IRAQ: Without combat, Marines are bored

For several years, the Al Anbar province was routinely described as the most dangerous region of Iraq for U.S. troops, with the casualty figures to back up that grisly description.

But now Anbar, despite periodic roadside attacks, has changed dramatically. Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the commandant's top advisor on matters involving the enlisted ranks, says Marines now face a new challenge: boredom.

"Right now," Kent told the Marine Corps Times in a lengthy interview, "if you talk to the average Marine over in Al Anbar, they are bored. I'll be quite honest with you. I mean, you talk to them, we've got infantry battalions that go over now and they don't fire their weapon -- not one -- in anger.

"But they also know that that's a positive turnaround, so that's a good thing for us. But you get the young Marines, and you know how it is, they want combat."

Tony Perry, in San Diego

Photo: Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent. Credit: Marine Corps