I am going to assume that you did not serve so starting from that point, and trying to be clear, I was curious why Mr. Shields did not attend OCS because we were one year apart in dates of entry and I am fully aware of what programs were available to him at the time. Had you served or even inquired with a recruiting office, you would have known that.
To be clear, I was not a career Marine but I did serve two tours of twelve months and twenty days each flying combat missions in the RVN, NVN and Laos but as I have posted on this board, after I was honorably discharged from active duty, I flew for a commercial airline and subsequently, after early retirement, I have been practicing law and have a firm with offices in California and North Carolina.
So, not to put too fine a point on it, I was not a career Marine and would not hold anything against Mr. Shields, my Marine brother, a concept that you are unlikely to be familiar with. Perhaps you can BM conor for some insight in that regard. I assume you know that conor is a Marine brother of mine and a Democrat.