[ARCHIVED THREAD] - MARPAT chronicles (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 8/28/2007 7:24:49 AM EDT
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So I was at work yesterday talking to one of my managers when an employee (who was not working at the time) came up to the customer service area to have some personal equipment checked in. He was wearing MARPAT pants, tan combat boots, and a USMC green T shirt which said OIF II on the front. His shirt was untucked and his boots were unbloused. Now he has never been in the military, he was in Army ROTC but dropped out. After he walked away, the manager asked why I looked pissed, so I told her. There happened to be a retired Marine in line who said he agreed with me. Later I saw the employee again so I asked to speak with him. I then asked him to tuck in his shirt and blouse his boots. He smiled, said "Why?" and had a drink from his soda. I don't remember everything that was said, I told him that he was disrespecting the uniform, he went on to say that he didn't have the boot bands with which to blouse his boots, to which I replied that I rarely used them and bloused my boots with my socks (actually rather effective). He also said that he was wearing the "civilian" MARPAT pants and was only wearing them because he was going hunting later. I said that there was a difference between wearing just the pants for hunting and wearing a nearly complete USMC combat utility uniform. He obviously wasn't going to listen, so I just said "You are walking around town representing yourself as a United States Marine, just think about that" then I walked off. Later I heard him talking to another employee, a female, who said "You've got to be fucking kidding me. I never tuck in my shirt!" I looked over to see that on the back of his green T shirt were the words "What were you doing on the Marine Corps Birthday" and "November 10 2004 Operation Phantom Fury". At this point I was extremely pissed, I would not dare wear that shirt and here is some punk who's never been in the military wearing it? Later he came up and told me he needed help building an AR, to which I was noncommittal. It was all I could do not to explode. Working with him will be a bit easier now though, I know what kind of person he is. |
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Yeah, I got so pissed at my sister for wearing my Tab t-shirt that I ended up shoveling dirt on her face right after dinner. Get a life people, the uniform doesn't make the man... etc. OP, would you feel better if he came in STRACK and wired tight? Really looking like a poser? |
| It could be worse, he could also be claiming to be a Marine. It pisses me off to see someone wear USMC combat uniform but it sends me into a rage when they claim to be a Marine. Because dammit I spent 13 weeks + earning the right to wear the uniform and seeing somebody that has no idea what it means to a Marine deserves a verbal beat down unless they want to escalate it. |
I agree. I saw a guy wearing a Dallas cowboy's game Jersey and a matching hat. I asked him if he was a Cowboy and he told me NO! I was outraged! CAN YOU IMAGINE ANYONE WEARING SOMETHING THEY DON'T WORK IN????  As long as he's not claiming to be a marine, it shouldn't matter what he wears. |
 I had to graduate boot camp, attend 10 weeks MCT, 10 weeks SOI, then...attend 4 years of college, 10 weeks of OCS, 6 months of TBS, and 10 weeks of Infantry Officer's Course (and RISK MY LIFE!) to earn the right to wear my uniform. However, I defend a free nation so that said named douche bag can wear the MCCUU trousers and OIF T-shirt which he didn't earn. His punishment will be having to explain himself to the real Marines who are going to gawk and ask him WTF? |
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87gn, Just a question... were you ever a Marine?  Just for the sake of argument lets play pretend. Lets pretend that Joe Tentpeg employee is wearing the britches his brother/uncle/whatever left behind before he unwittingly deployed an IED. Wearing said britches makes him happy. or, we could pretend that Ragbag poser Boy reeeeeealy wants to be a marine. So flipping what? Get your knickers untwisted, regardless. And kwitcherbitchin.  ETA: I have it on good authority that the Airborne Ranger in the sky smokes a platoon of Marines every time you post on the internet. Every single time. Think about it. |
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you should appeal to his vanity. inform him of the truth of being a Marine. if you look like shit and look like an embarrassment then some Marine will walk right the fuck up to you and set you straight and it doesnt matter if your girl, your momma or your boss is standing there. thats what Marines do, so if he wants to get called 4 or 5 times in 1 lap of the mall then he is right on track. "hey devildog, you look like shit. you need to get into some civvies. Who's your 1st Sgt?" |
Dude, relax a bit... 87gn is a FMF Corpsman. He's not a Marine by title, but I'll bet that any Marine that served in Iraq with him has no problem calling him a Marine. Our Corpsmen live, train, fight, save lives, and die along with us. As far as I'm concerned, ANY FMF Corpsman is just as much a Marine as ANY who have marched across the Parade Deck at PI or SD. They're one of us. Also, while they're attached to a FMF unit, they're allowed to wear the Marine Corps uniforms too. 
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AFAIK the USMC green T-shirt w/ "OIF II" is not part of the uniform. You could just as easily buy a pair of tan construction boots with MARPAT pants but that doesn't mean he is posing. If you said he had the full MARPAT trousers, blouse, cover, and the combat boots then I would agree with you. |
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Unit T-shirts are authorized for wear as part of the PT uniform - boots, utility pants, and a green t-shirt or unit shirt as appropriate. That is a USMC uniform and wearing a shirt that calls other people out "Where were you on the Marine Corps Birthday" implies he was in Fallujah. What a fucking douchebag. |
This guy sounds like he is definatly questionable, but if he doesn't make any claims, it is a little bit extreme to brand him a poser. It is not out of line, in my opinion, to ask him not to wear that sort of thing in public. After all, he is walking around in a modified military uniform. |
| I wear the older Woodland BDU pants a lot and sometimes the blouse. However, I never wear shirts that imply my participation in a miltary operation. I have never served, but I have the utmost respect for everyone in our miltary. Of course I rarely wear either in public and never where the full uniform in public. I hope when I wear those clothes it does not offend anyone. |
BDU's (woodland) make the perfect squirrel hunting wear in my state. Camo, comfortable, lots of pockets and warm enough until November rolls around. Never seen MARPAT in the woods, but it may be even better from a concealment perspective. I understand your dislike of poseurs, but think you are being a bit too sensitive about this. dvo |
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No offense to the Marines around these parts... but don't you think if you were going to be a .mil poser - wouldn't you pose as like a hyperninjadeltarangerforcereconsealomegaforcesupersoldier and not a standard rank and file Marine? I never really understood the .mil poser... if I were going to pose as anything it would be as a rock or rap star... that is way more likely to get you laid. - G |
For the Marines, being an infantryman in Fallujah during OPF is about as high profile as it gets for this war. Guys wanting to pose as soldiers would probably lean toward pretending to have been SF in Afghanistan. You can almost predict the next big thing for posers by keeping track of what movies and books are currently most popular and what military events or organizations have gotten the most press lately. |
Have you missed the point? Had you been wearing a shirt that basically made it look like you'd participated in X battle in X country, when you actually hadn't, then yes, you would have appeared to be a poser. |
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This clown wearing the uniform is nothing compared to the people I've run into since I've been out 86-92, who will spout off about being snipers or special forces and I have had one disillusioned uninformed butt munch have the testicular fortitude to say his father was one of the founders of Delta Force after some subtle questioning you find out who's what. I have had the distinct privilege of knowing a couple Scout Snipers and an old school(Viet Nam) operator and they have never bragged about it the way some of these wannabes do. I don't know what you do, but I would go to your HR department and see how they feel about this guy wearing a quasi military uniform at work. Just had to vent. Thanks! |