Category Archives: Current Events

Current Events

Anonymous

11 Comments

Still working on my letter, but in the meantime,  a quick post from a very old and dear friend who never served . A school classmate who lived up the street from me; a fishing and camping friend. He follows the blog, but since he has no experience in the military he doesn’t feel qualified to comment. So, I will post it for him as Anonymous. I believe he has an interesting theory. Your thoughts? 

I’ve read every post…don’t nearly understand the jargon, but I’ve formed a crazy opinion of what’s going on, so I won’t embarrass myself by exposing it to the general group. It’s this…someone is trying to “blend” the Corps out of existence. What happens if you begin and continue to add water to your favorite Scotch? It will lose its quality. In the case of the MC, I don’t buy this crap of “making it look like our society”. If they continue with the women, homos, Sikhs, etc., the Corps will soon look like any other branch of the service or your favorite high-tech corporation (pick one, FAANG maybe?). In such an event it will be easy for the “management” boys to say how it would be so cost-effective to “merge” the Corps into Branch X. And just like that—over 200 years of history actually becomes history.

Your CMC strikes me as acting like a Trojan Horse. He doesn’t believe that America needs a Corps that we citizen civilians have always admired and respected. He and his fellow Copperheads won’t risk the outcry of dissolving the MC in one fell swoop, so they are going through this charade of “making it look like the rest of America”. I personally don’t understand why they don’t see the value of a highly trained strike force that would be available to serve our country. There are so many potential hotspots as we speak. Ye gods!

I’m looking forward to your next “open letter to___”.

 

Originally posted 2021-12-04 10:26:24.

Current Events

The On-Deck Circus

Video 5 Comments

Does anyone with a left and right brain – that works – understand just who it is we have leading our country today. Your absent minded, dementia afflicted Joe, drunken or drugged Pelosi  (as shown on my previous post), and of course this insignificant person who is a flaming idiot . I simply cannot comprehend anyone supporting this circus of people who are literally – piece by piece – destroying the United States of America.

I must apologize to some of you who I now are waiting with baited breath for my Open Letter to the Commandant. Trust me, I am working on it, but it’s tough as there is so much to say and I want to keep it short, concise, and to the point. Stand by it is coming soon.

Meanwhile I cannot help myself from commenting about these buffoons’ we have in such powerful positions and telling the secretaries of the various agencies what to do, especially SecDef and Sec of Treasury.. OMG!

Here is another good one from my good friend Greg who is always on top of things.

By Greg Maresca

Prior to joining the Biden 2020 presidential ticket, Kamala Harris was polling around 2 % – among Democrats – never making it to that first primary, so it comes as no surprise that her most recent poll numbers are even lower than President Biden’s.

Given his age and cognitive decline, if there was ever a presidential nominee who needed to select an accomplished vice president, it was Biden. Instead, we get arguably the least qualified one ever who just happens to be coupled with one of the more incompetent president’s in history. As President Barack Obama reportedly said: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to foul things up.”

Then again, second raters habitually pick third raters, so they won’t be outshined. It could be argued that Harris was insurance against invoking the 25th Amendment.

Harris was wedded to Biden’s ticket because of her gender and ethnicity. Nothing else. It was no secret Democrats wanted a Black woman. Harris is not only the nation’s first female vice president, but the first Indo-Jamaican to become an African-American.

Nobody gave any thought to her ability to lead, unite the country, or formulate foreign and domestic policy. Having the correct résumé regarding identity politics cancels out capability and competence. When you pick a vice president purely on the expediency of identity politics without regard for merit, Harris is the result. Such rationale only poisons the well for every diversity and affirmative action hire everywhere.

When asked about the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, Harris said, “There’s a lot more work to do on criminal justice equity.”

Meaning what, exactly?

Isn’t justice about impartiality and equal application of the law?

Her reply is the antithesis of the American ideal.

Harris was handed a golden opportunity as “Border Czar.” It could have been a defining moment, but Harris disappeared. She finally showed up not at the border, but in Guatemala to a chastening reception. She could have recruited every governor in a bipartisan effort to stem the tide but didn’t.

Harris displayed anti-Catholic bigotry in the confirmation hearings of Judge Brian Buescher by citing his membership in the “all-male society” the Knights of Columbus and their stance against abortion and same-sex marriage as grounds for not supporting him for the federal bench in Nebraska.

While campaigning in Florida she danced onstage in the rain to Mary J. Blige’s “Work That,” it was brutal to view. Democrats have said, “she’s not being used appropriately.” Perhaps consulting Willie Brown would most likely solve that issue.

