Shark takes issue with my characterization of “FOBBITS, staff, S1, S2, S3, and all the rest of the REMFs,” which he calls misguided—a point I will happily admit just may be correct, not having ever been a member of Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children my own self, bless their stout, coal-black hearts.
I think the Shark’s take is astute and well-expressed enough to be worth bringing out front here for further discussion in a new post, should any of you CF miscreants be inclined to such. A very large percentage of Ye Olde CF Blogge’s readership has always come from the military, both active duty and retired, so I kinda figured at least some of you might like a chance to chime in yourselves.
I appreciate the heated sentiment, however misguided.
I retired from the USMC in the middle of this past decade. In my experience, it was ALWAYS the warfighters who were coming to US “JAGs” seeking assistance/guidance on the ROE, target selection, and other issues. They were very aware of the risks of creating an international incident and a very prompt criminal investigation that would make a colonoscopy preferable, should they make a mistake. After President Reagan, the staffs were quite aware of the predilection of the administration to cheerfully blame the military for any perceived offense. President Trump’s recent pardons may signal a return to sanity, but it takes time to steer a new path for a military upper echelon that was schooled in the zero-defects insanity.
I/we USMC lawyers were trained to be a combat multiplier by assisting the pointy end of the spear, and not a hindrance. But maybe that’s just the way the Corps was back then.
I’m thinking maybe that “back then” part could just possibly be at the heart of our disagreement, but perhaps not. Like I said, I am not, nor have I ever been, either a Marine or a JAG officer, and therefore could quite easily be full of shit on this one. Either way, my humble thanks to Shark for sounding off. Your contribution to the discussion is much appreciated, my friend.
- Entries
Reminds me of when I was involved in a function on Camp Pendleton that included both a retired First Sergeant (five purple hearts, was at Seoul and the Inchon Reservoir in Robert Barrows company) and a retired JAG Brigadier General. It was easy to see which way the respect flowed. However, when we needed to get something from the base that single star was mighty handy.
REMF’s. There is always that 10% even in the Corps. In my 8 years experience everyone was mission focused and did their best to make sure they did their part to get the job done. Thankfully the Corps does a pretty good job of weeding out the careerist bureaucrats. When I was in the Corps also had the highest percentage of mustangs.. prior enlisted officers. There is no comparison between a mustang and a an officer without the enlisted experience. This I’m sure cuts down on the BS from the officer ranks as well.