Terrorism isn't a big threat

I think I've started this thread, or something similar before, but let me put something to you. A few inter-related points:

1 - There's not much risk of being killed.
The actual direct risk of being killed by a terrorist is very low. About on par with dying in the bathtub or falling down the stairs. And of course it's much lower than the risk of dying in a car accident.

2 - Terrorist attacks are easy.
They're easy. Anyone with a slight background in engineering or mechanics or access to the internet could do it. If there were an intelligent and massed enemy they would have hit, and hard. September 11 was done with box-cutters. Two guys in a van with a gun terrorised Washington DC for weeks. Some guy mailed anthrax all over the place and was never caught. Your average place of business, bus, school, etc, is so poorly defended that they're easily attacked by anything from bricks to bombs.

One example: Small explosions at a gas station f*ck sh*t up. It would be ridiculously easy for a disciplined group of, say, 50 people, to organised and carry out hundreds of such attacks. And the resulting panic at the rest, and security panic in general, would cause such widespread disorder that it would bring the US economy into serious crisis.

3 - There are very few terrorists.
As established above, it is not hard to orchestrate a decent terrorist attack. Yet they only strike/get caught very occasionally. This is not due to the governments of the world secretly battling a widespread, strong, nebulous threat. This is due to the fact that there are very few people with the will and capability to organise a terrorist attack. The fact that attacks don't occur more speaks to the fact that there are very few terrorists.

4. Anti-terrorist laws are, through any rational analysis, virtually unnecessary.
Virtually all crackdowns on civil liberties and the legal system in the name of security are byproducts of an unjustified panic and populist governments playing to unfounded fears. Shoot-to-kill policies are insane. Internment without trial is nuts. And the "Persecution of Muslims" component is actually contributing to the fanning of the flames as per 5.

5. The war on terror is creating a threat where not much existed. We're giving the jihadists what they want.
After September 11, it would have been easy to ride the wave of revulsion and, with a little cunning, isolate Bin Laden and his tiny organisation as bloodthirsty lone fanatics. He was already something of an unwelcome guest in Afganistan, after all.

Instead we did his job for him. We panicked and complied with bin Laden's wish for a big ole civilisational war. We declared war on something we called "terrorism" but was easily definable as "Islam" to anyone watching from the outside. We declared a crusade against evil. We restored Taliban credibilty in the Muslim world by making them resistance fighters once more, made Iran a sworn enemy, invaded Iraq, persecuted Muslims across the western world, and backed Israel's invasion of Lebanon. We gave them what they wanted. Suddenly every Muslim discontent could claim al Qaeda as their inspiration, and a pan-national jihadist phenomenon was born.

You know, shouting a lot doesn't make you right.

Seriously though, it's not hard to make bombs and stuff. I've got a mate in petroleum engineering, a mate in photovoltaics and another who's in another type of engineering. There's your knowledge. I know two people who work in something vaguely industrial, there's supplies. Gimme a year and I could probably kill several dozen people just with the half dozen of us. More if I get access to some place with a high concentration of people... come to think of it I know someone who works with lighting in the music industry and my flatmate works at a football stadium. Wonder if I could pursuade them to let me kill fans of a band or team they don't like...

And this is assuming we bother with high explosives instead of just trashing a series of gas stations or shooting people or something. What's stopping us? Same thing that stops virtually everyone. No desire to kill people. It's just not on the radar. And the tiny few people who do desire it tend to be dumb as rocks. The point is you don't need big fancy bombs. You can do it with guns, you can do it with knives, you can do it with crude, easily built explosions.

So if there's this big threat, why aren't they killing us with frequency? Why weren't they in the 1990s before the "GWAT" and the invasion of Iraq apparently made us safe? A half-dozen incidents in a decade hardly counts as a real threat.

So why do we need to destroy our civil liberties and persecute people in foreign torture prisons? Why do we need to go destroy tangentially related countries?

[quote=specopssv44]Ok, go build a bomb thats as powerfull as a couple of 155rounds daisy chained together

Petrol is easy to come by and it explodes. A quick search on Google will find you instructions on how to make bombs. It's not rocket science, man. It's really not hard to kill a lot of people if you're willing to sacrifice yourself.

But you haven't (Iraq was a terorrist homeland?) and they weren't a serious threat before that either. You didn't actually answer the questions even slightly.

I live next door to a kindergarten. It would be ridiculously easy for me to walk in there and stab a couple of kids before I would get caught. Terrorists aren't only in other countries, ***hole.

