Quote Originally Posted by Fmedges View Post
I am concerned with the possibility of the military budget getting smaller. I joined during the Clinton cuts area and got out in the 3rd year of the war. I can tell you that a military that has no money is a dangerous place. The Marines have the smallest budget of all the services and my unit just like many could not afford much. Before the war when we trained in MOUNT town we had to yell bang because we couldn't afford blanks. Our training Ops were cut short because we would always run out of fuel. Our rag top humvees would break down constantly. My gas mask was broken and my NBC suit had holes in it (I deployed with this BTW). My Unit was not issued SAPI plates for our deployment. Our NVG's were very scarce. Most of the time we did our night blackout driving without them. I can tell you from all these experiences that a military that does not have adequate funding is a dangerous place for the war fighter and it should be avoided at all cost.
The problem with the Marines is that they are funded by the Navy. The Corps is way down their list of funding priorities, and always have been. It's too bad. You guys would get more stuff under the auspices of the Army.