Kishoshima Dragonash

You forgot one: Hearthstone = TCG

Every 10th November, United States Marines gather.. no matter where they are deployed, no matter where they are, no matter what they're doing, and spends a few moments thinking back to our birth. Tomorrow (Monday) is the 10th of November.. the 239th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps. While Im no longer amongst my Brothers in Arms, I still try to celebrate and remember where I came from. As is tradition (and standing orders), three things take place. First, there's the gathering of Marines (Usually in formation), second there's the reading of Maj Gen John A. Lejeune's Birthday Message, and finally there's the passing of cake from the Eldest Marine to the Youngest, signifying the passing of knowledge and the torch from one generation of Marines to the next. Given that the internet is a gathering place for Marines (Many of whom are in my friends list on several forums/chat systems etc), we'll consider the first part covered. The second: MARINE CORPS ORDERS No. 47 (Series 1921) HEADQUARTERS U.S. MARINE CORPS Washington, November 1, 1921 759. The following will be read to the command on the 10th of November, 1921, and hereafter on the 10 November of every year. Should the order not be received by the 10th of November, 1921, it will be read upon receipt. (1) On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name "Marine". In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history. (2) The record of our corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous military organizations in the world's history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the Marine Corps has been in action against the Nation's foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security. (3) In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our corps, Marines have acquitted themselves with the greatest distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term "Marine" has come to signify all that is highest in military efficiency and soldierly virtue. (4) This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received from those who preceded us in the corps. With it we have also received from them the eternal spirit which has animated our corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of the Marines in every age. So long as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as "Soldiers of the Sea" since the founding of the Corps. JOHN A. LEJEUNE, Major General Commandant 75705—21 As for the third.. There's only so much you can do online. Happy Birthday Marines.. no matter where you are, what you're doing, who you're with.. enjoy your day.. remember who we are, celebrate where we come from.. watch your six and come back home safely.

I was at Camp Lejeune NC preparing for a shooting competition.. We had a couple of the RSOs come out of the Range Hutt just before the briefing began and told us that a plane had hit the first tower. We started laughing and shaking our heads... I turned to the RSO and said.. "Cmon SSgt.. cant you guys come up with a better scenario than someone flying a jumbo jet into a building..." The SSgt pulled us into the range hut JUST as the second plane impacted... we took one look at one another and knew what it meant. We walked outside, started filling sandbags and lined the 5 Ton bed, set up the .50 cals and saws.. and pretty much turned our truck into a rolling fortress. Took us 9 hours to get back to Cherry Point, and its a 45 min drive. The world definitely changed that day.. and a lot of the kids I worked with, werent kids anylonger.

HI SOUTHERNSTAR'S MOM

Welcome aboard Southstar.. we wont hold being friends with Heather against ya, she's a doll and we love her.

AMG.. WE'RE ALL DEWWWWWMED

Google was going to aquire it: http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml Personally, Im kinda glad Google didnt get their hands on it, they screwed Youtube up enough as it is, god forbid they Ffff around with Twtich. Lets just hope Amazon doesnt turn it into a microtransaction Ffff fest.

Watch out for that Xoza guy Klik.. he's trouble

AMG SITH PANDA!

My favorite STO toon.. Had her since Beta.

lol.. my former in-laws spoke Quebecois, it rubbed off a lil bit.

Bienvenue à Ordo. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Dunno if its good that Im "this guy" or if itd be better to be ThatGuy.. I fear no toes! Bitcoins would be preferable, but dark side cookies work too

Thanks for the welcome @Mimi.. and yes, we're all a bunch of old fogies trying to relive past glories by pewpewing pixels in MMOs muwahahaha.

Bring it

I know... Im das evol.

But.. but.. but.. I got paid like 100000000 internet cool points for trolling you! :P (you know I love ya Kavia lol)

Since Ive been away, for what feels like an eternity, I figured it might be a good idea if I did one of these. I started out in Ordo three or four years ago as a regular ol' grunt in Second Life (usually chasing Achtai around the sim threatening to take away her Catnip on a daily basis). From there I moved up into one of the Alpha Squads, lead by Krow Ames, got inducted into Curia (Now the OMJ I think) by everyone's favorite windmill chaser (Kristian) and became a Praetorian.. which were basically Aryte's Personal Guard, and the Guardians of Ordo as a whole. I had to step away from Ordo for personal (read RL) reasons for a while.. divorce, moving from one country to another.. that kind of thing... but Im back and Im here to stay. Now that the history's over, a bit about me... Im 35, live North of Atlanta, work in IT, spent a decade in the Marine Corps as a Radio Operator, but cross trained into wireman and networking. I'm pretty laid back and easy going, I enjoy trolling Kavia every chance I get for anything she says (:P) and get a kick out of hanging out with nerds, geeks, dweebs and gamers in general. Im not a huge fan of PvP, but I'll dabble now and then, I mainly play TOR, but have accounts in Wildstar, ESO, STO, WoW, DCUO, and probably a few others I cant think of off hand. If you wanna hang out, or chit chat, or goof around, you can find me in TS most of the time. Just give me a poke!

