" wife led me to believe that we are, in fact, not family.
Real talk🤝
Don’t get it wrong your real brother would probably do the same. Or sister
Preach brother preach! This is truth! Marine Corps doesn't want to hear the truth on what the real Marines putting in the grind really think. SNCO's and Officer only caring about how they are viewed for their fitreps for their advancement. I couldn't stand those higher ranks that always had a rebuttal or solution to a problem but it was always so unrealistic. I.E. Ssgt: Why you 2 minutes late I could write you up for being UA Devil Dog? LCpl: Traffic accident caused traffic to back up SSgt. Ssgt: Well Devil Dog then you should've left earlier so youd get here 15 minutes early. LCpl: I did SSgt. Ssgt: Then you should've left to be here 30 minutes early to account for a traffic jam.
Thats another reason why females should not be on military bases or be allowed in
Damn dude, 💯
I served between 2017 to 2022 and I wanted to do 20-30 years. Meritoriously promoted twice, received Marine Of The Year 2019, career average Pros and Cons of 4.6/4.6. I got out Honorably as a Sergeant. I got tired of being mistreated, misused, and tired of being treated like a child despite my accomplishments because other Marines couldn't conduct themselves as such. I always wanted to be the poster Marine, what other Marines wanted to emulate. After encountering absolutely terrible leadership 95% of the time and toxic leadership that would punish improvement, I cut my ties. Everything I learned about the Marine Corps was a lie. All of it degraded into nothing because of old Marines ruining it for all the new Marines. I did everything I could for my Marines before getting the hell out of there.
I wish I could have had a Sergeant like you. I got out as a Corporal. I had a Staff Sergeant give me 3.9/3.9 pros and cons when my Master Gunz went on vacation and all the officers turned over one summer. I didn't even know how bad the Staff Sergeant screwed me until I saw my pros and cons after he left the unit.
@@darthconquest1046 I never Served so forgive me for not know, but is the pro/con a rating or something?
@@jimmyjohnjuan proficiency and conduct grading. Every 3 or 4 months youd get a pro/con counseling with your scores. Sometimes it gets hidden like this though
@@jimmyjohnjuan yes. Pros and cons in the Marines are proficiency and conduct marks. 3.9 was the lowest score you can give without documentation.
You found out that the same people who lied to the native Americans would lie to you too? 👀🤣😂🤣😂
90% of the problems in the Marine corps stem from bad leadership at both the NCO and officer level.
The concept of officers has needed a massive overhaul for decades but nobody wants to upset the Apple cart. It used to be that going to college meant you were significantly smarter than your fellow Marines. Now it just means you are 4 years older than the average boot but with about the same knowledge base. I’ve watched a 24y/o 1st Lt try to explain how the real world is to a 27y/o Cpl who joined later in life…ironically who had a bachelors degree himself and was working on his masters.
What’s worse is the environment where officers feel they can never be wrong and cover for each others mistakes rather than owning their mistake and moving forward. You aren’t fooling anyone except the lowest common denominator and you are alienating your “smart” Marines.
At the NCO level you see far too often the competent get passed over for the command favorites and then the few good leaders who make it become jaded and leave so you are left with mostly bad leaders with a small sprinkling of good leaders who still think they can change the corps for the better. Another pair of anecdotes. A true genius of a leader, also the command favorite. Worked his ass off and was meritoriously promoted all the way to Sgt. Made SSgt in under 5 years. As soon as his first contract was up (5year contract) he left the service because he was tired of dealing with the bullshit. The other example is a Sgt who picked up in his first 4 years. Extended in country to provide support to a specific mission. After a week of night operations where he barely slept so he could provide insight into the planning stages and go on every raid, his dummy cord on his pistol broke and the pistol fell out during an evac from the last raid of the night. His Lt offered him NJP and reduction of rank but he could stay in country with his team or he could choose to fight the charge and return home. He chose NJP to stay with his team. So the Lt NJP’d him took his rank and then shipped him Home still. Why? Because the Lt. made a mistake by over using this guy to the point of exhaustion but couldn’t take responsibility for driving him too hard. When the now Cpl returned home he was within 6 months of EAS. His Company commander and eventually even the battalion commander tried to get him to reenlist; promising to promote again as soon as possible. He told them both where to go.
Biggest reason, bar none, for why good Marines leave the service is because commands are incompetent at best, malicious at worst.
BAD "leadership" starts with an incompetent, criminal as Commander-in-Chief
Yep.
This is it.
@@KoolTNot necessarily wrong about the dynamics, but the thing is, it has always been this way for the 225 years the Marines have been around. It's nothing new. So why more problems now?
@@richardnguyen1520 better insight into the workings of the military from the outside looking in most likely
Left the Marines in 2017, was my dream to be a Marine since 6th grade. Pushed myself 110% everyday. Black Belt MAI, MCIWS, RSO, and color guard. No matter how hard I tried though the command never changed. I was thrown under the bus by every level of my command. My gunny, my MSG, my Capt, and the SgtMaj. The mentality of Marine command has always been turn and burn. Who cares what the NCOs or lower enlisted want. There gonna be gone in a few years anyways (actual words I heard from a officer). It’s just now that they can’t recruit like they use to that they actually give a damn about retention.
Notice how they will always blame everything but leadership. “Ohhh it’s cause they want more freedom, Ohh it’s cause of the living conditions or the food or the not being able to see their family” they always blame everything EXCEPT the toxic leadership. That is why nothing has changed in the last 30 years.
Also the word is out and it’s well known that USMC recruiters are straight lying to kids. I’d say about 70% of Marines I met in the Corps were doing a MOS they didn’t pick. Finding out that your recruiter (the first Marine most people meet) was a liar. Starts you off on the wrong foot with the corps.
Most of the things I was told while being recruited was a lie.
Recruiters are scumbags. Unless you go with someone who knows what is bullshit or what isnt the recruiter will just spew lies to entice you in. Its worse now because of the personnel shortages and low faith in the armed forces. They will just shove you into whichever job needs filling because theyre so behind on numbers
312?
Corps
Yup my recruiter lied to me too
I'll never forget when my 1st Sgt. got mad at me because I wanted to get out because of all the BS. Around a week later he told me that the only reason he re enlisted was because he purchased a bunch of things he couldn't pay for if he got out.
but did you end up leaving?
@@nehuenbec yes, yes I did
@@LarzFatesHow much did they pay you?
Oh ya he sounds like a really smart guy!
Thank God you left that BS
@@lukeskywalker650 Well First Sergeant's (1SG) are actually well paid. Like 80K now.
I joined single, then got married and had 1 kid and another on the way. Wife put her personal goals on hold while I was in. It’s difficult being e1-e-4 and being married with kids. Not impossible just more difficult. I could see the toll it was taking. I was more focused on my job than my family because you don’t have a choice. You don’t get to decide when you go into work, what time you leave, all the time you are away from them. My breaking point was getting home from a long day, wife goes out to the gym and I’m giving my 1 year old a night bath, get recalled to the barracks for a all hands issue that had nothing to with me. Knew it wasn’t worth staying in if it would hurt my relationship with my wife and kids
You’re a true man. A lot of frivolous marriages develops in the military and I’m glad you seem dedicated to yours. There are better ways to support your family and your country at the same time.
We must've seen a 75% divorce rate in my unit amongst guys who were E1-E4. Woman get tired of their husband being gone 24/7. If we weren't deployed, guys still wouldn't be around their families much because we'd be training or be forced to hang around the motor pool for hours on end doing nothing. Kudos to you and your wife for making it work, she's a strong woman!
You decided to be an E1-E4 with a wife and kids. There are trade offs with every walk of life.
@@TheBatugan77 still shouldn’t be like that, why join the military when you have to make trade offs like that when civilian employers are more accommodating to such situations
@@TheBatugan77 But we DESPERATELY NEED E1-E4 volunteers in our armed forces. With retention and recruitment rates at historic lows, we need to be doing all that we can to encourage young mothers and fathers to join the military.
My oldest son just retired with 20 years.He is a physical wreck, my baby son was not allowed to reenlist at 11 years after he extended for extra time in Afghanistan, and my baby boys wife was med released after 4 years. Still proud of them.
Sorry for how they were treated, man. Hope they recover.
When I worked for the VA i heard that story a lot...a lot of these young guys felt like they where used and abused then discarded like they were nothing.
Just a guess that your clientele had a bit different take than prior service dudes hammering down beers at the golf course because the Corps equipped them to become successful in their chosen careers.
@@chuckwoste2875 They probably worked injury free jobs. Were probably officers.
Only join if you're young, dumb and full of come.
well it is todays world welcome to wonderful world of hell!
That's exactly per word the truth... if you get leaders that are stupid and kiss ass.. They can be as stupid as a leader as they want, and nothing will happen to them... If you're young and not taught to be a leader properly, then you end up with the toxic leadership.
