Blast from the past. Definitions to guide the F-35 IOC...

The United States and the Marine Corps needs to reacquaint itself with a few definitions.  First lets keep this boot camp simple.  A few pertinent Marine Corps Leadership Traits....

INTEGRITY

Integrity means that you are honest and truthful in what you say or do. You put honesty, sense of duty, and sound moral principles above all else.

COURAGE

Courage is what allows you to remain calm while recognizing fear. Moral courage means having the inner strength to stand up for what is right and to accept blame when something is your fault. Physical courage means that you can continue to function effectively when there is physical danger present.

Then lets bump this up a bit and remind the boys that have been to Quantico, or any of the academy's  or even done some online work with that Marine Corps constant....Warfighting (MCDP-1)...this following passage is instructive...especially for those that seem to have forgotten...

PHYSICAL, MORAL, AND MENTAL FORCES

War is characterized by the interaction of physical, moral, and mental forces. The physical characteristics of war are generally easily seen, understood, and measured: equipment capabilities, supplies, physical objectives seized, force ratios, losses of matériel or life, terrain lost or gained, prisoners or matériel captured. The moral characteristics are less tangible. (The term “moral” as used here is not restricted to ethics, although ethics are certainly included, but pertains to those forces of a psychological rather than tangible nature.)10 Moral forces are difficult to grasp and impossible to quantify. We cannot easily gauge forces like national and military resolve, national or individual conscience, emotion, fear, courage, morale, leadership, or esprit. War also involves a significant mental, or intellectual, component. Mental forces provide the ability to grasp complex battlefield situations; to make effective estimates, calculations, and decisions; to devise tactics and strategies; and to develop plans. Although material factors are more easily quantified, the moral and mental forces exert a greater influence on the nature and outcome of war.11 This is not to lessen the importance of physical forces, for the physical forces in war can have a significant impact on the others. For example, the greatest effect of fires is generally not the amount of physical destruction they cause, but the effect of that physical destruction on the enemy’s moral strength

Why am I taking you back to boot camp 101 (or OCS for you Quantico boys...oh and I laughed when the Quigley kicked your ass!)?

Why am I pitting you all and PTing you mentally until you die?

BECAUSE ITS ABOUT MORE THAN ME AND YOU!  Its about the defense of a great nation.  Your interests and the interests of the nation might diverge.  Others in positions of power might be confused, and think that self interest and national interest are one and the same.

THEY ARE NOT!

We are stewards of not only the defense of our nation from the moment that we raise our right hands, but we're also given a special trust.  The public as a whole doesn't worry about defense matters...doesn't keep track of a faulty airplane, not because it doesn't concern them.  They don't worry about it because they have placed special trust in fellow citizens that have promised to keep the bear...or dragon...at bay.  We will do what they won't.

The F-35 in my mind has morphed from simply being a budget disaster and a faulty airplane.

The F-35 has morphed into a test of our Marine Corps' moral courage, integrity and credibility.

A jobs program, keeping allies from getting pissed off, keeping stock prices up or making Congress Critters happy is less important than the credibility and integrity of the United States Marine Corps.

Delay this IOC.  The F-35 is NOT WORTH the loss of faith that the USMC will absorb once the public realizes how shoddy this plane really is.