Pro Tip: When you're trying to rob a Store saying "gimme all your money or else" to a Former Marine that works there, and the mother Ffffer says "Do you really want me to come across this Ffffing counter?"... Dont say yes.

Here's the issue Valaska, the TLDR of everything youve written is.. "Sun Tzu is stupid herp derp derp, you're all morons for reading it." A 'debate' or 'discussion' requires the ability to see beyond your own personal views and offer decent counter points to that which you dont agree. The only thing you've contributed is "Im right, you're wrong, look how epic I am Ffff you." We've all agreed that The Art of War is outdated, but that doesnt make what's written in those pages any less pertinent. Books here have been mentioned by people like Rommel... -his- methods are outdated because of the way modern warfare works. You no longer actually have to "see" your target to destroy it anymore, even in a tank. JTAMS, JRAMS, AWACS, Satellites, Laser Designation.. all make the literal tactics in his book.. worthless. Let's look back to Desert Shield.. 200 Iraqi tanks, vs 48 US M1 Abrahms. Who won that one? The M1s. Not because of superior tactics, but because of superior weapons and firepower. According to Rommel, a 4:1 advantage should have been MORE than enough to ensure victory. It didnt. Why? Because the M1s had air support, advanced radar systems and could fire their main guns WELL before the Iraqis could see them in their outdated equipment. This is covered in The Art of War, its also covered in several other books, but the point is old does not mean wrong, or that it does not apply. Commanders still read old and out dated books to understand how commanders of the -past- have made mistakes and learned from them. They look for weaknesses in the theories and applications of those commanders, and compare them to their own. They take the best of what the commanders of old have to offer, and apply it to their own arsenal. This is why the Sun Tsu, Sun Ping, Rommel, Eisenhower, Bradley, Napoleon, Patton, Alexander the Great, Hitler and every other major leader in the history of war is studied. If you dont learn from the past, you'll repeat it. Since we're on a "its old therefore it sucks" kick, I like how Patton used the same tactics as those of Sun Tzu and Alexander the Great in several of the major battles he won... "just sayin"

Well said Phares.. Summed up exactly what I was saying earlier nicely.

I agree, but that doesnt mean that it doesnt have its points to make.. the biggest, is that commanders have to think outside the box and apply common sense as well as use their observational skills -not- just rely on dogmatic doctrine, as was the case for centuries. it doesnt matter if the book itself is 'historically accurate' as long as the information within is understood and applied. Going back to the case of it being biblical... yes, the same ideology applies there. If you take the bible at face value then the universe is only like 10 thousand years old, which we know isnt the case... but what can be learned from the context within the rest of the book applies to life, as does the Torah, the Quran, and just about every other religious text thats existed.. -Most- of them teach that we should treat one another decently and show compassion.. are they all 100% historically accurate.. no, but what they have to offer still stands. The same can be said for the Art of War. The REASON its stood the test of time is merely because of the fact that anecdotes and lesson IN the book are the basis for and the observations for combat over the last how ever many hundreds of years and MOST of it still applies today.. -including- the chariot scenario. If you take the chariots themselves out of the equation, you can still estimate the size of a force (small, medium, large) by the disturbance it creates as it moves.. in the case of the art of war, it was the dust raised by the chariots and the foot soldiers. Its pointed out that you can see the basic layout of where which troops are and can send your scouts out to get an accurate count of what your facing. That is the lesson to be learned there. We take it for granted and as common sense these days, but it wouldnt occur the every day guy to think of that. This is why the book is provided to commanders in training, to help them start to realize that they have more tools than JUST their AWACS and all the fancy electronic gear and toys and doodads that are available these days. It's not always going to work, and you're gonna have to rely on old school training.. this is why map and compass training still takes place.. why soliders and Marines are taught how to read the layout of the land so that they can find their way around using nothing but a paper map, a compass and a red light. In short.. just because it's old and outdated, doesnt mean there's nothing to learn from it.. historically accurate or not.

Its not the beheading that really got their attention per say... The context in this case, is the fact that these women lived a pretty good life and were usually protected from anything by the Emperor. They could do, pretty much, anything they wanted to as long as it didnt affect the Emperor directly or earn his ire. So when Sun Tzu comes along, at the request of the Emperor, the rules changed a bit. General Tzu had the Emperor's word that they were his to do with as he needed to do and not to interfere. That is why the beheadings worked so well... the girls realized that they were no longer safe, and if they wanted to live, they had better do what they were told. You can extrapolate that lesson into just about any context today as well.. know and understand how things work, and find a way to impact those you are in charge of to obtain the required results. The unfortunate part is that many ppl walk away with the sentimentality of "THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES!!" Which actually does the exact opposite.

This is probably the best part of the whole book...