Fleet Week had the potential to be nothing but great.
Instead the Marine Corps has shitted on its most fervent supporters and did the "Politically Correct" thing.
If I were to bet money, I would say that most Marine Corps recruits come from the South, Mid West and parts of the West. Where have we seen Fleet Weeks? New York City? Really? A bastion of liberal politics and anti-military types and thats where you hold a Fleet Week? Chicago? Same. San Fran? Oh the same on steroids!
St. Louis is an improvement but say it out loud! Look at the statistics! Does that even make sense?
The Marine Corps needs to re-orient its focus. Dallas. Atlanta. Phoenix. Austin. Denver. Oklahoma City. Miami. Birmingham. Heck anywhere but the usual urban spots they've picked.
Places in the heartland is where the focus should be. But don't hold your breath for a change. Tradition is trumping changing demographics, recruiting reality and common sense.
Want some half baked opinion sprinkled with alot of facts on why the South is the recruiting mecca for the services? Go here.
It's not the politics, it's the size of the population. New York City is the largest city in the country, it'd be stupid not to try to recruit from there. I'm from upstate New York, stationed in California and I am surprised by the number of Marines from New York, Chicago, and other cities from the east coast. Another thing, not everyone from New York City is a left wing liberal; the guys that join from those areas are for the most part conservative; they're the ones from giant Catholic families where everyone has been in the military and is also or now in NYPD or NYFD. My point of view is I've only been with 7th Marines in the west coast. I've had Marines from everywhere, but for the most part they're from California, Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Texas. They're from all religions and all have different political views. I will say that it's when you get to the higher ranks that there is a higher conservative population, especially in the infantry. Fox News is the only news channel on and if you want to watch something else you have to eat in the Navy mess deck in the hospital. The entry level Marine is pretty diverse. But anyway, my point was, and mind you I've never been in recruiting, it's a numbers game. Those cities have the largest population in one spot. You can go to those other places, but you're not gonna get as much bang for their buck.
ReplyDeletewell as you can tell from my post i totally disagree. California a hotbed of recruiting? not when you consider population and the numbers tail off dramatically when you go to certain areas. LA isn't what it should be and San Fran is a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteTexas is the south, Oregon and Washington are the states on the coast that should be exploited. but Cali? no way. Oklahoma is in the heartland so we in a way agree. notice you didn't say you knew many Marines from NY? how about Jersey? how about the rest of the Northeast?
but we're still having Fleet Week where Marines are hated --- that can't be denied.
population density be damned...if you had an event in Dallas or Houston or Atlanta or OKC or any other city outside of the ones that are being hit then you'd have people driving from 3 hours away or more to see it.
i think Sol you mix the minority of military haters with the majority of Americans. i have lived in Georgia (Augusta), Oklahoma (rural in the southern part), NYC and now in Seattle and while there are those liberal types theres still alot of Americans that join the military, and most support the military. i think many confuse when people object to civilian policies relating to the military and engagements (i.e. Iraq), and now you see the Ivy Leagues bringing back ROTC because of shifting policies back to whats important to them. I think the far left liberal hating the military gets alot of news but isnt by any means a majority in those areas, just a vocal minority.
ReplyDelete1) How can you have Fleet Week in an inland city?
ReplyDelete2) San Francisco's Fleet Week attracts about a million spectators each year, greater than the population of Denver and Birmingham combined.
1. what do you call St. Louis?
ReplyDelete2. what do you call Chicago?
3. if you can show me that population density equals recruiting success then i can tell you that you're wrong.
4. have you any experience inside USMC Recruiting Command?
5. you noted Denver and Birmingham but neglected to look at what Atlanta could produce, Dallas or Houston...Phoenix and several other cities that produce a number of Marines but are never blessed with having a Fleet Week.
6. you're showing the same tired, flawed and outmoded thinking that has the Marine Corps biased to the coasts when the majority of its enlisted men come from the South, Mid West and certain Western States.
7. you're focused only on media centers, not recruiting grounds. want to know a dirty secret? the US Army owns the property that is or should be fertile Marine territory.
i have no problems with fleet week in other places Sol but i dont think its appropriate to be hinting that other places dont give alot of people or the coasts arent patriotic. Yes the coasts are more liberal but the coasts support the military and soliders, as i said, dont support the civilian policy makers alot of times. alot what focuses on recruitment is economic opportunity, and the south is not as wealthy as others, but you will see those who are lower income going into the military, no matter what region. Theres also alot of military bases between Dallas and Houston so they dont need to do the strong recruitment they might have to in other places that dont have such a strong military presence. An interesting response is here: http://askville.amazon.com/Southerners-represented-Military-higher-numbers-regions-country/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=7033016
ReplyDeleteclimb off your elitist high horse joe. there just as many if not more 'economically deprived' people on the coasts as there are in the south, heartland etc...the people are just more supportive of there military.
ReplyDeletesorry if facts get in the way but there you have it. yuppie enclaves and bastions of leftist elites don't like it but it is what it is.
oh and joe...the very article that you sent supports my position 100%
you talk about people on the coasts as if all have money and come from elite backgrounds but thats definitely not true, and there is a disproportionate amount from the south but not much (like 5% difference or so the article said), but that doesnt mean most people on the coasts dont support the military or dont support their country, your making gross over generalizations about a vast majority of the nation from a tiny sliver of people seen on the news.
ReplyDeleteYa seriously. Im tired of all the coastal hate. There are a lot of people doing big business and making America a powerhouse on the coasts. We all cant live in small towns. Plus those Fleet Weeks are tourist attractions and a lot of the middle of the country dont like outsiders.
ReplyDelete