The Pic of the Day: Day 44 of Quarantine, Marines have now shifted to gardening

U.S. Marines with the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa 20.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa, build a terrain model during a Tactical Small Unit Leadership Course (TSULC) at Morón Air Base, Spain, March 24, 2020. The purpose of TSULC is to improve leadership at the squad and fire team levels. SPMAGTF-CR-AF is deployed […]

The Pic of the Day: Marines and their M240 machine guns

A U.S. Marine with the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa 20.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa, attaches the barrel assembly to an M240 machine gun during a Tactical Small Unit Leadership Course (TSULC) at Morón Air Base, Spain, March 25, 2020. The purpose of TSULC is to improve leadership at the squad and […]

The Pic of the Day: Marines still go to war like their WW2 forefathers

Marines with Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), climb a cargo net during a tactical debarkation rehearsal from amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). The exercise served as a proof of concept for the Blue-Green team to demonstrate proficiency in a proven, reliable method of amphibious debarkation. The […]

A Marine without legs and eyes but with a determination to motivate others

THE STORY OF CPL MATTHEW R. BRADFORD, USMC (RET) We all raised our right hands and swore an oath to our country for different reasons. By taking that oath we all chose service, and understood, at least partially, the potential dangers and sacrifices that come with serving. But when you’ve sacrificed your legs and your […]

Det One and MARSOC: The secret drama behind Marine Special Operations

With the recent 14th anniversary of Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), the latest addition to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), it is important to remember how it all came to be a reality. Much has been discussed about the success of MARSOC, but less is known about why it was formed — and what […]

You don’t get a medal for being shot by enemy wildfire

Read part I here. A few hours later we were allowed back onto the range, cleared hot to commence our night shoot. There was still fire in the valley and it had spread across the terrain, but it was considered under control. As before, we shot into the night, firing all of our weapons, including […]

That time when a bunch of SWCC candidates tried to burn down Camp Pendleton

It was Summer 2012, and I was in the Crewman Qualification Training (CQT) phase of the SWCC training pipeline. Part of CQT included going to Camp Pendleton, CA, to partake in two weeks of weapons training; the first week was dedicated to small arms and the second week to heavy weapons. The first week went […]

No rest for careerists, USMC General Dunford slides into board role at Lockheed

Lockheed Martin, the nation’s largest defense contracting corporation, has added General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Dunford, less than six months after his retirement from the Marine Corps. Dunford will assist with Lockheed’s classified business and security committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee. Dunford served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) from […]

1st Recon Battalion voted the fittest unit in the Marine Corps

The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion was voted the fittest unit in the entire Marine Corps. To achieve this honor, the 1st Recon Marines had to beat not only the other Recon battalions but also the Marine Raider units. This is the second year that the Marine Corps is holding this competition. To win, a unit must […]

A Lifetime of Service and Sacrifice: Meet Bobby Barrera

Bobby Barrera always wanted to be in the military, and once he got in, he wanted to go to Vietnam. But he’d only been there for six weeks when his entire world and life would change forever in a huge fireball. As his armored personnel carrier was crossing a rice paddy and the Viet Cong […]

Is the Draft coming back? Fear Mongering at its best

Perhaps the most bizarre belief to come out of the events from last week’s airstrike against Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, was that it was going to automatically trigger WWIII. The fear was that Soleimani’s elimination was going to be the Archduke Franz Ferdinand moment that was the match in 1914 […]