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Obama Breaches Marine Corps Umbrella Protocol (+video)

Photo Credit: Daily CallerThe commander in chief of the American armed forces today forced a violation of Marine Corps regulations, so he wouldn’t get wet.

According to Marine Corps regulation MCO P1020.34F of the Marine Corps Uniform Regulations chapter 3, a male Marine is not allowed to carry an umbrella while in uniform. There is no provision in the Marine Corps uniform regulation guidelines that allows a male Marine to carry an umbrella.

Nevertheless, during a press conference under a light drizzle with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this morning, President Obama allowed the First Head to be protected from the elements by an umbrella held by a male Marine corporal.

The relevant portion of the regulation reads, “3035. UMBRELLAS (Female Marines). Female Marines may carry an all-black, plain standard or collapsible umbrella at their option during inclement weather with the service and dress uniforms. It will be carried in the left hand so that the hand salute can be properly rendered…

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Two Female Marines Fail to Pass All-Male Infantry Course

Photo Credit: Lance Cpl. Vincent White

Two female Marine lieutenants have failed in their bid to complete the Corps’ grueling, all-male Infantry Officer Course (IOC). The women’s recent washout after only a few days in the course follows the failure of two other female officers attempting to complete the same program in October.

The Corps now stands 0-4 in its search to find female Marines who have the physical strength and endurance to complete one of the most rigorous infantry schools in the military, located at the Quantico, Va., base.

Of 110 lieutenants in the first phase of the course, called the Combat Entrance Test, 14 failed, including the only two women, according to the Marine Corps Times.

“We will continue to solicit women to take part in the IOC program,” Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Richard Ulsh told The Washington Times. “I don’t know how [the failures] could stretch to mean something broader than what you’ve got.”

In January, then-Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, announced that the Pentagon had lifted a longtime ban on women serving in direct land combat jobs in infantry, armor and special operations units.

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Marines Struggling With Bullet Shortage While DHS Ammos Up (+video)

Photo Credit: WND

U.S. Marines Rattled By Bullet Shortage

By Garth Kant. At least one branch of the U.S. military is scrimping and saving every bullet it can while the Department of Homeland Security is on a bullet-buying spree.

Marine Corps Commandant James F. Amos blames sequester budget cuts for causing the Corps to have to scrimp and save every bullet.

In a video to Marines, he says, “I ask you to save every round, every gallon of gas, that you take every single aspect, or opportunity, in training to get the most bang for the buck.”

“This is no time to do business as usual. Things have changed. The landscape has changed. I need you to be conservative in the way we do business,” Amos continued.

Sequester cuts do not seem to have slowed down the massive purchase of bullets by DHS. WND bas been closely following the department’s big buildup of ammo, reporting how DHS bought more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the last year.

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Special Forces Commander: ‘Constabulary Force’ Coming

By WND. The surge of bullet-buying confirmed by the federal government – purchase estimates run into the billions of bullets – even as the U.S. military scrimps to find training ammo is raising lots of questions about the government’s so-far unexplained actions.

But a video that has been around since last year is being forwarded across the Internet as an explanation. The six minutes recorded by Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, retired, warns that America is well along the pathway that other societies have used to bludgeon and beat their populations into submission to socialism. Even to the point of establishing a “constabulary force” to control the people.

Maybe those bullets do have a destination. Boykin now is executive vice president of Family Research Council. But during his military career, he was one of the original members of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force. He ultimately commanded those elite warriors in combat operations. Later, Boykin commanded all the Army’s Green Berets as well as the Special Warfare Center and School.

In all, Lt. Gen. Boykin spent 36 years in the army, serving his last four years as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

On the video, Boykin explains simply that he knows the standard process for creating a socialist or Marxist state because he studied it as a military officer.

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Desperate Times: Marines Told To ‘Save Every Round’

marines

Photo Credit: CNN

United States Marines are being told to preserve ammunition and gasoline as a deal softening the impact of automatic spending cuts continues to elude leaders in Washington.

Marine Corps Commandant James Amos urged personnel in a video posted online Friday to “save every round, every gallon of gas,” and to “take every single aspect or opportunity in training to get the most bang for the buck,” a reminder of the cuts’ immediate effect on the U.S. military.

The Marine Corps and other branches are being forced to cut billions from their budgets as the result of the spending cuts, which were triggered March 1 when Congress and the White House failed to strike a deal reducing the federal debt. In a letter to all Marines dated March 2, Amos said his branch would cut $1.4 billion in 2013 and $2 billion in every ensuing year for nearly a decade.

State-by-state reports produced by the White House indicated the military slashes would be seen in delayed maintenance for military equipment and canceled air shows, along with furloughs for civilian defense personnel. Salaries for enlisted personnel are exempt from the budget cuts.

“This is no time to do business as usual,” Amos said in the video. “Things have changed. The landscape’s changed. We need you to be conservative in the way you do business, I need you to think about conserving our assets, and I need you to become part of the solution as it relates to sacrifice.”

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Father Wants School Dress Code Changed After Son Asked To Remove Marines T-Shirt

Photo Credit: Daniel McIntyre An Illinois father wants a school district to reconsider its dress code after his son was asked to remove a U.S. Marines T-shirt or be suspended, FoxNews.com has learned.

Daniel McIntyre, 44, of Genoa, told FoxNews.com that his 14-year-old son, Michael, was asked to remove the T-shirt by eighth-grade teacher Karen Deverell during reading class at Genoa-Kingston Middle School on Monday. Deverell, citing the school’s dress code, said the garment’s interlocking rifles was problematic and had to be removed from sight, McIntyre said.

“My son is very proud of the Marines, and, in fact, of all the services,” McIntyre said. “So he wears it with pride. There are two rifles crossed underneath the word ‘Marines’ on the shirt, but to me that should be overlooked. It’s more about the Marines instead of the rifles.”

McIntyre said his son was initially threatened with suspension before complying with Deverell’s request to turn it inside out. He has worn the T-shirt to school many times before without incident, McIntyre said.

“He was upset, he couldn’t understand it,” he continued. “He couldn’t understand why a teacher would make him do that.” Brett McPherson, the school’s principal, referred questions to Genoa-Kingston Superintendent Joe Burgess, who reiterated that the shirt is not in violation of the district’s dress policy.

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Marines Egged While Collecting Donations for Toys For Tots

A group of Marines who were collecting donations from early morning commuters on behalf of Toys for Tots in Texas, were hit with a barrage of eggs, according to police.

The incident occurred shortly before 6 a.m., according to San Angelo police. The department received several calls about the occupants of a pickup truck throwing eggs at pedestrians and other vehicles in town.

The pedestrians were four Marines, volunteers for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, who had set up shop at a street corner to collect new Christmas toys to be given to less fortunate children in the community.

The truck almost hit one of the Marines as it sped by — and almost collided head-on with another vehicle — before hitting a traffic island a short while later, according to Lt. Mike Hernandez, a police spokesman.

The driver, Hunter Holbert, 18, was arrested and charged with reckless driving and criminal mischief. Two other 18-year-olds, Brandon Garcia and Taylor White, and an unidentified juvenile male, all passengers in Holbert’s vehicle, were also cited for criminal mischief.

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Video: Kandahar Marines’ parody of “Call Me Maybe” goes viral

If you haven’t seen this video, you should take three minutes to watch it. The video was produced by US Marines at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.  These servicemen and women show that they can keep a great sense of humor even while deployed far away from family and friends in an increasingly hostile environment.

Photo credit: AtlanticRebel