The tape test is the only DOD-approved method of measuring body fat for members of the military. But some say it is inexact (which the Marine Corps acknowledges) and that it is unfair to large Marines who have an excellent appearance but run the risk of ending up in the body composition program for exceeding height and weight standards for their age groups. This week’s cover discusses this issue through the case of Sgt. Joshua Legier, 28, who at 6-feet 3-inches tall and 246 pounds exceeds his weight limit for his height. He got even bigger when he was on…
Browsing: Marine Corps
California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter continues to feverishly pursue the Medal of Honor for fallen Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who scooped a grenade under his body to save other Marines in Fallujah, Iraq on Nov. 15, 2004, according to Marines who saw him do it. He was awarded the Navy Cross – even though the Marine Corps recommended him for the Medal of Honor – after the Defense Department convened its own panel which concluded the evidence for the nation’s highest award for combat valor was not sufficient. Peralta’s family rejected the Navy Cross. Hunter has doggedly pursued the higher…
The Pentagon’s halls are adorned with artifacts, paintings and portraits that herald each of the service’s illustrious histories. Walking from one wing to another visitors and staff pass portraits of military greats like Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, Gen. George S. Patton, and Adm. Chester Nimitz. One portrait, however, was a mystery that turned out to be a prank of epic proportions. Check out this story by the Wall Street Journal on how Capt. Eldridge Hord III, now 53, has had his portrait hanging in the nation’s seat of military power for nearly a year with a plaque claiming it…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4ARJk4Fpn0&context=C35c9366ADOEgsToPDskLfZQj3yAYndDMYmy9SXISh[/youtube] Soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga., an Army post about 90 miles south of Atlanta, were treated to a gargantuan BOOM recently by the Leathernecks who train there. An Army TV news correspondent starts her report by saying the U.S. Marine armor school detachment there, “made history… by detonating some of the largest explosions Fort Benning has ever seen.” A group of combat engineers was having some fun… er, conducting a training exercise with their mine clearing line charge, known as the MCLC and pronounced mik-lik, from their assault breacher vehicle and set off the kind of awesome explosion that…
The certified trainers at Semper Fit — the Corps’ in-house health and fitness promotion group you see at the base gyms — have designed a kick-ass workout program that they think will satisfy even the most demanding physical fitness disciple in the Corps. The program is called High Intensity Tactical Training, or HITT, and it will be ready to go in about three weeks. It’s got a library of more than 600 exercises that have been combined into 60-minute workouts meant to be done three times a week. Marines who took part in the beta test done this past fall…
This time he really means business. Gates sounded the death knell for U.S. Joint Forces command at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week he had his sites trained on the Marine Corps. In a speech at the Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco on Thursday, he ordered a thorough force structure review of the Marine Corps. It’s no news that the Corps is prepared to draw down its personnel after operations in Afghanistan wind down. But this goes deeper. He said he wants to determine what an expeditionary force in readiness should…
The Marine Corps has always had the reputation for being creative when it comes to recruiting. Now, the service is launching a new Web site that focuses on “influencers” — the parents, mentors and other adults who guide America’s youth — and its prospective Marines. The site, LifeAsAMarine.com, just went live within the last few days, Marine officials say. It allows parents, friends, and supporters to share their own Marine Corps story, with the obvious intention of allaying fears in parents whose children are considering joining. The Corps posted a 60-second promotional video on YouTube this week: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFgr1SuYKOM[/youtube] The site also serves as a clearinghouse…
In a blockbuster exclusive, the Global Post reported on one of its blogs yesterday that 7,000 U.S. Marines were on the way to Costa Rica ready for land-based operations. The piece implies that Marines could take an active role in fighting drug trafficking. It’s a sensational story — if only it were true. Marine officials say that, no, they do not have 7,000 Marines on the way to Costa Rica. That’s hardly a surprise, considering the Corps had less than 10,000 Marines in Afghanistan as recently as last year, but it’s worth setting the record straight. What the Corps does…
