Roatan - March 2008
This is a speedbump in Roatan, not in the touristy areas but in a local community. The first thing I thought was, "IT'S CHEWBACCA THE SPEEDBUMP!!"
May 26, 2008
Chewie
Complaint Department
Out here in the boonies, we have periodic visits from the Bosses In America. Sometimes they come to inspect our paperwork and procedures, other times they come to inspect our mental health and football-throwing skills.
(My football-throwing skills sucked. They told me to work on them)
Each time they are scheduled to arrive, one of the things we do to prepare is fill out a survey. We are supposed to answer questions on our opinions about MSG duty, what we think they could improve, our plans for the future, any detachment issues, and the current state of our finances, family, and friends.
A lot of people just write what they think the Bosses want to hear, or they write what they think will spark the least amount of interview time. I did this too, the first two or three times. Then I realized it was the only way to raise a bit of hell and get away with it. Since many of the other Marines seem to feel the same way, I knew I wouldn't be a lone wacko.
As far as I was concerned, if you were going to ask me my opinions, you were going to get them. All of them.
So I went all out. I listed every rule I thought was idiotic. I meticulously explained why each rule was illogical. I told them what they should change. I told them why things needed to change.
A few surveys later it dawned on me that this wasn't going to change anything no matter how much sense it made so I put even more effort into it. I started writing more than a month in advance so I wouldn't forget anything and when I was annoyed, used my annoyance to revise and fine-tune my collection of gripes against the MSG program.
Sometimes the bosses said, "Um, wow!". Other times they said, "This is good! We wish everybody did their surveys like this!" One told me "You're a piece of work!" and spent most of the interview time just reading instead of talking to me.
All this thinking and writing and venting finally helped me discover that my detailed explanations of the stupidity of a variety of regulations could be summed up under one, broad conclusion. So, I'm going all out with it for the next Boss Visit. The collective result of all the things I complain about seems to be worse than the individual rules themselves so hopefully the broad conclusion approach will be more effective than the little ones.
Probably not though.
May 22, 2008
Corn Face
Here - April 2008
This corn thing is just cute!
P.S. I almost got squashed by that white truck in the background because I was too busy admiring the cute ear of corn to watch the street.
All the uniform problems
I'm in the mood for complaining so I figured I'd make my "Master Post on Female Uniform Gripes" post now. So here it goes...
1. The white dress blues cover: It should be axed and we should wear the same cover as the males. WHY NOT? I don't get it. Not only do I think it looks nicer, I think it would look better if everyone wears the same matching headgear. Also, our current one is a pain in the butt because it has that stupid duck bill pointy thing in the back that forces you to wear your hair so far down on your head that it's practically resting on your neck. While we're at it, get rid of that green barracks cover and we'll use the same one as the guys!
2. The dress blues blouse: Ours should have the same "leatherneck" collar as the males blouse. Yeah, I hear it's very uncomfortable, but it looks better, and that is the origin of the whole "leatherneck" nickname anyway. We should also be able to wear the white belt and our blouses should have the same red piping on the edges.
3. Skirts: Why on earth are we still issued SKIRTS? What possible need does the military have for a skirt?
and worse than the skirt....
4. High heels: If you're going to force us to have skirts, at least allow us to wear the flat-soled Corfram shoes with them. They are better for your feet and much easier to walk around in.
5. Chevrons: They did finally make ours bigger so they don't look like toddler-sized stripes anymore. That was good. But if units are going to give chevrons away for free, it would be nice if they gave away female chevrons and not just male ones.
Post Choices
Since my lat-move is now up-in-the-air, they told me I have to submit my choices for my next embassy post soon so I have a chance of getting something I want. I still want to go to Morocco, so I'll put that.
But I'm still undecided on the other two...I was thinking maybe Paris, just for the heck of it, or some obscure European place nobody thinks to ask for. I dunno.
Edit: I think I've made up my mind...we can ask for three specific detachments and two general areas, so this is what I'm going to ask for:
Posts: Two in North Africa, one in SW Asia
Regions: North Africa/Middle East, and Central Asia.
May 21, 2008
Corps issues wear rules for new running suit
Corps issues wear rules for new running suit
Zip your jacket.
That’s the latest word from Commandant Gen. James Conway, who outlined parameters for wearing the Corps’ new running suits and other physical-training gear while on leave or liberty. In an all-Marine message — 019/08, released Monday — Conway says Marines can wear the new running suit jacket in a casual setting only if they zip it up at least halfway to the top of the zipper. Also, the running suit can only be worn as an outer garment, meaning Marines must wear something underneath it.
Additionally, Marines cannot mix and match running suit and sweat suit items. While the running suit is compatible with the green PT shorts and green undershirt in any combination, it’s not authorized for wear with the sweatpants or sweatshirt. The new message also allows Marines to wear the sweatshirt for purposes other than physical training, only if it is worn as an outer garment or as a layering garment, such as underneath a jacket (but not a running suit jacket.)
The Corps has fielded limited numbers of the highly anticipated running suits for almost three months, beginning with Marines at military hospitals and the Wounded Warrior battalions. The rollout will continue throughout 2008 and 2009, flowing into recruiting commands and recruit depots before heading to the fleet, until every Marine has been issued a set.
Widespread distribution of the $112 running suits is scheduled to begin in October, with an anticipated mandatory possession date of October 2009.
