Fleet Marine Life #101 – Stacked
In the Corps, you can get a bunch of ribbons and medals for just being at the right place at the right time. You don’t have to do much. Hell, sometimes you don’t have to do anything. Every Marine gets a National Defense Ribbon straight out of boot camp. You get it for joining the military during a time of war. The Global War on Terrorism Medal is received for just being alive for 2 months in the fleet. The Sea Service ribbon is received for being alive for a year overseas.
I knew a guy that carried batteries from point A to point B. Since it was considered “humanitarian work,” he got a Humanitarian Service Medal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pace
Look at this Marine (Peter Pace) General’s fruit salad. The size of it is ridiculous. Most of his ribbons don’t seem to mean much. I honestly think that if you achieve the rank of General, you either get ribbons thrown at you though the gravitational pull of your rank or you just make up ribbons and then proceed to wear them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_military
Getting ribbons for breathing since 1775.
When I finished my time in Oki, I got a Sea Service Deployment ribbon instead of an Overseas ribbon just because I was “transferred” from Camp Kinser to Camp Foster. Never went out on a ship, but damn if people always thought I did from looking at my ribbon. Silliness…
My company did duty in Chucks and I asked the question: Isn’t that counter productive? If their job is to maintain order in the area, they need to be able to respond to a situation and haul ass. Chucks are uncomfortable and awkward unless you wear them daily. If the Corps was practical, they would have us stand duty in cammies or PT gear. After 2 months we switched to cammies, but the question remains, why sacrifice functionality in favor of being ceremonial?
My buddy did duty and he was broken. He had this sharp fragment of bone stuck near some nerves and if he moved too much then he could possibly be fucked up. Was he malingering? No! He had 6 months left in the Corps and he only found out about it when he was doing his final physical. The docs gave him a cane and put him on limited duty.
A First Sergeant came by while my buddy was on duty and screamed, “WHY THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE A CANE??!?!!” My buddy replied, “I’m broken….?” The First Sergeant responded, “WHAT THE FUCCCCCCCK?!?!!!!