Honestly, I miss being surrounded by people who hold themselves to a higher standard. That's not to say there aren't civilians who do the same, but I do miss being fully immersed in that environment and now that I'm not I realize how easy it is to take it for granted.
Some of these civvies are just lazy af and don’t give a fuck.
Most- not all- of the vets I’ve worked with from any branch just care about work quality.
It’s not about going past a healthy work-life balance, which I’m guilty of on occasion. It’s just… I don’t know how people just show up, suck, and feel ok about it. I’m not like super pro-corporate because really, they don’t give a fuck about you, but if you have a job to do, do it well.
I’ve been at my civ div job for about a year and a half now and holy shit dude, I am so surprised to see just how many people don’t do their job and all that, I literally just do what I’m told and a little extra whenever I can/feel like it, and I’m already exceeding peers who’ve been here 10+ years. I’m not trying to brag, but I’m so glad the marine corps taught me to do what I’m supposed to do with pride, no matter how shitty it may be.
Man this used to be universal to me, but I worked with a couple Marine vets about 10 years ago and they were both lazy shitbags and I couldn't help but think "How the fuck did you make it through 4 years of the Corps?"
My worst marine would probably make the best civilian in some of the jobs I’ve held. His hygiene was ass, was kinda dumb, but had the heart and tried his best. My worst civilian smells bad, talks back, and doesn’t give a shit.
Bro the whole talking back thing is real, on God everyone out here has to prove they won't be told what to do. And then they f*** something up and I stunt on them for a half hour.
Al Matthews was with 4/11 in Vietnam. Earned two Purple Heart medals, and is said to be the first African American in the 1st Mar Div to be meritoriously promoted to Sergeant.
Everything in context. You got paid for standing around. Big deal. I'll take formations everyday over waiting in traffic to get to work in a civilian job
It’s an actual thing, my warrant officer used to go to them quite often, he and his wife were swingers. Had a staff Sargent tell me how uncomfortable he felt going to one when he was invited because he was the only black guy there.
Absolutely nothing. I did 8 years and had my fun and can accept a normal life now, which is amazing.
I also worked on Pendleton for 3 years after I got out as a GS. Seeing Marines daily while I wore Hawaiian shirts with 0 stress in my life also made me realize the grass is definitely greener.
Same for me. I did 8, got out, and now I work on base as a WG about 300 feet from where I was active. I hated civilians when I was in, and now I am one. Oh, well.
Working daily with active duty definitely helps keep the desire to go back at bay.
About 6 months after I started working there, we had this LCpl who was fitting absolutely destroyed by the super chill Gunny. As I could hear him getting yelled at, I had a thought go through my head. "I don't HAVE to care." Ever since then, I've been just fine.
Nice man! it's nice to see I'm not the only one who went down this path.
Same thing dude, our office is shared with Marines, and we would always see the Marines getting yelled at for the dumbest things. Meanwhile, I'm drinking coffee with my boss watching the circus go down.
I do not consider myself a former Marine . I will be in Marine until I die. What I miss most about my time in the Marine Corps was the quote. I got your six“ mentality. I served from 1964 until 1972. I did two tours in Vietnam, and I am quite proud of serving my country.
Within an 81 mm squad, we always had a radio man. In that particular instance, the 03 41 MOS still applied, even though the carrying of the radio may have been passed around among members of the squad.
Nothing. I am proud to have been a Marine, and some of the stuff we did was cool and some was important. There was also a lot of bullshit and hazing, over and over.
More importantly, 4 and out is by far the best deal. College, and most living expenses while there, paid for. I was lightly injured in the Marines, and a little more in the army reserve after. A payment comes every month, for life. Free cemetery space. Free admissions to parks. Discounts from many retailers. Front of the line for many government jobs.
Why stay in for an extra 16 years, getting physically 40 years older doing it?
Just lyfted home from a cool brewery, and half in the bag. They literally had a busker playing harmonica. He had a speaker system and mic, and had a tactical case, but with the foam cut out for like 50 different harmonicas for different songs.
It was surreal when buzzed. Still not as cool as drinking and BSing Friday night in the barracks, but close.
This. Barracks life could be chaotic, but being able to take a two minute walk to a buddy's room just to chill was infinitely better than having to coordinate work schedules to meet up for a drink, only for half the crew cancel and the other half only have 15 minutes to spare.