As Attorney General of California, she locked up more Blacks than Lincoln freed, and her great-grandfather owned more slaves than South Carolina. This qualifies Harris as the only woman of color to rate a Confederate statue.

Harris epitomizes the nouveau me generation that are an embarrassment to those who sacrificed to defend this nation before them. The scuttlebutt coming from the honchoes at the Democratic National Committee has Harris failing up to the Supreme Court in order to get her out of the way. Susan Rice has been rumored as a possible replacement for Harris. Rice is an Obama disciple with her hands pulling many strings with this caretaker president.

Naturally, the sycophants comprising the Bidenista regime responded saying any criticism of Harris is “sexist and racist.” This nonsense about not being able to criticize a minority woman politico because it’s racist and sexist is beyond parody. If we can’t criticize politicians, then the United States ceases to exist.

Harris sailed with the Titanic and remains an aneurism away from the Oval Office – a chilling prospect. No matter how Biden fouls up no sane individual wants him replaced by Harris, or in her absence – Pelosi – a shiver me timbers reckoning.

Harris is a lifelong political hack who has less appeal than Amy Klobuchar and who studied congeniality under Hillary Clinton.

What accomplishments did Biden and Harris register before the 2020 presidential election?

There is no upside.

The country picked incompetence over mean tweets and sarcasm.

Where are the legions lamenting the folly of their vote and the catastrophic result this administration’s policies and decisions have produced? Instead, there is an orchestrated silence as we collectively circle the drain.

This ensuing train wreck will continue, as our enemies advance.

Came across the following video to add to Greg’s comments as to just how much of an idiot this female is when it comes to anything about our country.  Can anyone phantom this woman becoming the first female president of this once great nation. We must keep Joe alive! Turn your volume and enjoy the laugh.

Originally posted 2021-12-03 14:57:33.

Current Events

Madam Speaker

Video 5 Comments

I’m sorry gang, but I just received this from a brother Marine and I HAVE to post it now I just have too!! Remember this is our leader of House and third in line for president. If you can figure out what the heck she is talking about, please enlighten us all. This was a press conference, I wonder the reporters reported? Enjoy!! OMG

Originally posted 2021-11-30 14:21:20.

Current Events

The Corps Part VII

Of course the ANG wants those discharged Marines. First of all they are already trained, disciplined, tough, honorable, and do not have to put up with so much of the woke-ness found in the the active duty services. I happen to know this as a fact. One of my super stars in the Young Marine unit I ran in northern Illinois tried to get into the Corps’ PLC program but was on meds for OCD and was declined, I even wrote the OSO a letter highlighting this young ladies attributes, but it was to no avail. So she went to college under the ROTC program and is now active in ANG and loves it. She says they are not having to put up with all the woke-ness as is the Army. And, as expected, she has risen to a super star in her unit — and is off her meds!.

Why the Marine Corps wants to tank National Guard recruiting efforts

By Philip Athey

From the Marine Times

Historically the Marine Corps has had the lowest retention rate in the Department of Defense, as it intentionally has only kept 25 percent of first-term Marines.

As a result, the National Guard and other services have seen Marines fresh off a first enlistment as fertile recruiting ground, allowing the Guard to swell its ranks with already experienced troops.

The practice is so common the Army National Guard even has recruiters specifically trained and tasked to recruit prior service Marines.

But as the Corps looks to field an older more experienced force, it wants that to change.

“If we do our job right, they’ll never go to the Army or the National Guard to begin with,” Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm, the commander for Marine Corps Recruiting Command, told reporters on Monday.

On Nov. 3, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger released his talent management vision aimed at improving retention by treating Marines “like human beings instead of inventory.”

For those who left the Corps just to realize the grass is not always greener in the Army combat uniform, the Corps wants you back.

“Quite often, not to disparage any of the other services, but we do hear from (prior service Marines) saying ‘This isn’t quite what I expected, is there any chance I can come back?’” Bohm said.

LOL this is so funny. Did any of these so called SME’s in the Marine Corps Recruiting Command stop to consider why that Marine was dissatisfied with the service he/she opted for after the Corps? Perhaps, just perhaps, they missed the loyalty, comradery, pride, brother/sister hood, familial closeness, traditional values, being part of something good, and the sheer joy and honor of wearing the Marine uniform. But now that the Corps is going the way of the other services who started this woke-ness crap way  prior to General Berger arriving will they find the same atmosphere in the “new” Corps? I think so. What happened to the motto: If everyone could be a Marine, it wouldn’t be the Marines, or no one promised you a Rose Garden, or even The Few, the Proud, the Marines. Forget that it’s not important anymore . . . . . I guess?

