Cavaleiro das Trevas's blog: "Shut up and listen"

With every one being on the military bandwagon lately I am a little concerned as to what I am about to say, or how it will come out. With that being said here it goes:

For the past 8 years I have been an Infantry Marine, have reached the rank of Staff Sergeant in 7 years, and have done 2 deployments to Iraq, 2 to Afghanistan, and 1 to the Horn of Africa. Recently I was asked what my MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) was. I replied “in a nutshell, ‘infantry’” to receive back the “oh so you are bullet sponge.” I must not be a very good bullet sponge because in my 5 deployments I never absorbed a single bullet.

I have never been the type to tell war stories, post pictures of myself with guns, or even put pictures of myself in uniform on line (although I have done all of the above to with a select few).  Marine infantry is what I do, not who I am. I have found that those who talk too much and bolster about their heroism are phonies or exaggerators at best.   Our society is one of war, and because we are a society of war we praise and exact our warriors. No wonder there are so many phony war heroes out there. Ironically every Vietnam Marine I have ever met have been Recon Marines, I guess we didn’t have administrative clerks, Intelligence analyst, grunts (sorry bullet sponges), Radio operators, Mechanics, bulk fuel, and so on. All Marines back then were Recon Marines.

I never subscribed to the whole “this branch is better than that branch”, “SEALS are tougher then Rangers”, “Rangers are better than Marines” and certainly never did I believe “Marines are better than everyone else.” Yet there are those who do, who talk about that and often even believe it. Even within the Marine Corps there is the “this MOS is tough or more important than that MOS.” To call a Marine a POG (People Other than Grunts) is pretty insulting. All MOS are needed and vital to the cause, just as every branch is needed and vital to the cause.

Remember, there is no “real” military or one branch is better than another. We are a society of warriors, ironically only about 10% of our military are real warriors. Even if you don’t fall in that 10%, the 10% would not be able to fight efficiently without the other 90%. 90% thank you for what you do, when was the last time someone in your MOS was awarded a Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, or a Congressional Medal of Honor? I don’t want your MOS, I am Damn sure you don’t want mine, let’s leave it at that.

I do present to you this thought: When you think of a Soldier, or a Marine what comes to mind?