Why I admire the United States Marine Corps

Reading over my blog on Kent State and policing, it occurred to me that some readers might might infer that I don't respect the the US Marine Corps or value the training I received from my gunnery sergeant. This would be wrong. My Ivy league platoon mates and I didn't take bayonet drill seriously because we mostly saw ourselves on a ships bridge as military officers, not engaged in hand combat as members of an infantry battalion. But we won't forget lessons learned from our gunnery sergeant or the example he set. A mentor who signficantly impacted my life when I served under him was a Marine officer who had risen through the ranks to become a Lieutenant Colonel and my excutive officer.

Marines deserve our highest respect, and especially for the challenging work that have been tasked to do in Iraq. But training an effective Marine and traning an effecitve border patrol officer - or police officer - are entirely different matters.