Did Top U.S. Marine General Manipulate The Legal System And Showed Favoritism

 

Complaint Alleges Marine General Influenced Video Probe -- USA Today  

Allegations target Gen. Jim Amos' involvement in cases stemming from insurgent urination video.

WASHINGTON -- The top Marine general and four of his legal advisers are implicated in a complaint to the Defense Department Inspector General charging they inappropriately inserted themselves into the prosecution of cases stemming from the infamous video showing scout snipers urinating on dead insurgents in Afghanistan.

The complaint, filed by Marine Maj. James Weirick, an attorney assigned to Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., alleges Commandant Gen. Jim Amos, or others acting on his behalf, deliberately sought to manipulate the legal process, effectively stacking the deck against the scout snipers in the video.

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My Comment: If these allegations are true .... this is very disturbing.

1st Marine Division Has A Cool Instagram Account

U.S. Marine Corps

America's Deadliest Infantry Division Shows Off Everyday Life On Instagram -- Business Insider

Boy was I amazed when I saw the Marine Corps' deadliest division had an instagram account.

(We didn't have no instagram in the old Corps.)

Even more surprising was that not all the photos were of training events. It's easy to miss the forest for the trees in that case — all that shooting and scooting makes for easiest photo-ops.

Instead, here you'll get a chance to see a bit of every day life for America's Marine infantry.

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WNU Editor: The 1st Marine Division Instagram account is here.

Is Afghanistan The 'Last Fight' For The U.S. Marines?

Why Afghanistan Might Be The Marines’ Last Fight -- David Francis, The Fiscal Times

In 2010, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates made waves when he ordered the Pentagon to take a hard look at the Marines to determine what, if any role they would play in the future of warfare.

“All of the military services have been challenged to find the right balance between preserving what is unique and valuable in their traditions, while at the same time making the changes necessary to win the wars we are in and prepare for the likely future threats in the years and decades to come,” he said. “Looking ahead, I do think it is proper to ask whether large-scale amphibious landings along the lines of Inchon [the Marine’s invasion of the Korea peninsula in 1950] are feasible.”

The review, which was completed in 2011, recommended the Marines shrink the size of their force dramatically and make other cuts that would lessen their strength. But the review did little to quiet speculation among the defense and policy community in Washington. There are lingering questions about the future of the Marines, with some suggesting that their missions are better conducted by the Army, Navy and Special Forces.

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My Comment: The US Marines have a 237 year old history .... they are not going to go away.

U.S. Marines Training To Fight An Enemy Like North Korea

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Who says it's cold? The soldiers from the south-east Asian country and their fellow marines from Kaneho Bay, Hawaii, dive in the snow as if they were on a beach. Daily Mail

How Marines Train For An Enemy Like North Korea -- Popular Mechanics

The days when the Pentagon focused on fighting insurgents are gone. At a training ground way out in the California desert, U.S. Marines prepare for the threat of a more modern enemy: so-called "near peers" such as Iran and North Korea that can bring 20th-century weapons to bear. PM was on hand to see the Marines practice coming up against tanks, armored personnel carriers, and antiaircraft missiles.

Tanks, F/A-18s, artillery, armored vehicles, and MV-22 tiltrotor Ospreys: Just another day of live-fire training at the Marine Corps' Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif. PM was there to observe—at close range—the climax of the second-ever Integrated Training Exercise (ITX), a training event meant to prepare 800 Marines for deployment.

Unlike earlier training exercises, the Marines' imaginary enemies at the ITX are not insurgent infantry with rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs. Instead, late last year the training personnel here set up a scenario in which Marines oppose battle tanks, mechanized infantry, and antiaircraft missiles.

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WNU Editor: For some great pics on joint U.S. - South Korean winter military training .... go here. More pics here.

U.S. Marines Drink Cobra Blood

US Marines Drink Snake Blood: ‘Cobra Gold 2013′ -- Inquisitr

At a joint military exercise 90 miles outside of Bangkok, Thai soldiers taught US Marines some serious jungle survival tactics. Marines drank the blood of live cobras in a hardcore exercise called “Cobra Gold 2013,” the thirty-second edition of international exercises hosted by Thailand.

So what does snake blood taste like? Second Lieutenant Ted Powers told Reuters, ” Terrible. Really terrible, but it is a good experience … It’s something I can always tell my grandchildren about.”


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More News On U.S. Marines Drinking Cobra Blood

Jungle cuisine: Marines wash down insects with snake blood during Cobra Gold -- Military Times
Watch US Marines drink cobra blood in Thailand -- Digital Journal
US Marines drink snake blood in Thai training exercise called 'Cobra Gold 2013' -- New York Post
Jungle Exercises in Thailand: US Marines Drink Blood of Cobra and Bite Chickens' Heads [PHOTOS] -- International Business Times

My Comment: I can easily handle this .... but definitely NOT cobra blood.

