This past week has been good. I was accepted into Raider Co., surpassed my goal of a 260 PFT, and aced my last test. Thus being in a motto mood, I decided to post some USMC-related links I came across.

First there’s an incredible video of Badass Marine reciting a poem. Yes, a Marine reciting a poem. It should bring a tear to the eye of any American.

The second came out last month, but I’ll post it now: 232 Reasons to Love your Corps. Some highlights include:

29. Recruiting in Texas is like hunting at the zoo…

32. The wallet in your sock.

33. Motivating television commercials…

36. Running cadences that mention napalm. And Eskimos…

41. If you’ve been on liberty in Twentynine Palms, you’ve been on liberty in Yuma and Barstow, too…

43. It’s not the Army…

50. Cpl. Gareth Hawkins, lying on a stretcher after an IED shattered his leg, demanded re-enlistment before medical evacuation. And got it…

153. Shirt stays. Or garters. Whatever you call them, they’re a triple whammy, keeping your shirt tucked, your socks up and removing all that unwanted leg hair.

154. The slogans: “The Few, The Proud, The Marines.” “We’re Looking For a Few Good Men,” “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” “Tell that to the Marines.” If they could only purchase the rights to Hallmark’s “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best…”

166. If you ambush Capt. Brian Chontosh’s boys, he’s going to take off his Navy Cross and kill you. Then, he’s going to pick up your rifle and kill your buddies. Then, he’s going to pick up your buddy’s rifle and kill your buddy’s buddies. Then, he’s going to pick up a rocket-propelled grenade launcher …

It’s a motivational list.

1. Know what you’re getting into. Realize that the Corps of Cadets really is a Senior Military College, much like the Citadel, Texas A&M, or a service academy. Do your research and study the Corps’ proud history, its current goals, and mentally prepare yourself for what’s coming.

2. Know why you’re here. The Corps has been clamping down on hazing in recent years, but you will be screamed at and be spending long periods of time in uncomfortable positions. At those times, it’s important to keep your eye on the prize. Maybe you want to serve you country, become a better leader, you’re attracted to the Corp’s values, or maybe you just “like a challenge.” Whatever your reason, figure it out. Write yourself an essay if you need to.

3. Be prepared to learn. On the first day of new cadet week, you will be issued your “Guidon,” your Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Corps of Cadets. You’ll be told what to read, but I recommend learning three things ASAP:
1 The ranks within the Corps of Cadets,
2 The chain of command for all companies, your battalion, and the regiment
3 The Corp’s eight values of Duty, Honor, Loyalty, Leadership, Service, Sacrifice, Brotherhood, and Ut Prosim.
The eight values are at the heart of the Corps, and of Virginia Tech. They can be found on the Pylons of the War Memorial. In the center of those Pylons is the cenotaph on which are inscribed the names of those Techmen who are recognized with the Medal of Honor for living those virtues. As a cadet, you are a Techmen of the purest form. As one of my buds put it, “We attend VPI; everyone else goes to Virginia Tech.” You will have a deeper understanding and connection to Virginia Tech than most of your civilian classmates can fathom.
Each day during New Cadet Week will bring more things for you to learn. The first few days will be focused on the individual. You’ll learn to square yourself away. Later, you’ll learn to act as a progressively larger unit. Take to heart what you’re taught; you’ll use them every day the coming year.

4. Arrive early at check-in. Get through all the stations as quickly as possible, this will allow you to get to your room and get settled. Act quickly, this will allow you to organize your room. Have a plan to get to everything fast. Double check to ensure you received all of your items, and begin de-IPing them. IPs, or Irish Penants, are the long threads that crop up on uniforms and cause your “cadre” to contort their faces and jeer.

5. As soon as possible, learn the names of those around you. First, you’ll learn the name of your cadre, who are part drill instructors and part baby sitters. They’ll hound you day-in and day-out over the next year, but will also serve as a buffer between you and the upperclass men for the first part of that same year. Next you’ll want to learn the names of all you “Buds.” Get organized as soon as possible; get the names, room numbers, emails, and cell and room phone numbers of all your buds. You’ll grow very close to your buds over the next year.

6. Act with confidence. Part of the training you receive during new cadet week is to teach you to “think up” so you don’t make mistakes, and how to react when you do err. You’ll be taught to “Sound off” in the hallways, do so boldly and fluidly. Your cadre and the upperclassmen will focus on you less if you act with confidence.

7. Get some storage chests and a desk hutch. Space is extremely limited in your rooms. Everything must be office you desk, floor, and bed by 0800. These will make your life a lot easier and give you an edge in keeping your room in its thoroughly Spartan appearance.

