The Top Two Finishers in This Year’s Marine Corps Marathon . . .
. . . were Soldiers. Specifically, the top honors went to US Army SPC Augustus Maiyo (2:20:20); second place, to US Army CPT Kenny Foster (2:22:31).
Well done, men. Kudos.
Category: Pointless blather
It’s only a real marathon if you get to the end, yell “Nike” and then die from exhaustion. lol
HOORAY!!!
Nyaaah, nyaaah, nyaaah!
Me and Audie Murphy both became soldiers in the United States Army after being turned away by the United States Marine Corps, and just look at how Audie Murphy turned out!
By the way, the DVD of “BABY BLUE MARINE” can be purchased at the TWISTED ANGER web site for $11.04, because I just ordered my own copy.
http://twistedanger.net/
The 1970 movie, “BABY BLUE MARINE”, starring Jan-Michael Vincent, is about a guy who washes out of Marine boot camp in World War II, and later serves honorably as an ordinary soldier in the United States Army.
So…the leathernecks will quit with the Army “Ain’t ready for Marine yet” digs?:) Now what to do about them crafty Kenyans who run circles around the world competition all day long…
Hooah, troops!!
Oops!
It was 1976, not 1970.
I’d like to just be able to run. Hmmm…..there must be a way.
“So…the leathernecks will quit with the Army “Ain’t ready for Marine yet” digs?:)”
Nope. We gotta let you guys catch us every once in a while to keep your spirits up.
maybe soldiers have time for extraneous crap like training for marathons. Marines have more important things to do like training for war.
And before the doggies get too pissed off, remember I’m
bi-service (13 USMC, 14 USA).
Personally I’ve never understood the compulsion to run for 26 miles or more distance than required for a PT test…..
Hey, that just goes to show that even hardcore Marines don’t mind letting the mentally challenged win a few.
((and that’s not really an insult since I WAS Army))
@8, We get less time to train since we got longer deployments, unless the Marines went to 12 month tours.
This reminds me of a joke I read in the “HUMOR IN UNIFORM” section of the “READER’S DIGEST” magazine many years ago.
Let’s see if I can even remember how to tell it – – – ,
There was some sort of competition to determine the best drill sergeant in the United States Army (or maybe it was just in an Army unit or on an Army post – – – this WAS many years ago!).
The winner was being congratulated by the brass, and he was asked, how he got to be so good at drill and ceremonies?
The Army sergeant’s response was, “Four years in the United States Marine Corps!”
Nik: that “dig” would work better if the USMC had actually had an active-duty Marine male win the event any time during the last 29 years. That last happened in 1983 – though a retired Marine did come in 1st in 2001.
Since then, active duty male personnel from the Navy (2009), Air Force (2010), and Army (2012) have all been first across the finish line. By my count, that’s 3 of the last 4 years. (smile)
I will give the USMC kudos on the female side of the house, though. The USMC seems to be the only US service to have a female finish first. That happened 33 years ago, in 1979.
http://www.marinemarathon.com/Results/MCM_Records.htm
@12
Well, after almost 237 years of being ahead, we’re not above letting ya’ll win a few.
Reminds me of an old joke that has many variations.
A Company of Marines is running down the beach when an Army Ranger steps over the dune and yells all you guys are wimps.
The Commander gets mad so he sends a Fire Team to over the dune to take care of the Ranger. After listening to the scuffle he sends the rest of the Squad. After some more scuffling and no Marines reappearing he sends the rest of the Platoon. After a while as he gets ready to send the rest of the Company a lone Marine crawls over the dune all scuffed up and yells “go back it’s a trap, there are two of them”.
@2: HA! I remember that movie! Wasn’t it a made-for-TV film? I watched on television some time in the late 70’s.
@7: During my deployment to Hungary/Croatia in 97/98 (Operation Joint Guard) with a USAR MP Company, one of the NCOs in my platoon was a former Marine MP. He tried that “Ain’t Ready for the Marines Yet” line on me and I came back with “MARINE: Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Essential” (which I had just heard from an old friend who was a DA civilian working in Quantico.)
It’s all in good fun. I’ve worked with enough Marines, Sailors and Airmen to respect them all (although I still say that while I understand why someone might enlist in the Navy, I can’t understand why they would re-enlist after seeing how they have to live aboard ship!)
Nik: let me remind you which service is the senior US armed service.
I’ll give you a hint: it isn’t the USMC. You’ve been #3 since 1775. (smile)
I remember when I first reported to my new unit in Kaiserslautern, Germany, after completing Basic Combat Training and Signal School.
In the Army, combat veterans wear the insignia of the unit they served with on the right sleeve, and the insignia of the unit they’re currently assigned to on the left sleeve.
One of the NCOs had a patch on his right sleeve that I didn’t recognize, so I asked him about it.
He said it was the insignia of the Third Marine Division.
In my surprise (because I’d wanted to be a Marine), I asked him why he joined the Army instead of staying in the Marines?
His reply was, “I wanted to stay alive!”
When I worked at the Utah State Prison, one of my fellow employees whom I would carpool with, retired from the United States Coast Guard, but began his service in Korea with the United States Marine Corps.
