Hygeine not important in the field??!! Yeah right!!
I just had to put my 2 cents in here....
First of all, hygeine is EXTREMELY important in the field; probably more so than in garrison. There were more people being medevac'd out of Kuwait/Iraq during Desert Storm due to getting sick as opposed to being injured during combat. The reason they were getting sick was because of bad hygeine. Ask yourself this: how combat effective are you going to be if you can't eat because half of your teeth are rotting out? How effective will you be as a combat leader, if your Marines are following your nasty example and begin getting dysentary one by one? Don't want to shave? Ok, see how well your gas mask works with a beard. At my last unit as an enlisted Marine, my 1SGT was a hardcore career force recon Marine (over 22 years in the Corps, 80% operational). He's been in 5 major combat actions, and he said the first time he got medevac'd wasn't because of a combat injury, it was because he had a few teeth that needed to be pulled, and he couldn't eat they hurt so bad. This happened because he thought he was being extra hardcore by not brushing his teeth while they were scouting out an enemy position for three days straight.
The nastier environment you're in, the more important hygeine becomes. Obviously you can't take a shower in the field, but there is no reason you shouldn't be showering in garrison. Not brushing your teeth? Give me a break. Last time I checked, as an Officer of Marines, you no longer have that RIGHT to chose whether or not to maintain a high state of hygeine. Shaving, brushing your teeth, showering, ironing your clothes, getting a haircut....all part of the package deal. You want to lead Marines, set the example. Don't be the ****bag 2NDLT that LCPL's talk **** about behind their back. It happens, trust me. I don't care if you're squared away in the field despite being nasty in garrison. Being tactically/technically proficient is obviously very important, but being a great Marine means being great in EVERY aspect of our profession, including garrison.