8. Sinks are multipurpose. Figure it out.

9. Don’t survive, excel.
-Ut Prosim

As my last day at home winds down, I’m finding more and more to do, Including posting here. This is a video I came across a while back on YouTube.
The Marine walking into the building is an officer, the Marine in the foreground, a recruit, failed to call “Officer on Deck.” This is the aftermath:

Go ahead. Watch it again.

I started modeling Gundams when I was 5 yrs old. My parents had seen the kits in stores off-base, so they picked one up for my father and I to work on. Instead of waiting for my father, I dove into the kit on my own. I still remember building the model, in just one afternoon I turned a box of plastic panels in to a fully-poseable action figure.
More than A few years later, I’m about to get back into building. Here are the only survivors from my building days.

The HG Gouf: Flight Type — A very cool model. Lots of parts missing (It’s been through three moves), but you still get the general idea. Last model I really sat down and put effort into.

Some SD Gundams from various times (Note another Gouf in the middle).

A HG Gundam Wing. No tools here except fingernail clippers and a sharpie. I’m not a bif fan of the Gundam Wing series, but this kit was a gift. It was done over a Christmas vacation at grandma’s house (It was a great excuse to get away). Visible on the shielding were some tests with a soldering iron to get a “battle worn look.”

I took my physics book out of my backpack, and set it on the shelf. Don’t get me wrong, it wont stay there long (Hey, that rhymes!). I’ve carried that text for nearly a year now. I removed it with a sense of accomplishment. Through a lot of help and even more studying, I was able to succeed in a course that caused others to stumble.
Out of a class of over 40 some nine months ago, little more than 10 finished. Some not only dropped the course, they dropped the major. I’ve learned alot since I started.
I learned how our choice effect us, how hardwork can overcome short comings, and what good friends can really be.
It’s been an emotional semester: losing my TI-89 40 minutes before an exam, getting the A when I didn’t expect it, the initial spate of poor homework grades, and the on 106/100 midterm with a class average of 54/100, the litany of ill-prepared classmates, and the quirky pre-exam rituals.
Our textbooks, once crisp and new, ceased to be books, but became symbols. Now, with covers fleeing and blistered pages, they proclaim a year of effort put to good use.

Here’s another video I found while perusing DefenseTech (yes, I know I post a lot from them). The video is of a reporter talking on C-Span. She is definently emotional the Iraq war and the efforts of our troops and the Iraqis. She makes some awesome points, so I’ll let the video do the talking:

If you’re interested in more Iraq war commentary, check out the Multi-National Force - Iraq YouTube Channel, or Pat Dollard’s documentary Young Americans

Okay. I’m an unequivocal gun nut. (You have three guesses as to the topic of this post) When a friend recently asked me what weapon systems might be replacements for the M16 now that the XM8 and comical XM29 OICW are residing six-feet under, he got a little bit more than he bargained for…

Uncle Sam has been purchasing the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (a.k.a . “SCAR”) for some time now. Besides the awesome name, the SCAR is highly configurable and reliable, but is only suited for special-forces type personnel. Defense-update.com has the background on the system. The weapon was designed, from scratch, specifically for US SOCOM by FN Herstal. The design of the weapon allows users to change from CQB to Sniper and from 5.56 to 7.62 NATO ammo. There’s a 90% correlation of parts between the “heavy” (SCAR-H) and “light” (SCAR-L) models, meaning an operator in the field only needs to change 10% of the parts to adapt the weapon to his situation. The versatility is intended to give operators greater flexibility and reduced need for an expansive armory. (Image of FN SCAR-L is courtesy of world.guns.ru)

Of course, FN Herstal produces some beautiful firearms. I’ve only fired their weapons via Sam Fisher or Ghost Recon (thank you, Tom Clancy). Offerings such as the P90, a PDW/Submachine gun (gotta’ love that combination), or the F2000, an ultra-futuristic bull-pup rifle, are familiar to any videogame connoisseur.

Check out this video from “The Shootout at Blackwater 2004″ featuring the F2000

Other weapons to appear at Blackwater include MGL-140, currently serving with the USMC, the AA-12 automatic shotgun (a real life jackhammer), and the HK416.

The HK416 is one of my personal favorites. Essentially, it’s a piston driven m4, and a gorgeous one at that. Apparently it’s just impossible to foul, shoots straight, and makes grown terrorists cry. Details are sketchy, but the weapon is known to be cost effective M16/M4 upper replacement. Military.com has more details here. What seperates this rifle from the current M16 is the piston system. The M16, like the rest of the AR15 family relies on a gas blowback system. This makes the system very light, but prone to the aforementioned fowling (gumming up of internal parts over time) and degraded reliability. In the HK415, the gas only comes in contact with the barrel, piston, and firing pin. The piston efficiently uses excess gas to eject the spent casing and chamber another round. Because the gas only contacts the front of the piston, it reduces the chance of the gun jamming. Heckler & Koch (Koch is pronounced like ‘coke’) topped this off with a specialized firing pin. We may be seeing a lot more of this weapon.