Man, you're spot on. I'm an active duty Army Warrant Officer. I thought that if I stayed in this sh*t game long enough, I'd be living the good life in the military. Not true, at all. I'm close to retirement, but if I could change it all, I wouldn't have stayed this route. You want to know how to recruit and retain military personnel? You provide them with the job skills that they initially signed up for, you keep them in that job unless they want to go into a broadening assignment. You provide adequate pay to that job skill that is equal, near or little below equivalent to the civilian sector. Medical physicians, and others alike, receive payment compensation. Why not do the same with other high skilled jobs like cyber, MI, engineer, etc.? The housing piece these Marines mentioned is key. Fix the environment of the barracks and dinning facilities to a point where single service members want to feel like they are being taken care of by their organization. If you look up UA-cam videos of the living conditions of civilian installations on Antarctica, you'll see why civilians that worked on Antarctica want to return to that harsh environment. Good living quarter, food, and quality of life. Lastly, for me, I think localized stabilization could be a driving force to raise military recruiting. By this I am mean, people in these times don't want to be relocated. That's the negative of military service for majority of these intellectual kids when they also apply with the civilian industry. Give them the option to pick their duty locations. If they want to be stationed at the nearest specific service component base closet to their hometown, let them. And after their initial enlistment, if they want to remain close to their hometown, allow them to. Give leniency to the MTOE system. It's a broken system anyways. Army Human Resource Command is a broken system, and I'm willing to bet that other service component HRs are also in the same hole of donkey sh*t. Kids these days, their culture is about the family unit. We've had two decades of war, with war veterans not sugar coating their experiences over seas. We are now a culture where we don't want to be separated from our families. And us war veterans are doing that ourselves. I've been to Afghanistan and Iraq a total of six times, with a couple of recent European rotations. I would never tell my children to join the military due to the likelihood that they could be separated from me, and my internal family, for an extended period of time. Allowing these new recruits an option to stay local, or at least closer to their hometowns, could mitigate that gut wrenching feeling of being away from family.
I was in paratrooper in Iraq while my son was born and while there got offered my dream contract a flight medic with the 160th SOAR and a slot in the W1 combat medical course along with a 20k bonus. I talked to some of my senior ncos and asked about how much time they missed with their kids having not even met mine yet. The answer I got that stood out was "ive missed 6 birthdays and countless life events". At that moment is when they lost me. I loved the army and I loved combat medicine but I will always love my family more.
Never understood why they put people on levy for Korea when there's plenty of guys that wanted to go. I didn't have a year so I signed my quitin papers upon return from a NTC rotation.
you covered it, thanks for sharing
put this guy in charge NOW
@@ricklepick5829 I have three kids. I’ve never seen any of their births. Two deployments and NTC. Yes, you read that correctly, N…T….C.
I chose to punch out and retire at 20 years of service (Camp Pendleton) because I saw the direction the Corps was going and the politics of it all. The wokeness of the military and poor leadership only interested in statistics instead of the individual Marine. The Marine Corps failed to evolve. They don't give young Marines second chances anymore. They love to ruin young Marine's careers only after one offense. Young kids make mistakes. The barracks is worse than a college dorm. Give young Marines a choice. Treat single marine's like adults.
You said single marines. Do they treat married marines differently?
I just sat on an AD SEP board for a young PFC who was busted down for taking shrooms. All 3 members of the board voted to retain. I think you are right it is an issue that some leaders only care about themselves and statistics, but not all. After 16 years in, I think the issue is there are still people in who have a mindset from back in Iraq days (01-06, etc.) Times have changed, and with the way recruiting efforts are failing across the board, leaders need to adjust, the problem is they dont want to.
@@systemsevil1 Good leadership is a set thing. Sound judgement and warrior mindset is not one thing 50 or 20 years ago from today.
The changes, such as the woke BS and the lowering of standards ARE the problem, not failure to lower everything to a gutter standard.
Some good points Thio. The Marine Corps lost the war against the zero-defect mentality which is really not even an accurate way to put it.
Warrior qualities are often not quantifiable and those have not been given their due. Optics and careerism have been the silly criteria for retention, but such things are not true excellence where it matters: readiness for combat.
I myself know what it's like to get the short end of the stick by prioritizing mission and men leaving virtually nothing toward self-interest. Eight promotions and 13+ years of honorable service everyday was not enough.
Nevertheless, I had quality experiences most of the time, and I dodged some bullets of the kind that hit others like LtCol Schecter.
The formula for success isn't even complicated. It's older than the first firearm. It takes leaders of warriors who care less for themselves than for victory in battle, the welfare of their men, and the freedom of their nation. But those kind of leaders don't make good 'yes-men' and thus are not very much welcome, not at the higher levels anyway, a few of them to catch the worst flak are tolerated in the trenches is about all, ar least where I saw it.
The irony is that the real issue in the military is that it is TOO conservative. Why do you think they are not keeping up with the times... You dont like it so you call it "wookeness" to have it fit with your own ideals. You really think very liberal societies have military like what you call "wookness" in US context...
6 years for me, lost motivation at around year 4 mark. It's the treated like a child and doing stuff the dumbest way possible for me. And toxic leadership.
I recently got out of the navy, and it was honestly just the poor leadership. I agree with the marine who got out; just wanting to be a normal person and not have to answer to another adult who treats others like children.
change leadership to who is good not who jumped through ocs hoops. i hear leadership has gotten more focused on their success rather than the young marines success.
Yeah, I enjoyed parts of the military. Definitely not for everyone, but I’m not surprised that all of the branches are suffering with retention. The navy is offering recently separated sailors thousands of dollars to stay in or come back. I was in an exped squadron, so life was good. Still not worth staying in.
Poor you. I'd love to hear their side of the story.
@@jamessephar9458 Poor me? I never got into trouble. I got out honorably and had a well enough experience. I was speaking generally. The leadership above your immediate supervisors w/ the exception of select COs don’t care about personnel.
@@JamesonsTravels that is painfully true. Got out in 13 and I could not stand seeing good Marines get fucked because of it.
I got out in 2019, I love the Marine Corps due to its history of doing the impossible, and true definition of brotherhood. However, my squadron killed my dream of staying in due to its hypocrisy, favoritism, lack of basic common sense, double standards, and now how we need to change to “be approved” by the world. The Marine Corps doesn’t need to change its military mindset to “be approved” by soft people. It needs to change military mindset on “if the enemy is adapting, we need adapt even fast, get stronger, and what to expect if Plan A, B and C doesn’t work”
SO many solid, life changing take aways for a young man who opens his eyes. even on pump.
Exactly
Got out in 1992…on the heels of Desert Storm. What they discussed is on-point.
When I lost my mother February 14, 1992, the frustration of staying in and my family issues clashed. I fought the hardship discharge, as I was misinformed about it being other than honorable. I returned to finish my duty and got in the crosshairs of the Sergeant Major.
When I got offered the early release, I took my terminal leave and applied it to get out.
Three decades later, I got my Master’s degree and am working on my second.
pretty much sums it up
How well does using your logic of not changing what you do work out in battle?
Number 1 reason to keep me in the USMC. Hold officers accountable for their screwups like the Afghanistan pullout.
There were 2,000 troops left in Afghanistan. Demented Joe decided to pull out with hardly any notice. Blame him.
Hes not the one making the decisions. Hes letting his cabinet and military advisors decide
Accountability will never happen until we can get the politicians playing military dress up out of our military. At this point there is almost no difference between military life and civilian life. A military force can not function with a civilian mindset.
@@jamessephar9458 I hate how people try to tack it onto him, the public has always wanted the US out of there and you had republicans whining about Joe going to start another Middle East war but he did the opposite. Remember the hippies crying about being us being there? They were real quiet when we left and some of them flipped their views instantly and wanted us back there. This is on the public
You can blame Biden for all that. Just look at all the military aircraft that were full of Afghanie's heading to America and not the Americans.
That Sergeant Major sure loves to hear the sound of his own voice. Bless his sweet heart 😚
He's not any Command Sergeant Major though, he's The Command Sergeant Major Of The Marines. So he has to elaborate the viewpoints.
Honestly Devil, I am a former US Army SSG and the problems are quite numerous and similar across all branches. I think this would be a great opportunity for you to do a long form live stream and allow folks to call in so we, as brothers and sisters, can have these conversations to air out what is and has been going on. Our military is in a really bad way right now and it's not the right time to be like that. I sincerely hope we get a new president next election that recognizes this and fires every CoS and starts putting in place people who care not just about retention but budget and training. We need our warrior force back.
oh yeah, i know the Marine COrps is not special in that way. My wife is an Officer I see the non sense even at her level. You idea is solid about a call in. Me managing it is another issue. lol.
Agreed.
Yep
@@JamesonsTravels there's got to be one high speed desk flyer/channel-viewer that can help you out. Your Discord sounds like a good place to have interviews.