I'm just going to mince on in hear and make the point that 'terrosism' has certainly been turned into a moral panic by governments.

[quote=specopssv44]Of course its easy to kill someone. But do it effiently.

YOU RECKON WHAT THEY DO IS EFFICIENT!?

most of the "weapons of mass distruction" that we were after (i.e. chemical/biological" are actually pretty inefficient:cookie:

you guys are seriously ****ing sheltered. It all comes back to the same ****ing thing. A bunch of dumbass kids that assume something doesnt exist because they cant see it, or havent been affected by it.
Are you guys so retarded that you cant realize your government has been sheltering you from terrorists.
Iraq is like a giant fly trap for terrorists. As long as they keep going there to get a pot-shot at some Americans, people Like me will be happy to pump 7.62 rounds into them at the cyclic rate.... alll while people like you sit here and say theres no real threat from terrorists. Go tell that to any familiy members who lost someone in 9/11. Or go tell my buddy jason that his purple heart came from a nonexistant threat.

Iraq is a separate issue. You cannot justifiably claim that the reason there aren't terrorist attacks in the West is because all the "terrorists" are in Iraq. First, there have been--London and Madrid, and those kids in Canada that got arrested. Those guys had nothing to do with Iraq and were essentially "home grown". And most security types would tell you home-grown threats are by far the bigger, allegedly.

What you're saying implies that all the militants in Iraq, if they didn't have people to attack there, would go to the West and kill people, which is absolute fantasy. Invading Iraq was not about fighting terrorists, and it has stirred up a lot of people into taking up arms against an occupying force. Fighting against an occupying force is very very different in these peoples' minds from setting off bombs or otherwise killing random people in western countries.

I'm not saying people aren't going to die in terrorist attacks and that it's a "nonexistant" threat. Of course some people die. But some people get murdered, some die of preventable diseases, some die in cars too. and we don't go all "moral panic" about that. I'm saying that an their infrequency and small scale mean they're not serious threats to society as a whole unless we make them so. I'm saying that our inability to effectively stop them means our sacrifice of civil liberties is unjustified due to the lack of returns on the cost we pay. I'm saying that attacking Middle Eastern countries with a marginal relation to western terrorist attacks does nothing to make us any safer either.

Fundamentally, what keeps us safe is not any "sheltering" from teh gubermint, but the sheer numerical infrequency of committed, dedicated people devoting themselves to blowing us up. It's just something not many people set their minds to.

I'm sorry man, but HUR I'M A MARINE UR ALL DUM is not an effective argument. Hell, lots of people who serve or have served in Iraq would agree with what I'm saying too. Iraq is not making the West safer from terrorists.

Cheap emotional appeals to OMG THE FAMILIES OF S 11 aren't effective either. You don't get a monopoly on invoking their memory to make your arguments, and frankly it's insulting. Sacrificing civil liberties and the persecution of Muslims are not making us safer. Attacking other countries isn't making terrorist attacks less likely.

Specopss: National security can't stop some guy from thinking 'I'm going to go out and shoot people because I'm a terrorist', go buy a gun (legally or illegally), and mass-shoot people, and then commit suicide.

National security can't stop someone from grabbing a lighter and a gun, and blowing up their local petrol station.

National security can't stop someone from making a bomb abd blowing it up in a public square.

In any of these scenarios, there is very little or nothign that can be traced to stop the attack, and it could be done by any terrorist. Becuase this isn't happening, it's evident, according to Arwon, that there aren't that many terrorists, becvause there aren't that many attacks.

And Specopss, an American born citizen can become a terrorist too. They dont' have to come from Afghanistan, or anywhere else.

hey how bout this./... **** you stupid *** boot mother f uckers.... no f uck that, you dont f ucking even rate to be called f ucking boots, mother f ucking shower shoes..... you stupoid fu cking civilians are f uckni9g sheltered from the world by peoiple like me so f ucknig go to hell, you have no f ucking say in s hit man. You see things through a f ucking spinned media word. Its people like you that make me wonder sometimes why we do what we do.... fu ck you guys, fuc k all of you. you dont f ucknig know WTF its like, yuou dont know what life is like outside of your protected little world, and I wis DOUCHEBAGS like you could.... my familiy and friends is a different story, because they at least understand or respect what I do, but you are f ucking ignorant and arrogant about the whole thing so go to hell..... spend a day in my f ucking boots and then youd know;.l;.....

