[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Sorry, but an Article 15 (aka, office hours) wouldn't put a dent in a military career."

You speak of the Marine Corps that you and I belonged to. That Marine Corps is gone. You have a large surplus of people trying to get in, couple that with the fact that the Marine Corps has to get down to 176,000 (or so) and in today's Marine Corps (and military in general), they are looking for reasons to force people out who want to stay in. Look at the new policy concerning tatoos. What does a tatoo on your forearm have to do with whether you are a good Marine or not? Answer, it doesn't. It's just another way to make the decision easier to force out well qualified Marines because of government mandated force reductions.

[oh8eleven]

That Marine Corps is gone.
It may have changed/morphed some, but I'll bet it would still be recognizable to old farts like us.
I went back to Lejeune in 2005 and except for the addition of a couple of fast food joints, it was essentially the same place as 1969.
With regard to forcing Marines out to help get down to 176,000, I found this in the Marine Corps Times (Feb 2009)...

"Over the past two years, the Corps has jumped dramatically ahead of its initial goal to grow from 180,000 to 202,000 Marines by the end of fiscal 2011."

So it appears the Corps had been growing for at least two years ... which doesn't mean the "grow" order hasn't been superceded by a "shrink" order.

[af_vet_rr]

Look at the new policy concerning tatoos. What does a tatoo on your forearm have to do with whether you are a good Marine or not? Answer, it doesn't. It's just another way to make the decision easier to force out well qualified Marines because of government mandated force reductions.

Honestly, these days a lot of people are getting crazy tattoos. I'm sure some of the hysteria over gangs in the military drove some of it as well.

But Marines serving before the new policy were grandfathered in for the most part. The real impact will be on recruiting. My son said there were a lot fewer folks getting in on waivers because they have plenty of people wanting to be a Marine and they can be a lot less selective.