Free Republic

The top officer of the Marine Corps sent an unequivocal message to troops: It's time to get behind the mandate to integrate women into combat units. Gen. Robert Neller released a sternly worded video late Friday, a day after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that all military jobs -- including infantry and special forces positions -- would be open to female troops by the start of next year. The Marine Corps was the only service to request that some fields remain closed to women, citing a yearlong co-ed infantry experiment that found gender-mixed units underperformed all-male ones. Despite that, Neller...

A senior Navy Department official decided Monday to force a Marine Corps officer out of the service for his handling of classified information, three years after he was first investigated after sending a warning to deployed colleagues about an Afghan police chief whose servant later killed three Marines. Maj. Jason Brezler will be separated from the Marine Corps following a decision by acting Assistant Navy Secretary Scott Lutterloh, said Michael Bowe, Brezler’s attorney. The case grabbed attention in Congress and among highly decorated senior officers in the military, some of whom advocated on Brezler’s behalf to let him stay in...

A Philippine court on Tuesday convicted a U.S. Marine of killing a Filipino last year after he discovered she was a transgender woman in a hotel in the Philippines while he was on a break after participating in joint military exercises in the country. Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of homicide by first strangling Jennifer Laude and then dunking her head into a toilet bowl in the hotel they had checked into after meeting in a disco bar in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila. He was sentenced to 6-12 years in jail, with time already spent in detention...

Charlotte, N.C., Nov 28, 2015 / 06:13 am (CNA).- The highest U.S. military court will hear the case of a Marine who says her religious freedom was compromised when she was ordered to remove a Bible verse from her work station. In May 2013, Lance Corporal (LCpl) Monifa Sterling refused to follow a superior's order to remove a Bible verse from her workspace. In ruling on the case earlier this year, the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals sided against Sterling, saying that significant damage could be caused by forcing military employees to work in the presence of a...

"He looks at me and goes, 'Um, how old are you. And I said, 'Well I am 26, I will be 27.' And he goes, 'Well, that is kind of old for us.' And then he says to me, and this is what gets me, 'Maybe the dogs will take you,' meaning the Army." -Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking at a breakfast, Manchester, N.H., Nov. 10, 2015One Clinton story that has often been greeted with skepticism is her claim, first made in 1994, that she once tried to join the Marines in 1975. On the campaign trail,...

James P. Reilly and Michael J. Reilly, fraternal twins born on Nov. 9, 1923, remained close throughout their abbreviated life together. As allies and co-conspirators, they were always within each other’s orbit, attending the same public schools in Queens, playing sports together and jointly enlisting in the Marines. During World War II, when they were 20, the brothers were part of a unit that stormed the beach of a small Japanese-held island in the Pacific. It would be their last hour together. James was killed by gunfire, his body falling only feet from Michael; he was interred in a battlefield...

The FReeper Canteen Salutes theU.S. Marine CorpsOn Its 240th Birthday10 November 1775 ~ 10 November 2015 Semper Fidelis!(Always Faithful!) O ETERNAL FATHER, we commend to Thy protection and care the members of the Marine Corps. Guide and direct them in the defense of our country and in the maintenance of justice among nations. Protect them in the hour of danger. Grant that wherever they serve they may be loyal to their high traditions and that at all times they may put their trust in Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Marine Corps Prayer by Bishop SherrillFormer Presiding Bishop...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Yeah, well, we were just poking along here about 10 minutes ago. It looked like it was actually gonna be kind of a slow day. And then everything blew up here, and then we -- JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny south Florida, it's Open Line Friday! RUSH: Yeah. And I still don't know what to make of this. There's something that smells about this still, and I can't put my fingers on it. But we're gonna have to get into it. Anyway, welcome to Open Line Friday. Whatever you want to talk about is fine and...

Daniel Shaw, retired US Marine Infantryman and Combat Weapons Master Instructor, explains why the 1911 is not the defensive gun he chooses to carry. Shaw gives us four reasons why he opts to go with something aside from John Browning's classic handgun: limited magazine capacitysafety leverreliabilitymagazine compatibility The former Marine is careful to note that this is his opinion, based on his experience, and acknowledges that everyone is free to pick the platform that’s right for them. With that in mind, what are your thoughts on the 1911? Do you trust your 1911 with your life? Do you have four...