EDIT: Brother your discord is full of high school memesters and wicked step-children haha
Yeah, a live stream would work for me. I retired after 20years in the US Navy in 09. I joined at age 27 back in the late 80's. To be honest I liked the military and would of stayed if it had not been high year tenure. As for poor or good leadership, one of the benefits of being able to transfer every 3 or so years is leadership moves or changes. All of these complaints are age old complaints. I heard them when I was in and I am hearing them now and of course I heard them from the old timers too.
Good video, keep up the good work.
I got out the marine corps after 5 yrs. Meritoriously promoted twice, became a black belt MCIPAC instructor, range coach, and crossed trained into another mos. I remember just not being appreciated and constantly s**t on. Even with my overseas experience I still got treated poorly. I know marines rip on each other but it comes from a good place, what my leadership was doing was not from a good place. I don’t know if it was because I made them look bad or what? But, when my intelligence was questioned because I was open to the idea of college I decided it was enough. Sad it ended that way but I loved being a sergeant and training guiding my marines. Many still talk to me.
see men like yourself should be kept in by every means possible. treated well to get to reenlist. letting you go is a stupid move for the mission.
thanks for your service, so sad to hear what happened to you, you were clearly outstanding and a great asset to the corps, glad to hear other Marines still contact you, you have their respect and no one can take that from you
Rah SGT
Man I’m so sorry that happened to you . What is happening to our armed forces 🤦🏾♂️
I experienced the same thing, I went out of my way to train other Marines to bring them up and got stepped on for my troubles. Too many others were lacking and when they were not up to speed it made them look bad. I found out over the years most who talked Billy bad Ass couldn't cut it in combat,most would roll up in a ball until the shooting stopped an then wanted to take charge again, I would not let them.
I was in the Marines from 1974 to 1978. When I got within two months of either reenlisting or discharging the Marine Corp decided to remove several MOSs from receiving reenlistment bonus of $10000. I was a 2531 Radio Communication Operator. Then when I was sent from Marine Barracks Adak Alaska to 29 Palms with thirty days left, I went to a career counselor who was reading a magazine with his shoes propped on his desk and he frankly could of cared less whether I reenlisted or not. I was only 21 years old and really was wanting to stay in but the Marine Corps was in a force reduction and not wanting to retain veteran Marines since you were going to be paid more and recruits at the time were being paid $700 a month as opposed to an E-4 making $1200 a month. I enjoyed my time in the Marines but I decided to use my GI Bill educational benefits and go to school. I earned a degree in electronic engineering technology and made a nice living. I am now 65 and retired.
Now finish game of thrones
couldn't have cared less*
I was in 69-72 as a 2531 with one tour in Vietnam. After I landed stateside at Pendleton, a few months later I transferred to a Marine Barracks in Bremerton, Washington for my last year. I counted the days to my EAS and applied for college to get a 3 month early out. I think I was making $360 a month as an E-3 when I got out. Reenlistment bonus' were something like 3 or 5 thousand dollars, choice of duty stations and a promotion.
Amazing story. I was 25 Uniform in the Army which is Signal Support specialists (communication guy).
@@vicO1323 Adjusted for inflation, 360 dollars in 1972 was 2556 dollars, that enlistment bonus: 21k - 35k. Damn you're making more money than E-3's today, must've been nice. lmao
We had to go out and do PT in the mud because someone got a dwi, our First Sergeant was furious when he came and saw us actually having fun with it
- Mass punishment - Unequal standards for fitness tests - Being told we staying late due to xyz - Recruting/ Drill instructors having no lives (could be improved) - Unstable hours (deployments are exceptions) - Toxic leadership - Being treated like a child
My son's recruiter worked seven days a week with very little brake after he got my son and a few other signed he got promoted but that just ment more responsibility.
Define toxic
I just recently got out of the Corps and the issues that made me leave were how political everything became, how the leadership was toxic and that they never held their peers accountable but would burn any Marine to the max for the smallest infraction, and the biggest one for me is that I felt lied too. I was recruited believing we were one big marpat family and what I witnessed was devil dog eat devil dog. Not friendly competition but sabotage and separation. Letting a fellow marine fall flat on their face so you can step over them to gain the CO's favor. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss being in the gun club but I kept giving it a chance at several different duty stations and they all disappointed me.
Too much racism and discrimination, I was raised across the border, born in Texas, went to High school on this side, but my English was not very fluent, I was bullied by some white racist recruits and one black drill instructor from a different platoon during PT, I reported it to my senior drill instructor who was black, and told me " he will take care of it" but the discrimination from the recruits never stopped, and after the crucible, they got worse, they told me if we were in combat they would kill me, which I simply ignored, I was very disappointed about the military, I took advantage of the dont ask dont tell policy to get out, got an OTH discharge, but thanks to the Obama administration, it was changed to Honorable discharge, so I always bash people who always say " THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE" to anyone who was in the military, thanks for what??? No foreign government has tried to invade the U.S., however, if some day Russia, Iran or North Korea sends a missile to the US, then I would be willing to defend the U.S.
I just left active duty coast guard and I'm finishing in the reserves for the same reasons that you just said. Its not just marines. Talk about shitty gear cg always gets the left overs cuz we aren't dod even the bases are from other branches from a long time ago.
Exactly, and I was in from 81-95, and it was just like that then as well.
The military is politics
Officers are “politicians”!! 👀😊
@@fastingislife3766 Bureaucracy
I was in the Airborne Infantry for six years. Got out as a sergeant. I became so disillusioned at every thing about the Army that I had to take the opportunity to get out when I could. I loved the deployments, I loved the training, I loved the jumps. Hated the semantics, the horrible leaders, the castration of the combat arms, and etc. The list of reasons to stay in continues to shrink and the reasons to get out continues to grow.
I think I sort of felt that way too. I had a surgery that got me out, but my morale wasn't particularly high anyway, and for reasons you mentioned.
Ty for your service.
I hear you bro…I am amazed how effective we actually are..with all the disfunction
I can only conclude how much more jacked up other armies are!
@@TomASwift I wouldn’t call the military my peak at all lol. I’m doing much better in life generally now, most people in my life have no clue I was ever in and I certainly don’t mention it to strangers unprompted so get fucked. I only mentioned it here because it’s a fucking video about the problems in the military.
@@TomASwift you sound about as intelligent as rock.
As a former Marine, the worst and saddest part of the Corps is that if 1 staff NCO doesn't care or like a certain Marine, especially 1st contract ones. Then all the staff will do what they can to shitbird that Marine and destroy any chance of them wanting to make a career. Getting out hopefully with at least a general discharge is all they can hope for. Very very sad.
I joined the Marines in 1968 after having read numerous biographies about Marine heroes who led their people in combat. That was in theory not in practice in my experience. I found out that in a combat situation there are more managers than leaders. They were good at directing those under them from a safe position where to go and what to do without doing it themselves. During my time in Viet Nam I only met 2 officers who were leaders, who led their Marines from the front, not the rear. Sad to say, they were the exception, not the rule. As a result, I vowed when I came home I would not allow anyone to manage me anymore. I'm 71 now and I've held to that practice. It's caused me a fair amount of trouble now and then but it was worth it. Chesty Pullers are in rare supply in any service.
I had a PSG who would favor yes men instead of those who got results and would try to bar those who stood up to him from reenlistment
I understand completely. "Leadership" in the Army is every NCO or Officer that outranks you so they'd have you believe. I was fortunate early on in the fact that I had a few Mentors that didn't let their stripes or brass confuse what real "Leadership" should be. If things ever went sideways, I would have hoped that they were in charge.
I don't work in the military but I saw that same nonsense, people now say I am abrasive but I simply don't put up the BS anymore.
@@manticore4952 when you don't cave to peoples demands, "yesmen"
You will be labeled "difficult"
lol chesty puller....sounds like a porn star name. i know he is a decorated soldier but lol.
Im currently serving in the Army Guard, I've met a lot of Marines who go out of the corps and joined the Guard. The most common reasons I hear for leaving the corps are toxic leadership, bad quality of life, want to spend more time with family, and/ or bad funding.
I'm in the Guard myself and have seen Marines do the same thing. I've even convinced a few myself 😂
Amen to that leadership sucks officers suck always take care of your men living in the marines always shifty. Officers are political now just a 0300
So true of prior service Marines in the Guard. A lot of them. Many also love to remind everyone they were in the Marines. Like ok Soldier, thanks. Was trying to figure out whose car out there had about 20 Marine stickers/decals on it 😂
Must be a requirement for their POVs?
Was able to speak to SgtMaj Black a few months ago and asked him why we can’t get Marines out of the barracks at earlier ranks like the other services do. Came down to “funding” and the excuse that the unit cohesion goes away when you don’t “know” the people you work with. The AF will literally push E-4’s out of the dorms to open space up for the junior airmen, even in other countries. While Marines in Japan have to request permission as an E-6 to live off base, just to be put on a first-come, first-serve list.
the excuse that the unit cohesion goes away when you don’t “know” the people you work with.
