R.B. Miller Stepping Off

Most Marines have strong opinions about chemical warfare gear. By trying to make a suit that gives 100% protection against all possible chemical agents, DoD came up with something that kills far more men than it saves. The suits are extremely burdensome, ignite like coal dust, and have no provision for bodily functions. Since 1990, most wars have been fought in sand-colored deserts. Explain this: Gary certainly had strong opinions about this: DoD can't seem to make NBC gear that matches the terrain, but Fox News does. Note that the Marines here have taken off their green NBC gear and are wearing desert cammies, analog or digital. Rick Leventhal is still prepared for that nerve gas attack we've been waiting for since 1918. For a more complete discussion of death by too much equipment, Google the article Risk Curves from the August 2007 Marine Corps Gazette .

To my knowledge, no Marine has died in a chemical warfare attack in over 100 years. This was an entry from Gary's journal on 3/18/2003: This is the same pigeon later in the conflict (Jim had reached the rank of lance corporal): The "PFC, unmask" method is exactly what you'd think. When you're unsure about chemical contamination, you make the lowest ranking Marine take off his mask. If he dies, you keep yours on. Later: I just ran across this. It's the accelerated promotion schedule for the pigeon in question. As described in Stepping Off , this pigeon was non-recced after going UA, so he fell behind this schedule. This must be Gary's early draft, because it disagrees by one day with the date given in the journal, and is dated two days earlier.