Talk:Det One

message: Ok to be frank this article looked like it was written by a third grader. I cleaned it up as best I could, but it's BARELY avoiding candidacy for AfD. If it doesn't clean up soon, with GOOD information (not crap that looks like a 3rd grader playing too many video games wrote it), I'll list it for deletion. Oh and question my edits all you want, but I served in Iraq with 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, TF Tarawa. I'm not trying to vandalize anything, I'm fixing a poor article that frankly dishonors the Marines. Swatjester 10:23, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: MAJOR WORK

message: The unit SOCOM DET1, has fought bravely in the last Iraq war.  They all must be ranger HALO (High Altitude Low Open), sniper, breaching, and demolition experts. They also must have extensive small arms close quarters combat experience.  All the shooters are previous force recon marines. The unit functions primarily as the so called body snatchers of the Vietnam war.  They breach terroist and other enemy quarters at thier weakest moments and gather on the spot intelligence.  All of these men have an unusual close bond to each other, seemingly moreso than most combat soldiers.  The terrioist they round up are always treated with respect under the rules of the Geneva Conventions - they are than turned over to the proper authorites.  The numbers they display on thier shoulders indicate what specialty each marine has and thier identity. Above the unit flys two aircraft; one desroys any roadside bombs, another spots escaping insurgents.
Who submitted the article?  It is full of inaccuracies.  The looney tune that wrote the paragraph above must be writing about some X-Box game.
Written by yet a third person... I thought the body snatchers were United States Army Special Forces (i.e. Green Berets). Also, in the United States military, today "Ranger" is an Army title, referring to a soldier of or with the training of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Rangers are Soldiers (to give the title the U.S. Army's capitalization), not Marines. Just because a Marine is HALO-qualified does not make him or her Ranger-qualified. As for being "experts" in breaching, small arms, and CQB: those skills (breaching and CQB in particular) are relevant to house-clearing (*conventional* warfare) - not that they don't have applications within the Marines' world; I'm just making the distinction. Waitaminute - "close quarters 'combat' experience"??? Are you saying all eighty-odd men and women are combat veterans? That may be true, but I do not know. (It is certainly possible, but I would like to see this confirmed and sourced.) "All the shooters are previous force recon marines [sic]." Are you implying the Marines would have a non-shooting slot in a detachment of special operations forces? Makes no sense to me...but then again, I'm a civilian, so [cue Fawlty Towers] "I know NOTHing". :-) What do you mean, they breach terrorists? I've never heard of terrorists (or anyone) being "breached". "Above the unit flys [sic] two aircraft..." sounds like the worst COIN (COunter-INsurgency) doctrine EVER. If an a/c was low enough to destroy roadside bombs, it would be vulnerable. Spotting escaping insurgents is more feasible, but only if they're dumb enough to wear T-shirts and hold signs announcing "I AM AN INSURGENT". Numbers on their shoulders I'm not sure about, but it makes no sense to me.
I would agree with the above writer, does this article imply that the Marines in question run around with their MOS stamped on their shoulders?  That is insane.  Things may be different now, but when I served in the early nineties, Marines did not display any unit identification on their cammies.  This was due to PERSEC and OPSEC reasons.  A Recon Marine is running around with 0321 on their shoulders.  The Marines attached to DET1 to my knowledge come from the current Force Recon Companies.  So of course they have extensive CQB experience, as do many Marines who do not serve in the Force Recon Community.  Also there is nothing unusual to the bond that these men share.  These are Marines that operate at a level above any other Marines.  (not taking anything from the 0311 guys, you are all great at what you do.)  As for the aircraft, why would you use aircraft to destroy IED's that have already been ID'd?  Sounds extensively expensive to me.  I wont even comment on the "second aircraft."  I would suggest that anyone who is going to contribute to this subject, contribute something useful, not the BS like above.  I am sure that the reason this person calls the DET1 Marines "Rangers" is the individual has probably heard the cadence sung about Recon Rangers,  that is not any kind  of an official title given to any Marine.  As far as HALO experience, this person has no idea what is involved just to get into MFF training.  Most guys have an average wait of about 5-10 years before acceptance, and there are a select few who get lucky enough to make it in their first tour.  SpecOps Marines are accepted into the MFF training cadre but I would be amazed to find a full unit of 86 men who are ALL HALO/HAHO certified.  All of the shooters?  As opposed to the Admin guy out there with them?  Get real and lets hear from some SpecOps or SF guys that actually have experience and knowledge in this new unit.208.54.14.81 05:42, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: unsigned talk