E3F's Average Joe Daily Rambling #1

Hello there! As you may already know I'm Echo3Foxtrot and this is something I thought up while bored. The Average Joe Daily Rambling is a way for me to get whatever is on my mind out at the time. It can range anywhere from what I like on a sandwich to my thoughts on some political happening. So, let's kick this off and I'm going to just ramble on.

MYTHS ABOUT THE MARINE CORPS

This is a fun one for me to talk about because I've heard so many different myths that people seem to believe are true. Well, some of them may actually be true or as I see it, they are. So...let's see where do I start...

Marines are brainwashed in boot camp!

This one I actually had to sit and think about once. I was pretty sure it wasn't true since I didn't receive the effects of being brainwashed. Or had I? Surely if I were brainwashed I'd know it? Wait, no I wouldn't. Or at least...maybe...maybe I was? Looking back, I figured there is some brainwashing going on there. But is it really bad? The way I see it, I was brainwashed. I was. But it was all for the better. Why? Because I was a better person afterwards. Well, I'm not talking about as a Marine. I'm talking about as a person, period. I was generally nicer to people. A lot more well behaved at that. But there was definitely a change within me that I hadn't noticed happen. And when I was on my last leg in the Corps before getting out, I took notice of all the young men who were fresh out of training. They were all acting the same. They were completely unlike themselves. I remember when I was like that. Sure, it wore off. But it's evident that when you leave boot camp, you're a cog in the machine. Hopefully, you get put somewhere like I was that allowed you to grow as yourself.

TRUE

All Marines are dumb bullet sponges!

Heh, I love this one. It's just hilarious. I don't know how many times I've told someone I'm a Marine and they label me as a brainless, rifle toting neanderthal. It's always fun to see the looks on their faces when I tell them that I'm an IT specialist. They often inquire as to why I'm in the Marine Corps. Often times, I just answer them with the question "why not?" A lot of people don't realize that there are tons of different military occupational specialties(MOS) within the Marine Corps. And they range from cook to air traffic control. Not every Marine's job is kicking in doors and shooting people. Like I said, I was an IT specialist. My job was to work on IT networks and fixing computers and begrudgingly providing services to officers so they could do whatever it is that they do. If you want a good visual think of it like a well oiled machine. You have a cog for every MOS within the Marine Corps. Every cog helps the machine keep working. Granted, you don't ALWAYS need need some of the cogs, but they don't hurt. A lot of people seem to think that all that the Marine Corps is is the grunts or that all matters in the Corps is the grunts. Not to insult the grunts, but they wouldn't be able to do what they do without us "personnel other than grunts"(POGs: pronounced like pouges). It's us POGs that provide the intel, the chow, the moral and even the pay. But like I said, we're all one team and it takes us all to be the well oiled machine the Marine Corps is.

FALSE

All Marines are mentally unstable!

Well, besides the occasional person who has anger issues because they're frustrated at the injustice that tends to happen behind closed doors, or those who have issues because of PTSD, we're all pretty sane. In fact, if anything, the Corps is nothing but a bunch of frat boys. We're not mentally unstable, we mostly just are trying to find ourselves and chose the Corps to do that. May seem a bit insane to most people, but there's reasons that are hard to explain. Not everyone will understand it. Sure, some Marines go out looking for a fight and they have the meat heads who think they're the bee's knee's. But it's no different than any other group or organization with thousands of men who are full of piss and vinegar. We're not crazy and mentally unstable or even lacking of morals, we are just trying to find ourselves and what way is better than leeching off the government?

FALSE

LAST RAMBLING OF THE RAMBLER

Well, you know, I enjoyed my time in the Corps, but it was so damn frustrating at times. There were a lot of people who were in charge who were so damn caught up in their own career that they'd gladly throw lower ranking guys under the bus to save their own hide. And you've got SNCO's who seemed to have forgotten what it was like to be lower enlisted. I understood the reasoning behind a lot of the stuff I thought was stupid, but there was a lot of stuff BEYOND stupid that I couldn't wrap my mind around as to why anyone would make people do that. I can tell you that the time I spent in the Corps will always be some of my favorite years. I did a lot of traveling and did a lot of good things in third world countries. I've met a lot of good people and made some friends that will last for a lifetime. But some people lose sight of the practice they preach and I couldn't take the massive amounts of hippocracy.

Well, that's my ramble. Feel free to add in whatever you like. Just check your post before posting because I don't want any negativity. You can keep that crap.

Echo3Foxtrot