I DONT WANT TO GO TO WAR!!!!

[Dawnisha21]

My whole teenage ife all i could ever dream of was being a marine. I had poster, cups, pens, i did community service with them for three months i even have a jacket that a old timer gave to me as a present with medals and stuff because when i was a child i had a hard life. I am now going to join the coast guard because i heard they wont ship you out of the states. My heart is with the marine corp, but i cant stand the idea of losing my life in another country for a war i dont agree with. I was told that if i joined now, that i would be shipped to iraq or some place in battle. Im scared i want to be a marine but im not ready to go to war. What is the truth, were will i go if i join? Please someone be honest with me! :shock: [/b]

[LTC William E. Bailey]

The purpose of the US Marine Corps, as with all the military services, is to achieve success on the battlefield. They have no other reason for being. The military services are not a jobs program, nor are they solely a means to achieve college funding, nor are they a social experiment. To put it bluntly the military services have the job of killing the enemies of the US on the battlefield, destroying their equipment, and eroding their will to fight.

The President of the US has decided, after consulting Congress, to conduct military operations in Iraq; ostensibly to free the Iraqi people from a despotic ruler (the reasons continue to change, but that really doesn't matter insofar as the military is concerned).

We are now engaged in defeating the insurgents and terrorists that threaten this new regime. If you don't want to go to Iraq to defeat the enemies of the US on the battlefield, then you shouldn't join an organization which has this as it's primary goal. You need to consider why you want to be a Marine.

You say you've always wanted to be a Marine, but apparently fail to realize that as a Marine, as with any person in military service, you must be willing to risk your life for the greater good of your unit and the nation as a whole. I am quite sure that the Marines on Tarawa, and Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal didn't want to die either. However, when the time came they gave the last full measure of devotion.

You wanted the truth, so here it is. If you join the military services, including the US Coast Guard, you may be called upon at any time to risk your life in the defense of your country. You will not be provided an opportunity to choose on which of those occasions you will participate. If that doesn't sound like something you can handle, then you should find another line of work. :roll:

[usa/usar13]

Please, from what you wrote, please, don't enlist in any military branch The military life is not meant for you. The military is not for everyone.

[D'Hana]

Hate to give you some bad news. The Coast Guard does get shipped overseas. They are currently in the Gulf protecting harbors and boarding ships. During a time of war they are used outside of our waters. Plus they are all over fighting terrorism and drug running.
You obviously have a great love for the Corps but you probably would be doing it a dis-service by joining it. Our job as a soldier or Marine is to be the best we can be and when called upon by our country, to fight and possibly die. We don't have to agree with the politics, that's not our job.
Good luck with your decision.