A US Marine Corps guidance released in March states that people who suffer from skin conditions like PFB may be discharged; critics argue the policy is ‘racist.’
Correct, that is the “profile” I was referencing. Any medical condition that requires deviation from the “standard” is written up as a profile and is approve by the medical captain (which is normally your unit’s doctor, medics work under them). In this case, it would be referenced as a “shaving profile”. I’m not a medic, I have no idea what standards/problems get you a permanent profile. I do know that transitional or temporary issues would just net you a few weeks of having the profile until it cleared up.
But you made me realize one thing I missed. I was also speaking from the context of Army. Marines are much more likely to be at the front lines or in events that may need masks. It’s one thing to let a cook or mechanic have a permanent profile. It’s another when it’s a front-line warrior (as all marines are trained to be, much more so than the Army) who’s much more likely to be exposed to airborne chemical attacks. I would presume that this standard would be even more strictly enforced there simply because of the missions they are assigned.
A little more context. I was attached to a pathfinder unit (which dates me a bit since those are all disbanded at this point). We weren’t necessarily “elite” but as close as you get short of going special forces or ranger units. These guys would air drop into areas and do all sorts of cools shit with special equipment (Edit: cutting open downed helicopters was literally a mission assigned to us, so imagine a group of a dozen dudes air dropped into an area hunting down downed aircraft to cut out sensitive gear [can’t leave it behind for the enemy] and rescuing pilots. /Edit). While deployed, they had their masks on them even though there weren’t all that many cases of chemical warfare at that stage of the deployment. It’s just how it goes. You have the equipment you need on you, or you risk dying. If equipment failed you while you were airdropped in, you can easily break limbs and be stranded. Missions can be hard… for certain groups excessively so. War isn’t pleasant.
I can admit that it does affect the black community more than any other. And that sucks. But when the “fix” for this “racism” is people dying while deployed… I can’t feel “bad” about it. Less of my brothers dying to preventable things is ALWAYS good. It sucks… and I’m sure that it’s abused to some extent by some leadership that are actually racist. But there’s very real problems behind the scenes that makes it something that must be considered.
Correct, that is the “profile” I was referencing. Any medical condition that requires deviation from the “standard” is written up as a profile and is approve by the medical captain (which is normally your unit’s doctor, medics work under them). In this case, it would be referenced as a “shaving profile”. I’m not a medic, I have no idea what standards/problems get you a permanent profile. I do know that transitional or temporary issues would just net you a few weeks of having the profile until it cleared up.
But you made me realize one thing I missed. I was also speaking from the context of Army. Marines are much more likely to be at the front lines or in events that may need masks. It’s one thing to let a cook or mechanic have a permanent profile. It’s another when it’s a front-line warrior (as all marines are trained to be, much more so than the Army) who’s much more likely to be exposed to airborne chemical attacks. I would presume that this standard would be even more strictly enforced there simply because of the missions they are assigned.
A little more context. I was attached to a pathfinder unit (which dates me a bit since those are all disbanded at this point). We weren’t necessarily “elite” but as close as you get short of going special forces or ranger units. These guys would air drop into areas and do all sorts of cools shit with special equipment (Edit: cutting open downed helicopters was literally a mission assigned to us, so imagine a group of a dozen dudes air dropped into an area hunting down downed aircraft to cut out sensitive gear [can’t leave it behind for the enemy] and rescuing pilots. /Edit). While deployed, they had their masks on them even though there weren’t all that many cases of chemical warfare at that stage of the deployment. It’s just how it goes. You have the equipment you need on you, or you risk dying. If equipment failed you while you were airdropped in, you can easily break limbs and be stranded. Missions can be hard… for certain groups excessively so. War isn’t pleasant.
I can admit that it does affect the black community more than any other. And that sucks. But when the “fix” for this “racism” is people dying while deployed… I can’t feel “bad” about it. Less of my brothers dying to preventable things is ALWAYS good. It sucks… and I’m sure that it’s abused to some extent by some leadership that are actually racist. But there’s very real problems behind the scenes that makes it something that must be considered.