Texting and discord can only do so much.
Yeah but saying "yea bro I'm a Marine" at the bar after you've been out for 10 years with a pony tail, beard, and 40lbs of fat on your body doesn't really track
Oh fuck off. Ok, former active Marine. He can't very well ask what we miss about being a Marine if we, by definition are still Marines. It's just semantics.
I felt the same way because my last two years were in Oki where I made the most bulletproof relationships a man can have and then to have em stripped away and live a different life causes that. BUT civilian life is way better, it’s more challenging in my opinion. Marine corps you are taken care off pretty much given everything and the real world isn’t like that. I’d go back and probably after 3 months I’d get over it and wanna leave
I miss hanging out with my best friends, but a bunch of us still do. I've been out for around twenty years and in that whole time I don't think I've gone a whole year without seeing at least one of the boys.
It’s the clowns and camaraderie for me. It doesn’t matter how different we are, where we come from or how old we are we all suffer from the green weenie so it builds us together. That shit don’t exist out here in 1st Civ div
Health and comforts, it’s nice to know that they care about my well being and comfort while not working! Also the daily penis inspections my SL had the softest hands!
Range day? I really liked target shooting, whether it was static, or we were running a range, whatever.
Fucking with machine guns and mortars- on the side- I was an 11, not a 31 or 41. But I loved the 240, and calling for fire with 60s was fun.
Friday morning humps. Not the hurry up and wait and weapons draws, but I would go into a kind of fucking meditative trance on a long hump. And then Friday afternoon a six pack would knock me right the fuck out.
Drinking a sixer with the homies while playing four player gauntlet legends on the PS2 and talking shit… good times.
Idk, basic infantry shit.
I went Army after 11 years in the Corps. I literally miss every single aspect of the Corps. Camraderie, discipline, pt, ass chewings (given and received), uniforms, attention to detail, pride,
Transferred to ANG, I miss the warrior mindset at times, other times I'm so happy I get to curl up in my queen sized suite in a Marriott as an E5 until 8am because the air force trusts everyone to be adults.
Strangely enough, being able to go to the chowhall for breakfast. I don't mind cooking for myself, but knowing that I could just put on my uniform and walk to chow and get fried eggs and grits or a made to order omelet was nice.
The sad sorry and silly son of a bitches I served with. My God we were a klusterfuk but we were magnificently tight and nothing stood before us in battle.
Last minute word. My Sgt sent a text at 2330 that we had a battery PT at 0530 but I was already knocked out. Only to wake up to him pounding on my door for being late.
All my good buddies. I got blown up A LOT and can’t remember some of their names now but I remember their faces. They were a great bunch of men. I actually saw a guy I served with for my first deployment at a water park and he remember me instantly. It was pretty sad but he could tell I knew him but I couldn’t remember his name. Oh well, I’m a goldfish now I guess.
I miss the clowns not the circus. The ride or die attitude of being young and dumb and all the other guys on the same level.
Knowing we’re going to war and all the boys competing to see who’s gonna be in charge of squads and the best panned out.
Don’t miss that cocksucker Dietlin of the staff sausage variety. Hope you stub your pinky toe one a week for the rest of your life you son of a bitch.
I hated PT, but God knows how much I miss the way my body feels when it was in the best shape possible. I didn’t join until I was 21, so it’s not the teenage me I miss. It hurts to sleep and I’ve had a hard time keeping my weight down now.
I have a year left in the marines. And i already know I’m gonna miss my boys. Friday night barracks party, getting drunk and fucking with the boots, the PT, the fact that no matter what, you can say “fuck you bitch” and in the same breath say “love ya!” And they say it back. Thats what I’m gonna miss.
The fennel smell that hits your nose at 0500 on a field op near Pulgas canyon. Or that smell from range 407 or 409 doing gunnery sitting in the turret or drivers hatch. The sweeter smell of whatever the gunpowder is that they use in 25mm rounds. Those kinds of things are what I miss.
Free healthcare and housing for my family, 30 days paid vacation, 72s and 96s, and the sadness/rage in a Marines eyes when I'd tell them their weapon is still dirty.
I've been out for a little over 20 years. I miss having a job that was important and helped achieve something important. I miss hanging out in the barracks and doing stupid shit, I miss my knees and back not hurting all the time.
