Cultural Revolution: Making In-depth Language & Culture Study a Requirement for All

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Subject: Cultural Revolution: Making In-depth Language & Culture Study a Requirement for All
SCCOMarine 8/1/2008 5:03:00 PM

Career Marine Regional Studies Program (CMRS) This was the Program that I wrote about last yr that was just a concept in development at the time, it has now begun implementation. This is the program that will require All Marines E5/Sgt & Above to be assigned to study the Language, Terrain, and Culture of 1 of 17 Micro-Regions (previously 24) around the world to eventually become Regional Area Experts over a period of 6-10 yrs. Just like MCMAP, this program counts towards Promotion and is designed to shape Career Progression in the Corps. Also like MCMAP it's a comprehensive Course of Study designed more to weed out the Non-Hackers & raise the ability of the Corps as a whole than to put a Bruce Lee & UN Ambassador in every squad.

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ker 8/11/2008 4:02:11 PM

Will any attempt be made to place marines with certan area expertease in certan units, eather to give each unit a wide mix of the 17 areas or to concentrate people with the same or similar area knowlege in a unit?

Well presently the 9 Marine Regiments are being organized to specialize in certain regions, but this will take a few yrs. But KIM that completion of the program will be around the rank of Gunny & Major which are really Staff Planning ranks.

I think at the Tactical Unit Level, BN/Comp, you could see some concentration but not much; to keep them flexible.

My guess on how it'll look is a MEU will be out and get a mission for Sierra Leon. The MEU will pool its Area Experts in that Region & Lang and begin the Operation Planning Cycle based on their input. Brief whichever Comp/Plt/or Sqd is selected to go & put together a team of Interpretor/Liason to assist in the Op.

The Same will be done for Libya, Lebanon, or Kosovo.

Thank you. Very helpful.

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SCCOMarine 8/16/2008 1:31:18 PM

I still think training consistently at a solid MMA or KM gym is the way to go regarding combatives, but the USMC seems to have a solid plan goin too.

Right, now I'll use that to kinda expand on my point. Look at KM, its well established, if you go to a KM gym & work out you can see its effectiveness b/c you'll be working w/ ppl pretty well versed in its practice.

Why? B/C KM has been an integral part of the IDF for 40+ yrs.

Why does that make a difference? Right now you join an IDF unit you may have 2-3 Cpls per squad w/2-3yrs of KM exp' w/ 3-4 Sgts per platoon w/4-6yrs exp' tweaking, fine tuning, and testing your technique daily. This is at the Small Unit level for the next 3-4yrs in additional to formal training. By the time you get out you know KM's techniques inside out & it shows.

You don't have that in the Corps right now. You have Boots w/ just as much training as Sgts. Who do they go to for fine tuning? They get the formal but how far does that go w/out reinforcement.

So the Marines you run into can rudimentally go thru some moves they learned in a course 6mths or so ago, but w/no real practice it appears to be not effective.

Like I said this will change in 5 or so yrs now that a Green Belt is a requirement for all Boot SOI grads. In 5 or so yrs many will be BBs & 'their' Boots will be the 1st group to recv' both formal instruction fr/ their BNs MAIT's followed up by daily sustainment by Qualified Small Unit Ldrs.

Now I'm not doing a better not better than analysis, but in my opinion MCMAP is a more rounded system then KM. KM is an excellent system but it is very strikes oriented, although it is constantly being modified & they have been adding some grappling & locks in the last few yrs. I just believe MCMAP's system does a better job balancing the mix of Strikes, Grappling, Chokes, & Locks

But there's definitely one thing I think KM has over any other system out right now. Thats the instinctual striking/reaction techniques that it develops. Their teaching method is geared towards it & I think they do a better job at it than any other system that I've seen.

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SCCOMarine 8/16/2008 2:56:21 PM

I can never make that Bold Letter thing look like I'm sectioning off portions like an outline.

Anyway GOP, you should really look into Traditional Okinawan Karate, do some research it might really surprise you.

Its really taught different in Okinawa than it is here or elsewhere outside of the Island. Very hard, very effective and efficient killing & crippling techniques that are also very fluid.

Like you, I laughed at Karate until I seen it practiced correctly on the Island, its very impressive over there. Here its a joke, a family sport where everybody smiles and has a good time. There isn't any smiling in the Men's Dojo over there, you might get your ribs cracked.

So save some money up, take a trip. You want some hard nosed, effective training you'll find it over there. If you like that type of shit you might not wanna come back.

Check out a book called 'Moving Zen'. Its not a book 'about' Karate per se but about a British guy who went to study Judo at the Budokan in Tokyo on a summer break, discovered Karate & writes about how it's training changed him, very internal & intraspective. He studied Shotokan, not a Traditional Okinawan Style but close enough to get the point.

It might give you a little insight into a different training perspective you may have either not considered or just overlooked.

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GOP 8/17/2008 2:01:59 AM

Great points in your above post. I have no doubt that MCMAP will eventually be a very very effecient system when more and more guys get experienced and hit their green belts. I believe it will definitely be equivalant to KM in the IDF. As far as KM, honestly I think it's a VERY basic system. It's brutal and effective, no doubt. But I believe that when you compare your 'average' KM gym to a solid MMA gym, that the instruction and level of training at an MMA gym is superior in the long run. MMA generally gives you a much better base and well-rounded skill set, and you can also train eye gouges/axe fists/palm strikes/groin strikes/disarms as well.