He may have a point here
My senior enlisted advisor and I talk about this often. Hopefully things change here on Okinawa and we can get younger Marines out of the barracks the way that the other services do.
Same thing for the Army
Same goes for the Navy except, if you get fucked up you better pray that your immediate COC looks out for you otherwise it's going to be years of falling through cracks and watching your life go down the tubes. The DOD business model blows and the Generals, Admirals, SGM's and MCPO's don't have a clue on how to fix it. Try talking to E-6 and below who have been there done that and know what they're talking about? 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
Marines will always be under funded. It is the history of the Marines.
the air force has by far the best retention...and rightfully so!
The Marine Corps gifted me with a relentless mindset, great lifelong friends and the opportunity to visit places I would’ve never gone to and title I proudly claim. I gave them my
time and effort, I may have only did 4 years but I can live with that. Bad leadership was in fact a large contributing factor to me saying goodbye to active duty.
I will say, as a Retired Marine, is leadership makes a whole world of difference. After working under some bad models, I vowed that if I make it to that point that things were going to change. I retired as a CWO-5, and will tell you that almost every Marine that worked for me re-enlisted. Unfortunately we promote those that should not make it up the food chain. Hold those accountable, through counselling, that are borderline and make them better. Its hard to do that because you want to be liked. Most cant control the Professional and Personal relationships.
That's one thing I never understood
You are the tip of the spear, first in, and yet no one in leadership understands that takes a larger cut of funding. It's very aggravating.
Thanks, Jameson.
The thing that pissed me off the most was wanting to take time off but never being allowed to and all we were doing was sitting around doing nothing and playing videogames.
“Tired of getting treated like a child”. Hit the nail on the head.
I tried joining the Marine Corps 3 times but was denied because I had “too much” tattoos. I joined the Army instead, became an Infantryman and now an Apache Pilot.
How long from when you started until you became a Pilot?
Crazy that marines can have sleeves now…. Consider that a blessing in disguises
@@scuba7236 you need to have a university degree to be an officer and be an officer to be a pilot, so it would have taken a while
@@yuukimasamura5143 This story has more holes than a Scandinavian adult film, just a bot imo
@@yuukimasamura5143 not if you go Warrant Officer.
Currently been in the Marines for about 5 yrs and get out in 3 weeks. My experience has been awful not only with leadership but peers as well. I joined for career guidance and this so called brotherhood but every chance my peers would get to have an appointment, say their kid is sick, they think they have covid or make some dumb excuse during a crappy detachment or inspection (I'm airwing) and leave me the only person to do everything they would. My leadership once accepted a tattoo appointment my peer had as a good excuse to not go on an important recovery and sent me for quite literally my 11th det at the time. My counterparts have been on maybe 3 total 4 at the most and some have been on 0. They get all this extra time off and money cause they married someone they met months ago and have a whole house valued at 600k to sell when they get out meanwhile im struggling in the barracks with all these rules set in place so I can't have a decent living. I see shitty marines get promoted over me for the sole fact that they did cpls course even though they underperformed me in every way. Military PME is near useless for college so why bother? I'm treated like a child at 24 yrs old and over the years it really did start messing with my head. I'm stationed in California and there is such a negativity surrounding marines so it's made relationships hard to hang on to a few times. They took away the bonus for my current MOS for the Osprey and then ask me why I don't want to reenlist when right next door is a job that pays $43 an hour with benefits and none of the other BS and I also have a GI Bill. Why would I want to be broke, overworked, depressed, single, and live in the barracks for another potential 3-6 yrs until I hit staff with no bonus? At the end of the day though I met a handful of a few lifelong friends and did in fact get a little bit of guidance so I got what I wanted after 5 yrs but things could've been wayyyy better if the workload and stress was evenly split and we worked as a team instead of as individuals. Also the new generation underneath me simply doesn't care to take responsibility anymore. They see people like me stressing and instead of thinking I wanna help him not be stressed by getting qualifications the mentality is well there's this shitbag that knows nothing and does nothing so I wanna be him cause he gets paid the same anyways. All I have to say to those types of Marines is I hope you're not around when an actual war begins. Hope your experience in the Marines was or is better. I don't mean to sound like a negative nancy throughout this paragraph but I'm hoping there's other Marines that will read this and know they're not the only ones that went through something maybe similar.
I feel you I just got out after 4 years and honestly believe that the Mass majority of the Marine Corps went from kicking ass to kissing ass, don’t get me wrong I loved every thing they taught me and made some of my best friends in there, but I believe most people in now are just trying to play the system. I’m not about having to throw my co workers under the bus, and treating grown men to stop acting like children by treating them like it whilst to look good on paper. I do feel like it’s just my first experience with my first unit but I’m not about to chance spending another 16 of this taking a toll on my mental health.
What’s the branch you would’ve joined instead of the marines?
I wish you the best in your life outside of the service as someone that's been out for 19 years I can sell you I took advantage of the services that were offered to me it was brutal taking the maximum amount of classes in school and my social life suffered quite a bit by managed to get my bachelor's degree in master's degree. I left off my GI Bill and in Illinois my use the Illinois veterans grant to pay for college. Keep in mind you can use military service account towards civilian education it's important to get with the VA rep at any college to get an ace transcript that's when they transfer your military education into civilian education. One thing I would also recommend is once you complete your time and service and your DD-214 definitely gives a decisive date in which you have completed your contractual obligation then I would recommend signing up for unemployment you would get it right away and you don't have to be on it for the rest of your life. For some people call just for them first others it's not but what I've found that it tends to screw soldiers over is that there's a level of desperation when they get out in which they'll deplete their savings and settle for any job offer to them. I can tell you collecting unemployment it's not going to be something you're going to be rich awful but it gives you a study income where you can strategize what you want to do next in your life and you can decide what option is best for you without depleting all your savings or settling for a job that is beneath your skill set or interest. While you're in and when you get out it's important to be strategic and get what you need. Make sure while you're in you have all the medical documentation you need in case you want to file disability claim and also while you're in try to complete getting updated prescription for glasses, and you Dental or any medical because in the civilian world all those are going to be more expensive. Good luck and I wish you the best
@@icetray2727 if you're planning on joining and want a good quality of life 100% the air force. I can't promise you'll love the air force but I can say my ex was air force and their amenities blew everyone's out of the water
@@icetray2727 everything was better and I've been to 5 separate air force bases all of which were much nicer than mine. For an even better comparison the base I stayed on is known to be one of the nicest marine bases and still was no match
Nailed it! Leadership needs to be addressed ASAP! People who should cannot lead, should not be put in leadership roles.
I EASd after my 4-year enlistment in the Infantry after I was denied a lateral move into another MOS. My career planner was just lazy and said my only option was to reenlist on station in same MOS. I used my GI Bill to get an Engineering Degree, I get paid more money for doing less work and I don't get treated like a child.
Former Navy here. I always noticed the difference between how sailors and marines are treated as low ranking/young adults. The Navy was big boy rules where as long as you did your job and stayed in regs, you got plenty of time off and treated pretty well. I left the Navy due to medical and became a police officer. Cops have to follow similar rules and regs as military folk, but it’s similar to the Navy where it’s big boy rules (at least at my agency). I don’t think any grown man wants to play the f*** f*** games past 22-23 years old and most marines I came across were getting treated like idiot children. We didn’t have anything to do one particular day in Italy. Navy side got cut loose after a field day and pt at around 1000. Marines got told to carry their gear from one end of the base to the other. And then got told to do it again. They weren’t even allowed off the base.
That's how they get us to fight good. Gotta keep us angry lmao.
@@treyspencer3101 Yeah you fight good, you also kill yourselves good from PTSD and stress, you also tend to go off the rails faster than anyone else and it's kept under the radar. It's almost like creating a unit of blood thirsty always angry retards doesn't work well when there's nothing to give an outlet for their anger besides a superior who will beat you down.
Damn😮😮😮
@@treyspencer3101yep. The only thing we got alot of was water.
Tired? Drink more water.
Hurt? Drink more water.
Sick? Why TF DIDNT YOU DRINK WATER!
FUBAR
Exact same problem in the Royal Marines Commandos. Exact thing! Retention is absolutely horrendous. Trained to death then no one cares when you are in. Lads trained to an excellent standard then left to mince around camp picking up litter. 2022 it’s not cutting the mustard
Hey good to see you. I cannot get either of our countries churning out guys that have experience for new prospects who may work out. Or because of some new dbag Lt who just finished a gender studies degree and ocs.