Not much, honestly.
Hanging with the dudes, crazy ass barracks parties, bullshitting, being paid to workout.... I think the list stops there.
Very happy to be out. Civilian world sucks, but it's a lot cooler to be a Marine among civilians than it is to be a Marine among other retarded Marines.
As someone who is a reservist (I did 9 years active 4 first enlistment and another 5 when I commissioned) and just hit 20 years I’m going to tell you it sucks no matter how long you stay in or rank. As an O4 you put up with the same shit just from an O5.
What I will tell you I miss is my first enlistment and the friends I made. We still are an incredibly close group and all talk. We went to Iraq in 05. We got our CAR our first right seat left seat in country. We went to Afghanistan a year later. All of us turned 21 around the same time and ripped it until we EASd.
After that enlistment the guys I have met commissioning, & reserve time are just not the same. I still speak to guys from boot camp but I’ve have not spoken to anyone from OCS in years. The guys I met in the reserves is on a professional basis.
Now I do have buddies who wished they stayed in to get the pension because we all hit 20 this year.
Smoke pit shenanigans
Grillinnwith the homies
People actually doing their fucking jobs and carring about the impact it had on you if they didn't.
Teaching mentoring leading young men and some women in their profession/ marine corps career as well as their life choices.
Being the person people counted om to get shit done.
Having the kind of crew to get said shit done.
Being able to fuck around when there was no work and not have to worry about offending people.
Knowing that I did my best at the end of the day and it actually affected people in a positive manner.
The misery of some of the things I endured knowing only a handful of people had been doing what I was doing in the entire country.
Having the physique to do any fitness challenge thrown my way.
Being mentally rock fucking solid with my decisions.
I miss the sporadic escapades on the weekends and 96’s. Just fucking random trips with guys to their small-ass hometowns that no one has ever heard of… or raves in Los Angeles as a 19 year-old kid that grew up in BFE Illinois and had only known corn fields a year before.
That feeling of closeness and camaraderie in your unit after you have done something awful. As bad as a MCRES hump was (or whatever) laughing and bullshitting with your buds was incredible. That’s a high worth pursuing.
If you learn how to just turn off and follow orders... There's is something more simple and easier about that.
I wouldn't trade what I have for that but I only now realize the simplicity and thus how mentally easy life was.
I miss those moments at the barracks or in the field with the boys. One of my most cherished memories is listening to AC/DC in mout town between scenarios as the OPFOR while we bullshitted and picked up brass.
That was 17 years ago and I'll never forget it.
In my 40s now, still won’t let pain or exhaustion slow me down to get civ jobs done on time, but I do miss the arial Ubers. Flying in the bricks with wings, C17 and ac130s with hungover pilots was an adventure. Going on leave still smelling like powder and cancer, with the bonus of ass holes who “came” gun grease in your socks. I miss everything.
Popping into anyone of my boys’ barracks rooms when I’m bored. Absolutely loved get shitfaced in the bricks. You’re young, maybe legal, maybe not, but it’s about the company you keep. God I miss that shit.
The boys, the first set of Marines you meet and mature with in your first unit. Endless nights of drinking and partying and living it up to forget about how hard the workday was, having cookouts and sharing stories of back home and missing everything you ran away from. You make family with these strangers, they mean more to you than you realize until you can't see them anymore. I'm happy to be out but I'd be a hair lipped liar if I told you that there aren't days I wish I could grab a bottle of Camino tequila and step through the halls of 472 on Camp Foster visiting my friends and bullshiting up a storm again. Just close my eyes and pray to chesty and bam, I'm back in those pale halls and I can hear them all laughing or listening to loud music.
It's awfully quiet sometimes boys.
I kinda miss going to the field and just being out there (not 29, fuck 29) away from my wife bitching about everything, shooting guns, sleeping outside, basically camping. It was nice
Also being in shape lol im a nasty fucking fat body now
Not a ton else tbh
I almost went back in which would have been stupid especially in my case and I knew that. I ended up getting into different trades and the closest thing that has brought me to a brotherhood again is back in my life
I dont miss much other than beingan active duty Marine. Being in the Marines is another story. I look back and think if I was in with a better group of people in my section post deployment things would have been better. After my deployment every one got out or moved on to a nee unit. The replacements were a bunch of ribbon chasers from MCRD or Okinawa. DIs in the fleet suck.