I can never make that Bold Letter thing look like I'm sectioning off portions like an outline.

Anyway GOP, you should really look into Traditional Okinawan Karate, do some research it might really surprise you.

Its really taught different in Okinawa than it is here or elsewhere outside of the Island. Very hard, very effective and efficient killing & crippling techniques that are also very fluid.

So save some money up, take a trip. You want some hard nosed, effective training you'll find it over there. If you like that type of shit you might not wanna come back.

It might give you a little insight into a different training perspective you may have either not considered or just overlooked.

Yeah, training in Japan is very serious from what I've heard. I know here in the US Karate gets a bad name, but like you say, real Karate is hardcore stuff. I'm considering going to Thailand in the future to train Muay Thai Kickboxing in it's birthplace, and also have considered going to Brazil for BJJ. Those are my two priorities right now. I will definitely look more into Okinawan Karate as well. MMA is HUGE in Japan, I believe (but not positive) that my instructor fought there professionally for several years. Would love to go there in the future

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GOP 8/17/2008 2:02:03 AM

I can never make that Bold Letter thing look like I'm sectioning off portions like an outline.

Anyway GOP, you should really look into Traditional Okinawan Karate, do some research it might really surprise you.

Its really taught different in Okinawa than it is here or elsewhere outside of the Island. Very hard, very effective and efficient killing & crippling techniques that are also very fluid.

So save some money up, take a trip. You want some hard nosed, effective training you'll find it over there. If you like that type of shit you might not wanna come back.

It might give you a little insight into a different training perspective you may have either not considered or just overlooked.

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SCCOMarine Static 8/17/2008 4:39:39 PM

I am looking at ground intel as my first choice designation after TBS, and I was wondering if you had much exposure/experience with these guys and what they do. My recruiter thinks they do some pretty high-speed stuff but I haven't found too much information on them.

Eventually I would like to do a stint in counterintel but thats a ways down the road.

And do the intel guys for the Corps have chances to go play with they JSOC and SOCOM guys?

This is the info for a Ground Intel Officer I knew a few yrs back. He used to be an OIC of a Counter-Intel Unit, when I talked to him b4, he told me he did some good shit but the best stuff is done on the Enlisted & Warrant Officer Side.

Last time we talked he was a Company CO of an Intelligence Production Team in the Reserves. I have his personal info & his work address but not his work number. I sent him an email & left a voice mail to try & get his work # for you but he may be depl'd b/c he hasn't answered.

I'll give you his official work address maybe you can get on the web & find the work #. He does recruiting for Qualified former Active-Duty Marines to go into Intelligence so don't feel uncorfortable about contacting him.

But he should be able to give you all the Info you need about Intel Officers. Name pronounced (Shroh-dee).

Major Schrode
OIC IPT-1
C Co., ISB
NE ARISC
FT Dix NJ 08640

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static 8/31/2008 4:32:12 PM

Yeah, does this certain Army unit go by a certain color and also a certain citrus fruit? Yellow...or.... (vague huh? lol). They probably get the call first, mainly because I believe these guys are housed in the same area, are also Tier 1, and usually get the best intel on HVT's. But, let's say you are a USMC intel guy in Afghanistan. If you find out where UBL is, then you'd alert the higher ups. They would go through the proper channels and pass the intel where it needed to go (the unit who got the call would probably depend on urgency, location, etc etc). It may be CAG + Ranger, it may be SF, SEALs, USMC Recon, AFSOC or a regular Army/USMC unit.

Bananas FTW!1!!111 Wait...

Thanks for the info SCO, sorry for the late reply but I had to move and just got my internet hooked back up. I'll try to track down that buddy of yours and see what I can find out.

Do you happen to know by chance what typical duty postings for IOs are? I am really hoping for Japan, Hawaii, or Cali but I'm guessing so are a lot of other people.

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SCCOMarine 8/31/2008 6:50:05 PM

02XX's are practically everywhere. Any BN Level shop that rates an S-2 rates at least 1, what is it 0203 right??, and thats pretty much everywhere, fr/ Inf to Air Wingers...Oki to Pendleton, CA to 3rd Marines in Hawaii.

But talk to Maj Schrode or if he's deployed talk to any Officer in the unit, they're all 02's.

The 02 IO field is cool but what you might find is the 26XX IO field might give you more action. I know the Enlisted 26XX's work w/ SOF alot. Especially the Radio Reconnaissance Teams, but they're enlisted only.

But the RRT Plt Commander may or may not rec'v the same training as the RRT's b/c he doesn't deploy directly w/the teams, but you'll have to ask. But if so thats where you'd want to be.

The RRT six man team's go thru basically the same Training Pipeline as the Force Recon Plts; SCUBA, HALO/HAHO, Precision Shooting, Deep & Urban Recon, HRP(Undercover/Concealed Weapons Training), etc.

Of course you have to perform on that level though.

But its a cool ass job and some Commanders even say they prefer them to FR, so check it out.

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