@@JamesonsTravels Roger that. The new military seems way too political for me ..I served from 78-85.. the reason I saw people not joining was the optics...they were cutting folks out ..I guess you couldn't be big boned and fail that punch test...and I guess times were better...so the Army felt the need to trim some fat from the ranks ..
wow, crazy and also not surprising to know it's happening in other branches also
Right, that's what we would have referred to as police call...
My dad was a tunnel rat in Korea. The army later denied benefits for years . He would have done anything he could to keep me from service. 880bil $ a year . & We have private citizen orgz.taking care of the vets who need a leg. Applaudable & yet heartbreaking at the same time.
When I first joined the Marines in the year 2000, it was quite clear from the beginning we did not have very much funding. It was no secret, and even my drill instructors would tell us that historically speaking Marines had a reputation of getting the toughest jobs done with the least amount of gear.
My M.O.P suit had at least a dozen patches from previous users, and look to be at least a decade old or more.
Even the rain poncho I was issued was more patches than Pancho. The first M16 I was issued in the fleet was so covered in rust I spent about 5 hours busting it off.
This used to be somewhat of a point of pride for us, knowing we were still the most badass Force in the world, while using the most crap!
izreeull has received over 2 trillion dollars in military aid since 2003.... there's where our money goes. This doesn't even take into account the wars we fight to keep them in control by sending our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters to fight izreeuhlls wars in the middle east to keep them and their central banking cartel in power. They are our misfortune
Lol, you probably got my MOPP gear after I turned it in a few years prior. Plus the poncho 😂
my brother was Marine 76-80, he said the same thing -- poor gear, leftovers from earlier times etc. I guess things haven't changed that much -- the key questions for the Pentagon to ask every branch is" do you have what you need? do you have enough of it? does it work well? is there something better available we can or should get? people are your best assets, they CANNOT do their job well w/o the right tools - you don't send people into battle poorly equipped -- that undermines their confidence and ability to win
@@RayRay-kh5bg lol, probably.
When you wear a MOPP suit in actual combat where NBC protection is needed you would be given a new one still in plastic. I was given a US MOPP suit and a British MOPP suit in Desert Storm.
My first duty station we had a new first sergeant. He wanted 100% accountability for Pt formation. We had 2 F ups how never showed up and were getting an Article 15. 1SG keep making the company come in earlier and earlier. We would be out in the snow 2 hours before morning accountability standing at parade rest, and this went on for over a month. 3/4 of the company could tell you how many days, minutes, and seconds they had left before their ETS.
mass punishment after training is stupid. burn the people who f up. leave the men alone.
@@JamesonsTravels amen to that
the best strategy here is: cut the losers, they can be discharged and removed, problem solved
Were you army or marines
I was in the Marines from 1976 to 1980. By the time I had a year in, I knew how many days I had left. I still remember how many days are in 4 years and 3 years
I was in the Marines for 8 years. I was really good at it. I have a folder full of letters of appreciation, meritorious masses, Marine of the month x4, NCO of the quarter x2. I love everything about the corps but the bull $hit! I was an E-6. I was not allowed to be friends with certain people, I had to salute and follow orders from people who were incompetent and irresponsible. no matter how dangerous or mucked up the order. I don't like doing stupid crap hour after hour for no reason other than the LT said so. I didn't like stupid crap, wasting time day after day and being told it was good training! how is raking the vehicle tracks from the sand in the motor pool lot training! I was a combat engineer, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to build things, not clean a squad bay hour after hour that was not dirty! mostly I didn't want to be told who I could be friends with, officer or enlisted. I got out, went to nursing school and have a great career I love! One other thing, I could not stand the immature, arrogant and horrible behavior of the young Marines and officers. Drugs, alcohol and gangs fill the ranks now. it's sad! I still and will always love the Marine Corps. I carry it with me every day.
GANGS.....One "four letter word" ,to me. My home town was ruined by gang violence. I can just imagine those gangsters, having been taught to shoot and fight correctly....Nightmare.
I feel like guys like you have it the hardest when it comes to choosing to stay in and be a lifer or get out (youngish E-6s). Since you're basically at your prime years and could stay in and retire with pension after 20 years or whatever, or use your prime years to do something else in the civilian world.
@@MaestroJericho there is no longer 20 years retirement......get with the times
My son got tired of dealing with a bunch of depressed teenagers with drinking issues and dumb asses that were right only because they had weight on their collars.
I got out of the Marine Corps in 1994 after my enlistment was up. I can say I had enough of being owned and micromanaged for 4 years. It was actually I guess what it feels like to get out of prison. It took me over a year to adjust to civilian life. I was not used to making my own decisions and being in control of my own life. I'm very proud to be a Marine and would never take it back. It did teach me discipline and accountability. I also loved the comradery, but the Marine Corps is certainly not for everyone.
Semper fi brothers. 4 active , 4 inactive reserves, Nice Med tour in 94 (somalia and bosnia)
I'm getting out in a few months after 1 enlistment with basically the same gripe. Why would I spend any more time being treated like a child when my dad did that for 18 years
As a sailor my had goes off. My first year was on a training command run by Marines. After going to a navy squadron things were more laid back, but still structured a certain way. Adapting after getting out was the same PITA your describing.
One of the biggest reasons I didn’t re-up was that my brain wasn’t valued. There was no incentive to use my mind. Physically & on the rifle range I was a mediocre Marine. My commands always relied heavily on me because I was responsible & level headed, but that doesn’t get you promoted. It just gets you more responsibility than the knuckleheads.
There were several opportunities for promotion boards but I was too proud & too (internally) rebellious to play to that song & dance.
I’ll always be super glad that I enlisted. For the most part I had a great time. I’d like all of my kids to serve one term, I just don’t see any long term benefit from being a lifer. Yes, I’d be retired by now if I’d stayed in, but I’d still have to work to supplement my income.
If you can think halfway decent for yourself, do your four years and get out.
I had my twin sister die in car accident. My 1SG acted like I was lying, told me that I had X days, if I was a minute late he would charge me. I never had any issues in the Marines. I earned E5 in 4 years. Anyway, when I got back from burying my twin, he asks me "how was your vacation?". That was when I decided to leave. I was on the fence but saw I was just a number.
Should have reported him to the IG for that comment
I'm a twin and I cannot imagine how hard that was for you to lose yours. Sorry they treated you that way after such a tragic loss.
@@castlebarron1788
He should have been dishonorably discharged for that
Condolences to your twin brother. Let God guide you in life. Take care and God bless.
@@castlebarron1788 Easier said than done. I'm in the Navy and have seen Sailors in similar situations and they reported the toxic leadership only to get reprisal against them.
They keep Marines pissed off. It's what makes us so good at combat
I got out to be a father and husband. Best decision I ever made. My kids are 20, 17, and 14. I have the best relationship with all of them. I couldn’t imagine not being there through the most important years growing up in a confusing world without their father.
My hats to you for making the right choice.
I was a teenager working for the AF as a grass cutter around our airfield at Aviano Italy in 1974. We had a break room where we had a sandwich vending machine with a microwave. Some Army guys were amazed at this small, well kept break room that served tasty sandwiches. I never forgot that difference between how AF took care of their airmen vs other services after 26 years as an aviator. I got a chance to work with great Marines during a joint exercise and they were awesome. There was always the underlying discussion that they weren’t being taken care of. It’s all known issue, but never been fixed; hence, recruitment issue and re-enlistment shortages. Culture makes a difference along with leadership follow through.
I was a young Airman stationed at Aviano. Great place and experience
I really enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps 2007-2012. If I could do it all over again I would have joined any other branch after realizing that people were getting 100k signing bonuses for doing the same job as I was doing. Not only making less money, every other branch had better gear, better food, better living accommodations, and way less supervision and f#@*$& f#$*& games. I had buddies in different branches at different bases in Japan. I remember my Air Force buddy had his own room as an E-1 while I had 2 roommates as a E-4 Corporal. When I first arrived in Japan, it was just the end of a huge lock down for the punishment of a SSgt who had r@p3d a local. The entire Corps suffered because of one persons actions. Screw that. Earning the title Marine is great, but clout doesnt pay the bills.
i feel your pain to the core. It was the same for me in oki. i loved that place. but seriously i was cpl with a roomate sharing the head with two other people while the fucking airforce had a danm mini kitchen for one person.
Went from Marine Corps AD to Reserves and man it’s much better. The more maturity in the leadership is insane. Leaders who relate to the real world and then level with their Marines makes a big difference. My current FS is amazing, treats everyone as grown men and women.
great video jamesons always pushing out great content
SO many good points raised here. It's hard to pick a single one that stand above the rest. Quality of life. Mass punishments. How we are treated like children. Having to ask permission to go home as an adult man. At a normal job, you clock out when your shift ends and that's that. Now, we have even more issues. People with objections to certain shots being forced out. People who have absolutely no interest in serving the America we have become under this administration. It's a myriad of problems.