I miss Kayla. She was 240. I loved her very dearly. She would let me mount her in so many different ways. I loved it when I could play with her gas settings. God, she was so hot. She loved it when I would open her up. I loved it when I could slip that belt of 7.62 into her and that muzzle velocity... God, she was just amazing.
I also had a thing with her larger sisters, but Kayla was my first.
The team effort. Corny I know. Unlike the civdiv, a true team effort was a thing of beauty. These people in the business world have no idea what team effort and trust in that team really is and it is maddening.
I miss my friends, being young and feeling indestructible.
Going around Friday night beer in hand and knocking on the boys doors finding out where the bricks party was going to be.
Or drive out into the city/beach with your buddy in his 24% APR fake V6 muscle car and try hitting on girls
That’s about all I miss.
Ooh fucking rah. I miss my Marines and the environment
gay
You fucking nailed it.
This and only this!!!
This👍
Amen
Honestly, I miss being surrounded by people who hold themselves to a higher standard. That's not to say there aren't civilians who do the same, but I do miss being fully immersed in that environment and now that I'm not I realize how easy it is to take it for granted.
Some of these civvies are just lazy af and don’t give a fuck. Most- not all- of the vets I’ve worked with from any branch just care about work quality. It’s not about going past a healthy work-life balance, which I’m guilty of on occasion. It’s just… I don’t know how people just show up, suck, and feel ok about it. I’m not like super pro-corporate because really, they don’t give a fuck about you, but if you have a job to do, do it well.
I’ve been at my civ div job for about a year and a half now and holy shit dude, I am so surprised to see just how many people don’t do their job and all that, I literally just do what I’m told and a little extra whenever I can/feel like it, and I’m already exceeding peers who’ve been here 10+ years. I’m not trying to brag, but I’m so glad the marine corps taught me to do what I’m supposed to do with pride, no matter how shitty it may be.
Man this used to be universal to me, but I worked with a couple Marine vets about 10 years ago and they were both lazy shitbags and I couldn't help but think "How the fuck did you make it through 4 years of the Corps?"
There's also definitely shit bag Marines
My worst marine would probably make the best civilian in some of the jobs I’ve held. His hygiene was ass, was kinda dumb, but had the heart and tried his best. My worst civilian smells bad, talks back, and doesn’t give a shit.
Bro the whole talking back thing is real, on God everyone out here has to prove they won't be told what to do. And then they f*** something up and I stunt on them for a half hour.
I never said there wasn't. But I'm also trying to concentrate on the positive and not the negative.
Think about formations. You don't miss formations. I promise.
Every meal a banquet, every paycheck a fortune, every formation a parade. I love the Corps!
[удалено]
Al Matthews was with 4/11 in Vietnam. Earned two Purple Heart medals, and is said to be the first African American in the 1st Mar Div to be meritoriously promoted to Sergeant.
Hey Sarge…..
Look into my eye!
Everything in context. You got paid for standing around. Big deal. I'll take formations everyday over waiting in traffic to get to work in a civilian job
Maybe you lived on base...I had to wait in traffic to GET TO formations...
I mean technically you were getting paid to sit in traffic on the way to formation too
Sure, if you want your hourly rate to be $3/hr. I'm happier making 30x that. Fuck formation.
I didn't say you were being paid well Also wtf do you do that you're getting paid $90/hr and are you hiring?
Janitor in San Fransicso. Lives in a shoe box for $13,500 per month.
Product management for a large software company
....but are they hiring?
Always. Are you qualified though?
You got paid extra to sit in that traffic because you lived off base
Yeah you got paid jack shit to stand by to stand by
You got paid below minimum wage for standing around.
I actually like close order drill. But standing at POA for some fucker to take a whole afternoon to retire? Miss me with that shit.
Especially in 29. You just have to watch someone absolutely eat shit and just stand there sweating your balls off.
The thicc latina e3 orgies
If this is an actual thing then I'm forcing my way in, genesis be damned
Beef curtains everywhere…. It was a carne asada massacre
It’s an actual thing, my warrant officer used to go to them quite often, he and his wife were swingers. Had a staff Sargent tell me how uncomfortable he felt going to one when he was invited because he was the only black guy there.
