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To: Old Teufel Hunden
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)... 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 which doesn't mean the "grow" order hasn't been superceded by a "shrink" order.
50 posted on 01/16/2012 10:18:23 AM PST by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: oh8eleven
"It may have changed/morphed some"

I only meant from the standpoint of staying in the corps. Heck, even while I was in, when I first came in if you got busted for smoking dope, you could finish out your tour and not be allowed to re-enlist. By the end, if you popped in the whiz quiz you were automatically slated for an OTH discharge. When we were in, you probably knew guys who were given a choice by judges to do 30 days in the polk for some offense or join the corps. Guys that didn't graduate highschool or perhaps had a GED. Heck, I even knew a Lieutenant who admitted to me that he had a highschool GED and then went on to college. That is the Marine Corps that I speak of as gone. Where getting in and staying in was not as stringent.

"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."

Yes, that was 2009. The beginning of the Obama administration. Still under the Bush military that was gearing up for the surge in Afghanistan. Today's military is the military that is winding down all of it's overseas engagements and is facing serious budget cuts. As part of the budget cuts, it is estimated that the Marine Corps will get down to about 176,000.
53 posted on 01/16/2012 11:33:03 AM PST by Old Teufel Hunden
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