[cincymarsdad]

I read the book "Keeping Faith" cowritten by a Marine son and his semi-pacifist father last night. My daughter had bought it over Christmas and I finally started it last night around 10:00. I stayed up "late" finishing it. My son could have written it as well - it sounded so like everything he had told me about the Parris Island experience. I highly recommend the book, incidentally, for that reason, to anyone interested in Marine Corp Basic Training. The transition of the father - and the community - is as interesting as the transition of the young man into a Marine.

Tangentially, I wonder why it is that the Corp, which promises next to nothing except a hard road, meets and exceeds it recruiting quotas (which I realize are much smaller than the larger branches, which is a factor). [They do come up with terrific TV commercials, I must say. Sharp looking men in dress blues with swords in formation probably looks pretty attractive to a lot of 18 year olds, and 51 year olds.]

Tough as Basic is at PI, my son said it was MUCH easier than SOI - physically. He further noted that SOI was in some ways not as tough as CAX at 29 Palms later.

And, importantly, he described all of this as "a joke" compared with the Real Thing.

As a father, it was important to me that the men to his left and his right were as ready for combat as our country could make them, the tougher the better. I was of that opinion. I also had the opinion - rightly or wrongly - that his noncomms and officers, even in this reserve unit - were as ready as our country could make them.

I know that Army combat units receive a lot of training after Basic, and perhaps I would have the same opinion (since all I can have is inexperienced opinions). Perhaps the notion of a kinder and gentler basic training makes sense in such a large force with so many different MOS types and large numbers of REMFs. I don't know that an electronics technician, for example, "needs" 3 weeks of MCT, a Crucible-like experience, or being pitted and smoked and QD'd incessantly in basic.

I don't know.

I would offer a civilian opinion that those who survive PI/SD and MCT - regardless of their MOS - show strong evidence of a strong brotherhood/sisterhood that can be critical when the fecal matter hits the air moving device in the rear areas - if there are such things any more.

I have wondered why it is we have a Marine Corp today in addition to an Army with two apparently similar missions and capabilities. I am familiar with the USMC experiences in the early 20th century in "low intensity warfare" situations in Latin America. I believe they wrote the book, quite literally. Just as the Marine Corp "reinvented itself" (as I understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong) after WW I to emphasize amphibious operations in the Pacific, perhaps its role has reverted back to the pre-WW I era to a mobile force (probably not really amphibious in every case) trained specifically against insurgent operations.

A reason I stay around here is to learn from the literal "pros". For reasons I can't completely understand, of course, two of my children are military, so my previous academic interest in military history is now very acute and topical with respect today's headlines. I realize that on a site emphasizing "infantry" there will be a lot of grunts who believe in sweatin in training etc. etc. In thinking about the article noted, I can imagine what's going through your miinds here, no comment needed (!).