Dakota Meyer Graduates BRC
Dakota Meyer
Dakota Meyer – a name we all remember, the young Marine who was presented with the Medal of Honor for repeatedly re-entering an ambush in Ganjgal to rescue fallen fellow Marines back when he was 21 in 2009. President Obama presented him with the award in 2011. Long time ago, and he deserves a peaceful retirement from the Corps, right? Nope. He re-upped 15 years later as a Sergeant in the USMC Reserve.
The second-youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, who served as an active-duty Marine during the war in Afghanistan, graduated from the service’s Basic Reconnaissance Course on Friday at Camp Pendleton, according to a Facebook post from Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos A. Ruiz.
On Friday, Meyer earned the 0321 Military Occupational Specialty, the MOS designation for Reconnaissance Marine.
I am told by my Marine son-in-law that this is the Marine’s equivalent of the Army Ranger school – not a fun or easy course for a young man to finish. But at 37?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth administered Meyer’s oath of enlistment, with Ruiz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also present. Meyer came back at the rank of sergeant and initially returned as an infantryman.https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/medal-honor-recipient-dakota-meyer-154232370.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
Students face an average training day exceeding 15 hours across 69 days total. Requirements include a 12-mile forced march under a 50-pound load completed within three hours and a timed 1.25-mile open-water swim with fins.
You may wonder why he came back after a 15 year break in service.
Meyer told reporters at his reenlistment ceremony that his decision came down to integrity. He recalled encouraging a young Marine at an NCO course to stay in the service, then turning the question on himself.
“How could I ask them to continue to serve and sacrifice without doing it myself?” Meyer said. Military.com
Category: Marines, Medal of Honor
Yeah, I’ve got the Medal of Honor, but I sure would like a Dual Cool. . .
Even if he doesn’t pass, you can still hear him walking down the hall, CLANK! CLANK!
Bravo Zulu young man. May you succeed at every goal you set.
OOAH!
Thats like Heartbreak Ridge with Clint walking into the dinner dance.
“Run into any clusterfucks lately..?”
Absolutely! That man has balls of steel. If anything, he earned a commission in my opinion.
He could have gone off and made movies like Audie Murphy and others or done practically anything and chose this path instead; Respect.
Really looking forward to Marine Adam Driver portraying John Chapman in Alone at Dawn. Should cover most of Anaconda. Could be out by the end of the year. I know SEAL Team 6 will never forget that guy, like ever.
Adam Driver is an excellent actor and he isn’t a pretty boy either.
I highly recommend watching ‘ Silence ‘. It’s about early Christians in 17th century Japan
Another BZ added in for a man of 37 to complete the recon course.
When we had a Marine BLT onboard, we also had Force Recon onboard heading to the Carib. These guys had .45 cal. green parkerized Grease guns and they would jump out of the helos into the drink. They used to attach high school ropes to the hanger bay overhead and climb them. They also welcomed crew members who wanted to learn how to defend themselves the way the Marines do it. Great bunch of guys,.. They also had a small steam jenny they brought onboard to steam clean their sub guns…
I think he finally figured out that being a “high-profile” dude in civilian life can kinda suck. I’m sure he’s a lot more comfortable being back in the Marines. Be interested to see if they’d let him do another deployment. Probably not because of the Medal, but stranger things have happened….
Not an easy course – Reconnaissance Training Company Definately a lot more than the 2 week Recon Indoctrination Program (RIP) training I got in Nam. Much different eras.
My nephew went through the course for the GWOT era engagements. I met him when he came home and was flabbergasted by the amount of gear they hauled around. Recon corpsmen also go through the course and carry up to 125 lbs. I was told the Nam doc carried 75 lbs (unconfirmed) and for my skinny ass that was a load.
In the dry season in the RVN, the LRRP team members carried six quarts of water. I suspected we were carrying about 100 lbs. To see what was what, I put on my STABO gear, my loaded ruck, picked up my AK, and stood on the scale in my office (your former battalion C.O.’s office at Camp Reasoner). I was carrying 115 lbs. Moreover, I did not have a claymore, radio battery, MG ammo, or meals in the ruck; just ammo, water, grenades, and assorted field gear. Obviously, as the Ranger Company commander, I was not loaded with all the stuff the team members carried to the field. For example, consider the added weight of a M-60 or a PRC-25.
It’s simply a difference of “having balls” and having “huge brass balls.”
Hmmm, I wonder where he will do his weekend drills.
My guess: “Anywhere he damn well wants to…”. 🙂
Dakota Meyer didn’t take the RECON course, he looked at it and it surrendered…
Somebody had to take Chuck Norris’ place !!!
About 10 or so years ago, during the brief period he was married to Bristol Palin, he/they owned a general contracting company that we did a couple of brief jobs for on The (Ft) Hood.
Somehow, I doubt that’s still a thing, but if it is, he would have been able to pay for everybody’s lap dances for the graduation celebrations.
Question time.
As a MOH recipient would he be eligible for combat deployments?
If killed or worse captured it would be media spectacle.
I know Basilone went back over and was killed (WWII).
Mike
USAF Retired