Talking About Ethics In The U.S. Marine Corps

Photo: Gen. James Amos. Wikipedia

Marine Corps To Discuss Ethics With Generals After Scandals -- USA Today

Publicity over Petraeus' resignation and extramarital affair have prompted meetings on how to avoid ethical challenges.

The Marine Corps' top officer is meeting with all the service's generals to talk ethics in the wake of recent scandals that have taken a toll on the reputation of the nation's military leaders.

Gen. James Amos, the commandant, told USA TODAY he doesn't believe standards among the Marine Corps' top officers are slipping, but said the recent publicity has presented an opportunity to discuss standards and the public perceptions recent scandals have generated.

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My Comment: They are cutting the liquor .... so I guess they are serious.

The Making Of The Marine Corps

After The Sands Of Iwo Jima -- Max Boot, Wall Street Journal

The Marines had the idea of enlisting journalists, making their story far more compelling to the civilians back home.


The Marines are the most celebrated but least understood of our four military services. They have done a brilliant job of burnishing their martial image, from the days of the 1949 John Wayne movie "The Sands of Iwo Jima" to today's "The Few, the Proud, the Marines" commercials. With nearly 200,000 personnel and their own aircraft, tanks and artillery, they comprise one of the most capable military forces in the world. But so adept have the Marines become at telling their story—somehow the even less-than-heroic portrayals in "Gomer Pyle, USMC" and "Heavy Metal Jacket" have enhanced their reputation—that it isn't always easy to separate myth from reality.

That is a task that Aaron B. O'Connell, a history professor at the Naval Academy and himself a Marine reservist, tackles with brio in his absorbing account of the Marines between 1941 and 1965, "Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps." Prior to World War II, Mr. O'Connell notes, the Corps "was tiny, unpopular and institutionally disadvantaged"—it had just 50,000 men, and it was seen as an adjunct of the Navy. Its commandant was a two-star general who didn't even merit a seat on the newly created Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1942.

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My Comment: Oohrah!

2012 United States Marine Corps Birthday Message

Go Daddy's United States Marine Corps 237th Birthday Tribute 2012

Hat Tip: Theo Spark

Marine Air-Ground Support

Hat Tip: Prairie Pundit

Commandant James Amos: Marines Must Live With 'Good Enough'

Photo: Marine Commandant James F. Amos. Wikipedia

Marines Must Live With 'Good Enough' As Budget Shrinks: Amos -- Aol Defense

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB: As war funding goes away, Marines must learn to live with "good enough" in an era of austerity, Commandant James Amos declared today at the National Press Club, saying that even top-priority programs like the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor face the budget axe.

Even without sequestration, the half-trillion in cuts over 10 years already imposed by last year's Budget Control Act are "going to have an impact on the amount of things we're able to buy," Gen. Amos said. "Right now we've not adjusted the top numbers, the program of record, [for] what we plan on buying on V-22s and JSFs. [But] over time, especially if sequestration hits, we're going to have to take a look at the total numbers."

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My Comment: He is preparing the Marines for sequestration.

Tomorrow's Marine Corps

Tomorrow’s ‘Reconstituted’ Marine Corps -- DoD Buzz

All the services will probably look different after the end of the Afghan war, but the Marine Corps could well be the one that changes the most.

The brass has vowed to get back to its “expeditionary roots;” to rediscover the ways of “amphibiosity;” and, most of all, to get much lighter.

“As I say, the United States Marine Corps needs to go on weight control,” Assistant Commandant Gen. Joe Dunford said on Wednesday. That doesn’t just mean that it’s counting on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to be as light as possible, the better to go aboard Navy gators, but also that the Corps can’t just “reset” — it must “reconstitute” itself.

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My Comment: It will look different .... but the spirit of the Marine Corps is still the Corps.

US Marines Are Now Permitted To Wear KIA Bracelets

Marines were upset after being told by superiors that memorial bracelets like this worn to honor fallen soldiers are unauthorized jewelry and should be removed. Daily Mail

Commandant: Marines Permitted To Wear KIA Bracelets -- Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — Following a public outcry, Marines can now wear KIA bracelets that honor fallen comrades, according to a Corps official.

The Marine Corps announced Tuesday that Commandant Gen. James Amos made the decision.

“We are acknowledging the close personal nature of our ten years at war and the strong bonds of fidelity that Marines have for one another, especially for those fellow Marines who we have lost,” Amos said in a statement.

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Previous Post: U.S. Marine Corps Bans KIA Bracelets

My Comment: That was fast .... and not surprising.

U.S. Marine Corps Bans KIA Bracelets

Carol Guzy — The Washington Post

Marines Frustrated By Ban On Bracelets Honoring Fallen Warriors -- Stars and Stripes

Marines around the world are angry about a crackdown on bracelets that honor the war dead, which they say is illogical and unevenly enforced, according to a story in the Marine Corps Times.

