The following guest article was written by Donald Heuman.
We welcome a variety of points of view on the subjects of shooting and marksmanship (see our Writer’s Guidelines.) Test them objectively on the range and let the results fall where they may.
Arrogance Breeds Contempt
by Donald Heuman
There is clearly an arrogance that has manifested itself in many of our young Marines since the atrocities that have been committed on our great nation on September 11, 2001. The act of war with either Afghanistan or Iraq is a conflict we didn’t want, but became obviously apparent that we needed to engage. The young men/warriors became anxious to fight and fight they did. During the insertions I’m sure there were scared and courageous individuals that carried out their missions with the best intention possible with enthusiasm and vigor, and my heart fills with pride whenever I see some of the battles they have fought.
Prior to the war, these young men/warriors began looking for a way out of the drudgery of being a grunt and they found it on the battlefield of marksmanship competition. What better way to enhance the skills that will aid them on the field of battle? From ALL corners of the Marine Corps came these individuals to claim their piece of history by winning either in rifle or pistol competition. The grunt would stand side by side with any Marine, it didn’t matter what his job was in the Corps as long as he could pick up his rifle and post the scores needed to win. But now that time is behind them and they “The Grunt” had to go and win a different battle.
Now there are some of these young warriors that have returned with great pride and sense of accomplishment, and they seem to think they are the only ones that had anything to do with the war. They display their arrogance to anyone outside of the warrior circle like it’s a tattoo on their forehead. I have personally found this to be problematic and I prefer to ignore those that portray such an image.
From one Marine to another, those contemptuous actions disgust me and I’m reasonably sure it would also disgust our forefathers.
Take a look our history as a reminder of whom you really are. You are they.
Firearm User Network 
Paul Mazan
Dec 24, 2013 @ 09:21:30
The man on the front line is the hero both in his own mind and in fact. Those that support him are doing as they were ordered to do and would be there with him if they had been ordered to. I served during the Vietnam War but never went to Vietnam. I went where I was ordered to go and did what I was trained to do. The public has no idea what your job was nor do they care. I was treated with the same disdain as every combat vet when I returned. Had I been ordered to Vietnam I would have served to the best of my ability. Perhaps the one thing we did learn from our experiences was that all of us in uniform had each other and nobody else. We had to hang together and support each other because nobody else would.Today you have public support and praise, we had public disdain and criticism. My advice is to support the men and women who supported you. It was their duty to do their job not their choice.Without them you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the public acclaim and with them you were able to do your job and earn the adulation you enjoy. You have the right to stand proud for your accomplishments you do not have the right to stand on the backs of those that made it possible for you to be trained, armed, fed, transported, and belittle their service.
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John M. Buol Jr.
Dec 24, 2013 @ 10:11:04
Well said!
>> You have the right to stand proud for your accomplishments you do not have the right to stand on the backs of those that made it possible for you to be trained, armed, fed, transported, and belittle their service.
Take the most potent infantry or assault force on the planet, then remove the support and logistics that back them. You’ll be left a completely combat ineffective element within a week.
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