The Air Force is apparently having a conniption fit over this benign joke, as told by Gen. Petraeus:
A soldier is trudging through the muck in the midst of a downpour with a 60-pound rucksack on his back. This is tough, he thinks to himself. Just ahead of him trudges an Army ranger with an 80-pound pack on his back. This is really tough, he thinks. And ahead of him is a Marine with a 90-pound pack on, and he thinks to himself, I love how tough this is. Then, of course, 30,000 feet above them an Air Force pilot flips aside his ponytail. – Now I’m sorry. I don’t know how that got in there, I know they haven’t had ponytails in a year or two – and looks down at them through his cockpit as he flies over. Boy, he radios his wingman, it must be tough down there.
The Marine audience howled. The wonderful humorists at the Air Force Magazine, however, needed a hug — calling the joke “offensive” and…. un-joint. CENTCOM yanked the joke from it’s transcript of the event as a result, as -once again- hurt feelings rob our military culture of another wonderful, time-honored tradition -dumping on your sister services.
Look, I’m a zoomie and I’ll be the first to tell you that most of the shit we take is self-inflicted. Sulking in the corner instead of laughing and returning fire with a good Marine joke (and there are plenty) is a great way to exacerbate “anti-airpower” bias (not making that up), the source -it seems- of those big wet tears running down the cheeks of the editorial staff. Grow a pair, AFM, for all of us.
I knew there was a reason I liked you Noonan
Yeah, that joke was funny when I first saw it, as a cartoon hanging in the crew chief’s office at the airstrip at Ft. Carson (AKA “Ft. Cartoon”) Colorado.
The way it originally went was, a grunt in the rain says “Man, this sucks.”
Then, a paratrooper in a swamp says “I love how much this sucks.”
Then, a Ranger wrestling an alligator says “This really should suck more.”
Then, a Army Aviator drinking a beer and watching TV in the O Club says “Man, it sure must suck to be out there.”
Several years later, just to pile on the irony, I learned that the cartoon was drawn by an Army Counter Intelligence agent.
At least 3 of the members of a marine squad are photographers.
nah, the only thing offensive about that joke is the idea that a marine is tougher than an army ranger.
so absurd.
as we all know, there is nothing tougher than an army ranger, with the possible exception of a bucket full of tarantulas and scorpions deprived of both food and water for three years.
Leave it to the ranger to show how insecure they all are…
returning fire with a good Marine joke (and there are plenty)
I’ve never heard one!
anything involving “reading” usually does the trick John
JohnW, here’s a Marine joke as told to me by my father-in-law (he was Navy, my spouse a Marine):
Why does the Navy keep Marines on their ships?
So the sailors have someone to dance with.
Of course, I never could figure out who it insulted more.
Left out the last part…
Air Force guy in his room watching TV, “No cable?!?! This sucks!”
As an old straight-leg grunt, I take offense that the first soldier mentioned in the string is not considered as tough as the others. Not.
And to add to the fun:
The National Science Foundation announced the following study results on U.S. military recreation preferences:
1. Sport of choice for Marines: bowling.
2. Sport of choice for Sailors: football.
3. Sport of choice for Soldiers: baseball.
4. Sport of choice for Coast Guardsmen: tennis.
5. Sport of choice for Airmen: golf.
Notice how the farther down the list you go, the smaller their balls get.
Joke I’ve heard, explaining the differences between the branches,
The Navy says Hoo’ray. “Sailors, we’re going on a five mile hike.”
“Hooray! We’re not scraping paint today.”
The marines say Hoo’rah! “Marines, We’re going on a five mile run.”
“Hoo’rah! We’re taking the shortcut this time!”
The Army says Huah. “Soldiers, we’re doing a five mile run today.”
“Huah! We do a five mile run everyday. Why so excited?”
And the Air Force says Why. “Airmen, we’re doing a five mile run today.”
“Why? Is the panel van broke down again?”
A Marine company had just hit the beach and was waiting for further orders when a Navy SEAL pops up over the dunes, hurls insults and ducks back down. The CO tells the Gunny to take care of it, so he takes his sqad and heads up and over the dune. Soon the sound of fisticuffs is heard, followed shortly by the bloody and unconscious bodies of the Marines flying back to the beach.
The SEAL, looking none-the-worse, pops back up and heaves even saltier words, prompting the CO to dispatch an entire platoon. They follow the SEAL over the dune, only to return in the same manner as the first squad.
When the SEAL comes back on the scene with a personal account of the nocturnal habits of the CO’s mother, the CPT decides he’s has enough and musters the rest of the company to teach that SEAL a lesson. Well, once again, the SEAL ducks down behind the dune and the as the Company starts to follow, the beaten 2LT grabs the CO’s leg and tells him, “It’s a trap, Sir. There’s two of them!”
Why do sailors have tattoos on their backs?
So their buddies will have something to read…….
I remember the song “Bless ‘em All” that my dad (1st MarDiv) taught to me when I was a little kid. But I will never forget the verse he added:
Oh, they asked for the Army to come to Tulagi
But General MacArthur said “No.”
He gave as his reason
This isn’t the season
Besides, there is no USO
Q. Why does the Navy put Marines on ships?
A. Because sheep would be too obvious.
Hasn’t this already been addressed by this site?
http://op-for.com/nancies.JPG
Heh.