Another piston driven rifle popped up recently by a company called Magpul (I guess this company makes a lot of rifle stocks). Anyway the rifle, named Masada, made waves at the recent Shot Show, mainly for its rapid development period (something like three months). It’s a multicaliber, piston driven, modular rifle with a very nice stock. More details at the Airborne Combat Engineer. Here’s a video of a Masada prototype being test fired.

A notable recent addition that Magpul collaborated on to the world of firearms is the unique is the KRISS Super V System. It “re-vectors” the recoil of the rifle using a counter balance. The rifle is meant to be very controllable, even under fully automatic fire. Defense Review has more details. The Kriss Rifle has gotten a lot of press recently, even an article in the NRA mag American Rifleman.

I’m ashamed to say one of the most interesting rifles to come about recently nearly slipped by. The Tavor TAR-21 Assault Rifle, made by the Israelis, is by far the most exceptional rifle I’ve seen. It’s a compact bullpup style rifle, the size of an M4 with the accuracy of a sniper rifle. The Israelis developed the rifle for over three years to be an effective weapon in all situations. The use of the weapon is meant to be “organic” (I’m guessing that means instinctual) to the operator. In addition to its small shape, the Tavor has integrated sights, is well balanced and can be adapted quickly to right- or left- handed operators. This effective little system is currently carried by the IDF and Indian troops.

For all this talk of rifles, it may not be a new rifle that the military buys next, but a PDW. The Army has quietly been looking for a new “Personal Defensive Weapon,” so naturally everyone in the blogshpere knows about it. Maybe I’ll post about that next time

The Irish antiwar song “Johnny, I hardly knew ye” and the Patriotic-American war song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” share a remarkable history. They share the same tune, and the latter is thought to be an offspring of the former (although no known published works of “Johnny, I hardly knew ye” precede the publication of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”).
“Johnny, I hardly knew ye” tells of the return of a wounded soldier: “an armless, boneless, chickenless egg” while “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” tells of the triumphant return of soldier from war (The laurel wreath is ready now, To place upon his loyal brow, And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home).
We here one of these songs everyday about the Iraq war, but rarely do we hear the other side. That may change soon.
I recently stumbled across a profanity-laced advert for the documentary “Young Americans.” The documentary was shot by Hollywood agent who dropped about $25k to go to Iraq and film Marines, and got shot at and blown up in the process.
He did so because he firmly believes in the effort, but the great part is that you get a lot, I mean a lot, of first hand statements from Marines and Iraqis talking about what really goes on.
His name is Pat Dollard and the documentary is called “Young Americans.”
Take a look at the video section of his site. If you know Marines, you’ll be grinning almost the whole time. Dollard gets right in there. He talks and swears at the Marines, and the Marines talk and cuss back. Apparently, Pollard was even responsible for the failed sniper attempt video that popped up on Military.com. In the video, the camera is looking out a bullet-proof window when a bullet smashes into the glass, right in front of the camera. His work has also been featured on Fox News, Maxim Magazine, US News, and Variety.
The documentary caught my eye because of the film maker’s dedication to giving the Marines and locals their say. In a nation where the politically oriented media sings one song, and only one song, Pat Dollard is rewriting the lyrics.

Okay, so I’ve been accepted into the honors program at Virginia Tech! Last Friday, I decided to go down and take a tour. I attended an info sessioin at the College of Engineering, and had a tour of the Corps of Cadets.

The info session was pretty basic. The sad part was that none (I mean none) of the other students asked question. They all had the same glazed eyes and parents to ask questions for them. One mother asked which college was the “Honors College.” Another parent, when he heard it was common for engineering students to take five years to graduate, began negotiating with the poor student giving the information session to get his son out in four years. He even asked if doing summer school would help, our host had to break it to him that the 5 years includes summer school. Before you get the wrong idea, let me explain. Many engineering students take on co-ops or internships to get hands on experience. Not only do students get the experience, but they also gain industry contacts, are paid for their time, and it’s not uncommon for companies to hire industrious students staight out of college or help with their education.

The tour of the Corps of Cadets went much better. I was expecting only to meet a midshipman who would give us a tour, but Major Gibson and GySgt Culverhouse of the NROTC Marine-Option Program also took the time to meet with me. The Marine Midshipmen at Virginia Tech are an interesting group. Under Maj Gibson’s guidance, they’ve grown from a small group to encompass a third of students in the Corps of Cadets. Those who are part of Raider Company recieve extra training and discipline, that will ultimately prepare them for careers as Marine Officers. Their standards are tough, but meant to turn students into leaders, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for: Training and discipline that will give me the skills I need to be the best officer possible.

