A Marine's "Old Corps"

Posted March 25th, 2009 at 10:01 am in Listen Up Marines!

Every marine above the rank of E-6 that I came into contact with during four years in the green machine told me at one time or another how they wish they could go back to the "Old Corps" way of doing things. In the civililan world they call it "back in the old days…" To a marine, the "Old Corps" was a time where things were simpler, you followed orders, kept out of trouble and paid attention during training. Rank wasn't just given away, it had to be earned. Your superiors left you alone to do your job once they knew you were capable and not spy on you to see if you are following the new "orders."

In the "Old Corps" the men were tougher, hard training in all aspects of marine warfare taught them to function as a unit, the key element in surviving a combat situation. Adaptability and improvisation was instilled in their very core, hammered there by marine discipline. Finding yourself in a combat situation, low on ammo and completely surrounded a marine will adapt on the fly, if A doesn't work, try B, and if B can't do it we try C and on and on until the situation is resolved. Not sit around and wait to be killed because they weren't told what to do. A marine learns to apply this to every situation, not just in combat.

Marines that shared the time my uncle, SSgt Jack Rice, Marine Corps (1941-45) served during WWII remember the Marine Corps in an entirely different way, they did not concern themselves with anything other than discipline, physical fitness, weapons training and drill. Were they tough on recruits? Sure, but not sadistic. During hours of conversation with Jack we each spoke about and compared our experiences in the Marine Corps. He was appalled by my descriptions of brutality and the hazing tactics that I experienced during my Viet Nam era USMC Boot Camp in 1968. And I would say about his experiences, "you mean they didn't hit you?!" At first, he refused to believe any of it. Not in his Corps, by God!

By the time I got to Boot Camp in 1968 Marine Corps Drill Instructors pretty much had the freedom to do whatever they felt necessary to gain your undivided attention. They could beat you, kick you, gouge you, and even make you eat your own puke – just to make a point! There was absolutely brutal treatment of the overweight guys, consigned to "Fat Platoons", they were excercised to the point of total exhaustion and fed literally nothing. There were "Motivational Platoons" for the guys that just couldn't seem to "hack" it. busted by the guys in the tower at San Diego AirportThere was some concern a while back when the Marine Corps was accused of sadistic, degrading and downright dangerous treatment of it's recruits. irrelevant and stupid things like political correctness. They had a job to do and they got the training they needed to make it back from a terrible war. Any other qualities they brought home from their time in the Marines were things like; discipline, honor, and ethics.