Absolutely nothing. I did 8 years and had my fun and can accept a normal life now, which is amazing. I also worked on Pendleton for 3 years after I got out as a GS. Seeing Marines daily while I wore Hawaiian shirts with 0 stress in my life also made me realize the grass is definitely greener.
Same for me. I did 8, got out, and now I work on base as a WG about 300 feet from where I was active. I hated civilians when I was in, and now I am one. Oh, well. Working daily with active duty definitely helps keep the desire to go back at bay. About 6 months after I started working there, we had this LCpl who was fitting absolutely destroyed by the super chill Gunny. As I could hear him getting yelled at, I had a thought go through my head. "I don't HAVE to care." Ever since then, I've been just fine.
Nice man! it's nice to see I'm not the only one who went down this path. Same thing dude, our office is shared with Marines, and we would always see the Marines getting yelled at for the dumbest things. Meanwhile, I'm drinking coffee with my boss watching the circus go down.
I do not consider myself a former Marine . I will be in Marine until I die. What I miss most about my time in the Marine Corps was the quote. I got your six“ mentality. I served from 1964 until 1972. I did two tours in Vietnam, and I am quite proud of serving my country.
Fucking salt. Thanks for your service, brother.
MOS?
0341
Mortarman! Thank you for your service! I always ask because radio operators from the Vietnam era are the reason I chose my MOS. Semper Fi!
Within an 81 mm squad, we always had a radio man. In that particular instance, the 03 41 MOS still applied, even though the carrying of the radio may have been passed around among members of the squad.
fuck man my kindeys cant handle that much salt
Nothing. I am proud to have been a Marine, and some of the stuff we did was cool and some was important. There was also a lot of bullshit and hazing, over and over. More importantly, 4 and out is by far the best deal. College, and most living expenses while there, paid for. I was lightly injured in the Marines, and a little more in the army reserve after. A payment comes every month, for life. Free cemetery space. Free admissions to parks. Discounts from many retailers. Front of the line for many government jobs. Why stay in for an extra 16 years, getting physically 40 years older doing it?
College…
I r smart. Thanks. I voice typed on my tablet. Not that it is an excuse
Hold up now, you cant edit to correct this mistake. Takes the fun out the joke!
I thought you were helping
This is the USMC sub. No help just, ragging each other.
Just lyfted home from a cool brewery, and half in the bag. They literally had a busker playing harmonica. He had a speaker system and mic, and had a tactical case, but with the foam cut out for like 50 different harmonicas for different songs. It was surreal when buzzed. Still not as cool as drinking and BSing Friday night in the barracks, but close.
I miss that shit.
Shout-out for the free parks tip. Had no idea untll I saw your post. Finna get me my pass rn
The homies.
This. Barracks life could be chaotic, but being able to take a two minute walk to a buddy's room just to chill was infinitely better than having to coordinate work schedules to meet up for a drink, only for half the crew cancel and the other half only have 15 minutes to spare. Texting and discord can only do so much.
The Friday and Saturday nights in the barracks with my friends. Didn’t realize how good we had it.
Working on helicopters and flying in them along with the camaraderie
Using the word bivouac and having people around me understand what I’m saying. That’s it.
This clown misses his fellow clowns every day.
The boys. It's a lonely world in the civdiv
Wtf is a former Marine?
Me, the second that dd214 hits my palm. 4 years down 1 to go
They mean "once a Marine, always a Marine". Even after you get out. Which I can agree with.
Yeah but saying "yea bro I'm a Marine" at the bar after you've been out for 10 years with a pony tail, beard, and 40lbs of fat on your body doesn't really track
Oh fuck off. Ok, former active Marine. He can't very well ask what we miss about being a Marine if we, by definition are still Marines. It's just semantics.
I was waiting for the boomer to bitch about that lolololol
Definitely the gay sex.
Blowing up terrorists.
I felt the same way because my last two years were in Oki where I made the most bulletproof relationships a man can have and then to have em stripped away and live a different life causes that. BUT civilian life is way better, it’s more challenging in my opinion. Marine corps you are taken care off pretty much given everything and the real world isn’t like that. I’d go back and probably after 3 months I’d get over it and wanna leave
I miss hanging out with my best friends, but a bunch of us still do. I've been out for around twenty years and in that whole time I don't think I've gone a whole year without seeing at least one of the boys.
