Blessing or Burden?

I'm online right now because i'm waiting for the duty van to be ready. Tonight I get to drop off the patrol and then go to bed. The annoying thing about here is the immaturity of our Sailors and Marines. They really don't know when to call it quits and are unwilling to pay for their mistakes or take responsibility for their actions. It makes me wonder what the people here think of us and why at times when i'm out with [name removed] or getting groceries the locals have two reactions. 1 they either laugh and point. 2 if they have small children they shoo them away from us giving us dirty looks over their shoulder. I asked some of the other guys if they noticed and they said not any more. I know that I'm here to protect these people and serve our country, but I wonder if we are more of a burden to these people than a help at times.


Hubby sent me an email this morning while I was out at church. The above was included an email talking about his Shore Patrol last night. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, they rotate shifts called shore patrol on deployments. The person on this shift then goes around to the bars and other places to make sure people are staying out of trouble. In my mind it's kind of like being an MP (Military Police) or MA (Master-at-Arms) for the night. For those of you who are MP's or married to MP's, I do understand it's different and hope I didn't offend you by any reference to it, but it's the best way I can understand it. Because Ben is one of the older guys there and doesn't make it his goal to get wasted every night, he has this responsibility assigned to him quite a bit.


In this email, he was telling me about he had to break up some fights, dodged three punches, and had to handcuff six Marines. I wish I could say that this was abnormal, but every time he has Shore Patrol he tells me stories that blow my mind! I feel for these guys and girls. They go through so much, with such little pay, away from family and friends. I understand the need to let loose, and they should be able to. However, I'm surprised to hear all the stories of how they get too carried away. I've lost count at how many bar fights he's broken up. Add to that the ones who've had to be rushed to medical because of falling down stairs in there intoxication. There's even some who are now in the local nation's jails because of their actions. I'm sure this isn't the case at every deployment location, but I echo Ben's sentiments that when it crosses the line and starts affecting the locals as well as our own reputation, are we really helping anyone? Aren't we more of a burden than a blessing?


What do you think?