There already are methods for prior service Marines to return to the Corps, but Bohm said it was not particularly easy.

The Corps will look to streamline that process and welcome the lost sheep back into the Marine Corps’ fold.

The Corps also will improve its efforts to inform Marines who are getting out on ways they can reenter the force if circumstances allow them to return or if they simply change their mind about getting out.

“We are certainly going to maintain contact with those people,” Bohm said.

At least for now the Army National Guard does not seem to expect much to change on its end.

“The Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Force always seeks to recruit and retain the best available talent for the Guard,” Christina Mundy said on behalf of Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention in a Tuesday email.

Marine Corps Times has previously asked the National Guard for numbers on how many prior service Marines it enlists each year and has not heard back.

While the Marine Corps is looking to improve overall retention, the Corps is planning to downsize over the next few years and has completely eliminated certain military occupational specialties.

In 2021 the Corps had an authorized active-duty end strength of 181,200 Marines. By 2030 the Corps looks to shrink the active duty force to roughly 174,000 Marines, the smallest the Corps has been since 2002.

To slowly reduce numbers while improving retention the Marine Corps expects that it will reduce its recruitment goals.

As part of its redesign to faceoff against China the Marine Corps has eliminated its tank battalions, active duty law enforcement battalions and its bridging units.

Marines with military occupational specialties that were eliminated had been offered easy transfer into the Army, where tank battalions are still going strong.

Berger said the Corps needs an older and more mature force to handle the increased complexities of a potential war against a near-peer opponent.

On the future battlefield Marines will have more responsibilities pushed down to lower levels than ever before.

”The machine gunner who is also corpsman, a medic, also has to be able to talk to MQ-9 UAVs and bring in ordnance and understand the satellite connection that is required to do that,” Berger told reporters in early November.

The Corps is also leaning on updated science that shows people do not fully mature until they are in their early to mid-twenties and that peak physical performance does not happen until someone is in their late 20s.

“We based our force on an assumption that (18 to 20-year-olds) were indestructible supermen,” Berger said. “Turns out it’s not. We don’t peak physically or cognitively until our late 20s.”

“We can’t have a force full of 18 to 21-year-olds,” Berger said. Really? Tell that to the Marines of WW I, WW II, Korea, or Vietnam. I wonder how old these Marines are?

Recruits with Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, run up the Reaper during the crucible at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (Cpl. Grace J. Kindred/Marine Corps)

There are so much coming out of CMC’s mouth, I can’t keep up with them, Therefore, I’ll simply provide links to some of the “stuff,” and should you desire to lower your blood pressure even more please click on the link below and read more of this goobly-gook. I find no reason to publish this as a post. It’s simply filled with more BS.

Smarter Not Harder

Originally posted 2021-11-30 08:37:51.

Current Events

The Corps Part V

1 Comment

LOL. This one is funny even if it is a tragedy. I can see it coming. Cpl  Finicnick reports to his company commander that his Lt is an asshole and uses drugs. It matters not that Cpl Finicknick was a Sgt six months ago. OMG This reminds me of the HQMC imposed HumRel classes in 1970  that required us to sit in groups of officers and enlisted and everyone was allowed to say whatever they wanted. LOL, That did not happen in our battalion thanks to Major John I. Hopkins (MajGen, USMC (Ret) Deceased). God Bless him.  But I heard absolute horror stories from my peers from other units.

The Marine Corps wants junior Marines to have a say in who their leaders are

“Beginning in 2022, we will institute 360-degree feedback for leaders, on a pilot basis” says Commandant Berger.

BY  | PUBLISHED NOV 24, 2021 8:51 AM

Junior Marines could help determine whether officers and senior enlisted leaders are selected for promotion as part of the Marine Corps’ efforts to revamp its evaluation process.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger is calling for promotion boards to incorporate “360-degree feedback” into their decisions about which leaders will be selected to advance to the next rank.

Berger’s direction on using 360-degree feedback is part of his Talent Management plan, which was released on Nov. 3. The plan also requires the Marine Corps to retain more first-term Marines and creates the possibility that civilians with critical skills could bypass boot camp to join the service.   This will be Part VI, so stay tuned.

Currently, promotion boards largely base those decisions on Marines’ fitness reports, which only include notes on their performance from two of their supervisors, Berger wrote. In some cases, those supervisors do not serve in the same location as the Marines they are evaluating or don’t interact with them often.

“[Three hundred and sixty]-degree feedback, by contrast, includes the perspectives of a larger number of seniors, peers, and juniors and can include unflattering feedback that is prohibited from inclusion in a Marine’s FITREP,” Berger wrote.