To throw in my 2 cents, the hardest realization for me when it came to the Corps was that the Marine Corps I fell in love with, was not the Marine Corps I enlisted into.
probably the most accurate way to describe how i feel about the marine corp right now as i sit in my barracks room
Same, literally watching this in my barracks room rn counting the days I get out lol
Hang in there guys, youll get your DD214 soon enough. 'Rah and Semper Fi.
that was my reaction. The Marine Corps that I wanted and expected from reading, movies etc wasn't the reality. I was disappointed and wouldn't stay in something like that. I realize there is no perfection but this went beyond that. The reality didn't live up to the image. In case any one attacks my perception. Meritorious promotion to Cpl. never had office hours and left after four years as a Sgt 0311. I was an 0311 because I wanted to be infantry. I wanted to be at the sharp end.
You hit it right on the nose brother.
Treat your employees like they are valuable because they are. It’s that simple.
Getting treated like a child even as a squad leader, constantly getting lied to, undercooked chowhall food are things that come to mind within 3 seconds
Yupppp
I’m just going to rip the Band-Aid off and say
Because we have literally retards at the at the chow hall every single day making the food.
The US military needs to stop trying to be 'up to date' with whatever else is going on in the world.
retaining good troops is the strongest attribute of any military long term
Soooo fucking true
I’m sure the world is just holding back the marine corps
Absolutely true!
USMC's going Woke and the troops don't like it.
I reason I left the corps was because I was tired of being treated like a child being checked on every hour. My senior leaders also took half of my CIF gear and I was blamed for not having it and when I said something they denied it
Protect that CIF gear with your LIFE(locking my compartment right now)
Always lock your gear.
@@gregdavies8572 how are you locking it in a gear inspection???
That's the ridiculous part about the military grown men haveing to treat other grown men like they are five years old when it's only the small number of idiots that's are the screwups. Its a one team one fight when one screws up up we all screw up, but some times the person who screwed up is their fault and their fault alone and nobody else's.
One of the many reasons on why I never went in.
Unfu*****real. Oh wait, it is real. And sounds pretty accurate. Zero representation and treated like a 3rd class citizen
-Terrible living standards
-Pathetic wages
-Mass punishments
-Ridiculous Punishments
-Treating adults like children
-Lack of logical decision making
-Showing up to an event hours early to wait around
-Unnecessary Training requirements
-Overworked and undermanned
-Broken promises
-Lack of base housing
My time in the Marines is something I’m barely proud of. I’m proud that I did it, but I was treated like garbage at every moment and every rank. by the time I left I was filled with so much hatred for the leaders who abused us and neglected us. People got hurt and were treated worse than when they were well. The minor and worthless things that we got screwed over for made the experience worthless and damaged the character of everyone I worked with. Most got out jaded and filled with regret. For the record, I was a god damn good Marine. Outstanding pros and cons, great rifle qual, great swim qual, great PFT, and what I was actual taught my knowledge was acceptable.
it's all about leadership, good leaders take care of their people
"Know when to push hard and when to pull back" I loved that quote from you old man. As young man who grew up in a tough household and a tough neighborhood I can safely say I've achieved some sort of enlightenment, in terms of reading people. I was 17 going into the Army National Guard and the only thing on my mind was, "How can I lead these men and women?" because I've always had that sense in me. The sense of appeasing those around me in order to boost morale because judgement is flawed and clouded when under extreme stress 24/7, speaking from experience. Sometimes the battles you fight are not overseas, but at home and I understand that. That's why I love hearing and listening from older generations like yourself because it solidifies my values and reinforces my beliefs. Not all men are created equal, but hell I'll make sure we all come out alive, together.
Requiring college for officers is an old holdover that can probably be done away with. Back in WWII when about 7% of the population was going to college it may have meant a little something, but not that much. Now with over 30% going it doesn't mean as much. If you do a little research, there are studies showing that as the quality of college admissions has gone done, the quality of officers has also gone down.
so many enlisted guys have degrees. frankly, the best leaders should lead. not based on a history degree and ocs. No other business would have such an outdated system.
@@JamesonsTravels If that's the case then something like an OCS version of the British Sandhurst school would be a good idea. Maybe it would work well enough that the college requirement could be waived for good leaders.
The whole system is ridiculous and is a holdover from medieval times. The officers are the nobility and the enlisted are the peasant farmers. No other organizations put inexperienced college grads in charge just because of a piece of paper. Think about if police forces, fire departments, federal law enforcement etc worked like this? The new police chief is 23 yo and got the job because he has a degree…yeah not gonna happen. I’m in my 40’s and I’m sick and tired of working for people that were wearing diapers when I joined.
College only produces "Power Point Heros". I retired as a CW4 and have always said, promote all officers from the ranks. I went through the Army on the "high school to flight school" program. I flew some of the most complex helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for 28 years with zero college, no other service allows this anymore. I honestly couldn't recommend ANYONE go into the military today. It is going to get to the point here in the near future that they are going to have to resort to the draft to put meat in a seat. I retired in 2011 and it was getting bad then, I can't even imagine how bad it is today.
@@JamesonsTravels I strongly agree that the officer ranking system is obsolete and is nothing more than class warfare within the ranks. How the hell is a boot lieuey higher in rank then a SNCO?
When our son was at Pendleton (2017), he carried a 120 lb pack. As a radioman he had a 10 lb radio plus 2 each 4 lb batteries (from the 90s). Each guy in his squad also had to carry 2 batteries became the radio was so old and heavy. In. SOI, they were only served spaghetti, hamburgers and hot dogs for 13 weeks. He was spending his pay at the food trucks because the chow was so awful.
I was going to be a lifer but my command actively was forcing people out of the corps as our contracts ended. I got lied to about being ineligible for reenlistment and only found out I was eligible on my last handful of days processing my exit. One of my friends was a motivated hard charger who lived for the corps and pushed hard to try out for MARSOC, but as his contract was ending and he was looking to reenlist he was told they wouldn't give him the opportunity and we're looking to not have him reenlist, he ended up taking his own life not long after. But they still wonder what is keeping people away when many of us are willing to give up all comforts to just be in the corps and are told we aren't wanted. Ive found my own path and I'm glad I've gotten out of that mess, but if I was given an offer to go back in I'm pretty sure I would still take it even up to this day. I love the corps and they are my brothers, but God damn there's some deep issues they refuse to address and will keep eating away at it.
I know of one Marine who after the Iraq war, and the corps was letting Marines go, he left and joined the Army.
Marines could join the navy without any more boot camp.
@@qua7771 yes but for a marine the further you try to go up the "branch totem pole" when you try to get back in (Airforce>Navy>Army) they seem to take in less prior service.
@@shauny2285 yeah I did something similar and chose to find somewhere that would actually apply my skills and would see me as useful. I'm sad that I wasn't able to continue but I'm also glad I've found this whole new path which I never would have considered going down before. But not everyone can make that change when the corps really matters to them and it leads to some pretty tragic situations. I wish I was able to talk to more guys finding themselves on the bad side of things and try to help them.
I think the biggest reason first term enlisted get out is the senior staff nco’s that have no humane attitude toward junior Marines. 12-15-65 I reported into NAS MEMPHIS to MARTD, as a LCpl with a 6 month pregnant wife. After checking in and getting assigned to the Flight Line crew I requested 2 hrs off to take my wife to the base hospital for a check up. I went through the chain of command receiving permission all the way up to the SgtMaj who stated “if the Marine Corps wanted you to have a wife we would’ve issued one to you at group supply” and declined my request. I immediately requested mast to the CO, who happened to walk into the office as i made the request. After explaining I was granted the requested. I then had hell to pay for the next 11 months. Crap like that is what will sour a young Marine.
The reasons retention is bad is because of leadership from the very top, all the way down to base/post/camp commander level. It's a loss of confidence due to the lack of ability of leadership to push back on what every other military member can see as BS. When everyone at the top is just "following and pushing BS orders", everyone else loses the thing inside them that caused the desire to join in the first place.
top leadership needs to be held accountable (fired) based decision making. (See afgan withdrawal) NOT promoted to higher ranks. military burns major and below but promote above for the same crap.
Agreed
Just left 2 months ago after 8 yrs. Couldn’t agree more. I wanted Grandpa’s USMC but it just wasn’t it. Although I couldn’t ever deny that many lessons learned translate directly into civilian life and you have alot of “aha!” moments. Lots of civilian managers, supervisors, administrators etc out there that don’t have a clue how to be in a leadership role, but that’s probably not their fault. BY THE BOOK USMC leadership teachings from all the MarineNet courses we clicked through, etc, really is applicable when the right driver is in the seat.
When leaders say we have to do tr@n$/lgbt briefs you lose my respect.
@@JamesonsTravels ie Commander in Chief. Y'all almost demoted George Bush. Would have went all the way but 'Mission Accomplished' stopped the coup. I remember... little bit of history that's prolly written out
The military has taken on a corporation approach, and that model doesn't present pride in retention. When you people feel replaceable by those higher-ups, it shows in retention.
