Jarhead Online

So I was out screwin around on the great Al Gore invention of the World Wide Web and I found some nice sites for those of us in the military to save us some money.  Who doesn’t like to get something at a discount or even better for free.  Some of the following links are for military only and others are for Joe Schmoe. So this is a link to his blog Military Finance Network.  On that site you will find many articles devoted to personal finance as it relates to the Military.  He will go much more in depth on money subjects than I will on this site.  These other links are good to get some free stuff. 

Blockbuster free trial

Netflix free trial

Credit Card Offers

Now some of you may be wondering what the Credit Card one is all about.  Well let me tell you that Credit Card link is a way to earn free money just by signing up.  That’s right sign up for a card get some free money and there you go just cut up the card once you get PAID.

Should I invest in the Thrift Savings Plan?  This is one of the questions I most often get from my junior Marines.  An easy question most definately, but an easy answer there is not.  The first thing I think is yes you should invest in the TSP, but the truth of the matter is I don’t know if it is always the best thing for those of us in the military.  There are definately plusses and not many negatives I can think of in the TSP. 

Benefits of Investing in the Thrift Savings Plan:

The most obvious pro is that you are saving. Second it reduces your income as far as taxes go for the time being and third the TSP has very low maintenance fees.  Another great thing about the TSP is that it is an automatic payroll deduction so it is very easy.

Cons of investing in the TSP:

What could be bad about investing in the TSP?  I wouldn’t necessarily say there is anything bad about investing but if you are a savy or disciplined investor there might be better vehicles for your money.  Since there is no matching contribution for the TSP with active duty military you may be better off investing after tax dollars into a Roth IRA vice the TSP.  What make a Roth better you ask, well the number one thing is that your money grows tax-free.  With a Roth you pay taxes on your money now and then when you withdraw it  it is tax-free.

Final Verdict:

I recommend that all Marines invest in the TSP. 

On June 11th a MARADMIN was released with the approved selections to Gunnery Sergeant for FY 08.  I eagerly searched this MARADMIN for my name as I was finally in zone for Gunny this year.  I thought that I had done what I needed to do to get promoted even though I had not been deployed I was successful in my last assignment.  Well to my disappointment my name was not on the list.  I was one of many Marines that are “passed over” for selection. 

At first I was stunned that I was not going to be a Gunny this year.  Then I get really pissed off as I looked through the list and saw names of others that I feel that I am a better SSgt than they are.  I sat around had a beer and then I realized that maybe being passed over is a good thing for me.  How can that be good do you ask?  Well this is why I think it will be good:

1.  I had become complacent.  I was going through the motions figuring that I was good to go and I had nothing to worry about.  Now I am going to have to refocus myself to my unit and to the Corps and in turn become a better Marine.

2.   I will be able to take this experience and ensure that my younger Marines in zone (the SSgt zone has been published) have all their I’s dotted and their T’s crossed. 

Overall this experience has been both good and bad.  The bad is obvious but I think in the long run this is going to help me in my career hopefully this time next year I will be happy as my name will be on that list of approved selections to Gunnery Sergeant and in the future it will be on the approved selection to MSgt and MGySgt which I don’t know would have been the case if I had gotten selected this time around.

So there was an atricle in the Marine Times this week about how the term Devil Dog has a negative conotation amongst the younger generation of Marines and it got me to thinking why is this?

Well I have an answer to this and it has to do with Marines such as myself and those other “higher-ups” from the Cpl all the way to the SgtMaj as well as officers.  So how have we as leaders made this once positive term negative?  Let me tell you how:

 I joined the Marine Corps in 1995 and it was not uncommon to hear “Hey F^&KER or D**KHEAD” or just about any other vulgar slang you could think of when you were getting in trouble.  Well soon after that the powers that be (Generals) said we need to be more polite to the troops and stop hazing etc etc.  Well how was that Cpl, SSgt, Gunny or SgtMaj to do if he couldn’t yell out profanities across the grinder or field or what not to get the Marine’s attention well we did what we felt was necessary and started yelling “HEY DEVIL DOG!!”

So now the young Marine hears the term Devil Dog and it sets off a pavlovian response of “oh great now I am going to get my butt chewed” and this is why Devil Dog has become such a negative term in the Marine Corps today to the fact that I often hear Marines say oh damn you got devil dogged or it is reffered to as the double D.  And that is the tale of the once proud DEVIL DOG

Semper Fi

The Jarhead

So I decided that I wanted to start a blog and just talk about things that interest me.  I am in the Marine Corps and have been for 13 years now.  I am going to be writing on anything and everything: from politics, money, and just my views in general.  I am sure that alot of the stuff I write will be contoversial but that is me.  The views on this site are mine and mine alone.  They are not the views of the Marine Corps nor are they intended to represent the Marine Corps.

Yours Truly

THE Jarhead