You said, words to the effect, that Marine programming gone bad was the root of his actions. After thirty years of an all volunteer military, we’ve come to this. The vast majority of those who have not served have an understanding of “the military” almost entirely comprised of what they’ve seen on TV, or cooked up in their fevered imaginations.
Marines are a very distinct culture within the miltary. Within the Marine Corps, those who actually fire a shot in anger are a subset with an even more distinct culture. The chances of your suicidal rapist being an honest to goodness trigger puller are about one in five. The rest lead a fairly sheltered life, albeit not without hardship unknown to most civilians, sailors, and airmen.
Programming? The NEA, and the bottom third of the graduating classes of America’s universities who obtain teaching certificates do more to program our youth. The Marine Corps’ success has always been based on our ability to attract young men who weren’t afraid to get in a fight on the playground. Those who know that some things are worth fighting for.
I’m accustomed to ignorant cheapshots. I understand that they, as Henry V said, count their manhood cheap who lay abed in England, while others are abroad serving in the field. Having served as a Marine Infantry Officer for over two decades, and with a son serving as one today, I can attest that we’ve never produced a better Corps than the one we have today. That was accomplished by recruiting the very best people for the job, not by programming them.