FUC K YOU STUPID AS S PU SSY MOTHER F UCKERS.... my blodd isnt worth yours, youre lucky there are some people that peoiple like me care about enough to die for.... you just ride the f ucking coattails.,...

yeah f ucki you guys im drunk... so the fack what... I havent drank in three months its about f ucking time. F uck you all. please come see me when and if I get back to America in January so i can punch you in your fu cking cumholes for being so f ucking inconsiderate of others you selfish stupid b ithes.... Simi Valley California, contact :The judge" for further information on where ot find me, ill be home late january hoperfuflly and will be glad to knock your f ucking retarded *** lights out/...

i kno your prolly sitting there lauyghing saying "WTF look at this rant haha, lol, rofl, etc etc.... wtf ever man your f ucking responsible for creating me, you stupid mother fu ckers are the reason for war, I am just the product of a nation that doesnt care and doesnt appricate.... so f uck you

Somebody needs a hug.

Spec, my dad's in the military and my sister's joining up. Dad's actually been in Iraq, and he essentially agrees with me about what a counterproductive and pointless f*ckup Iraq is. He came home in March 17 2003 when the invasion started and said "well it's a bloody stupid idea but lets hope they pull it off". He volunteered to go to Iraq anyway. He thinks they didn't pull it off, and he's seen it first hand. He did his **** job without abusing people who thought the war wasn't a good idea because, well, he was one of them. I don't like invoking my background and my father because, well, it's f*cking cheap and weak argument tactics.

Moreover, the use of soldiers as political capital to win arguments by both pro and anti war people disgusts me (SUPPORT OUR TROOPS vs BRING OUR TROOPS HOME are as bad as each other in their cheap exploitation of emotionalism)... I love and respect him too much to want to use him to win a f*cking argument on a message board and besides which, the fact that I kinda actually do know my stuff on international affairs and so forth (hell, it's what I bloody study) means I don't need to... but hey, if you wanna get personal about it I feel the right to defend myself.

I grew up around military people and military bases, I know how to respect the military while still arguing politics... f*ck, that's one of the essential features of living in a bloody democracy. The military and politics are DIFFERENT THINGS. Once they start to combine things can get nasty. Do NOT act like I'm disrespecting the military by arguing my political views, do NOT act like questioning the war on terrorism or the war in Iraq is disrespectful to men and women in uniform. Do NOT act like your political views are legitimised by your job as a marine. The fact that you're very right-wing and the fact that you're in the military are two different things. Try to separate them.

Let's be simple here. You're not defending me from anything, you being in Iraq has no impact on my personal safety whatsoever. That's partly because I'm f*cking Australian but it's mostly because the Iraq war simply isn't making us safer from anything.

Reconcile all this with your choice of lifestyle how you will, because part of military life is doing your job and looking out for your mates in situations which are essentially pointless (see also WW1), or situations which you actively disagree with (see also Vietnam). It's the plight of the soldier to be stuck in the middle and abused by both sides of a political argument (as well as being in physical danger from the enemy, and often further danger from the dumbness of their own political leadership), and I sympathise with it... but don't think that shouting about it and haranguing people who don't tell you how awesome and right you are impresses anyone.

And the fact that you're in the marines certainly has no bearing on my argument that the "home front" of the war on terrorism (persecution of muslims, overzealous security, loss of civil liberties) is unncessary. And can we please maybe talk about this so-called "domestic front" for a bit, people?

Also Hyper, f*ck off. Drinking and ranting is part of life and I for one support it.

I feel that the government crackdowns on civil liberties and other methods (profiling, the BS at customs in the airports, counter-terrorist operations and raids in afghanistan/iraq, and the general apprehension and widespread focus of the people in regards to thwarting terrorism) ARE at least partially responsible for #3. I also think that #5 is stretching it a bit

oh, and spec. . . as a conservative military brat who once tried to join the marines, I respectfully ask you to stfu

Yeah, Spec, see now you're just being a c*nt.

