The Right Coast vs. the Left Coast

Bait_amp_Switch
Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:36:26 +0000

“As for guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns (thanks for the reference - I had NO idea what it was!), that’s great and everything but it’s still ceremonial – prestigious in a similar manner to the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon at 8th and I. Official public military escort for ____ = same thing. But elite? Not too sure about that.”

You clearly just not familiar with any of these units. We’re handpicked and then handpicked some more. Having hung around SF guys, Recon guys, Ranger batt guys, Airborne infantry guys, and line guys with combat MOS’s from all 5 of the services, I can honestly say that as a whole, there are few units who are as well-rounded: intelligent, athletic, disciplined, and capable.

Yes, a lot of the work is ceremonial. And everyone hates it. 9 out of 10 guys stationed there who come from forward-deployed combat units constantly comment about how constant and forceful the stress is at the Old Guard. The standard is very hard to maintain, and commanders at every level from O3’s to O9’s routinely remark about what a wire-tight regiment it is and how they’ve never “had the privilege of commanding such a fine (insert unit size here) of soldiers”.

While I was in Ranger school, we had a handful of your battalion Recon guys, a bunch of PJ’s, and some SEALs as our ‘guests’ (and if you don’t consider these types “elite”, then I dunno what to tell you). Well, even the majority of these guys either failed out or quit. I don’t know what kind of hard-core snake eating stuff you experienced while in the Corps, but I lost 45 lbs. at that school, tore a rotator cuff, and enjoyed some mild frostbite (I still have almost no feeling in my feet… thank God my hands came full circle ). Not to mention the complimentary delirium that accompanies spending several months in a training environment that requires you to hump 100+ pound rucks over miles of (god-awful) terrain on a daily basis as your body literally begins to eats itself for energy (as I mentioned). And actually, the lack of sleep is the hardest part. The hour or maybe two (and often less) that you literally average per night over the course of SEVERAL MONTHS doesn’t, umm, exactly, uhh, ‘cut it’.

I would take a day at Ranger school over a day at the Tomb in a heartbeat. In an effort to define the Tomb, I would offer up the word ‘obsession’- and that would just be be an understatement. It’s more like…

POOF! Oh, look! There goes your life! it just disappeared.

You rarely get what one might call a day off for 5, 6, 7, 8, maybe 9 months at a time. Not exaggerating.

And day 1 of the Indoc for my other platoon, involved running 17 miles, and then standing at attention for 8 hours in a 110 degree room filled with steamers. And all of this went down about 15 hours after we took a max-effort PT test just for the chance to do this ^.

"And what do you mean by “responsible” for the President, VP, etc.? Doesn’t that fall under the purview of the Secret Service? Unless you’re referring to more perimeter defense or something – similar to when normal grunts set up blocking positions around the objectives while the SOF-type guys actually do the DA hits.

I’m sure the CJCS appreciates your opinion about him as the most powerful man in the world… I’m actually friends with his son (a graduate of Chicago GSB and fellow former Marine officer) so I’ll be sure to pass the word!"

Yeah both Pace and Myers are good dudes.

Obviously the Secret Service pulls security for the Pres. When I say “responsible” for them I mean that we are responsible for providing an escort for them to any and all public (and many private) events in and around Washington, sometimes in other parts of the country, and occasionally around the world. G8 summits, State dinners, Presidential funerals, you name it- we’re on top of that $hit. Start paying attention- you’ll see us in half of the pictures these guys appear in. We are their personal playthings.