Do soldiers make better Martial Artists?

[Tom Yum]

on a side note

The army/marines offer PT classes for non-military people trying to get in shape. That's probably the best kind of weight loss & fitness program you could be in.

Back to the main issue - I'd say that the average military person training in martial arts has a lot of things going for him compared to the average civillian - like discipline, fitness and focus. How many of us run 3-5 miles a day before work, then get started on calisthenics?

[Jeremy Lobdell]

Great point by Tom Yum

A lot of the conditioning is greater in the military due to the fact that it is a way of life. Unless you have suffered a injury, you have to PT with your command 3-5 days a week. Generally they aren't given the freedom to take a day off when they feel like it, and most service members take advantage of the free base gyms and have their own personal weight lifting-workout program that goes above and beyond the commands mandatory pt program.
Thank You, Tom Yum for once again focusing a thread back to center after one of my off tangent remarks!
Mahalo, Jeremy

[koto_ryu]

Socom, or special operations command, is the most generic term used so far on this thread and isn't exclusive to the Navy, but is used when special forces from more that one branch are working teoghter in a joint operation. They used the name for the video games because the Dept. of the Navy wouldn't give them permission to use the name tacron.

Wasn't using it just for the Navy, just saying that the Marines are finally going to be permanently attached to SOCOM, which is good shit in my book

[Jeremy Lobdell]

Complete agreement

From my experience, the Marine Force recon units are second to nobody (including Navy seals) in warfare. Having spent almost as much time at 2D recon as at ST2, I'm glad to see that the DON is putting them on equal footing, it's long overdue. Force recon as a whole has the best shooters of any special ops unit and their water insertion is on par with the Navy and miles ahaid of anyone else. My best friend is a retired force recon Gunny Sgt. from Pendleton, and his training was just as tough as mine. The only problem is that Charlie Sheen hasn't made a cheesy B budget movie about force Recon yet! LOL
Mahalo, Jeremy

[Broadsword2004]

You referring to that movie he was in called, "Navy SEALS"?

Just wondering. If that is the movie by the way, in the one scene where they parachute out of the plane, they are wearing shoes as they fall to the water, but then after they open their chutes, all of a sudden they have fins on as they hit the water; must take some real skills to jump out of the plane, take off your shoes, pull out a pair of fins, and put them on, all before pulling open your chute

[Jeremy Lobdell]

Worst movie ever!

You referring to that movie he was in called, "Navy SEALS"?

Yeah, that's the peice of crap that I was referring to! Any time i was jumping into water, I just worried about not racking myself when I hit the water. The only thing that's more idiotic than that movie are the people that think that's the way it really is.

[Broadsword2004]

Hey, there are people out there that think that movie "Bloodsport" with Jean-Claude Van Damme is realistic

Another fake SEAL scene I don't get, even though I liked the movie from a pure entertainment standpoint, is "The Rock" with Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage. In the scene where the SEALS are facing off against the Marines at gunpoint (with the SEAL captain there played by the same guy who played the SEAL captain in the movie "Navy SEALs" --- Michael Beihn), while the captain and Ed Harris are busy screaming at each other, the one Marine is like to the other, "Let's waste these f**kers..." and then the other one knocks a big rock into the area where the SEALs are standing, and the one SEAL swings around going "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" and opens fire like some looney tune nutcase, I mean, I am no military guy yet, but I could believe that scene if a National Guard troop did that; a SEAL though would be trained specifically NOT to do something that stupid I'd think, cuz then of course everyone will fire.

[Jeremy Lobdell]

Right on

As funny as that was, I found it more rediculus that the ST would enter a place where they sacraficed the high ground and had no clear retreat path to regroup or attack. They were pretty much sitting ducks, and only bad things can happen when this senario is played out. Any time you're a much smaller invaiding force in completely unfamiliar surroundings, the element of suprise is the most important thing. ST commanders have the ability to deviate from set mission parameters when the element of suprise is lost. Getting his men out alive should of been his top priority, but then again, it's Hollywood!
Mahalo, Jeremy

[Broadsword2004]

Ya; that movie "Platoon" with Charlie Sheen though is pretty realistic, so don't assume all his military movies are fake.

I don't get people who say "Full Metal Jacket" is realistic though; and I also don't get people who say that "Top Gun" made them want to be a fighter pilot; am I the only person who was turned off from being a fighter pilot by that movie?? Luckily though, that movie was fake as hell too.

[Jeremy Lobdell]

Movies

From what I've been told by Vietnam veterans, Full Metal Jacket was very accurate at portraying Marine Boot Camp life, the rest of the movie showed the hipocracy of war , especially when the full bird colonel was saying "we've got to hunker down until this peace craze passes". Top Gun was used by the Navy as a recruiting tool, but very few people actually get the chance to enter flight school. It was about on par with G.I. Jane, meaning not very accurate.
Mahalo, Jeremy

[Broadsword2004]

Yeah, Marine Boot Camp in Full Metal Jacket was portrayed well, but otherwise, it was a former Special Forces Vietnam Vet guy who told me that the Vietnam it portrayed was very fake.

[Jeremy Lobdell]

Point of view!

Yeah, Marine Boot Camp in Full Metal Jacket was portrayed well, but otherwise, it was a former Special Forces Vietnam Vet guy who told me that the Vietnam it portrayed was very fake.

That makes sense. I don't think you're going to get two agreeing points of view from anyone who's commentating on something that stirs up so much emotion like the Vietnam War. Every time I meet a Vietnam Vet I shake their hand and tell them thank you. I've come back from ops and had the majority of people back home not even know that we're fighting in that particular part of the world. Sometimes that was hard to take. But to be one of the lucky ones and make it back from Vietnam, then get spit on by your own people, I just don't get that. I can't even concieve how hard that must have been!