When I asked him why he didn’t stay in the Marine Corps, he told me he wanted a military career, but he didn’t want to be killed.
By the way, in the Coast Guard, he risked his life to save others, and he became a “square knot sailor”, something which is VERY rare, even for career sailors in the United States Navy.
Gleefully stolen, but funny:
One reason the Services have trouble operating jointly is that they don’t speak the same language.
For example, if you told Navy personnel to “secure a building,” they would turn off the lights and lock the doors.
Army personnel would occupy the building so no one could enter.
Marines would assault the building, capture it, and defend it with suppressive fire and close combat.
The Air Force, on the other hand, would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy.
@17, You don’t have to have been a Marine to be authorized a Marine combat patch. I am authorized the 2nd Marine Division patch since my Company fell under them in Rawah in 2005. Granted I don’t wear it and proudly sport my 172nd patch.
Another joke I remember from “HUMOR IN UNIFORM” in the “READER’S DIGEST”, but which I can’t tell correctly is this – – – ,
An Armed Forces Radio Network broadcast gave the time of day as follows:
“For sailors in the United States Navy, the time is eight bells.
For soldiers and airmen, the time is 1600 Hours.
For all you guys in the Marine Corps, the big hand is on the twelve, and the little hand is – – – .”
(I know I didn’t tell it correctly because I haven’t a clue what “Eight Bells” is, or how many bells it’s supposed to be. But, you get the idea.)
Army shoots good too – the 2011 International Sniper Competition results:
http://www.benning.army.mil/snipercompetition/
The Competition consisted of a number of events designed to challenge the sniper teams’ roles. The results were:
Place Team Points
1 B CO 2/3RD SFG (A) 560
2 IRISH DEFENSE FORCES (Ireland) 490
3 D CO 2ND BN 1ST SWTG 475
4 HHC 1/158TH IN 29TH BCT 455
5 D CO 2ND BN 1ST SWTG 445
6 2PPCLI (Canada) 390
7 10TH SFG (A) 350
8 WTBN, SSIS QUANTICO (USMC) 345
9 HHC 1/121ST IN 48TH IN BDE 335
10 SOI-WEST AITB RTC (USMC) 330
@19, actually, IIRC only soldiers are authorized USMC combat patches.
IOW, let’s say you have a soldier and a marine who both fought in the same battle in Fallujah under 2nd MarDiv command.
Three years later, the soldier and the marine have both left AD and joined the same ARNG unit. The soldier can wear his 2nd MarDiv patch on his right sleeve but the marine cannot.
The reason, as I understand it, is that because the marines haven’t been authorized patches since WWII, the marine was never authorized a patch of any kind. OTOH, the army has worn patches since WWI, and since the soldier would have been authorized to wear the 2nd MarDiv patch on his left sleeve while assigned to the marine command, he is now authorized to wear it on his right sleeve as a FWTS-SSI.
Weird, huh?
Addendum to the above: I believe the rule I cited is the current reg, but I also think it’s a relatively recent change that came about after the first Gulf War in 1991.
I do remember when I first came in (1980) it wasn’t unusual to see VN veterans who had served in the USMC wearing 1st, 2nd or 3rd MarDiv patches on their right sleeve. Of course, it may also be one of those things where the reg prohibited it, but nobody enforced the reg.
That is strange how I as an Army guy can wear a Marine patch where a Marine turned Soldier cannot.
Chesty Puller is spinning in his grave.
@8. Bi-service, eh? I realize DADT was repealed but, nevertheless, some things a person might just spare others from knowing.
@26
Hey, “2-17 AIR CAV” – – – ,
Your name has me wondering – – – when and where?
When I was at Camp Eagle, Republic of Viet Nam, “D” Troop of the 2d Squadron, 17th Cavalry was the “Blues”, the Quick Reaction Force for the 101st Airborne Division.
I was there from July 1970 until – – – , gosh, gee whillikers, I don’t know when I left, but I reckon I was at Camp Eagle for a good year and a half before they sent me to Da Nang.
I was in the 501st Signal Battalion, and in between my unit and your unit were the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols of “L” Company, 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne Ranger).
The Cav and the Rangers were vVERY competitive, and would fight every chance they had, with us Signal guys usually being caught right in the middle!
So, were you there at the same time I was?
actually have had 2 COs who were marathon runners. 1 in the Corps. He inflicted himself and his love of running on the whole company. the other 1 was Army. He just inflicted his love of long distance running on the PLs. Tried to imply that if we didn’t run marathons/10k/stupid mud runs that we were somehow failures as leaders and it would reflect on our OERs. So we would show up, got the t-shirt and quit. He’s also the same asshole who counselled me because I only got a 247 on an APFT. Regardless of the fact that I did it with a broken hand in a cast.
Had a Bn Cdr like that once. He was a “reformed heavy”, with the zeal of a convert.
He made a big deal out of the fact he was going to go on a run of roughly equal to a marathon (43km, or about 26.7 mi) on his 43rd birthday – one km per year.
I asked him some days later how it had gone. Turned out he made around 25 km or so and then quit.
I had enough of a poker face (and enough common sense) not to smile or laugh out loud.