# Proof that that the Marines do take care of their own!



## SgtUSMC8541 (Nov 9, 2007)

Now this shit is just plain OUTSTANDING!!!!!



> *The Corps-wide drinking age has been lowered from 21 to 18 for Marines on liberty overseas and for leathernecks taking part in official on-base command functions — including the birthday ball.*
> The rule change was effective April 19, not long after Commandant Gen. James Conway and Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, then-sergeant major of the Marine Corps, returned from a visit to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in the Middle East.
> Estrada, during an April 23 interview, said that during that visit, the Marines “beat us down” on the drinking question. Many were angry that sailors under 21 were allowed to drink during overseas port calls but Marines couldn’t.
> “Let me tell you. Some countries, the legal drinking age is 18. So why can’t they?” said Estrada, who finished his tour as sergeant major of the Marine Corps on April 25. “The sailors could drink because it’s legal, and they were like, ‘We’re from the same damned ship. What is this?’”
> Shortly after returning from the MEU visit, Conway signed off on MarAdmin 266/07, his first revision of the Corps’ alcohol control policy, allowing 18-year-old Marines to drink in foreign ports if the host nation’s law allows it.


 


> *But the commandant’s changes go further than any other service’s policy, decriminalizing welcome-home beer for underage Marines returning from deployment and giving commanders the authority to hold an 18-and-up kegger on base upon a unit’s return from a war zone.*
> And there’s no need to hide a flask in your sock before the birthday ball, because the commandant has you covered there, too. As long as your unit holds its celebration on base, commanders can drop the drinking age to 18 in the U.S. under “special circumstances,” and even authorize the possession and consumption of alcohol by underage Marines in the barracks.


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## Gypsy (Nov 9, 2007)

Cool!  Maybe I'm wrong, but if you're old enough to fight for your country, you're old enough to have a beer.


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## tova (Nov 9, 2007)

Cool :)


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## SgtUSMC8541 (Nov 9, 2007)

I just hhad a former Marine email me that this wasnt true...... so.............. I looked it up.

http://www.usmc.mil/maradmins/marad...bbd146b2303e4fa7852572c20046aee4?OpenDocument

MarAdmin 266/07
SUBJ/CHANGE-1 TO MCO 1700.22E
/ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL IN THE MARINE CORPS// 



> (3 UNDERSCORED) THE COMMANDER OF A UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
> INSTALLATION MAY WAIVE THE AGE 21 REQUIREMENT BUT NOT BELOW 18
> YEARS OF AGE, IF SUCH COMMANDER DETERMINES THAT THE EXEMPTION IS
> JUSTIFIED BY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.  SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARE
> ...


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## AMRUSMCR (Nov 9, 2007)

"or their surrounding community"  the way that's phrased, just made me LOL.  

.... hide the women and children ....


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## car (Nov 9, 2007)

During each 82nd Airborne Association convention, the Div CSM has a detail that will pick up any trooper, wherever he/she is and bring 'em back to the hotel.

"They can puke all over the side of the van as long as we get 'em back to hotel safely." - CSM Charley Thorpe

Take care of Soldiers.  ;)


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## Chad (Nov 10, 2007)

'bout damn time.

Chad


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## pardus (Nov 10, 2007)

I think its kinda pathetic that this needs to be done in the first place :2c:


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## Hitman2/3 (Nov 10, 2007)

Well praise the lord the Corps is finally using some common since. Marines have been saying it should be like that for a long time now.


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