The original plan was for them to be black, but everybody screamed "ARMY!!" so they switched to Marine green. Also, in case anybody would like to know, they are made in Oregon "using materials made by fellow American businesses."
I started to write a post about the running suits last fall and I began by saying: "New Running Suits: A.K.A. More Stuff I'll Have To Buy." As it turns out, they are apparently going to issue them out to us. How thoughtful!
Other than that, I really don't care about them. I'd rather wear only the green shorts and t-shirt while I'm running, even in winter, because I always get too hot with anything else on. (unless I'm in Helsinki and it's negative 20 degrees) So as far as I'm concerned, these are just another commander option for dressing their Marines for PT.
I really hope they don't make that "swishy" sound though because that drives me bonkers! Ahh!
Veteran recalls her service as Marine during World War II
Did you see that? "Her" service! Cool!
Of the approximately 24.5 million veterans living today in the United States, 1.7 million of them are women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Josephine McCall, nee Hutchings, is one of them. In 1943, just days before her 21st birthday, she was among the earliest group of women allowed to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.
"I had to have my parents' signature to join," remembers McCall, whose older sister, Grace, also enlisted at the suggestion of their father.
The two young women left their home in Pocatello, Idaho, for Salt Lake City. They took a battery of tests and were among only five of 20 women to pass. Boot camp followed at Hunter College in New York City.
"Then when that was over, 18 of us were transferred down to the Cherry Point, North Carolina Marine Corp Air Station. We were the first 18 women there. And there were 10,000 men." Because of the ratio of men to women, the female Marines were escorted everywhere - to work, to chow, to the movies, everywhere.
"Once they got a few more women in there then they let us go," says McCall, who worked as a secretary on the base.
But being one of few women had its advantages as well.
"You would have lots of dates," she laughs. "You would go see the early movie and then come home and then go back out and see the late movie. I know there were several times when a lot of us had three dates in one night."
Close to one year after, on January 1, 1944, McCall and her sister were transferred to the Marine Corps Air Station in Mojave. "I became the secretary to the commanding officer at the station," says McCall. Six months later, she was promoted to station sergeant major.
"When people would come onto the Marine Corps Station, they would have to come in and get clearance from my desk," she says. "I also did the secretarial work for the commanding officer and the executive officer; I kept them out of trouble paperwise."
As station sergeant major, McCall had four women reporting to her, including her sister, who was the editor of the station newspaper. McCall, a pianist, and her sister were also members of the station's 14-piece band, as well as playing with a civilian trio.
...The Hutchings sisters were discharged in October 1945 and they moved back to Idaho and enrolled in college.
..."I've had such a wonderful life and I've done a lot of fun things," she says.
May 20, 2008
New Barracks Again
A more detailed description of the buildings from the Marine Corps Times
Edit: You have to have a subscription to read it, sorry...
Married soldiers able to live together in Iraq
BAGHDAD — When American soldiers get off duty in Iraq, the men usually return to their quarters, the women to theirs. But Staff Sgt. Marvin Frazier gets to go back to a small trailer with two pushed-together single beds that he shares with his wife.
In a historic but little-noticed change in policy, the Army is allowing scores of husband-and-wife soldiers to live and sleep together in the war zone — a move aimed at preserving marriages, boosting morale and perhaps bolstering re-enlistment rates at a time when the military is struggling to fill its ranks five years into the fighting.
I think this makes a lot of sense for couples who are assigned to the same units or bases in Iraq. If you don't let them stay together, they'll just end up sneaking behind heavy machinery and empty shower buildings like everybody else, and worrying about getting caught hugging or smooching. The horror!
When I was in Iraq, a male Marine officer was married to a female Marine officer who was working somewhere else on the base. He stayed in our compound whenever he was there and sometimes she just happened to show up in the evenings and leave in the mornings. Nobody said anything to them about it and they never said a word to us.
Why would we? They were married, sleeping in a private room, and it certainly wasn't causing us any trouble or hardship.
More Monkeys!
Here - April 2008
I took this at the local zoo last time I was there. Notice anything wrong??
The Monkey Story
I had the following conversation with a friend of mine today:
Friend: Did you ever notice in the Marine Corps people just do things "because that's the way it's always been done" and they really have no reason for it?
Me: Yeah.
Me: Did you ever hear the monkey story?
Friend: Ha, I was about to ask you the same thing!
Where he works, there is a redundant, pointless procedure that makes no sense but they keep on doing it because they've always done it. It doesn't matter how logical it may be to change things up, even if nobody remembers why it's done like that. Somebody came up with a monkey analogy to explain why things like this happen so often in the Marine Corps, so here's the monkey story, for those of you that haven't heard it:
The Monkey Story
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs underneath it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After awhile, another monkey will make an attempt with the same result – all of the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent him.
Now put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt, and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another one of the original five monkeys and replace him with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace the third original monkey with a new one, then the fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they were participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, never again will the monkeys approach the stairs to try for the banana. Why not?
Because as far as they know, that’s the way it’s always been done around here.
May 19, 2008
They look so real!! Oh wait....
Here - May 2008
These five women were standing in the display area of a store at a local mall we went to a few weeks ago to watch a movie. Who knows how much they got paid to stand there and pretend to be plastic. I started getting sore just looking at them.
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