Every Marine swears an oath, not to a man, not to a party, but to the Constitution of the United States. That oath is sacred. It means your loyalty belongs to the rule of law and the freedom it protects, even when commanders, politicians, or crowds forget. The day a Marine’s loyalty shifts from the Constitution to a personality, the Republic begins to die.
General Smedley Butler warned us of that danger nearly a century ago. He had fought for the flag, bled for it, and then saw how easily power could twist a soldier’s purpose. His message still cuts true: the greatest threat to America will never come from abroad, it will come from within, when obedience outruns conscience.
So remember who you are. You are not the weapon of any man’s ambition. You are the keeper of the line — the line that separates a Republic from a regime. Stand your post with clear eyes and an unbending heart. Semper Fidelis means faithful forever, to the Constitution, or to nothing at all.
These assholes are delivering political speeches to the military, on a military base, for no reason other than to flog their shitty policies and the GOP's shitty performance. Seems to me there oughta be a rule against that.
On the bright (and amusing) side, Hic!-seth and Vance managed to make Newsom look like a wise and very smart leader ... in stark contrast to their reckless idiocy.
When I did my basic training, we had repeated competitions between the groups. As challenge prize we had a polished casing from one of those shells. It's actually quite nice looking without the paint.
Each group got its name on the casing after a win.
When I retired from the FAA, I moved to Carlsbad and took a contract job as a 'Range Controller', overseeing ANY training at Camp Pen. Firing ANY ordinance (live or inert, including blanks) over the 5 freeway, Eastbound or out to the Pacific was STRICTLY FORBIDDEN!!!! My old bosses would NEVER have approved this and I would NOT have cleared them 'Hot'! Probably would have gotten fired.......but SAFETY overrides EVERYTHING!!!!! What fucking Asshats......
I spent 34 years as an Army civilian engineer doing ammo failure analysis and came out to Pendleton and 29 Palms many times to "recreate" the failures and/or test out new designs. Safety ruled. Period. Each ammo has a blast zone and you have to make sure that the test range covers the zone entirely.
SDZ's are created in a very specific way. Distance X, Lateral limits, 1 in a million rules, etc. When I checked out for the job, we took a class that discussed ALL SDZ's in great detail. We had to draw each one from memory, using different scale models (50/1, 20/1 etc.) That class was no fricken joke!!! When I heard about this fiasco before hand, I wondered 'How in the Hell do you compute a muzzle blast zone protecting for overpressure and backblast from an M-198 that DOESN'T encroach on the 5 freeway'? I was at Longrifle from '07-'20......might have talked to you folks.
Imagine the failure rate if there was a spelling test too:
"More than a third have failed so far, four officials told me, impeding the agency’s plan to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 ICE officers by January. To pass, recruits must do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes."
More likely, I think, it was a "airburst" fuse that worked exactly as intended (detonates at a specific altitude, to blast targets below.)
Whether it was accidentally or deliberately inserted is something that the Trump regime is desperate to know - but the stunt was stupid and dangerous either way.
Loyalty’s Line in the Sand
Every Marine swears an oath, not to a man, not to a party, but to the Constitution of the United States. That oath is sacred. It means your loyalty belongs to the rule of law and the freedom it protects, even when commanders, politicians, or crowds forget. The day a Marine’s loyalty shifts from the Constitution to a personality, the Republic begins to die.
General Smedley Butler warned us of that danger nearly a century ago. He had fought for the flag, bled for it, and then saw how easily power could twist a soldier’s purpose. His message still cuts true: the greatest threat to America will never come from abroad, it will come from within, when obedience outruns conscience.
So remember who you are. You are not the weapon of any man’s ambition. You are the keeper of the line — the line that separates a Republic from a regime. Stand your post with clear eyes and an unbending heart. Semper Fidelis means faithful forever, to the Constitution, or to nothing at all.
Still calling him "Newscum." How mature, how imaginative.
Anyway, this kind of event just reminds me of how abysmally stupid a person Trump chose to run the agency that ostensibly defends America from attack.
Thank you for your service, Camp Pendleton. Your plan worked perfectly!
Pedo Hogsbreath
These assholes are delivering political speeches to the military, on a military base, for no reason other than to flog their shitty policies and the GOP's shitty performance. Seems to me there oughta be a rule against that.
On the bright (and amusing) side, Hic!-seth and Vance managed to make Newsom look like a wise and very smart leader ... in stark contrast to their reckless idiocy.
Thank you, Camp Pendleton! Your plan worked perfectly.
As a funny memory,
When I did my basic training, we had repeated competitions between the groups. As challenge prize we had a polished casing from one of those shells. It's actually quite nice looking without the paint.
Each group got its name on the casing after a win.
The writers here on Wonkette are so hard on everyone in the Chump administration.
I mean, they're all trying their very best.
When I retired from the FAA, I moved to Carlsbad and took a contract job as a 'Range Controller', overseeing ANY training at Camp Pen. Firing ANY ordinance (live or inert, including blanks) over the 5 freeway, Eastbound or out to the Pacific was STRICTLY FORBIDDEN!!!! My old bosses would NEVER have approved this and I would NOT have cleared them 'Hot'! Probably would have gotten fired.......but SAFETY overrides EVERYTHING!!!!! What fucking Asshats......
I spent 34 years as an Army civilian engineer doing ammo failure analysis and came out to Pendleton and 29 Palms many times to "recreate" the failures and/or test out new designs. Safety ruled. Period. Each ammo has a blast zone and you have to make sure that the test range covers the zone entirely.
SDZ's are created in a very specific way. Distance X, Lateral limits, 1 in a million rules, etc. When I checked out for the job, we took a class that discussed ALL SDZ's in great detail. We had to draw each one from memory, using different scale models (50/1, 20/1 etc.) That class was no fricken joke!!! When I heard about this fiasco before hand, I wondered 'How in the Hell do you compute a muzzle blast zone protecting for overpressure and backblast from an M-198 that DOESN'T encroach on the 5 freeway'? I was at Longrifle from '07-'20......might have talked to you folks.
Thank you for your insight and experience.
Ta, Marcie. Oops?
Imagine the failure rate if there was a spelling test too:
"More than a third have failed so far, four officials told me, impeding the agency’s plan to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 ICE officers by January. To pass, recruits must do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes."
Thank God Newsom closed the freeway. As a distraction from No Kings, an abject failure.
ANYTHING Pumpkin Peron and his administration touches, turns to shit and dies......
a 'sir' story from the VP no less - wow that trump derangement syndrome is getting serious
"Trump Devotion Syndrome" is what I like to throw at online trolls ... and wish them a speedy recovery.
Usha has to be thinking about bailing. The Republican Party's success would be so bad for her and her children.
Just looking at this destroys my faith in the military
Look at the smiling faces behind this fascist person
That’s our military being drawn into authoritarian partisan cabal
Lots of low-info MAGAts at the lowest ranks. And now at the highest. Senior leadership, fortunately, are competent and take their jobs seriously.
my guess is this was a case of malicious compliance. I cant imagine an accidental short round in 2025.
Oh I can. When you're making things in the numbers that artillery fuses are made in, you're sure to have a few defective units get through QC
More likely, I think, it was a "airburst" fuse that worked exactly as intended (detonates at a specific altitude, to blast targets below.)
Whether it was accidentally or deliberately inserted is something that the Trump regime is desperate to know - but the stunt was stupid and dangerous either way.
That's possible. Which one is more likely would depend on the trajectory
I think they meant for that short round to fired Saturday for the protesters. Instead it dropped shrapnel on someone else Trump doesn't respect.
He's like God throwing hurricanes and tornados at LGBTQ people.