I would like to point out that it's really easy for Spec to say what he's saying. He's a stateside grunt. Any dissent, even from troops who have been over there, is dumb, right Spec? Maybe it's best that you are enlisted. You'd never cut it as an officer with such a narrowminded, naive mindset. Even in the marines. Which is pretty bad. Guess what, a$shole. MY country WAS attacked, MY people DID die on MY soil. I guess that means I DO have a F UCKING SAY. Right? Well, allow me to flaunt this rare freedom of speech that you've outlined for me, and say that until you go to Iraq, spend a few tours there, and DO something, rather than run around in a ninja suit, drink too much, and frivelously spend that money my tax dollars provide for you via a salary, until you do more than go out to bars/stripclubs with the other grunts, get dumbass tattooes and post hateful STU FUKING IDITY on message boards... until YOU go to Iraq and until YOU see what it's like, how about you show a little more respect for the opinion of someone who has BEEN there? I have had three friends go to Iraq, each of them was twice the man that you PRETEND to be, and all three of them, while glad that they went and while agreeing that they did some good, still think it's being handled ****tily and NONE of them have the pompous, superman complex that you have. I guess scraping a married man's guts out of your hair and teeth after a roadside bomb will humble you a bit to where it seems pointless to pretend that you're some super soldier. I guess looking at his guts, spread across a thirty foot circumfrence, makes you wonder if he died for a good reason, and if we really have a point in being there. I guess having to shoot a child, because that child had a grenade, and thereafter crying about it at a bar because you have the blood of children on your hands, being this badass guy that everyone looked up to, sitting there sobbing because you'd lost two friends and killed children... I guess they're just PUS SIES aren't they. But I guess these anecdotes (told by my airborne buddy who's served two tours in Iraq, and I remind you, is twice the badass you pretend to be) don't matter, because it's just a bunch of hippie BS, huh spec? Tell you what. Quit pretending like you know what you're talking about, because you obviously don't.
/endrant

hey BJ, you stupid mother f ucker, ive been overseas for three months now, conducting security and stabiliy operations in south east asia and other areas, my battalion has seen more combat in the last 4 years than any other unit in our military forces, with the exception of 3/5, who just returned from Iraq, putting them on par with us.... You dont know me, you havent seen my SRB, and cannot comment on what I have or havent done for my country.... Spend 3 weeks conducting an R and S assignment on a ****hole village in some bum f ucking 3rd world nation, then tell me I havent seen some ****.... And keep calling me narrowminded too spoiled f uck, theres a reason my unit has spent the last 3 months in southeast asia, its a GLOBAL war on terrorisim, youd be amazed what doesnt make the news, and what you people never hear about.... Id really, love to go into further detail in terms of my recent activities, but for reasons such as OPSEC I am limited.
you TRIED to become a Marine, thats great, good try, I guess you werent cut out for it, I AM a Marine, and a f ucking decent one at that. If two meritorius promotions and an NCO billet arent enough to prove that then I dont know what is.
Go ahead and try and take a shot at me, call me narrowminded, make fun of me, whatever dude, but the bottom line is, you could NEVER fill my boots.... and if you think you can then go right ahead and join up. Maybe youll end up in my unit and I can haze the **** out of your retarded boot ***.
Its not the infantrymans job to be "openminded". Its not our officers job to be "openminded". The primary goal of Marine Corps leadership, as stated in our manual, is mission accomplishment, and the mission of the Marine Corps Rifle squad is simple, Locate, close with and destroy the enemy, and repel the enemys assults by fire and manuver. Thats all it is, thats all it boils down too.
You talk to me like I havent lost brothers in Iraq, you know what they called my battalion when we got back from Ramadi last september, "The purple heart battalion"....
I dont need to be openminded about **** becaues I know what is right, and what is wrong. Sorry BJ, im not gonna kiss some austrailian pricks a ss on a blog site so people will think better of me here. I wont do it on the internet, and I wouldnt do it in real life.
So BJ, please go off and F uck yourself. You crossed a line BJ. You want to go off and talk about where ive been, and what ive ok great.... Go look up 1st Battalion, 5th Marines on the internet, and call me a f ucking stateside Marine you stupid b itch..... theres no such thing as a stateside grunt prick

I love you bj. please father my children.

"I dont need to be openminded about **** becaues I know what is right, and what is wrong. "


hahaha oh wow.

Perhaps "threat" is being taken too literally. Of course terrorism is threatening, but it's not common and therefore shouldn't be seen as civil-liberty-assaulting threatening. I think that was the point of the thread, something that was obviously and stupidly missed.

What makes you think this **** wasn't happening before 9/11? These "terrorist acts" are about as common as murders and they happen every day to the point where they're not called "terrorists" but "psychos". But now there is a difference! People who hold hostages are crazy and are not terrorists and real terrorists only come from Iraq!

Spec, though security and stability operations and such may be one thing, open war in Iraq is definitely worse. BJ is saying that people who have been to Iraq, and have experienced losing friends in front of their eyes and etc think that it's not being handled properly. And they do have a say, because they've been to Iraq and been shot at, and they and their opinions deserve your respect, and are more accurate than yours because they have actually been in Iraq.

