Telling it to the Marines is not so easy.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
34,096
I've called Marine Sgt. Major McMichael three times and he's always out. Either he's a busy boy or else taking full advantage of his position down at the EM club. I've left my number with request to call back but nothing.

Hard giving the Marines a khukuri if you can't find them.

But, stay tuned.
 
It is rather SAD! They spend a lot of time in Washington doing a whole lot of nothing. There are so many generals in Washington that colonels are used as gofers, so what chance does the Sgt Major have. Besides that where ever the Commandant goes the Sgt Major also has to go. From what I have been told by officers that have been stationed in D.C. the civilians get most of the work done. The Military spends most of its time in useless briefings and meetings. Seems like from the headquaters site that I just got off of they are in to every thing but fighting terrorists.:rolleyes: :( :mad:
 
Sad, but true. It's all about money. You have to play the game to be in line or stay in line for funding. :(
 
Originally posted by Semper Fi
Sad, but true. It's all about money. You have to play the game to be in line or stay in line for funding. :(
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That's really sad. I wouldn't expect the military to have to pander to politicos for money. You'd think that they would have a wish list, Congress would read, adjust and approve, without all the usual hoop-jumping. It's not like national defense is an issue where millions of little interest groups have their own pieces of the puzzle.
 
It's not like national defense is an issue where millions of little interest groups have their own pieces of the puzzle.
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That's the problem...they do have their own little interest groups, among the politicians. Just that right now everyone is swinging towards the right end of the political spectrum cause of all the approval the American public has placed behind the President.

Politicians are heros...didnt you know? :rolleyes: They will "save" a dollar whenever they can...then go adjust their saleries.

I will stop here, cause if I keep going I will never stop.
 
I have to say..........
The military does not want outside help. You are better off finding out which battalion, unit is deployed, find a friend or family member on detachment and deal behind the scenes. If you go through the chain I GAURANTEE the troops will not see the knives. I'm so long out of the loop I can not even think of whom to call. My close friend retired Master Gunnery Sargeant but he's been out 15 years too.
Good luck, Sam
 
Originally posted by sams
I have to say..........You are better off finding out which battalion, unit is deployed, find a friend or family member on detachment and deal behind the scenes. If you go through the chain I GAURANTEE the troops will not see the knives.
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I'm not military, but that thought had been in the back of my mind all day. Note the thread RE military blueprints. You could never meet the beauruecratic requirements going through channels.

How about a sidewise connection though the fellow in Afganistan.
Isn't there a viable contact point with him.
I bet he could get word to someone(s)in Nepal.
He knows someone who knows someone who is there? ? ? ?
 
Uncle Bill, How is Pala's english? he may come in contact with some of those marines himself. That may be the best way to go in the long run. He may just be able to sell a bunch of Khuks directly to the troops and forget about the red tape. I know that if someone would have been selling them in Nam I sure would have bought one in a heart beat.

The only thing that I am wondering is about an introduction. That is where the Sgt Major should have come in even if he didn't want to monkey with going through the tape parade.

I know that all of the old Marines on this forum saw the combat value in these babies real quick.
I don't know whether a petition would be af value or not, no, where would you send it that anyone with any horse power would do anything with it.

It may be hard to find out what units are there for a while. And I say it is about time that some secrecy was put back in place. I'm betting on those units coming from Camp Lejuene, 2nd Division. I know they used to handle almost if not all the Med. cruises.
 
Pala's English is very limited. And, we don't want to sell the Marines anything. We want to issue them a 20 inch Sirupati.
 
OK! Somehow I misunderstood about how the knives were to be distributed. I thought I read something about costing 1/3. If the Sgt Major won't help, and he sure can't if he doesn't return phone calls. Looks like Pala may have to grab a Marine and shove a Khuk in his hand. Not very diplomatic but, effective.

After a couple of hours on Marine Corps sites of one kind or another, it seems to me that they are spending a lot of time patting each other on the back about all kind of programs that have nothing to do with any kind of war related subjects. It also dawned on me that they do not want any outside intervention or inquiries. The sites are set up so it is next to impossible to make contact with individuals, and I don't want to talk to another computer.

That is the way the Sgt. Major's site was set up. Very little information about the Marine Corps. An elaborate profile on himself (taken with a grain of salt) and all about different programs the Corps was backing, but no way to contact him.:mad:
 
We've had enough offers right here to cover the 1/3 cost so the troops end up paying nothing -- if we can ever find them. Best info I have from people in the know is there's only about a dozen Marines in country. If that number goes up to 5,000 we are in big trouble.
 
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