marines are terrifying

I passed a Recon weekend selection course at Camp LeJeune in '75 and as I met the requirements (Expert on Rifle Range and first class on the PFT...I was maxing the PFT), I got the 1st Sgts. blessing to get into the Recon pipeline. First stop was Recon Indoctrination...a 6 week course known as boot camp on steroids, lots of yelling and lots of humping and running and swimming. Next stop was BRC (basic Recon Course, over half my class was dropped on the first day which was pool test day) I reinjured a stress fracture on my left shin that I had in boot camp. I barely passed the last timed Go/No Go hump, just making time. After that it was Rubber Boat school, and then Pre-Combat Divers school (a real ball buster and you better be a tremendous swimmer...lucky for me I was a surfer and water ski kid from Cocoa Beach Florida who swam like a fish and was very at home in the ocean and lakes and pools). Then Ft. Benning for Jump school. which was like a fun vacation, the PT was light and the chow halls were like 5 star restaurants. The 5 jumps were a blast. The army Instructors and jump masters were all real pros though, no messing around. But it was super fun. In between all the schools lots of field and class room work with 2nd Recon Battalion on the beach at LeJeune. I was sent to Navy SERE in New Hampshire mountains and Combat Divers school in Panama City. I was deployed on one Med cruise and spent a few months on Okinawa doing Jungle warfare Recon Training and some preliminary advanced marksmanship training that was for Recon Marines scheduled for Scout Sniper school, I never got sent to SS school but the prelim training was very good. Had I reupped I could have gotten Ranger School and/or Scout Sniper school but after 4 years I was ready to get on with my Engineering College where I had already been accepted to Georgia Tech out of H.S. (a recently retired Aerospace/Computer Engineer who spent 34 years with a large American defense contractor's Aero and Missile Systems companies).

It seems an anachronism to de-label Recon as special operations. Before SOCOM, Recon would have been easily classed as special operations, though the Corps avoided such dichotomies within the branch. Looking back at Vietnam, MACV-SOG was arguably a joint special operations unit, and Force Marines contributed. Recon guys have even contributed to tier one units like Delta. I think a better explainer would be to say that Recon is a non-SOCOM special operations entity, exclusively employed by the Marine Corps, rather than complicating the definition. We can mute this with Special Operations Capable (SOC), but MEUs in general can be classified as such, including less capable units than Recon. In short, I believe in calling as spade a spade. Just my two cents.

My Uncle was Marine Recon in Vietnam. I was told to not ask him questions when I was a kid and I didn’t. I heard he was brave but that was it. I found out right before he died that he had 4 Bronze stars and 2 Purple Hearts among other medals. I found a picture of his 1968 unit in Vietnam on eBay after he passed. Uncle Archie was a humble bad ass

Recon Marines and Force have not seen a lick of combat in over 10 years. Total waste of tax payers dollars. SEALs and Rangers get the job done. This is a joke, respect to the men, but the waste of money spent on these units is astounding.

The True silent warriors! They aren’t glory hounds and they aren’t writing books every other month or doing podcasts every day!

My class started with 78 students for BRC. We finished 35 in the Pacific Ocean in Jan.

“Recon kicks butt”

Heartbreak ridge is the best

I think this video did a better job explaining what a Recon Marine is then I have ever been able to verbalize. And I was a Recon baby for 10 years lmao. Thank you for the video :)

Probably my most proud professional accomplishment is earning the title: Recon Marine. 3rd Force Recon 1991-1995, 1997-2000. 0321/8654/2531

Thank you for this. I sometimes get frustrated hearing others say that RECON isn’t special, that they’re just Marines because they don’t answer to SOCOM. I always correct them and say they ARE special!! Semper Fi 🇺🇸

In Vietnam Marine deacon had the highest fatality rate w/65%. Yet they accomplished more high risk missions. Avg. 4-6 man teams, compared to the other SpecOps that ran 8-12+ men teams

Gen Kill was a fantastic show, stay frosty gents

As a former Marine, in boot camp, I saw a poster before getting my shaving cut, featuring a recon recruiting poster that was bad ass. I didn’t even know who they were at the time. I heard that is how they like it.

As a teen in the early 80s, I bought a Gung-Ho magazine showing Force Recon Marines patrolling a river on the cover. I knew they were badass…🙏😎

Thank you for sharing

Marines are HARD and TRAINED! I should know, I am one of them...(retired) but, one of them!!!! Semper Fi!!!

Best of the best ❤️❤️love you from Nepal🇳🇵

The best in a long line of the best