I want to paint an illustration of what a "good" soldier is. I am reminded of my friend, Jeremy, a 30-something guy with a lazy eye that I played pool with and met through a series of "friends of so-and-so"s. I knew he'd been special forces, as his friend through whom I'd met him was special forces as well. Jeremy told me one night that he had trouble sleeping. We'd both had a few beers, so I figured I'd ask what the problem was. Apparently he was a sniper. He'd been to (trying to remember this from memory)... Iraq a few times, Afghanistan, Kosovo, (I believe) Somalia, Japan, and Colombia. He (claimed) to actually know the man (he was in the same squad or whatever) that killed Pablo IN Colombia. Anyways, Jeremy's killed a great many people. I guess he would actuallY FIT that killing-machine profile you have embraced for yourself, speccy. You see. .. he's actually KILLED people. And a bunch of them. I can't remember his kill count but if I find out I'll pass the word along. He told me he had many ghosts on his mind, that kept him awake at night. I guess that's one of the drawbacks of being a REAL badass. Well, we were all in this pool hall one night, and one of the military guys was giving me **** for saying that I thought Israel was handling the Lebanon situation ****tily. He basically got it in his head that I was a major hippie, despite my objections to such a label (I'm pretty conservative, on any given day). Aside from the fact that he was wearing his "Koran: Now in Two-Play" t-shirt, and had told me that Marine cadence about bombing children (see other thread), I pretty much had him labeled as a peice of **** (Marine, in college, wants to fly or something). Well, this guy kept coming over and talkign to them, because I believe he wanted one of the girls with us. This particular guy had a pony tail, looked kinda grungy, was skinny, and had a shirt that said "Bush: Wanted for Crimes against humanity." With a fake mugshot of George W Bush on it. Well, the grunts and aforementioned dip**** marine officer werent taking too kindly to him and basically told him to **** off. He was upset, but after they'd left he came back over to talk to us. Jeremy was still there and intercepted him sorta halfway and I watched from a distance, figuring Jeremy would break this kid's head off. After awhile it looked like they were practicing self defense moves or something. So I walk over to them and it turns out the guy's interested in pressure points or something, and Jeremy, having been trained to break every bone known, was giving him some pointers. They talked for a bit and did some Brazilian Jiu-Jistu stuff (which is pretty badass when everyone's drunk in a pool hall) before the skinny dude left. I walked over to Jeremy and said "man, I figured you'd kill that kid with that shirt he had on (I knew Jeremy was a hyuge bush supporter and conservative)". He smiled at me with that lazy eyed grin and said "hell naw, man. I fought so he could wear that shirt. Don't bother me none."

That is what an intelligent soldier believes, Speccy-poo. That is why Jeremy is an officer (I say IS because he's being recalled to go to Iraq AGAIN). A GOOD soldier is a thinking man, who follows orders, but doesn't automatically believe everything he's told. A good soldier has compassion when it's necessary, and isn't all blood and guts and killing. Even George Patton was an intellectual and a thinker, and capable of compassion, and he WAS called "ol Blood and Guts". That is what makes a good soldier good, the ability to think, rationalize, and RESPECT a differing opinion (like Jeremy did). THAT is what makes a soldier, and until you are able to do those things, you will be a grunt, and nothing more than a grunt, and you will FOLLOW THE ORDERS of these better men (most of them) who are able to perform the above actions. And in addition, I apologize for calling you stateside. Allow me to extend my thanks to you, for braving the many dangers that Japan poses. Allow me to understand that you ARE in the heat of extreme danger in Japan, and being there entitles you to discredit ANY person's opinion who has been to the (in comparison with DANGEROUS Japan) much milder timult that is Iraq or Afghanistan. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for protecting me and my personal interests, as well as those of all the rest of America, by getting drunk and doing goofy things in the barracks while driving around on the comfortable, very American (bet you have a burger king!) military base in the murder-hole that is Japan. I take it all back, if you're still alive in that warzone, you really ARE a badass. What nerve I had to insinuate that you had the easy life! Japan. . . man I'm glad I'm not there.
/sarcasm

