Classy Jacksonville

      The last four years there has been many times where I have bemoaned my indentured servitude in the marine corps and have been given tasks and orders and have thought, “Man, only if I was in charge.” Even though I am only the smallest member on the giant wasteful organization that is the marine corps, which is itself one of the smaller wings of the massive Department of Defense, I feel that I am in a good position to know how the marine corps and the military acts in general on the ground and I have quite a few things that I would like to say and do regarding the larger picture. We live in the 21^st century and we are constantly told that we are fighting a new war and new enemies. Yet the military is caught in the 20^th century at its best, and at its worse, all the way in to the 19^th and 18^th century. If America is to remain the viable world power that is and if it wants to win wars against terrorism, we must look into the future and reform our military and restructure not only how we fight wars, but the entire mindset the military is caught in. I fear that if we don’

t begin to make broad, wide sweeping steps and change in our military, we will become merely a joke on the world stage and will lose not only or status and standing but also our power and potentially our freedom.

      I would like to explore several ideas that I have had rolling around in my head the last few years which would improve our ability to make war and also the life and morale in the military. I realize that the military and the defense department are too slow, too entrenched, and far too set in its ways to ever significantly change the way it does things. But we must start discussing ways in which change can happen and must happen if we are to continue to remain successful on the battlefields of today and the future. 

1) Officers Versus Enlisted

2) Say Goodbye to the 19th Century

3) Abolish the Marine Corps

4) Morale Boosters