[GeorgeK]

Hey, koto_ryu. I just found out from your posts you're a former Marine. See, I am contemplating heavily about joining the Corps and talking to recruiters right now. Could you give me some advice? See, I'm 26. I've got a Bachelors in Computer Networking. I just thought I could be helpful in the Corps with my knowledge of PCs and proficiency in another language - Russian. Turns out I can't really go for those MOS - to be a data specialist or a linguist, one has to be a citizen and have a security clearance. (I will become a citizen within a year or two).So, the only MOS that I really can do are Admin and Accounting/Finance (I am really not an infantry or mechanic type of guy, nothing else appeals to me) Also, like I said, I wanted to be useful with what I studied for and what I'm good at. In your posts, you refer to Admin guys as geeks and nerds, etc. Is that how Admin guys are looked at by others? Do the infantry and Special Ops guys look down on office guys? I thought the Corps was a brotherhood. Maybe I'm naive. I really am just an outsider looking in. Why am I thinking of joining the Corps? A few reasons. Be a part of an awesome military organization with long history and traditions. Serve this country. No job currently and no prospect of getting a decent one in this economy. Thought I'd continue my conditioning and MA training while serving. I have a bit training in MA but never claim to be a bad ass nor act that way. (Referring to the Admin nerd guys ) Now you're saying that MA in the Corps don't exactly measure up. Why am I thinking about the Marines? I wouldn't want to be in any other branch. The more I learn about the values and the organization as a whole, the more it appeals to me. So, any suggestions for me? Have you known anyone in my situation who enlisted? Or is enlisting more for someone right out of high school? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
George.

[koto_ryu]

Hey, koto_ryu. I just found out from your posts you're a former Marine. See, I am contemplating heavily about joining the Corps and talking to recruiters right now. Could you give me some advice? See, I'm 26. I've got a Bachelors in Computer Networking. I just thought I could be helpful in the Corps with my knowledge of PCs and proficiency in another language - Russian. Turns out I can't really go for those MOS - to be a data specialist or a linguist, one has to be a citizen and have a security clearance. (I will become a citizen within a year or two).

Once you get in the Corps you'll be able to take a Language Proficiency Test where they will test your Russian. If it qualifies they'll pay you extra money for that per month and also use you from time to time. As for the Data Systems and whatnot, there are other fields that use computers that you might get into. How much longer until you become a citizen? You can join the Marine Corps (or any branch of service in fact) up to the age of 32 with no problem. I met a guy who joined when he was 34, he's now around 40 years old and a Corporal in the Marine Corps.

So, the only MOS that I really can do are Admin and Accounting/Finance (I am really not an infantry or mechanic type of guy, nothing else appeals to me) Also, like I said, I wanted to be useful with what I studied for and what I'm good at. In your posts, you refer to Admin guys as geeks and nerds, etc. Is that how Admin guys are looked at by others?

Actually I have some good friends that are Admin. My buddy Kirby is a Cpl and he works at the Pentagon in the Legal Administration Section. The reason why the field-driven MOSes tend to look down on some of them is that in the Admin field, you're in garrison virtually all the time so you have to deal with a lot more regulations and the like, whereas grunts don't adhere to them as much. Hence, a lot of Admin guys give grunts shit about it, so the grunts give shit back, etc. You'll definitely make friends though: my buddy would hook us up on leave if you got him some beer, some instead of charging us 20 days of leave, he'd charge maybe 10-15 instead

I thought the Corps was a brotherhood.

It still is very much so. I went drinking with the recruiters nearby on the Marine Corps Birthday and I didn't even know who they were until that day. I just pulled up to the office, introduced myself, and invited them out to Hooters, my treat. They ended up not letting me pay for it and we killed quite a few pitchers together. It's like a big family, but like in every family you get the asshole brother or sister, the annoying one, etc.

Now you're saying that MA in the Corps don't exactly measure up.

Just the actual formal program, really. It's a good step in the right direction but needs more application. Many, many Marines participate in the martial arts however, and you will often find several classes offered on even the smallest bases. We also have a wrestling team, boxing team, kickboxing team, and a judo team.

Why am I thinking about the Marines? I wouldn't want to be in any other branch. The more I learn about the values and the organization as a whole, the more it appeals to me. So, any suggestions for me? Have you known anyone in my situation who enlisted? Or is enlisting more for someone right out of high school? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

As I said before, you can join up to the age of 32 with no trouble. The older guys that go through boot camp and the like tend to do much better than their younger counterparts and you'll advance much more quickly. Have you talked with a recruiter yet about all your MOS options? There's other schools where your computing skills might come in handy: Aviation Electronics, Fire Direction Controller, Air Traffic Controller, flight crews, etc.

[GeorgeK]

koto_ruy,

Thanks a lot for the info. It seems like the recruiters want to enlist me as soon as possible. They are saying that my enlistment will speed up my citizenship process and will take about a year as opposed to two years if I didn’t enlist. They also say that if I enlist now I may apply for an Officer Candidate School once I get my citizenship. On the contrary if I take more time to think about it, it may be too late then to try to become an officer because of the age – it’s after 30 I think that is too late. Also, they say, that once I get my citizenship, and after two years of service, I can make what they call a lateral move and switch specialties. Does it sound right? I believe those specialties you listed may require me to be a citizen as well. So, right now it’s Admin most likely. As an Admin, will I be deployed with my unit or stay on base all the time? Just curious. Also, I heard that the guaranteed job isn’t really guaranteed, and that the Corps my put you on a job they see fit for you. Is that true? Anyway, I am considering my options, and will most likely enlist within period of a few months. Thank for the info, and everybody else sorry for stealing the thread.