haha, you're so cute, Spec. How's it feel to know that in ten years I'll be telling your commanders what to tell you to do? I'm not a sorry *** civilian. I'm a better man than you will ever be, little boy. Now put on your little uniform and chant your little chants and fall into line with your guns. Yeah, you're so right. Marines aren't soldiers at all. Pfft. Get over yourself, navy boy. That regurgitated crap only sounds cool when it's being yelled, and even then it doesn't impress me. I couldn't be a marine because I had asthma, as I've stated before. Do I regret it? Yeah. Would I have made a good marine? Hell yeah. Better than you? Pfft, definitely. Am I insulted by your dumb quips using lame military jargon you learned at boot camp? Nah, not really. Keep ranting and raving, I find it utterly charming :) I'm not discrediting you or anyone or what they do in the armed forces anywhere, silly boy. I'm exercising my freedom of speech which you have sworn to protect by telling you how full of **** you are, and how you are in no way, shape, or form, one one hundredth as badass as you let on to be, and every little bit as stupid as you inadvertantly let on to be. That's what I am doing. There is a difference. I have waaaaaaaay too much respect for REAL soldiers (and REAL marines, btw ;) ) to lump you in with them. Don't worry about that.

Peace is the way, love is the answer.

Could Speccy, whether drunk or not, elaborate over this "spinned media" thing?

1)Random is not allowed to tell people to suck his balls. Hell, I'm not even really cool enough to do it, but he certainly isnt.
2)BJ? liberal? i lol'd

Yes. Of my balls. With your tounge. In a licking motion.

"Maybe one day your mommy and daddy will run out of money and youll have to fend for yourself."

dahahaha.

Spec, you arent even trying to counter anything he is saying. all you are doing is yelling IM RIGHT AND YOU'RE WRONG. If you have a way to prove him wrong, then do it or shut the hell up and realize that someone bested you in an argument.

He isn't jealous, you just think he is to boost your own ego.

I take back what I said. It was wrong of me to say that spec is a "bad marine" because he doesn't think enough for me. Frankly, to be any type of soldier, and to be good at it, all you have to do is follow orders. Nothing more. I guess he does it. The fact that he's undereducated, naive, and too zealous for me doesn't discredit his "mariney" abilities, i suppose, so for that I apologize. I'll rephrase and say that I've seen much BETTER marines. Fair enough? And if it's unfair for me to assume things about you, speccypoo, you shouldn't assume things about me. I wont' poke too much fun, but I will say that you are oftly small, compared to the marines I'm friends with. I'll venture to say I might even be stronger and in better shape than you. *shrug* But I guess I'm just a "lazy college guy" huh. I think you're jealous that I'm more intelligent than you and have a degree now. :) See, BJ can play this game, too!

The proverbial gauntlet is down.

just ****es me off that hardheads like him give decent soldiers a bad name.

Hey bj its not all about following orders, Its about core values, taking care of your brothers, taking initiative, and making sure things get done. One of the best things about being a Marine is the fact that low level unit leaders are encouraged to make big descions on a regular basis. As a team leader, its pretty much up to me how, and where I want to employ my weapon. There have been times someone with much higher rank for example said "Set the gun up here", (in, what I felt at least was a poor position), So all I had to do was say "Sir, I think the weapon would be much more effective over here", the usual response is "Ok go for it".
Just the same as its wrong for me to make drastic assumptions about you, or really anyone heres character, its unfair for you to judge mine. Im proud of what I do. I love my Job, no calling it a "Job" doesnt do it justice, its a way of life, and I am content with it. I know plenty of Marines that have no problem "just following orders" who are "****bags". And at the same time, I know a bunch of Marines that are constantly in trouble for not following orders who are great Marines. I dont know what college is like, and no I dont have a degree, so it would be retarded for me to try and tell you what kind of student you are.... do I KNOW plenty of people in college? Yes. Do I have a general Idea about what its like in college? Yes. Does that mean I can really say anything for sure about anyone in college? No. Its the same for you BJ. I grew up in a military familiy, had tons of friends before I joined, and had a pretty good idea what to expect, and it was still a completly different and new world to me.
Im not jealous of you because you have a degree, and I am not, contrary to popular belief and idiot, I just have anger issues. ( which I would like to note do not carry over into my work most of the time)
As for physical fittness I have no doubt you are probably in shape, but I seriously doubt you could run 4 to 6 miles four days a week at my pace, or go on a 3 mile ruck run, or hump a 240 and a pack 20 miles.
I know there are better Marines out there, Im still a relativly young Marine. The difference between you and I BJ is, while you grew up in a classroom, I am growing up in a Barracks. My time in the classroom will come, college is something I think I will invest in, because according to most of my friends its fun more than anything, but also because I seem to have a constant chip on my shoulder. People have a habit of telling me I cant do things, and I have a habit of getting it done out of spite.