U.S. Marines are largely supportive of their commandant's decision to drop the M16 rifle for the M4 carbine as the standard infantry weapon. The U.S. Marine Corps will officially recognize the M4 carbine as the standard weapon for infantry personnel beginning in September 2016, following the approval by Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. The move has been welcomed with optimism from infantry. Sgt. Jonathan Ferriera, a mortarman with 1st Battalion 8th Marines who used the M4 during his deployment in Afghanistan says "it's about time." "The M4 holds every quality that the M16 does: everything an M16 can do, the M4...

The mother of Sgt. Rafael Peralta asked God to bless the ship named for her son and keep the crew safe before smashing a bottle of Champagne on the ship's bow Saturday. Peralta, who pulled a grenade against his body to protect his fellow Marines during close combat with insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 15, 2004, is believed to be the first serviceman born in Mexico to have a naval warship named in his honor.

The M16A4 may soon retire. This week, the Marine Corps announced via internal memo that the M4 carbine will become the primary-issued rifle in infantry and security units, as well as replace the M16 rifle in supporting training schools by September 2016. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller approved the change, which was first proposed to the previous commandant, Gen. Robert Dunford, according to Marine Corps Times. This decision falls in line with the Army’s phased transition away from the M16 over the past few years. The M16A4 is on the outs simply because it is outdated, and...

Leave it to the Marines to make the US military’s last stand. It’s the last stand for the Marines, the last stand for reality, the last stand for the military to function as a cohesive war fighting organization and not a Santa Monica yoga class. In America 180, everything is upside down. What kind of madcap lunatic asylum do we live in when the military has to ask for exemptions to keep women out of combat? This is what happens when policy is being dictated by radicals whose idea of combat is elbowing for a place in line at the...

King Stallion, the U.S. Marine Corps’ brand spanking new helicopter, completed its first flight Tuesday. The Marines’ new helo is incredibly advanced - it will be able to lift a whopping three times more weight than its predecessor.

(KHOU) -- It was only a photo of the stands at a Texas A&M home football game. But the commandant of the Corps of Cadets took to social media to say that the story behind that photograph captured what the “Aggie Spirit” is all about. The photo shows the Corps of Cadets section at the Kyle Field when the Aggies hosted Mississippi State on Oct. 3. As the cadets stand to cheer for the team in the fourth quarter, one cadet stands quietly holding his 6-year-old son. Despite the noise, the boy is asleep – his feet resting on the...

Dakota Meyer is a Medal of Honor receipent and an American hero. He went above and beyond the call of duty while serving our nation. So when the Islamic State (ISIS) released a “warning” to Meyer and threatened his life, Meyer responded in an EPIC way! Watch (below) as Meyer pulls over his truck and records this video message for ISIS. He’s ready for Islamic terrorist thugs and knows how to fight. Incredible! Thank you Dakota Meyer for your service.

The case of Bowe Bergdahl is a tragic and shameful one. The Obama White House claimed he served with “honor and distinction”… but the Army just charged him with desertion. He deserves a serious sentence… If not the death penalty, he should be behind bars forever. Why? Because a handful of our troops DIED trying to locate him. Bergdahl also apparently was too willing to assist the enemy, giving up critical troop locations and sharing other information. And our Campaigner-in-Chief Barack Obama violated the constitution and illegally traded him for five high-profile terrorists, most of whom have returned to the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) — The U.S. Marine Corps has unveiled new physical standards that all recruits — male and female — must meet to qualify for 29 of the branch’s jobs. The new gender-neutral standards could make it a lot harder for boot camp recruits and Officer Candidates to obtrain certain positions, according to the Marine Corps Times. These fields include infantry, combat engineering, tanks and amphibious assault vehicles, close-air support, and ground ordnance. One of the standards all recruits must meet is being able to evacuate a casualty, and conduct an MK19 grenade launcher lift. Most posts in...

WASHINGTON — Hailed as “a tested warrior and an innovative strategist,” Gen. Robert Neller accepted command of the U.S. Marine Corps on Thursday morning during a traditional ceremony at Marine Barracks Washington. Neller — who was pinned with a fourth star Thursday — became the Corps’ 37th commandant, taking over for Gen. Joseph Dunford, who held the post for less than a year. Dunford will become the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., replacing retiring Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.

A battle is brewing in Washington over the military's push to open all combat units to women. The Marine Corps is reportedly poised to ask that some positions remain available only to men, following a nine-month study that found units with all genders did not perform as well in combat. The issue is stirring a passionate debate in the military community, pitting the Marine Corps against its own service secretary and creating a bitter divide on the House Armed Services Committee. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who is the service secretary for the Marine Corps, blasted the study of the Marine...