Passing Inspection
Retired Marine Corps Maj. Bruce R. McHenry lives in Casselberry, Fla., where the only inspection line he has to face is at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Like many Marines, I never will forget my experiences while attending the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Va. Due to the downsizing of the services toward the end of the Vietnam War, our class couldn’t have been more diverse. The student demographic consisted of former officers and enlisted men from all seven services with a sprinkling of attendees lacking any military experience.

Needless to say, the Marine Corps is quite methodical when it comes to training its future leaders. The program was painstakingly thorough and extremely challenging, and throughout our training heavy emphasis was placed on paying close attention to details. To ensure we learned this important lesson, we had scheduled inspections, which were not to be taken lightly. Our platoon sergeant, a robust staff sergeant who was the epitome of “a soldier of the sea,” saw to it that we fully realized this fact.

The typical inspection went like this: The inspecting officer would position himself in front of a candidate, who then would perform the customary procedure to present his weapon, “safe” and ready for inspection. The inspecting officer would look over the candidate’s uniform and equipment and would pay particular attention to the cleanliness of the candidate’s weapon, making sure everything met the military standard.

As can be expected, small imperfections would be noted as the inspections progressed—incorrect alignment, snaps not snapped, etcetera—but for the most part everything proceeded smoothly.

Toward the end of our OCS training, we formed ranks for our final inspection. Our brass shined, boots sparkled, and uniforms were crisp. Everyone would agree that we were a most impressive sight.

The inspecting officer made his way down the line, stopping to scrutinize each candidate’s weapon in turn. As he was examining one candidate’s weapon, however, he looked down the barrel and grimaced. Jerking his head back, he asked, “What’s this?”

The inspecting officer positioned the weapon once more for a clear view down the barrel. It appeared that the bore of the candidate’s weapon retained minor traces of expended powder debris—it did not meet the criteria for cleanliness.

“Holy mackerel, candidate! I don’t believe this—you’ve got little green men in there!” the inspecting officer exclaimed. With a distinctly menacing look, he asked the aspiring officer, “What are you going to do about that, candidate?”

Despite the inspecting officer’s obvious disapproval as to the state of his weapon, the candidate appeared unshaken. Using a bit of his Marine Corps wit, he gave the command, “Little green men … fall out!”