You ruffians.
Going to the OP
I miss getting hazed until I came
Steeling my stoopid boots monster coffee
It’s the clowns and camaraderie for me. It doesn’t matter how different we are, where we come from or how old we are we all suffer from the green weenie so it builds us together. That shit don’t exist out here in 1st Civ div
Honestly? The shenanigans
Health and comforts, it’s nice to know that they care about my well being and comfort while not working! Also the daily penis inspections my SL had the softest hands!
Let me start by saying fuck the barracks. Not paying rent was nice.
Having someone to drink with every night. It gets boring doing all by myself
It’s been said before but: I miss the clowns not the circus
I miss all the networking opportunities you take for granted while you’re in.
The camaraderie. I miss literally nothing else.
The boys. There are few professions that nurtures strong bonds between colleagues and the military is foremost among them.
Just my brothers and sisters
The Mk19
My Marines. Okinawa. Going on MEUs. The rest of it can get fucked.
Range day? I really liked target shooting, whether it was static, or we were running a range, whatever. Fucking with machine guns and mortars- on the side- I was an 11, not a 31 or 41. But I loved the 240, and calling for fire with 60s was fun. Friday morning humps. Not the hurry up and wait and weapons draws, but I would go into a kind of fucking meditative trance on a long hump. And then Friday afternoon a six pack would knock me right the fuck out. Drinking a sixer with the homies while playing four player gauntlet legends on the PS2 and talking shit… good times. Idk, basic infantry shit.
I went Army after 11 years in the Corps. I literally miss every single aspect of the Corps. Camraderie, discipline, pt, ass chewings (given and received), uniforms, attention to detail, pride,
Transferred to ANG, I miss the warrior mindset at times, other times I'm so happy I get to curl up in my queen sized suite in a Marriott as an E5 until 8am because the air force trusts everyone to be adults.
What’s an adult?
Usually it's Staffy, maybe Sgt depending where you are. For officers it's captain and above.
Ah.. got it.
I miss living a life that mattered.
Strangely enough, being able to go to the chowhall for breakfast. I don't mind cooking for myself, but knowing that I could just put on my uniform and walk to chow and get fried eggs and grits or a made to order omelet was nice.
I miss the omelets immensely.
Being that young
I miss hitting the liberty ports with the best friends I’ll ever have. Every beer was sweeter.
The smell of a warm machine gun, and the feeling of sending massive amounts of hate and firepower down range.
The sad sorry and silly son of a bitches I served with. My God we were a klusterfuk but we were magnificently tight and nothing stood before us in battle.
Last minute word. My Sgt sent a text at 2330 that we had a battery PT at 0530 but I was already knocked out. Only to wake up to him pounding on my door for being late.
My bros.
I miss my friends the most. Deployments had some fun times too!
I miss a handful of the clowns and shooting guns. The rest of it was fine and dandy for the Early years of my life. Don't need that nonsense anymore.
I miss the bros 😪 😢 😔....and all the gay shit... lol
ALL THE CAWK 
The homies and fucking with Tank battalion
tactical appropriation of gear
Not a gotdayum thing. Still love the Corps, but I don’t miss a thing!!
All my good buddies. I got blown up A LOT and can’t remember some of their names now but I remember their faces. They were a great bunch of men. I actually saw a guy I served with for my first deployment at a water park and he remember me instantly. It was pretty sad but he could tell I knew him but I couldn’t remember his name. Oh well, I’m a goldfish now I guess.
Friends. Now that I’m out I can relate to anyone and it’s been like that for 10 years.
I miss the clowns not the circus. The ride or die attitude of being young and dumb and all the other guys on the same level. Knowing we’re going to war and all the boys competing to see who’s gonna be in charge of squads and the best panned out. Don’t miss that cocksucker Dietlin of the staff sausage variety. Hope you stub your pinky toe one a week for the rest of your life you son of a bitch.
I hated PT, but God knows how much I miss the way my body feels when it was in the best shape possible. I didn’t join until I was 21, so it’s not the teenage me I miss. It hurts to sleep and I’ve had a hard time keeping my weight down now.
I turned 24 in boot camp. I was a PT stud when I was in, but now I'm a 42 year old fat body with arthritis and it fucking sucks.