The Marine Corps uniform policy forbids most jewelry but does allow metal bands with a width less than half an inch commemorating troops who are missing in action or prisoners of war. Marines say the KIA bracelets are identical to the permitted POW/MIA bracelets and serve the same purpose, the story said.

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More News On The Marine Ban On Bracelets Honoring Fallen Soldiers

Policy on KIA bracelets stokes Marines’ fury -- Washington Post
Marines frustrated by ban on memorial bracelets -- USA Today
U.S. Marines in bracelet controversy -- UPI
Ban on bracelets honoring those killed in action frustrates Marines -- Syracuse.com
Marine Corps cracks down on KIA bracelets -- Chicago Sun Times
Marines: Let Us Wear Memorial KIA Bracelets -- Newser

Marine Corps Getting F-22s?

Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor (Source: Lockheed Martin)

F-22s For The Marine Corps? -- DoD Buzz

Yes, you read it correctly, Marines flying F-22s. One Marine is making the case for just that.

Writing in this month’s Marine Corps Gazette, Maj. Chrisopher Cannon, argues that it’s time the Corps begins looking at a plan B for the short take-off and vertical landing B-model– which has suffered numerous cost and schedule delays and was placed on a two year probation by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates last spring. Keep in mind that the plane is making considerable flight test progress and that just yesterday, the Marines’ top aviation officer reiterated the Corps long-held stance that there is no plan B for the Bravo.

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My Comment: The Marine Corps is dreaming.

USMC Recruiting Video

My Comment: One of my favorite videos.

Hat Tip: Theo Spark

A New Mission For Some U.S. Marines

Master Sgt. Anthony Henry, center, and Staff Sgt. Chris Cano told one prospective applicant she needed to lose weight. Michael Stravato for The New York Times

Marines Hit The Ground Running In Seeking Recruits At Gay Center -- New York Times

TULSA, Okla. — Master Sgt. Anthony Henry, a top Marine recruiting trainer for the southwestern United States, pulled up to Tulsa’s biggest gay community center on Tuesday morning and left his Chevy where he could make a fast getaway. “I have an exit strategy,” he said. “I know where my choke points are, I’ve strategically parked my car right on the curbside, I have an out.”

But as it happened, one of the strangest days in the history of the United States Marine Corps unfolded without the protests and insults that Sergeant Henry had feared. Sergeant Henry, who had been invited to set up a recruiting booth on the first day of the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell” at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in downtown Tulsa, instead spent it in quiet conversation with a trickle of gay women who came in to ask about joining the Marines.

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My Comment: I wish them the best, but I doubt that they will be getting a flood of requests to join the Marines.

Hazing Still Exists In The U.S. Marines

Marine Suicide Tied To Hazing In Afghanistan -- Marine Times

One Marine faces court-martial and another faces non-judicial punishment for allegedly hazing a lance corporal who killed himself in Afghanistan, according to a military investigation report obtained by Marine Corps Times.



Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, 21, killed himself with a two- or three-round burst from an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon early April 3, according to a Marine Corps investigation. He was hazed that night by two other lance corporals in 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, who were angry he had fallen asleep several times while manning a guard post, the report said.



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Update #1: Marines face punishment for hazing that preceded guard's suicide -- L.A. Times

Update #2: Marine Commits Suicide Following Hazing -- NBC

A First For The U.S. Marines At Parris Island

Brig. General. Loretta E. Reynolds, 46, is the first female Marine commander of the Corps' iconic training ground for recruits at Parris Island, S.C. She took command in June. (John Wollwerth/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

Marine Brig. Gen. L.E. Reynolds Is Parris Island’s First Female Commander -- Washington Post

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. — There’s a new commander on this sandy, swampy spit of land that has transformed rawboned recruits into macho Marines for nearly a century. Brig. Gen. L.E. Reynolds, a 6-foot-tall Baltimore native and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is the latest in a long line of no-nonsense leaders to take charge here.



But she’s the first woman.



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My Comment: Expect even more changes in the U.S. Marine Corp.

Racial Quotas For The U.S. Marine Corp.?

MILITARY: Increasing Number Of Black Officers In Marine Corps Called Overdue -- North County Times

A promise by the new commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps to roughly double the number of black officers is echoing loudly with black groups and troops.

For a service that was the last to open its doors to blacks and has never had a black commandant or four-star general, the vow from Gen. James Amos creates large expectations.

Amos said Tuesday his goal is to double the number of blacks among the Marine Corps' 22,155 officers from the current 1,326 to roughly 2,860.

That would raise the number of black officers to roughly 13 percent, a figure that reflects the percentage of the black population in the U.S.

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My Comment: I am one who hates racial quotas, discrimination, racism, etc. etc. etc.. But in this case .... the numbers do not add up .... and I can understand why Gen. Amos is concerned about it and is determined to change it by promoting more black officers.