I was in the Marine Corps 1990-2001. After boot camp, MCT, and SOI I went to Saudi Arabia. Then went to Okinawa 91/92. Then to Somalia 92/93, then back to Okinawa 93/94. In between those deployments we did a JTF in New Mexico and many other field ops. I loved the first 4 years in the Marine Corps. I re-enlisted and PCS to Quantico to train officers at TBS. I re-enlisted for FAST Co and did a little over a year at FAST then was transferred to MCSF Training Company. I received orders to 29 palms back to an infantry unit, that’s when I denied orders and that’s when I knew I was going to get out. It was my decision, I had good leaders and bad leaders. It was a tough but easy decision, I saw my life going in another direction and I wanted to get into law enforcement. I’ve been in law enforcement now 22 years. I tell people all the time, I grew up in the military, but I matured as a police officer. Marines want to be treated like men, not like children. Hold the standards for all, you don’t need a grown man yelling and belittling a subordinate just because that person has rank. Marines want leadership and guidance. Yes, there is a time to get in that ass, but you can be professional about it. The games and mass punishment doesn’t go well with Marines. Punish those that are deserving of the punishment. Just because you have stripes or wear a star on your collar doesn’t make you a leader. Leadership is a continuous education. We need to teach Marines that when they make mistakes, they will be held accountable, but I have seen where Marines are NJP’d for minor infractions that may cost them a reenlistment. I’ve also seen shitbird Marines skate by and not held accountable. When that happens, it’s noticeable. Not Marine Corps related, but when I was coming back from Iraq in 08, I was with the ARNG. We landed in Germany and many of us wanted to get a beer, well we had this SgtMaj on the plane that was dead set against it and referenced General Order number 1 about alcohol in theatre. Grown men, just served a year in a war zone and could not even get a beer. Again, another issue, and I know happens in the Marine Corps as well. I’ve been out for 22 years now, there is no way I have to yell to get my point across. I don’t have to play games to get things done. Boot Camp and when rounds are coming down range is when you need to yell. I can write forever, but it comes down to treat men like men, stop the BS games.
Where in Oki, Hopefully not Schwab!!! LOL!
Camp Schwab 91-92, and 93-94
My sons grew up as Army brats. They were very gungho to try the Marines. And they thrived the first few years. But they got tired of NCOs who did not care to let them achieve their professional and educational goals, even when they did not conflict with unit missions and needs in any way. They were both very proud to have served in the Corps, and very happy to have gotten out. With a little better cooperation and encouragement, they could have made a career in the Corps.
I relate so much to the Lance who got out. I myself am a Lance, and I relate so much to being treated like a child. I’ve had my leaders to tell me to stop acting like a Lance Corporal, but the second I show some sort of initiative? I’m immediately beaten down to “You’re just a Lance”.
Facts
What branch you would’ve joined if it wasn’t the marines?
@@icetray2727 none. It woulda always been the corps. None compare training wise, but if you have a social life and close ties with family that’ll probably go out the window. Peoples lives move on while you’re gone for 7 months - 1 1/2 years without coming back for a few days then heading right back to work.
@@jackrambo3071 I heard that the CG got the most intense training, and that people who went in for basic training with the CG can skip out on basic training if they were to go to any other branch
@@umamifan troll.
Joining was the biggest mistake of my life. Hated every moment of it.
I was going to re-enlist, my proficiency and conduct marks were high enough to warrant the base commander to talk me into re-enlisting. I told him I wanted to transfer out of the grunts and learn a skill and then he told me that a Marine wasn't a Marine unless he was in the 03 field. The career planner (jammer) said the 03 field was locked and nobody could make a Lateral transfer to another MOS. That was the straw and I got out. I really liked being there but I couldn't deal the stupid games. No, games ARE NOT TRAINING. Instead of treating the men like professional soldiers we were treated like a class of people just a little better than slaves. My squad leader was denied promotion because he refused to iron his field cammies because that destroyed the infrared protection. So a lot of very illogical and childish leadership.
So it wasn't the Marines I had an issue with, it was the leadership. Fast forward and my son joined the Marines. I promised to get my revenge by hooking him up with a great admin job that had extremely low cutting score. I got meritorious Lance and was a Corporal in 4 years. He got Corporal with no meritorious board in 2 years. So funny that when I joined people singed up for 6 years guaranteed Corporal. I also as a civilian able to keep him on my insurance until 26. I am just waiting to service relate an injury because they really have no power to stop him from going to a civilian doctor if he gets hurt.
You shouldn't have pissed me off Marines, we are going to drain you as much as possible. Payback is a biotch.. Hoo fkn Rahh.
Now anyone that doesn't think we cannot fight a war with just technology is a fool we don't really need foot soldiers and door to door anymore. Sadly Marines are cheaper than tech.
If you want to retain the larger portion of nonspecial forces, then you treat all Marines like your do Force Recon or Raiders and maybe they will stay in. Currently my son with only 2 years experience is the go to in his unit for info because the turn over is so high. There is no expertise because Marines either get out, or they have some stupid rule that they have to go to another MOS or duty like the drill field or recruiting to get promoted to staff NCO, which drains the organization of knowledge and experts. I was amazed there are no references or documented procedures for what my son does. There is training but it goes very fast but there are no references but his notes. If my company caught me running my area this way I would be fired. Someone has turned the Marines into a bunch of people just doing stuff extremely inefficiently.
Lastly this crap about going back to island hopping is a joke. With today's technology trying to do island hopping against China is suicide. I was amazed when I saw footage of Marines in Afghanistan fighting with full damn packs on their backs.. slow moving targets...whatever happened to leaving your pack at a staging area and going fast and light with ammo? WTF??? That is why they are leaving the Marines.
I had to deal with a terrible Sgt for two years. I was fortunate to be able to go home on the weekends because home was nearby for me. venting to my family about her was a relief to avoid losing it. The last seven months sealed the deal about putting the life behind me. E-4's and below, we had to march back and forth from the barracks to work. It was humiliating because the LT putting us through that was the same age as me at the time. There were a lot more reasons for leaving.
Too funny about the marching to and from your work place. There is a time and place for it, just not all the time. We had a Sergeant Major who wanted everyone marching. If there was more than one of you going to the same place at the same time, marching was how he wanted you to get there. So we did it, Rough step, March!!! Of course that drew his ire. Oh well, as Soldiers it is our God given right and duty to complain, AFTER doing as told. Peace Friend.
@@larryspiller6633 same for me while at the school house. At NAS pensacola if we were in uniform and more than one person we were forced to March. We'd take routes to avoid the flag poles because if we would come up to one we would have to stop to salute. Never seen any other higher ups stopping to salute....
@@scotfarnwalt911 I forgot about the flag poles, getting caught in traffic in the morning and evenings, slamming into park and getting out to do the military thing. Had to time things to miss all of that.
@@scotfarnwalt911 you don't stop to solute. You kept walking and solute. They fucked you with that bullshit rule.
@@larryspiller6633 Bro, when I was checking out from overseas, we had a new BC that stripped all of the PltSgt billet from Sgt and gave it to SNCO. Every PltSgt I knew dropped their packs 😆.
Just got out a month ago. I loved being a Marine and I had an absolute blast with my last unit. Unfortunately my first unit was awful to me. I was treated horribly and felt isolated, and it didn't help that I was marked as useless after my first month when I got a blood clot in my lung that took me out for almost 9 months. That first deployment was miserable. I wanted to stay in for a while when I first joined, but after my Cpls and Sgts treated me like I was worthless and tanked my pros and cons I couldn't stay in after that. If I had been with my last unit the whole time, I probably would have stayed in. They treated me with respect and realized my potential and utilized my abilities to the fullest and they did their damndest to get me promoted. It never worked out because my pros and cons had been tanked at my first unit. I love my boys and I'll miss them, but I'm finally able to spread my wings and I'm happy that I got out, but I'd do it all again for my boys at my last unit.
Circa early 2000’s AF. Mass punishment was definitely a thing. Lost weekends for say less than intelligent people, PT, cleaning and briefings. The hurry up and wait, civilian outlook in a military town, daft leadership and asbestos ridden buildings are not unique to the USMC.
It is a tale as old as time. When SGM was young he would rage against the machine and knew how he was going to change things. Now he simply rages for the machine because he knows that it is self serving to do so.
hey those board seats pay well.
@@JamesonsTravels Those board seats do pay well if you are willing to compromise yourself to play the game. It has been an interesting experience retiring as a 1SG with an earned doctorate still trying to find a position in the civilian job market.
@@jerrycrouch427 It's the same with politicians like Congressmen / Congresswomen, Governors etc.... Wow you have a doctorate? That's a very high level of education however there could be a limited number of jobs. You'll probably get another career in the government.
