Hey-advance request to anybody wanting to brick me--very much appreciated if you would either aim for my second-hand ALICE pack, or otherwise hold off till I can afford my helmet. I gotta buy my own uniforms and my own battle-rattle and K-pots don't come cheap
In my case, being as my unit( www.mastateguard.com) cannot be deployed outside Massachusetts, I'm not in quite the same position as the regular Federalized National Guard and regular Army ( many people don't realize the National Guard, while units may have home states, is in fact Federal and has been since WWII, not saying I agree with it, just a statement of fact the absence of which can and has led to misconceptions) . By the time *we* have to actively face combat we're ALL a day late and a buck short.
Why not just join the regular Federal services? Because I tried at 17 and was turned away for, according to their tests, excessive hearing loss. Last January when I attended my first MASG drill I mentioned I had hearing issues up front and we decided we would give it a go and if it became a problem I'd muster out. That was a year ago so I must be doing something right.
But being as our mission, as detailed in the site, is to provide training and support to the regular Guard, and to backfill for them in times of local emergency, of course it's gonna sting me to see this happen to the Marines. I'm not in that uniform for the pay ( which is nothing) or the benefits ( which are none), I'm there to contribute what small amount I can to those who have to go over because I care about them and want them to come home safe, and for the training I do recieve because I want the people *I* care about to be safe. That's it.
With that said---anytime We've had to play "Civilian" or "Enemy" for them, we have used abandoned, usually gov't owned property well away from any civilian population to do so.( Both OPFOR missions I've been any part of have been at what used to be called "Fort" Devens , or at Camp Edwards up the Cape.) While I was, and remain, incensed at the Marines' treatment at the last moment, it must be admitted that there remains much to be said for combat training in environments where no one can watch the exercise who is not participating in it, lest an uninformed someone or a group of uninformed someones should see and misunderstand.
At the end of the day, is this not the reason our very own dojo, dojang, kwoons, schools, clubs and gyms exist to start with?
As regards the Mayor's decision--Not having been present and in possession of all the facts, before I can form an opinion I'd have to know whether it was the neighborhood's decision or the mayor's after the OK had been given.
If the former, I'd be in support of the neighborhood.
If the latter, whether the mayor had the right to do what he did to those Marines will depend on the local laws, and his performance at the next election's polls. But as others have pointed out above for different but related reasons, a thing can be legal, and still be wrong, and that's my gut feeling with only the info given. I've already made it clear in no uncertain terms my disgust at arbitrary refusal of training to those who may be about to need it, so I will dwell no more on that.
Exactly--I rather enjoy the lyrics to the new song "Citizen Soldier" by 3 Doors Down--it makes no mention of the war, it's a tribute to the good qualities and essence of what I believe a soldier should be.
I didn't swear in or put a uniform on for some bull**** abstract like my Flag, my Nation or "Democracy For damnsure I didn't do it for our President at the time.
I chose to volunteer for this way of life for one simple reason: I want the people I care about to be safe. Which included my brothers and sisters in my unit as well as my family, friends and countrymen.
Now I wasn't so naive as to think that I could wave my magic bayonet and magically prevent anything from happening to them specifically, but I guess what I was hoping is that if there IS some kind of higher power pulling strings up there, that maybe it understands fair trade. That if I prepared to face the bad things, maybe they wouldn't have to.
There are participants in this thread with whom I have strongly disagreed- a time or two in quite extreme terms-But when you come right down to it, the WORST thing I can say about those folks is that we don't agree--hardly a hanging offense.
At the end of it, "you guys" are "my guys"--Upnorth, Empty Hands, Michaeledward, wouldn't make a damn difference--if any of you guys were MA residents and Things Went Sideways, and it happened that I was the one who first found you in need of assistance and you and yours were, for whatever reason, out of a house, hungry or thirsty, off comes the bedroll from my ALICE pack, out come my ponchos to make you a tent, and that person can have my MRE and the last damn drop of water from my canteen any day because that's what we DO.
I'd hate to see this current situation become as it was in Vietnam, where the people had legitimate gripes with their government but took it out on the wrong people (troops).