I’m definetly interested in the Corps of Cadets. After the interview, MIDN McNamara, a senior at VT, gave us the tour of the Corp. (My Father informs me they are exactly like standard military baracks.)

MIDN McNamara just warned me to keep an “open mind.”

The recent release of Casino Royale, the first decent Bond movie in recent memory, and the pending return of Jack Bauer in 24, has compelled me to create a list of “Movies for Guys. Disclaimer: m not implying any order of greatness with the numbering.

1) Snatch/ Lock, Stock and Two Smocking Barrels

Guy Ritchie’s two wickedly-brilliant crime capers, Lock, Stock and Two Smocking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), are defining guy movies. Marked by perverse-but-brilliant use of the English language, real-life thugs, friggin’-incredible characters, rampageous plots, and a sense of humor to match, both movies deny audiences the right to blink.

Lock, Stock and Two Smocking Barrels is the first of Guy Ritchie’s crime films. Although earlier and less polished than Snatch, the plot is much more creative than its semi-sequel. Four friends (Eddie, Tom, Soap and Bacon) join a rigged high-stakes card game, and end up owing more money than they have (which initiates a roundabout and counter-productive crime spree). The crime spree focuses around stolen shotguns, competing crime organizations, and leaves our four heroes (almost) where they started. What makes Lock, Stock and Two Smocking Barrels truly great is its characters. There’s Eddie, the gambling genius with the uninvolved father (played by Sting) who acts as ringleader, to Soap, the chef who’s obsessed with both knives and keeping his business “œlegit.”

Snatch is the incredible follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smocking Barrels. Slightly distilled for consumption by a wider audience, Snatch succeeds in drawing in viewers. In fact, the first time I saw Snatch I could not take my eyes off the screen. The characters in these movies are addictive, the action is brutal, and you’re laughing your head off the entire movie. Great Stuff.

2) Ronin

Staring Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, and Sean Bean, Ronin is a spy/heist movie done right. The movie separates itself from others in its genre by its methodical progression and originality. While most movies retrace the steps laid long ago, Ronin finds its own tangent. Most spy movies try to trick the audience and reveal the deception as a stunning (but often predictable) conclusion. Not only is the double-cross in revealed at a more appropriate time, but Ronin also changes the focus of the film from division to unification. To match this departure from the norm are some outstanding driving, shooting, and explosions. Sounds like a guy movie to me.

3) Gattaca

Finally, a movie for the thinking man. Gattaca takes place in a bifurcated world. Gattaca is about human nature and how a single invention can change society. Vincent, the main character, is one of the last naturally born children; all others are genetically modified to be “perfect;” there is a high-probability Vincent will develop a heart defect — and is slated to keel over at 30. Throughout the film, the audience sees how these predictions places him at a disadvantage. Society treats him as a frail object, and for most of his life he believes it. But Vincent eventually realizes the difference between “probability” & “reality” and “ideal genes” & “natural potential.”

This disparity is embodied by Vincent’s opposite and confidant — “Jerome,” a former athlete and owner of perfect genes, who also happens to be a paraplegic. Together, Vincent and Jerome beat the system for Vincent to fulfill his life long dream to become an astronaut. Forgive me if I’ve confused you, but Gattaca is a complex probe into man’s quest to develop the perfect society. You won’t regret renting this movie.

4) Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail (Review Courtesy of Evan Simmons, an aspiring young-American writer)

The absolute best movie I have ever seen. Amazing screenplay, wonderful actors, and a suspenseful plot add to the excitement in this timeless classic. It is the story of the gallant knights of the Round Table: Sir Galahad the Pure (my favorite), Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the not-so-brave-as-Sir Lancelot, and the aply named Sir Notappearinginthisfilm. They were sent on a quest by God in search of the sacred Holy Grail, and face perils including a cute widdle bunny wabbit with really long teeth, a very unruly peasant, and the dreaded “Knights who say ‘Ni’”! It is a very dramatic storyline, especially when Bors and a few other knights are killed by the very scary Killer Bunny Rabbit (who I have had nightmares about). Then they have to cross the Bridge of Doom and answer questions such as “what is the airspeed velocity of a swallow?” and are almost eaten by a hideous animated beast. In the end, they make it to the castle of Arrgh, and are taunted by a skinny, white Frenchman. And then the police come and arrest everybody. All in all, I think this movie is a heartfelt, scary, lovable classic full of bravery and valor.