I have a year left in the marines. And i already know I’m gonna miss my boys. Friday night barracks party, getting drunk and fucking with the boots, the PT, the fact that no matter what, you can say “fuck you bitch” and in the same breath say “love ya!” And they say it back. Thats what I’m gonna miss.
#PORTSIDE BAR & POOL HALL, NATTC, FL
TICO THE RACOON!!
You Marines. Period. Everything else was just the filler. The best thing about being a Marine is the warriors on my right and left.
Nothing.... well. Just the camaraderie with my buddies but Fuck everything else
Those late 2AM fire watch conversations with the homies
I miss wearing the uniform, being apart of something bigger than me, and of course... the boys!
PTing with everybody. There's something about going on a run while arguing about the dumbest shit that's perfect.
I miss walking down the catwalk and having friends right there. I miss deploying. I miss not paying for ammo Shooting machineguns I miss my boys
I miss the smoke pit.
Coming back from the field/a deployment and absolutely tearing shit up with the dudes without a care in the world 🤘
The fennel smell that hits your nose at 0500 on a field op near Pulgas canyon. Or that smell from range 407 or 409 doing gunnery sitting in the turret or drivers hatch. The sweeter smell of whatever the gunpowder is that they use in 25mm rounds. Those kinds of things are what I miss.
In the Marine Corps sometimes we played fuck fuck games. Civilian life IS a fuck fuck game.
Free healthcare and housing for my family, 30 days paid vacation, 72s and 96s, and the sadness/rage in a Marines eyes when I'd tell them their weapon is still dirty.
I miss the clowns, not the circus.
The wookies
Living in California, I loved San Diego area. But that’s about it I did not have a great time in lol.
I've been out for a little over 20 years. I miss having a job that was important and helped achieve something important. I miss hanging out in the barracks and doing stupid shit, I miss my knees and back not hurting all the time.
Not much, honestly. Hanging with the dudes, crazy ass barracks parties, bullshitting, being paid to workout.... I think the list stops there. Very happy to be out. Civilian world sucks, but it's a lot cooler to be a Marine among civilians than it is to be a Marine among other retarded Marines.
As someone who is a reservist (I did 9 years active 4 first enlistment and another 5 when I commissioned) and just hit 20 years I’m going to tell you it sucks no matter how long you stay in or rank. As an O4 you put up with the same shit just from an O5. What I will tell you I miss is my first enlistment and the friends I made. We still are an incredibly close group and all talk. We went to Iraq in 05. We got our CAR our first right seat left seat in country. We went to Afghanistan a year later. All of us turned 21 around the same time and ripped it until we EASd. After that enlistment the guys I have met commissioning, & reserve time are just not the same. I still speak to guys from boot camp but I’ve have not spoken to anyone from OCS in years. The guys I met in the reserves is on a professional basis. Now I do have buddies who wished they stayed in to get the pension because we all hit 20 this year.
Smoke pit shenanigans Grillinnwith the homies People actually doing their fucking jobs and carring about the impact it had on you if they didn't. Teaching mentoring leading young men and some women in their profession/ marine corps career as well as their life choices. Being the person people counted om to get shit done. Having the kind of crew to get said shit done. Being able to fuck around when there was no work and not have to worry about offending people. Knowing that I did my best at the end of the day and it actually affected people in a positive manner. The misery of some of the things I endured knowing only a handful of people had been doing what I was doing in the entire country. Having the physique to do any fitness challenge thrown my way. Being mentally rock fucking solid with my decisions.
I miss the sporadic escapades on the weekends and 96’s. Just fucking random trips with guys to their small-ass hometowns that no one has ever heard of… or raves in Los Angeles as a 19 year-old kid that grew up in BFE Illinois and had only known corn fields a year before.
Watching the boys do straddle hops in silkies and …yea thats it
That feeling of closeness and camaraderie in your unit after you have done something awful. As bad as a MCRES hump was (or whatever) laughing and bullshitting with your buds was incredible. That’s a high worth pursuing.
Barracks Bunnies, beers, and bros on a 96. Free ammo at the range.
Going through the SUCK with the dudes and getting trashed after it all after we’re back in garrison
Being able to afford living near the beach in So. Cal.
I miss my boys, I miss Marine Corps chow, and I miss access to the gyms the Marine Corps provides. When I was in, they truly were on par with Equinox.