This type of evaluation is already in use elsewhere in the Defense Department and it has shown to be effective in “identifying traits of toxic leadership” and helping to reduce the chances that toxic leaders will be promoted, according to Berger’s plan.

“Beginning in 2022, we will institute 360-degree feedback for leaders, on a pilot basis,” Berger wrote. “This feedback will be made available to the Marine and their reporting senior, with the aim of encouraging leadership growth. No later than 2024, we will incorporate 360-degree feedback into the selection board and assignments processes to ensure that this important input is properly considered by those selecting and assigning our future leaders.”

The Marine Corps has looked for lessons from business leaders as well as other military branches as it developed the pilot program for the 360-degree reviews, said Yvonne Reed-Carlock, a spokeswoman for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

“The purpose of implementing 360-degree leadership reviews is to equip Marine leaders with real, honest feedback to identify their hidden strengths and unidentified weaknesses and to provide them with professional coaching to further develop and advance the capabilities of our force,” Reed-Carlock said. “To accomplish this, the pilot will solicit input from a Marine’s seniors, peers and subordinates to fully inform the picture provided to the Marine.”

The pilot program early next year is expected to include about 200 people to fine-tune the questions leaders are asked and to make sure that the right type of feedback is collected, said Lt. Col. Jim Armstrong, who works for the Marine Corps’ Manpower Management Division.

The Marines taking part in the pilot program will be field grade officers – majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels – as well as senior enlisted leaders such as master sergeants and sergeants major, said Armstrong, who serves as the operations officer for the officer assignments branch.

Based on the pilot program’s results, Marines at other ranks and leadership positions could also receive 360-degree feedback, Armstrong said.

A 360-degree evaluation system is meant to prevent the promotion of senior leaders who may later be deemed unfit to command, such as one colonel who asked a former captain if she had been drinking before she was raped rather than referring her to trained staff for help. More robust performance evaluations may have also identified a brigadier general as a toxic leader before his subordinates reported him to the Department of Defense Inspector General’s Office, which determined that he had “disparaged, bullied, humiliated them, and devalued women.” 

For years, proponents have been calling for the Marine Corps to adopt a 360-degree evaluation system, but other military branches such as the Navy and the Air Force have used this type of feedback sparingly and for certain leaders and civilian executives.

After the Fiscal 2014 National Defense Authorization Act required the defense secretary to look into using this sort of feedback in evaluations, a study from the RAND Corporation recommended against doing so. Wow, sanity from the RAND Corporation for a change.
A sergeant instructor, evaluates officer candidates during close order drill at Marine Corps Officer Candidates School aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, June 21, 2019. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Phuchung Nguyen)

Many of the people whom RAND interviewed for the study, including experts within the Department of Defense, said they did not feel that 360-degree feedback was the best tool to combat toxic leadership, especially in cases where toxic leaders had no desire to change their ways.

“Participants again pointed to other ways of finding these people that would be much more cost-effective (such as through anonymous reporting channels, climate surveys, informal discussion, or inspector general complaints),” the study says.

While federal agencies have used 360-degree feedback as part of coaching and mentoring, the government as a whole – including the Defense Department – has been reluctant to include this type of feedback for promotions, said Katie Kuzminski, a senior fellow and director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C.

“There was a fear that if the [360-degree feedback] were used for promotions or true evaluations as opposed to personal development that there could be some challenges with that – particularly if your peers in your unit are also your competition: There would be a way to skew the outcomes to make yourself look good by making someone else look bad,” Kuzminski said.

Berger is going much further than the rest of the military by looking at how the Marine Corps can use this type of feedback for promotions, she said.

“I do think that if any service can take the lead on this front, I think it would be the Marine Corps,” Kuzminski said. “Just from a cultural perspective, I think the real value that they place on taking care of fleet really matters – and certainly for more senior positions, there’s this saying that you hear from senior folks: If you had a helicopter full of 10 general officers in the Marine Corps crash today, you would have equally high competitive talent remaining to replace them.” Really? In today’s Corps? Hell that may even help save us. Let’s make it a C-130 with 50 on board. LOL Just kidding, of course.
I trust everyone caught the name of this new plan; the “Talent Management Plan..” That says it all; when was the last time you heard anything coming out in the Corps dealing with “management.” In my day that word was toxic to Marines. Oh well, just another day in the “New” Corps. When will it end? Surely this action will help recruiting; just knowing they can have an effect on their mean Gunny should help. 

Originally posted 2021-11-28 08:33:35.