The Flight Deck

Has it been five days since we began admiring jib cuts over at Lex’s place? Amazing! In that post, I suggested that sending gee-dunk may not be the best choice. Today, I received this message from one of the Marines of that very recruiting station, whose duty is to  select the leaders of Marines, the officers.

Thanks very much for the kind words of support and the offer of help.

Fortunately, we are all taken care of when it comes to creature comforts. Our only focus and our only need for help relates to our mission. Please pass the word to all of the folks in your organization to encourage military service to their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, family friends, or anyone else that is in college or is a young college grad. If the individual expresses an interest in leading Marines, I (and 72 of my counterparts across the country) am here to help them get to Officer Candidate School.

The task requested by the Marine captain is simple. It’s the same request that was presented to me by the PCO of our local Navy Recruiting District. I am told that precious few Americans take up the task of submitting personnel referrals these days.

One of the negatives of having a senior and smaller all-volunteer force is that there are fewer Veterans these days. The Dads and Uncles, and their sea stories, really had a positive impact on maintaining our force strength.

To all you Lexheads and Lexbabes, I know your hearts and minds are in the right places. Try to extend your influence a little for the good of the Nation. The Marines, the Navy and the Coast Guard are all looking for a few very well qualified personnel.

Even those from Berkeley.

Semper Fi, Captain, Rick!