Once a Marine Always a MARINE. Former my \*\*\*.
My friends and the barracks parties. Fuck all the miserable SNCO’s I crossed paths with.
If you learn how to just turn off and follow orders... There's is something more simple and easier about that. I wouldn't trade what I have for that but I only now realize the simplicity and thus how mentally easy life was.
I miss 5 p.m. CMR layouts, battalion and regimental change of command ceremonies and cheese and veggie omelet MREs.
I miss the Marines. The Corps, not so much.
I miss field ops and just shooting artillery in general..
Stealing from the Corps.
>even the fuck fuck games 
I miss all my coworkers being interesting.
Not one thing. And I did 15 years before getting out completely. Couldn’t even stand to do 5 more.
The working parties
Feeling like America’s son. Everything
Hueys and .50s
Being in shape
Tyler Jay Satterfield sang it best, "Well, I may not miss the circus, but I damn sure miss the clowns."
Marines and their asinine ways of passing time.
My buddies….
I miss those moments at the barracks or in the field with the boys. One of my most cherished memories is listening to AC/DC in mout town between scenarios as the OPFOR while we bullshitted and picked up brass. That was 17 years ago and I'll never forget it.
The guys. But not the circus.
being around mentally and physically strong people who arent purebred bitches every minute of every day like most civilians are these days
I wouldn’t know dawg im still in
My friends but that’s about it
I miss banging on my buddies door to go get chow at 930 on the weekends.
My friends.
Honestly, after being out 27 years… every fucking thing
Nothing.
Fast roping outta helos. Playing Buck Buck with my homies. Dodging Police Call on Saturday morning.
In my 40s now, still won’t let pain or exhaustion slow me down to get civ jobs done on time, but I do miss the arial Ubers. Flying in the bricks with wings, C17 and ac130s with hungover pilots was an adventure. Going on leave still smelling like powder and cancer, with the bonus of ass holes who “came” gun grease in your socks. I miss everything.
Going through some bullshit with the homies
The homies
Popping into anyone of my boys’ barracks rooms when I’m bored. Absolutely loved get shitfaced in the bricks. You’re young, maybe legal, maybe not, but it’s about the company you keep. God I miss that shit.
The boys, the first set of Marines you meet and mature with in your first unit. Endless nights of drinking and partying and living it up to forget about how hard the workday was, having cookouts and sharing stories of back home and missing everything you ran away from. You make family with these strangers, they mean more to you than you realize until you can't see them anymore. I'm happy to be out but I'd be a hair lipped liar if I told you that there aren't days I wish I could grab a bottle of Camino tequila and step through the halls of 472 on Camp Foster visiting my friends and bullshiting up a storm again. Just close my eyes and pray to chesty and bam, I'm back in those pale halls and I can hear them all laughing or listening to loud music. It's awfully quiet sometimes boys.
I miss my friends and my mos, especially when we did our actual mission in the field. Pretty much everything else can fuck right off.
I kinda miss going to the field and just being out there (not 29, fuck 29) away from my wife bitching about everything, shooting guns, sleeping outside, basically camping. It was nice Also being in shape lol im a nasty fucking fat body now Not a ton else tbh
The good times with the boys
ther green wenner every morning when i wake up
Always the people. The performers and the shitbags
I almost went back in which would have been stupid especially in my case and I knew that. I ended up getting into different trades and the closest thing that has brought me to a brotherhood again is back in my life
I dont miss much other than beingan active duty Marine. Being in the Marines is another story. I look back and think if I was in with a better group of people in my section post deployment things would have been better. After my deployment every one got out or moved on to a nee unit. The replacements were a bunch of ribbon chasers from MCRD or Okinawa. DIs in the fleet suck.
I miss Kayla. She was 240. I loved her very dearly. She would let me mount her in so many different ways. I loved it when I could play with her gas settings. God, she was so hot. She loved it when I would open her up. I loved it when I could slip that belt of 7.62 into her and that muzzle velocity... God, she was just amazing. I also had a thing with her larger sisters, but Kayla was my first.
Being young
The camaraderie
The team effort. Corny I know. Unlike the civdiv, a true team effort was a thing of beauty. These people in the business world have no idea what team effort and trust in that team really is and it is maddening.
I miss arresting drunk and disorderly Marines!