Lessons Learned In Combat

[Bill Bryant]

My son Jeff took his oath this summer, joined the delayed entry program, and goes to USMC boot camp in June. He has read everything you've written here and will continue to. He is taking this VERY seriously.

I hope it's OK for a Marine dad to say Semper Fi. If not, well Semper Fi anyway!

[Ak44]

Paul I do agree that the current training (or at least when I did it) isn't all that great for work ups for deployments. Good to see that your still pulling triggers. Take care and Semper Fi

[jjackson@tierthreetac]

This is a great thread and I'd like to add my two cents. Formerly I was a platoon commander in a weapons platoon in the Marine Corps. They were all very good Marines and they had just come back from an Afghanistan deployment, as had I, albeit with a different unit. Over the months I started to notice some strange tactics that weren't really standard, and when I'd ask my Marines about them they'd just say that it worked in Afghanistan. Now this is a very dangerous line of logic.

I've seen loads of stupidity in country and dudes didn't get killed, but that was sheer luck. So I encourage everyone to think critically about something they are doing. Just because it worked once for someone doesn't mean it is right for you or your current situation. A perfect example of this is stacking on doorways. This works great in my current job as a police officer, but will get you killed in a war zone. You generally have a secure perimeter here in the US, but in country you don't and people will always shoot big groups of enemy.

So I always advise to listen to those with experience and training, but think critically if it really is right for you because ultimately you are responsible for your own actions.

[Theron D Patron]

The one thing that I learned in combat is that a wounded man can kill you.

[TopJeff]

Thank you for sharing your story brother.

I hope, and believe, you've saved a good number of lives if only a few readers heed your advice!

Semper Fidelis!

[thegoat273]

Paul, thank you for sharing your experience. As a LE officer I will certainly take this back to my PD and my team for the guys to read. Several lessons here that I think we can all take learn from . Thanks for your service from one vet to another

[AJE]

Thank you for posting RetreatHell. I'm going to print it off and hang it in the squad room for our road patrol guys to read. Hopefully it will make a couple of them think.

[idreamt...]

To OP RetreatHell,

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge, and thank you for your service to our country. From the bottom of my heart.

[sgtjosh]

RetreatHell,
God bless the heroes. Having lost friends in the sandbox brings home the reality that what is fun and enjoyable on the range is actually deadly serious. Thank you for your sacrifice and your candid assessment of your own missteps. I plan to forward this to others. Thank you and Godspeed.

[Merc8541]

Thank you for posting RetreatHell. I'm going to print it off and hang it in the squad room for our road patrol guys to read. Hopefully it will make a couple of them think.

Need this at our training dept as well!

Great Job RetreatHell!