Rank, Change, & Hispanoamérica
I had a pleasant surpise last weekend at drill. I got promoted! I was just on the verge of being sure that it would never happen, but I walk in at 0531 Saturday morning for 0530 formation, apparently right after they'd called my name to fall in behind formation for promotion. (This says something about their organization; I wasn't even supposed to be there that day and they were looking for me.) I've been a lance corporal since May 1, 2003, and I'm a corporal now. That is, a Level 4 Human Marine.
This means more responsibility and $50 worth of uniform items. I think I'll get them tailored when I have the new insignia and stripes attached; I've gained about 50 lbs since boot camp. I think 20 of it is body hair. As a non-commissioned officer, I'm now authorized to get a NCO Sword. It's mostly used for ceremonial purposes, but I'm pretty sure that technically it's still authorized for use as a sidearm. Think about that for a minute. Tempting if I ever find myself in a combat situation, but I'll be sticking with the Beretta.
The two corporals I went to Pennsylvania with were promoted to sergeants at the same time. For the next few months, I'll be drilling at Fort Lewis instead of in Portland with one of them and one of our newer Marines. They're both good guys, but the sergeant is expected to do sergeant administration duties which he doesn't know yet, and the corporal (me) is expected to do corporal administration dutes which I don't know yet, and the lance corporal will be expected to say, "Hey, I'm just a lance corporal." It should be a learning experience full of acting like we know exactly what we're doing, getting back to people with their questions, and clandestine calls back to Portland for guidance. This duty does, however, put me very close to the greater Tacoma area, so I'll have to explore some possibilities...
There is one lance corporal who has been in longer than me in our platoon. She's one of my favorite Marines because we see eye-to-eye on a lot of things - particularly the exact amount of excited we are to be at drill at any given time (typically "not very at all"). A knowing look can relay so much. She hasn't been able to get promoted because she's in the "body control program (BCP)," a highly flawed fitness qualification group. Basically if you are above a certain weight for your height, you can't get promoted until you make and maintain that weight. She is a Latina around 5'4" tall and is probably in just as good of shape as I am in. Buuut, because she is solidly built and has large breasts, she's stuck in BCP. This happens to male Marines too, if they are particularly muscular (if you're male and have large breasts you probably deserve to be in BCP). The criteria is based only on height and weight, so people get stuck in a rut because of how they're built. Does that seem right to you?
I mentioned that she was Latina, right? For some reason I get along really well with people frm Spanish-speaking origins, when I'm in a situation where we interact. It's easier for me to connect with them than with whiteys for some reason I can't quite gauge. Like my wrestling practice partner in high school was just as motivated as I was about practice ("not very at all") so we could slack off together while making it look like we were working hard. I connected better than most other recruits with the recruit who was our platoon chaplain's aide in boot camp who left behind a huge family. The gangster from LA who joined the Marines to get out of that rut and support his little brother and sister. Recruit Morales, whose name-tape frequently read names like Wannabe or Shitbag because he had the same last name as one of our drill instructors. Little Lopez, signed up for infantry, who was about 110 lbs and had a horrible bruise on his shoulder just from carrying a rifle (He's probably been to Iraq 2 or 3 times now; I hope he's doing alright). And also like mom's friend who grew up in Spain, whose family suffered under Franco - I gave him Musashi, and he gave me a secret martial art and a cobra in a bottle. Good people, all, who I instinctively got along with. Does that make me racist?
This means more responsibility and $50 worth of uniform items. I think I'll get them tailored when I have the new insignia and stripes attached; I've gained about 50 lbs since boot camp. I think 20 of it is body hair. As a non-commissioned officer, I'm now authorized to get a NCO Sword. It's mostly used for ceremonial purposes, but I'm pretty sure that technically it's still authorized for use as a sidearm. Think about that for a minute. Tempting if I ever find myself in a combat situation, but I'll be sticking with the Beretta.
The two corporals I went to Pennsylvania with were promoted to sergeants at the same time. For the next few months, I'll be drilling at Fort Lewis instead of in Portland with one of them and one of our newer Marines. They're both good guys, but the sergeant is expected to do sergeant administration duties which he doesn't know yet, and the corporal (me) is expected to do corporal administration dutes which I don't know yet, and the lance corporal will be expected to say, "Hey, I'm just a lance corporal." It should be a learning experience full of acting like we know exactly what we're doing, getting back to people with their questions, and clandestine calls back to Portland for guidance. This duty does, however, put me very close to the greater Tacoma area, so I'll have to explore some possibilities...
There is one lance corporal who has been in longer than me in our platoon. She's one of my favorite Marines because we see eye-to-eye on a lot of things - particularly the exact amount of excited we are to be at drill at any given time (typically "not very at all"). A knowing look can relay so much. She hasn't been able to get promoted because she's in the "body control program (BCP)," a highly flawed fitness qualification group. Basically if you are above a certain weight for your height, you can't get promoted until you make and maintain that weight. She is a Latina around 5'4" tall and is probably in just as good of shape as I am in. Buuut, because she is solidly built and has large breasts, she's stuck in BCP. This happens to male Marines too, if they are particularly muscular (if you're male and have large breasts you probably deserve to be in BCP). The criteria is based only on height and weight, so people get stuck in a rut because of how they're built. Does that seem right to you?
I mentioned that she was Latina, right? For some reason I get along really well with people frm Spanish-speaking origins, when I'm in a situation where we interact. It's easier for me to connect with them than with whiteys for some reason I can't quite gauge. Like my wrestling practice partner in high school was just as motivated as I was about practice ("not very at all") so we could slack off together while making it look like we were working hard. I connected better than most other recruits with the recruit who was our platoon chaplain's aide in boot camp who left behind a huge family. The gangster from LA who joined the Marines to get out of that rut and support his little brother and sister. Recruit Morales, whose name-tape frequently read names like Wannabe or Shitbag because he had the same last name as one of our drill instructors. Little Lopez, signed up for infantry, who was about 110 lbs and had a horrible bruise on his shoulder just from carrying a rifle (He's probably been to Iraq 2 or 3 times now; I hope he's doing alright). And also like mom's friend who grew up in Spain, whose family suffered under Franco - I gave him Musashi, and he gave me a secret martial art and a cobra in a bottle. Good people, all, who I instinctively got along with. Does that make me racist?