LCPLSMITH
Active member
Recent studies suggest that up to 75% of todays United States military has been to Iraq or Afghanistan at one point or another during their careers. The knowledge one learns during combat is invaluable. There is no way to train for war. War is the only way one can truly prepare he or she for the riggers of combat ops. With a military of combat veterans, the United States military makes it self even more powerful. When I went through my training, the war had already begun and all of my instructors at the School of Infantry had been to combat. They taught us more out of their own experiences than on the text books we were issued. This training became invaluable as I used much of what they taught me when I ended up in Iraq. The U.S. Marines have manuals for everything, and they have just begun a huge re-write process of those manuals, especially those concerning Military Operations in an Urban Terrain (MOUT). The United States Marine Corps, known for being stingy in terms of sign on bonuses, now offers up to $80,000 re-enlistment bonuses (depending on the Marines military occupational specialty). They are willing, now, to give out kickers (extra money every month as incentive pay), and told me they'd give me $10,000 just for passing the Basic Reconnaissance Course at Coronado island in San Diego. This clearly shows that the U.S. military values its combat veterans more than its recruits (as they don't give initial sign on bonuses). Offering huge re-enlistment bonuses is an incredibly smart move by the U.S. Department of Defense.
