Sgt. Grit Community

This is going to sound like some joke that was made up but it is not. As you know, life often deals out the best humor and lack of understanding even more so. I was fresh out of boot camp from Parris Island and was reporting to my duty station at Camp Lejeune with 3rd Battalion 6th Marines H&S Company, 2nd Marine Divison. This was May of 1991. As I arrived to company for reporting in I learned that the battalion was deploying in 1 week. So being the boot fresh out of Marine Combat Training (MCT) from Camp Geiger, I asked the first Cpl that I saw what was going on. He told me the company was deploying but that he would not have to go. He was going to stay behind in the rear party. I asked him why he was able to stay behind and he told me because he was "too short" to deploy. I looked at the Cpl and measured myself against his height and thought to myself "Great!" I will be able to stay behind too for the rear party because I was even shorter than he was. Needless to say, I found out real quick what the Cpl was talking about later when I was told to pack my gear. Anyway, I deployed and learned quickly that the Marines have a language of all their own and that I better learn it fast. Wouldn't it be great if boots could know more of the Marine language before they get to the fleet. After all, I had never heard of a can of "liquid beep" until I got to fleet. But that is another story….. read more