What if: US marines vs Roman legions

[The Mad Monk]

x-Albie'd

What? You've never seen M*A*S*H? Bootlegging is a grand American tradition!

[BlackCat]

Of this, I am certain.

Well, there seem to be one thing we agree 100 % on

[giblets]

x-Albie'd

What? You've never seen M*A*S*H? Bootlegging is a grand American tradition!

You're right, this is probably the one area where marines have sophisticated knowledge.

[pchang]

Anyone who controlled distillation technology in Roman times could become one of the richest people on earth. In addition to being highly addictive, the stuff can also stop wounds from being infected.

[Aeson]

The Romans would undoubtedly be better farmers than the marines would be. It's a far cry from "crop rotation and fertilization" to being able to actually do it. Especially when you can't just run down to the local gardening store to buy your fertilizers after checking out what you need on the internet.

[Al B. Sure!]

The Romans would undoubtedly be better farmers than the marines would be. It's a far cry from "crop rotation and fertilization" to being able to actually do it. Especially when you can't just run down to the local gardening store to buy your fertilizers after checking out what you need on the internet.

They would need to work with the locals, obviously, letting the locals do the specifics but with the Marines organizing the crop rotation, being aware of concepts like soil pH, the importance of nitrogen/phosphorous, etc. Plus the MEU comes with logistical and engineering equipment (like bulldozers and scrapers) that would make clearing virgin land for agriculture a breeze.

And you think with all the country boys in the Corps, none of them have farming experience?

[giblets]

We should drop off 2000 marines on an island all by themselves and see what happens...

[Tupac Shakur]

Plus the MEU comes with logistical and engineering equipment (like bulldozers and scrapers) that would make clearing virgin land for agriculture a breeze.

Equipment that would be completely useless once the fuel ran out, you ****.

[pchang]

Diesel engines can burn cooking oil.

[Tupac Shakur]

Now we're pretending that dumb**** jarheads can make biodiesel from olive oil?

[Hauldren Collider]

We should drop off 2000 marines on an island all by themselves and see what happens...

No, no, no. No.

We do not want another reality TV show. No.

[Al B. Sure!]

We should drop off 2000 marines on an island all by themselves and see what happens...

Oh you mean like Guadalcanal?

Now we're pretending that dumb**** jarheads can make biodiesel from olive oil?

Are your posts actual attempts to be serious or is this just a continued excuse to bash the Marine Corps?

[BlackCat]

They would need to work with the locals, obviously, letting the locals do the specifics but with the Marines organizing the crop rotation, being aware of concepts like soil pH, the importance of nitrogen/phosphorous, etc. Plus the MEU comes with logistical and engineering equipment (like bulldozers and scrapers) that would make clearing virgin land for agriculture a breeze.

And you think with all the country boys in the Corps, none of them have farming experience?

Just out of curiosity - what land do you expect to clear in the vicinity of rome ?

[pchang]

Ummmmm

Now we're pretending that dumb**** jarheads can make biodiesel from olive oil?

You do realize there is no "making" required, right?

[Aeson]

They would need to work with the locals, obviously, letting the locals do the specifics but with the Marines organizing the crop rotation, being aware of concepts like soil pH, the importance of nitrogen/phosphorous, etc. Plus the MEU comes with logistical and engineering equipment (like bulldozers and scrapers) that would make clearing virgin land for agriculture a breeze.

I doubt there's a soil analysis lab they can send their samples to. Maybe they can test pH, which is useful, but not that useful if you don't have the materials readily at hand to address it. Proper crop rotation may not be something they even know how to do on a theoretical level, especially since the available crops and growing seasons will be rather different than what they're used to.

And you think with all the country boys in the Corps, none of them have farming experience?

There are a lot of farm boys. But their farming experience wouldn't be very applicable. For the most part they are going to be guys who drove tractors which did the majority of the work in the Midwest. They're going to be familiar with pest control methods which do not exist, weather patterns and crop pests which are going to be totally different, fertilization methods which rely on materials and tests which do not exist, irrigation methods which rely on delivery systems which do not exist, crops, such as corn which won't be available in their modern form even if they do sneak off to the Americas to pick up some seed.

Maybe one of them will be an organic gardening enthusiast and be able to make a mark, but I've yet to meet a marine of that sort.

What the Romans could teach the marines about farming in that situation would be far more valuable than any tidbits the marines could teach the Romans. Maybe if you give the Marines a few decades of peace to build up a community they could direct the agricultural advancement better than it would have been otherwise, but FOB marines are going to be ****ty farmers in the ancient Mediterranean.