What a Badass Parade

[gmerkt]

As long as they can fight I'm not worried about perfect marching

Our boys and girls sure didn't look tough like the Russian, Chinese and North Korean soldiers on parade. Appearances do count to some degree. If our enemies perceive our forces to be soft, weak and not serious, it can make an impression. They already know we raise up our children in what has become a soft society. No need of bragging about it further.

There's a sort of a truism, a military that focuses more on drills and parade, and looking smart... Doesn't always mean they're actually good at fighting wars.

That is certainly true of the VC and the Cubans. BUT: In the case of a parade like this, one of the objects is to put on the best show possible to all concerned.

 

[L84Cabo]

MURRICA!

 

[BMGMAN]

I can't hardly believe there were 70K in Peeattle.

I caught a few minutes of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal 'modulating'.

She said (If I recall) 'The presence of assault weapons is a political attack on democracy'

The rest of what she said made even less sense....

That's because she is a moron. So sick of this state.

 

[MannyGlocks]

j-pal is just another low iq marxist.

Anything emerging from her 'pie hole' is cause for eye rolling snickering...

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I learned to march...and march well.
Was never really a fan of Drill and Ceremonies...nor of parades.
'Bout the only time I took it serious was when on Duty Platoon Status...
And we were on Funeral Detail....that was a whole different story...took that to heart and was serious.

While we weren't supposed to think this way...
There was a mindset of Field Solider versus Garrison Soldier.
I was a really good Field Solider and a decent Garrison Solider.
Loved doing my actual MOS / Job....really disliked all the "Mickey Mouse BS " of Garrison Soldiering.
Andy

 

[Stomper]

I can't hardly believe there were 70K in Peeattle.

I caught a few minutes of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal 'modulating'.

She said (If I recall) 'The presence of assault weapons is a political attack on democracy'

The rest of what she said made even less sense....

That hag's pug lookin' face is an attack on democracy....

 

[bionic knees]

Our boys and girls sure didn't look tough like the Russian, Chinese and North Korean soldiers on parade. Appearances do count to some degree. If our enemies perceive our forces to be soft, weak and not serious, it can make an impression. They already know we raise up our children in what has become a soft society. No need of bragging about it further.


That is certainly true of the VC and the Cubans. BUT: In the case of a parade like this, one of the objects is to put on the best show possible to all concerned.

I agree that "most" of the soldiers looked soft, out of step and generally kinda sloppy. I bet some of them get an ear full!

 

[gmerkt]

I bet some of them get an ear full!

I believe I saw the Sergeant Major of the Army up there on the reviewing stand. I doubt he was impressed. It was a long way from the days of Audie Murphy and Dog Face draftees who knew how to fight AND march. Even one of the Long Gray Line from West Point was out of step.

In some armies for parade purposes, the soldiers are arranged by personnel size, not by squad. So that there is a more uniform, orderly appearance to the mass. Like tall men in front ranks, tapering to shorter men in the rear ranks. I don't know how the US Army does it now, but the recent parade didn't show evidence of any such uniformity.

One thing we have to remember. The Commie countries and other totalitarian states typically have standing formations at close hand. Some that are available for propaganda purposes, such as parades. Whose primary function is to protect the leadership from the people. We don't really have such army forces in the US, so our army has to go out and drag in various units from all over the country to assemble this parade. I suppose naturally enough, the military quality of these personnel might vary.

 

[RVTECH]

The Commie countries and other totalitarian states typically have standing formations at close hand. Some that are available for propaganda purposes

Yea, 'Ol Putin's ain't too bad!

 

[gmerkt]

Yea, 'Ol Putin's ain't too bad!

Yes, notice they are all of a uniform height and build. These parades are largely about propaganda, including our own. Why not make the best showing of it??

In the past, I've seen pictures in magazines of those Chinese and North Korean girls in uniform, all very trim and fit looking. Not like our penguins in Sad Sack work uniforms such as we saw yesterday. I'll bet those NK girls are warriors too, at least against soft Western opponents. They'd kick you in the nuts and gouge your eyes out before you could say Uncle Sam.

Putin keeps lots of special troops around him in the Kremlin. He's got his own personal army to make sure he stays in office. The Kremlin Regiment is not actually part of the armed forces, but belongs to the FSB. The successor organization of the KGB. But the Kremlin Regiment is organized along military lines, not police. The FSB has other para-military forces as well. The Kremlin also has sections of internal security forces available within the Russian National Guard (not to be assumed to be a part-time activity like the National Guard in the US), principally the OMON and the SOBR.

 

[RVTECH]

They'd kick you in the nuts and gouge your eyes out before you could say Uncle Sam.

Oh man! No S & M for me !

 

[1775usmc]

Definitely wasn't the Marine Corps.

I hated marching to my core but when you see it done right it's impressive. The Marine Corps loves marching and has an extremely high standard when it comes to its image.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Definitely wasn't the Marine Corps.

I dunno....


Then again... Not like the Army, Air Force, Navy gets a pass either...


Been a joke since at least this poster

 

[1775usmc]

I dunno....

View attachment 2111279View attachment 2111280View attachment 2111281View attachment 2111282View attachment 2111283
Then again... Not like the Army, Air Force, Navy gets a pass either...View attachment 2111287View attachment 2111288View attachment 2111289View attachment 2111290View attachment 2111291


Been a joke since at least this poster

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Yup. We have fatties too but I can guarantee you the General/SGT Major in charge would not have let any of those fat bodies leave the barracks. They would not have been included.

Being fat in the Marine Corps is hell. But it can be done.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Yup. We have fatties too but I can guarantee you the General/SGT Major in charge would not have let any of those fat bodies leave the barracks. They would not have been included.

The air force guy is actually one of the brass the three fat women are Navy military police so ....... Anything went I guess. I did find a 2000s Woodland Interceptor body armor vest sized 3,XL with XL plate pockets on the FB Marketplace got to be quite few of those floating around.

 

[1775usmc]

The air force guy is actually one of the brass the three fat women are Navy military police so ....... Anything went I guess. I did find a 2000s Woodland Interceptor body armor vest sized 3,XL with XL plate pockets on the FB Marketplace got to be quite few of those floating around.

The military is in a sad decline across the board. All branches. Hopefully that is changing.

 

[CamoDeafie]

The military is in a sad decline across the board. All branches. Hopefully that is changing.

All of America has been in a sad decline, health-wise, for the last 20-30 years, IMO.

 

[1775usmc]

All of America has been in a sad decline, health-wise, for the last 20-30 years, IMO.

True. I don't remember the ratio in men 18-25 years old but the percentage is crazy low for those who meet the minimum standards to join the military. Whether it be due to weight, health issues, drug use, or criminal records.

 

[Quirt Evans]

In a vid I watched, the Marine recruiter said that it was hard to find candidates who weren't overweight.
The generations before computers were more active, (and ate better quality food).
Now it's just stare at screens and eat junk food.

 

[MikeInOr]

From the reports I saw neither the soldiers or the audience (what little audience there was) looked very enthusiastic. I thought the whole show was kind of embarrassing. I think the $25 million to $45 million could have been better spent on the soldiers rather than on the parade. At least Russia and N. Korea know how to pack a parade route with enthusiastic spectators... even if the spectators have the sharp end of a bayonet being poking them in their back sides. I don't see much moral being generated from this display.