You obviously don't know from Shinola about the REAL military. You sweat when you train. (Which is the intent of the quote. "The more you sweat in Peace, the less you bleed in War!") Falling out in "Dress Blues, tennis shoes and a light coat of oil..." does not accomplish the Mission. Sweating in your dress uniform is not the sweat you spend humping the boonies. Slapping a coat of paint on a vehicle, to make it pretty for a one-off parade is NOT training. The cost of the paint, which is ALWAYS the wrong color for the next deployment, is better spent on ammo, shells sent down range, live fire exercises, POL expended, batteries for commex practice.
The people who are being put on display don't even get to enjoy the spectacle! All you see, when you are in a parade, is the back of a man's head. They are neat to watch, and a total waste of time. Those DPRK shows do not impress anyone except the Fat Goof, and, obviously, you.
If The Man says says "Make a Parade...", My Beloved Corps will make a Parade in a squared away, military manner. It's a demonstration of discipline, for people who don't always believe in the worth of soldiering. They will paint rocks, chip paint, police the area, PM the dog poo out of the motor pool. Do not think, however, that a parade is anything more than a show for the civilians.
Do not think, however, that a parade is anything more than a show for the civilians.
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After a lot of blather, you finally got down to the point of my support for a parade. Who do you think pays the taxes that gives you your equipment and funds your training? The CITIZENS otherwise known as civilians!!! Why on earth you would not wish to have the support of them is beyond me.
I think you and others are missing the point of this parade: this is one of the first times in decades where are armed forces would be showcased for the American people. Through many long years we have had to keep in the shadows and apologize for being the 2% who did volunteer to serve and maybe that time is finally over.
You remember when our servicemembers had to report to work in the Pentagon in civvies, just so they wouldn't offend anyone by being in uniform? Good old Carter years, when they cut our operational budgets and acted as though we should be ashamed of being the defenders of our country.
A full-on military parade for our country might get more young people to see who we are and that service can be a point of pride.
I used to hate parades too - waiting interminably for "Pass in Review" but this is something else - a chance to finally show who we are to our own people.