Fibonachu ... Thanks. You should get NAPCOMan going sometime. He's a former drill instructor. We're ALL soup sandwiches to him ...
Chuck -- Guide, eh? Impressive. So if he was at 8th and I, was he a combat arms MOS, then? I always thought an 8th and I tour could be fun (I was pretty good at drill and was selected to teach my fellow lieutenants Sword Manual at TBS), but as a 4302 (PAO) the only way I was going there was via the PAO shop at HQMC ... and I NEVER wanted to do THAT (FAR too close to the flagpole ...).
Oh yeah, and speaking of how far wrong our Corps is going, they've even renamed my MOS. Again. We started off during WW2 as "Public Information Officers" Then, about Vietnam, we became "Public Affairs Officers." Still somewhat old Corps and suggested the honorable practice of information gathering and sharing, regardless of slant or positivity. Our enlisted Marines were "Combat Correspondents" and best illustrated by Devil Dogs like Bill Genaust or the character Joker in Full Metal Jacket -- rifle in one hand, camera and note pad in the other. Now, sadly, we have been reclassified as the "Communication Strategy and Operations" field. Which is absolutely sickening. It used to be that the one fundamental that made us who we are and bouyed the Corps through some dark times was that above all else, "The TRUTH was ALWAYS your friend." Second to that was that the junior Marine was always your best spokesperson (less guile, more honesty, highest credibility).
There was no bad news, just news. Present the American Public with complete facts and they will draw the right conclusions. Sometimes, the truth hurts ... but only when it is supposed to. As I told more than one general, "You want good press? Do good things!"
Now, it seems, the forces that have long been at work (since I was a lieutenant in the '80's) to destroy a proud USMC legacy, and led by vile, self-serving Chiefs of Navy Information*, have cynically turned a once noble MOS into mere marketeers, out to hoodwink and strong arm the American public into thinking what we WANT them to think. Its nauseating and downright evil. And I am glad to be gone. I couldn't do it then or now.
* The USMC senior "Leadership", once Al Gray left, has stupidly followed the Navy's lead in PA strategy and let CHINFO call the shots. It's disgusting. Sam Nicholas, Archibald Henderson, John Lejeune, Smedley Butler and Chesty Puller are all barfing in their graves at the big steaming pile of excrement dumped on our proud USMC legacy by our current "leadership."
S/F
John
