Replies

Let me ask you a question. Do you judge the Army and its performance by this one word of mouth incident? I figure you probably don't. I don't either, nor would I judge the Marines by the same sort of incident. I wasn't defending the incident itself- I said I don't believe the story on its face. There was either more there that we don't know, or it had been subject to exaggeration. The story doesn't even make any sense. What would be the point of going to a Colonel and asking him when your dental appointment would be? Like he keeps that in his pocket or something? And how do we know that the soldier didn't already ask everyone in his chain of command? We don't.

This sounds more to me like a story that one Marine tells another about how effed up the Army is. And my question to Marines still stands- Is there a reg that says you cannot speak to an officer? And if there's not, why would you not do so? There's a world of difference between taking your problem to the Colonel (jumping the chain) and asking him a simple question. I would never have hestitated to have spoken to an officer and I can't imagine what would keep anyone from doing so if it weren't in the regs. There's a whole section of Army rules that tell you how to speak to an officer. How to approach, how to salute, how to address, how to leave an officer's presence- but if there's a rule that says "A soldier can never speak to an officer unless spoken to first"- I have never heard of it.

Let me ask you a question. Do you judge the Army and its performance by this one word of mouth incident?

Let me ask you a question? Did you read the last line in my previous post? You know the one that says ". . .I know this kind of thing would most likely not occur. . ."

In the Corps a junior enlisted Marine does not hold casual conversations with his seniors unless the senior initiates the conversation. That's just the way it is.

And if one of my Marines asks a LtCol about a damn dental appointment, I would kill him. Just the way it is.

One last point though. You wrote "And how do we know that the soldier didn't already ask everyone in his chain of command? We don't."

In response I must say if this kid spoke to everyone in his chain of command about a dental appointment and no one helped so the kid was forced to ask a Bn Cmdr about it the entire chain of command needs to be relieved and immediately.

This sounds more to me like a story that one Marine tells another about how effed up the Army is.

My friend had a pretty good tour with the Army. He had a commendation for having the best tank crew in the Second ID (as I recall the unit). Once we were doing something together --drinking large amounts of beer, as I recall -- and a news story came on and the background music was "The Cassions (sp) go rolling along." He perked up in the way I always do when I hear the Marine Corps hymn.

I am NOT showing disrespect for the Army. It just ain't the Marine Corps. And to suggest there is homogeneity between the two. I don't buy that at all.

Walt