What do you make of Camp Lejuene's recent crackdown on the display of DOD vehicle decals?

I believe our Marine brethren are behind on this one! While I get it, it is nice to be able to park in those reserved parking places at the PX/BX, it is time to get rid of those stickers and get with the program.

If you must keep the sticker, change the presentation of the sticker onto a card that can be kept in the glove compartment, displaying it only while on post and removing the card prior to departing post....this is not something hard to figure out!

Being a Marine myself, this is a hard-headed decision that may not change until something happens...that would be a preventable leadership failure. General Dunford should consider making this change official prior to assuming his Joint Staff duties.

The Marine Corps is a very prestigious and proud organization that should do better to protect its Marines from potential homegrown threats...every other service does.

Playing both sides of the fence here. Being from the Law Enforcement side, it has helped numerous times in indentfying the owner of the vehicle for things like illegal parking, abandonded vehicle, unauthorized driving to even a couple of misappropriated vehicles. It also helps to a degree in keeping many honest with current registration and insurance.

Many times I have seen it where no DOD decal led to no current registration or insurance or a suspended license, etc... The Marine Corps makes it a big deal in certain situations, not to tow a vehicle or similar without using all means necessary to contact the owner.

That is very difficult when you look up "John Smith" who has his home of record state with some address there. John Smith with DOD decal is serving with this unit and works in this shop.

People can use lots of different justifications and some make valid points about the decals. There is no excuse about terrorism awareness when your car has stickers about your status or affiliation with the military.

You cannot use such a excuse when you have your rank on a sticker, a stick figure family sticker to include your animals or your status as a servicemembers spouse. So many of those do not have decals. They can come up with alternatives, but no matter what they come up with, the population will complain on how it affects them.

This is not a recent discovery of no DOD decals, there was no enforcement of rules and regulations. There are many Marine Corps bases that you will never get on without a decal or visitors pass. It just was enforced and the leadership turned the other way.

Growing up in the 80s, it was an expeditious means to let the guards know the ID of who was coming on base/post. They used to just waive people on with the exception of the monthly 100% ID card check and the one time we had our car searched randomly.

Now that we always have 100% ID card checks, the decals have little purpose anymore.

I was recently at Lejeune a couple weeks ago on a VIP invitation. Although I did have to get a window card for the rental car, the amount and timing of personal information submitted bothered me a bit. I have also been onboard naval ships in the past and the lead time and amount of information required to do that background check was considerably more than at Lejeune. Perhaps technology has streamlined this but knowing the military's propensity for screwing things up I doubt it. Perhaps an innocuous 'stealth' sticker that can be laser scanned, but otherwise appears to be nothing of any consequence?

That's just silly. I've never liked those stupid things. Isn't having a valid ID enough?

I've noticed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville (where I work part time as a contractor now a days), the gate guard has a hand held device which is linked to DEERS so the gate guard can scan your ID card to verify that it's still good and that you have base access.

So what's the problem here????

I find it amusing that they are cracking down on DoD stickers to "conceal" affiliation but are not doing anything about folks sporting service stickers, badges, Vet status stickers etc, on their back windshield.....

I got my quality education from the oldest of schools. Those stickers aren't getting you on any installation without your military ID, so the only thing behind the insistance of this compliance MUST be that the base commanders spouse must have missed out on 'their' privlidged parking spot and had to walk the extra 50 feet. Let this horse die with dignity. Semper Fi, Marines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FClGhto1vIg

The Corps is behind on this one. We should emphasize tactics over traditions.