{"id":37994,"date":"2022-03-21T21:33:35","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T21:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/21\/jeopardizing-national-security-what-is-happening-to-our-marine-corps\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:04:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:04:50","slug":"jeopardizing-national-security-what-is-happening-to-our-marine-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/2022\/03\/21\/jeopardizing-national-security-what-is-happening-to-our-marine-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeopardizing national security: What is happening to our Marine Corps?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On an early fall day in 1956 I signed a contract to become a United States Marine, and soon found myself undergoing the rigors of recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after I had earned the right to wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, a gunnery sergeant had handed each Marine in our platoon several stickers bearing the words \u201cForce in Readiness.<\/a>\u201d He had gone on to explain that this phrase meant that when our nation was least ready for war Marines would be the most ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message was clear: Each day we needed to ensure that we were fully prepared to be the \u201cfirst to fight.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For my subsequent 41 years in uniform, I learned readiness was not an empty slogan \u2014 it was real. And that readiness paid off when I served alongside my fellow Marines in five separate combat tours.<\/p>\n\n\n\t