FirstSpear TV

Two Armies

Are we there yet?

“I’d like to have two armies: one for display with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, staffs, distinguished and doddering Generals, and dear little regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their General’s bowel movements or their Colonel’s piles, an army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country. The other would be the real one, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, who would not be put on display, but from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That’s the army in which I should like to fight.”

-Jean Lartéguy

29 Responses to “Two Armies”

  1. Loopy says:

    Except the guys in the pic aren’t wearing camouflage.

  2. sean says:

    they also look too clean… I guess we know which army they’re from.

  3. CAVstrong says:

    They’ve also never proven to be strategically decisive.

  4. harry says:

    It’s the helmets, too big and sterile. Needs soft caps, face paint, and maybe darkness. LOL

    I had the original Soldier of Fortune poster for years until it got lost in a move.

  5. SSD says:

    Guess who won that bet that you guys would fixate on the photo and not the message.

  6. Centurion says:

    In the context of the book, Larteguy does not present this quote as a positive.

    It’s said by a character, and the message is cautionary about what happens when soldiers try to free themselves from civilian control.

  7. Edward says:

    Is that quote from The Centurions or just a personal Larteguy quote? I can’t remember.

  8. B0x3R0ck says:

    I’m pretty sure this is already around ones called the “army” the other called “Marines”.

    • SSD says:

      Boom! So you agree that Marines are Soldiers?

      • Gear Guy says:

        Soldiers from the Sea, yes, as depicted in a number of late 80’s, early 90’s USMC recruiting videos. But we are still Marines.

    • Joe says:

      Mike Drop! Except the Marine Corps has many of the same and similiar problems. FROG’s for deployment, Cammies stateside. We really need two tactical field uniforms?

    • Steven Siwarski says:

      Yes, the Army keeps rolling along, getting the job done.

      The Marines talk a lot of shit, dress up in their flashy custom cut uniforms, and rewrite history to try to make the Army look like shit.

      😉

  9. 29 says:

    I don’t see a picture

  10. Stefan S. says:

    What we have now (thanks Obozo) no longer resembles my Army.

    • orly? says:

      So the ACU Army with lower standards and felon waivers of the Bush era was more your taste?

  11. PNWTO says:

    I present the time devoted by SNCOs to bitching about uniform regs and courtesies vs the time spent by the same to discuss TTPs and TOE.

    Look at the recent re-organization of the USMC Scout Snipers just to move away from that petty stuff, or the battles MARSOC had to fight just to bring in E8/E9 staff who understood the MARSOC mission.

    I feel like the Corps really hit the juice of this quote under Conway, when HQMC was “bonering” for parade deck Marines and then writing empty promises for field Marines.

  12. Postal0311 says:

    If in the USMC we spent 1/10 of the time spent on fucking around with uniforms doing combat training, we would be the finest fighting force in the world.