I'm more than a bit pissed off with regards to the armor situation in the Marine Corps.
But what has me scratching my head, screaming at the top of my voice in the woods and punching pine trees is the fact that I thought we would hear at least some type of debate on this issue.
Instead we've heard nothing. I thought that we would hear something from the manufacturers. In my opinion Lockheed Martin and BAE put forward the two most impressive vehicles in this competition and yet not a peep from either organization.
Obviously I'm not clued into the game that was being played and that is what pisses me off the most. I thought that this was a legitimate, serious competition and that the idea was to get our Marines protected transport but that obviously wasn't the case.
The powers that be can all brag about the intense, free willing debates that occur inside the Corps but I'm calling bullshit on that. For better or worse it seems that we have people falling in line and no one is willing to tell this particular Commandant that he has no clothes.
So be it. I hope to live long enough to be able to point back to this moment and tell everyone "I told ya so" and when the whining and crying starts I will proudly tell them all to "shut the fuck up"...you had a chance to be heard and instead remained quiet.
Oh, and when the body bags are filled with Marines who died because they rode into combat in 50 year old AAVs that are the evolutionary stablemate of the Russian BMP-1, I'll grieve with the Marines loved ones...they will have done their job. The problem is that this generation of Marine leaders didn't have the courage of their convictions...along with the vehicle manufacturers...along with the professional journals to call bullshit on a plan put forward by the commandant that put their loved ones in those heavy, leak proof plastic bags.
So to the Marine Leaders, BAE, Lockheed, Professional Journals, and Professional Commentators I simply say this.
Fuck you all.
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