I got out in '93 after 8.5 years. As much as I loved the comradery and would have liked to have made a career of it, I just got tired of the toxic leadership, lack of promotions, really low pay (I was a Sgt). At some point, I needed to think about my family's future.
Navy here, I went in ready and willing to make it a career and do my 20+. I wanted to be a Sailor. But once in...i seen how no one in my chain of command really seemed interested in shaping me or helping me to grow, so I too learned pretty early on I would be getting out. The Navy was not investing in me (sending me to schools, advanced training, etc). Now the guys that found someone to mentor them ended up having great careers...couple guys made E-9 and a couple went warrant or O.
Lol I thought the same thing you should’ve seen me I was so excited when I flew out. All my family members think I just couldn’t handle or something but it was more than that it was their mentality. When did you start training?
Too many politics now
The only people they do that for is pushbuttons (people foolish enough to do a 6 or 8 year enlistment right of the bat).
Slow promotions, but you get all-you-can-eat crayons!
My situation with the Army was pretty similar. I loved my job, I was proud of it. I was deployed immediately after basic and I had a clear vision of how I wanted my career to play out going into the last year of my contract.
But when push came to shove, the Army didn't have my back. I was mocked and belittled by my chain of command for wanting to go on emergency leave when my hometown was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina.
So I transferred services over to the USAF and spent the rest of my career there. Immense culture shock. I had to completely relearn every bit of "leadership" I'd been taught by the Army.
You looked to NCOs because of the competence and integrity they displayed, not because they barked when you took personal initiative. Junior enlisted were taught to lean on their NCOs for guidance, not cower in fear of judgement.
If you made a mistake, the focus was on teaching you what the mistake was and why it was wrong, the focus was not inflicting the maximum amount of suffering on you. Leaders lead from the front, working right beside you showing you exactly how they do it and expected equal effort.
As an NCO, we were held to account for planning, performing, documenting, and reviewing training for all of our subordinates. Senior leadership checked constantly to ensure we were hitting our marks and we were expected to produce competent, motivated, and loyal airmen that could and would leave the Air Force stronger than they found it.
I could go on, but I'll save it for the novel I'm never going to write. But I'll leave with this.
The branches each have their specific strengths and weaknesses. There are things the Army did well that the USAF did terribly. Top leadership should probably take some comprehensive notes on why service members leave and compare their deficiencies with their sister services. Lean on each other to figure out how to implement changes to processes and procedures that will make them all stronger.
/rant
If there isn’t already, then there should be a rotational program. Allow leaders to spend 1-6 months with other branches. Corporate world does this. Cycle people to a few companies or branches and they come back seasoned with great experience
Well written.
Where are you from? My town got wiped out by Katrina we took the east eye wall here in bay st. Louis.
They dont allow transfers into the Corp. You have to go to PI or San Diego.
Coming from the corporate world and studying organizational behavior (not my major) there have been a lot of studies on what it takes to maintain a healthy culture in the org and what motivates subordinates to excel and progress. It seems from what I have been reading they are doing almost everything contrary
The issue with the Marine Corps is that it is so unforgiven outside of being at war. The line is razor thin and often individuals like myself that wanted to stay in tend to get passed over for promotion while watching guys I taught get E6. I couldn't imagine being on active duty during peace time.
I said the same thing. I’d HATE to be in a peacetime Corps. I got out in 2009 and spent most of my enlistment deployed.
Peace time combat arms soldiers/Marines are practically janitors and the equivalent of undesignated sailors being put to work on meaningless tasks. Kids need to realize this and opt for specialties with transferable skills instead.
I was in the Corps for 8 yrs then the Corps decided to send me back to Oki. My previous duty station was Oki then i was sent to PI at weapons bn. They were going to send me back to Oki. I said i would go if i could go accompied. Nope! So when my time was up i got out. I went to join the Army and was told the MC had given me a RE30 re enlistment code. Meaning i refused a set of orders. Never did. After the Army did an investigation the RE30 code was dropped. I stayed in Army Artillary until i retired. 77-98. Marines that get dcrewed get out! I had every intention on staying Marine. Their loss!
well.. here is the thing, how about the govt quit using the armed forces as bargaining chips to make deals with other countries
Fantasy land, those countries want our services.
I was never in the military, I wasn't cut out for it. It takes a special kind of person to be in the military. I have friends who are marines, they are a cut above the rest. The woke thing is bringing down the military, that's what I am observing....
ah you could have done it. its helps many young folks learn what they like, hate and perspective on things.
@@JamesonsTravels I was too soft. I'm your age and life kicked my ass in different ways.
I've never seen anything woke. If by woke you mean you're disappointed that hazing is not allowed anymore than yeah I guess so
@@Felix-dg9rt you must be blind to it, because the rest of the world sees it...
@@FORDultra what is woke in the military? You mean you're upset that you can't call the wrong person something messed up? Within my division in the navy, we're all cool with each other so we can still say and do fucked up things to each other. It becomes a problem when you say and do fucked up things to someone you don't know. If that's woke that you can't call some random person you don't know a faggót, then I don't know what to tell you.
The problem in the Navy has always been leadership that treats enlisted extremely bad. Look at the trial of Ryan Mays, the Navy tried way too hard to place the blame on an lowly enlisted sailor for a fire that destroyed a billion dollar ship. He was treated as a scapegoat and failed when the trial acquitted him of the act. The same with Edgar Gallagher when he was prosecuted due to some disgruntled E-5 and his leadership not liking him. Failing and getting exposed.
We need to start from the top and remove people who's leadership has destroyed what it meant to be a military service member. Eliminate the good old boys club and punish anyone who think double standards is a right.
For the love of God increase the funding to the Marine Corps. The Navy wasted so much money on defective ships and ir could have been used on improving the Corps.
yep. burn the enlisted over one thing and then promote the same leadership
You want people like Edgar Gallagher in charge? Go join ISIS, you traitor.
Speaking of the navy protecting their officers. Back in the 1970s, the Navy did a joint training exercise with the Air Force off the Italian coast. The naval aviator was a true psychopath, he knew this was a training mission, but he told the admiral "I'm locked on, can I fire my sidewinders at him?" The admiral, thinking he was joking, said, "sure, light em up." Well, the guy intentionally, not accidentally, fired his sidewinders and downed the AF F4.
Did he get court-martialed or reprimanded for intentionally shooting down a blue plane? No, the Navy covered the whole incident up. Quite the opposite, in fact, he went on to have a distinguished career, and was selected to become an admiral. After Congress discovered his crime, however, the Navy rescinded their recommendation. Essentially, the Navy covered the entire thing up to cover for the admiral who gave the pilot permission to fire a live sidewinder at the AF plane. By the way, the poor AF WSO was essentially paralyzed.
@@jayklink851 I've never heard of that story while serving in the Navy. They did one hell of a job covering that up and it is not surprising st the very least. If you recall the insane Captain that was fired for waving a gun at sailors during an UNREP (ship's refueling) or made an enlisted play the piano at one of her paties was never kicked out. Nope they sent her to Dahlgren to finish out her career.
I almost joined the Navy 16 years ago, and have been Enlisted Air Force since. What threw me off is the phrasing "Petty Officer", which literally means "of secondary or lesser importance, rank, or scale; minor." That was what deterred me from joining, but then the Air Force just masks the same ill-sentiments of Enlisted being lesser always regardless of leadership quality or superior admin/ops skills.
First of all thank you Jameson for doing this video because it's really a good one. As a former soldier in the army for 26 years there's not enough good things that can be said about the United States Marine Corps. They are the best of the best in the entire world and I always have and I always will have the highest respect for the corp. When I went in 1978 I served two years under Jimmy Carter and I will say morale was at the lowest for that time period And as far as food and equipment what we had was junk and we didn't have too much of either. When Reagan got in we had the best food, equipment and sizable pay raises and boarded it make a difference for morale. My understanding now is that a big problem is that morale is shot to hell and they are trying to weed out anyone with conservative thoughts from all branches of the service. To have a country you need two things and they are a strong border and a strong military. The Democrats always have a way of trying to destroy the military and they always have and they always will.
The part you said about weeding out those with conservative thoughts, that genuinely concerns me. I’m getting out shortly myself, but me and my buddies still in talk sometimes about what if they tried ordering is against the populace, and most of everyone I know would reject it, after all that goes against our oath. But this newer woker generation that are seemingly more on the democrat side who may not hold the Constitution in such high regards, what will they do if they’re told the same thing? Scary to think about
That is so true!
well said, the Democrats in power are destroying our military, our enemies out there know this
The Democrats want to weed out the Conservatives so that they will have nothing but freedom-hating Liberal snowflakes left who will have no problem opening fire on US citizens when they are given that order
@@maxb4210 the only administration that considered to illegally use the military against the populace for its own benefit was trump, so idk where you were going with that lol