Marines

Behind the cover: No more knife hands

By Gina Harkins on April 1, 2013 Battle Rattle, Behind the Cover, Boot camp, Leadership, Marines, Pop culture

It’s no April Fools’ joke, Marines — some leaders want you to think about sheathing your knife hands. Most Marines are introduced to the crisp, flat-palmed gesture in boot camp. It’s one of the tools drill instructors use to emphasize to civilian recruits how they want things done. But beyond a training environment, some say Marines should exchange knife hands — and the yelling that typically accompanies them — for better leadership tools. The shift from 12 years of combat to a garrison environment is going to pose challenges for leaders. They’ll need to continue to motivate the young corporals and sergeants,…

The Corps gets the Jeopardy! treatment

By Hope Hodge Seck on March 29, 2013 Battle Rattle, Competitions, Marines, Pop culture, Rumors

What is Oorah? The classic trivia game show Jeopardy had a motivated night on Thursday with a second-round category titled “The United States Marines.” Contestants Rebecca Rider, Brian Daner, and Tom Carroll could have used some time in history and heritage training; of the five questions in the category, they got two wrong. Maybe they need more practice: a search of the fan-curated episode archive shows that while a category on Marine biology pops up about once a year, the last time the Corps got a dedicated category was 2009, when the National Museum of the Marine Corps was featured. See…

Devil pup ships off to boot camp

By Gina Harkins on March 28, 2013 Boot camp, Leadership, Marines, Recruit

A new recruit is about to step onto the yellow footprints — only he needs four of them, and they need to be paw-shaped. Rct. Chesty XIV, the new Marine Corps mascot, met his drill instructor, Sgt. Chesty XIII, for the first time this month. And judging by the look on the sergeant’s face, it seems he’s prepared to use some serious knife-paws on the pup. Rct. Chesty will fill a long line of English Bulldogs who represent the Marine Corps. He’ll likely meet important players like the commander in chief and the defense secretary, which is why he’ll need…

Marine Corps Marathon sells out–in just over 2 hours

By Hope Hodge Seck on March 27, 2013 Battle Rattle, Fitness, History and heritage, Iwo Jima Memorial, Marines, Sports

Registration for the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon opened today, but if you don’t have your confirmation sheet by now, you’re probably going to have to wait until next year. The extremely popular and elite race sold out at 2:27p.m., according to organizers–just two-and-a-half hours after it opened. That beats last year’s rush, when registration stayed open for 2 hours, 41 minutes. The race is capped at 30,000 participants, including those lucky enough to jockey for a spot during the narrow online registration window, and those who completed the 17.75K (distance an homage to the year the Corps was founded) qualifier…

Marine junior officer: Cut my pay

By Hope Hodge Seck on March 25, 2013 Battle Rattle, budget, Leadership, Marines, Washington

The Wall Street Journal is starting the day with a provocative opinion editorial ($) by Benjamin Luxenberg, a Marine first lieutenant who says some troops should be willing to take a cut to pay and benefits in order to solve the nation’s fiscal crisis–and he’ll be the first to volunteer. Luxenberg argues that troop pay has become “sacrosanct” in the national dialogue, and crucial defense programs are facing deeper cuts because of that. “National security shouldn’t be sacrificed on the altar of military pay,” he writes. The statement comes with caveats: before wholescale cuts, Luxenberg says pay should be aligned across…

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raises a glass to salute vets

By Gidget Fuentes on March 22, 2013 Events, Marines, Miramar, Pop culture

Tuesday marked the first anniversary of the National Day of Honor, which the president proclaimed in 2012 to mark the anniversary of the Iraq invasion and, particularly, the 4,500 troops killed in action. Among the events being held nationwide this week to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the start of the war was a visit to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, Calif., by hip-hop rapper and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs, who counts among his business ventures a partnership with Ciroc Vodka, appeared at Miramar in the event co-sponsored by Maxim magazine. “I have always been in…

“Mattisisms” — Gen. Mattis motivates from your computer

By Gina Harkins on March 21, 2013 Battle Rattle, General officers, Leadership, Marines

You’ve heard some of the motivating remarks by Gen. James Mattis, but did you know about the memes floating around the Internet that showcase some of his best quotes? Marines love Mattis, this we know. One launched a presidential campaign for the outgoing head of U.S. Central Command. And another got fired over having one of the “Warrior Monk’s” famous quotes tattooed on his arm. Mattis simply motivates today’s generation of Marines, and that has spread to the digital sphere. So in honor of this week’s profile on Mattis, as he prepares to pass the CENTCOM torch to Army Gen. Lloyd Austin,…

26th MEU set to deploy

By Gidget Fuentes on March 5, 2013 26th MEU, Blue-Green operations, budget, Camp Lejeune, Deployments, Marines, MEU operations

[Updated: High winds and strong seas churned by that winter storm the National Weather Service dubbed Saturn has pushed the deployment start by several days, the Navy announced. The three ships of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group will depart the Norfolk, Va., area on Monday, March 11, according to U.S. Fleet Forces Command. That will give a few extra days at home for the sailors and Marines before they take their final equipment aboard and begin the scheduled deployment with, hopefully, smoother seas and calmer stomachs.] The federal budget crisis has put a halt to some ship deployments, but the 2,200…

Our ‘2010 Marine of the Year’ eyes a run for The Hill

By Gidget Fuentes on February 28, 2013 Capitol Hill, Leadership, Marines, Military Times Marine of the Year

Marines, of course, are trained to take the hill. Then there’s a group of leathernecks who actually have taken that mission to a different level, as in Capitol Hill. The lists of senators and representatives include Marines who served on active duty or in the reserves, and some saw combat. They bring a familiarity with the military, and the Marine Corps in particular, to a Congress whose members with military service represent less than 20 percent of both houses. In fact, the number of veterans serving in the House or Senate has hit its lowest since World War II. But veterans continue…

Iconic “Hell House” photo commemorated in statue for Lejeune Hope and Care Center

By Hope Hodge Seck on February 27, 2013 Battle Rattle, Camp Lejeune, History and heritage, Marines

It may be one of the most gripping Marine images to emerge from Operation Iraqi Freedom: a 2004 photo snapped by freelance combat photographer Lucian Read depicting wounded Marine 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal, his uniform soaked in blood, being carried out of Fallujah’s famous “House of Hell” by two lance corporals. Here’s a chilling account of what took place in the Hell House, from Shootout! D-Day Fallujah, on the History Channel: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3zZmOR0jYc[/youtube] Kasal would receive the Navy Cross for bravery that day under fire and despite severe wounds to both legs. Now, the photo that captured Kasal’s heroism and the grit…

Browsing: Marines