Reply #46: not quite

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1. Army folks get sent to Korea unaccompanied for a year without requesting the duty. Marines and sailors are always getting their deployments extended. The main thing to understand is that troops always bitch about something. When they stop bitching, then there is a problem. I spent one extra day in Korea during an exercise and bitched about it. Did it change anything? Ask yourself this, is it better that we listen to them bitch and bring them home before the job is finished? Despite what you may think of this latest campaign in the war on terrorism, it is done and it would be supreme negligence to leave now.
2. Hazardous duty pay has absolutely nothing to do with being in Iraq. It goes to people who jump out of airplanes, defuse bombs, etc. Last year (FY2002) it was $150 per month and it is $150 per month this year.
www.dfas.mil
3. As a former Marine I guarantee that the only people who do not have access to porcelain (or plastic, wood, whatever) are those sleeping in the dirt because they are out in bad guy territory. If I were on patrol in a city and needed to take a crap, I would find the nearest restaurant, set up a security perimeter, and work my patrol through the bathroom. We may use a cathole when necessary, but if I can find porcelain I will use it.

4. If it's vague recollections, then it's hearsay.