(no subject)
Hola. It's been a while since I've updated, sorry about the slacking on my part... wow, i guess it's been a few weeks... well, where to start...
Right after i wrote last time, we went out to the field for 3 days for a patrolling exercise. we lived in the woods in a bunch of brush and low vegetation that was tick and chigger heaven, and our patrols didn't make that much sense - one route my squad went was so densely vegetated that the only way through it was to have our point man run and slam into it, then back up and run into it again, and again, and again, trying to make a hole for us. For whatever reason, i got chosen to be the radio operator (RO), even though I've never been to a comm class, and there's a few guys in my squad who've been through all sorts of comm packages. That means that in addition to my gear, i also had to wear my pack (nowhere else to put the radio), and i had 4 feet of antennae sticking up over my head that got caught on absolutely everything... so yeah, that pretty much sums up that whole training evolution. The one upside to it was that there were good wild blueberries everywhere out there. There was a nine mile hump back to the rear that was one of the hardest humps I've ever been on - our XO was leading it, and he was walking faster than most people run. we started out down a tank trail that consisted of deep sand, it really wasn't unlike a beach run in full gear. The Docs were kept busy, for a while there were so many Marines passing out and falling over that about every 20 paces or so I'd pass someone lying on the side of the road. Not just the typical Marines who always have trouble with PT and humps and stuff, there were plenty of squad leaders and even a platoon sergeant who went down. for a good while, the entire path we were on was completely covered in vomit... it was really pretty nasty. anyways...
That Sunday - July first - we got turned to a 96 hour liberty, which means i got to go home for a few days. that was a real nice break, Mom drove up here to pick me up, and we were home that night. I spent the break hanging out with family and friends, it was a good time to kick back, chill, and try to recover from chiggers. Spent the fourth at my house, watched a movie with my sister and had a cookout on the back porch. one of our neighbors put on a massive fireworks show that we watched while we were cooking... it was a good time. One of the awesome things that happened over break was that i had decided to get a laptop while i was at home. Bonni and I went looking for one, but i couldn't find anything i liked. we came back to the house empty handed. about 5 minutes after we walked in, the doorbell rang. It was a friend of the family, and he was like, "Hey, your parents told me you needed a laptop. Here's my spare one." Wow, thank you God (and Mr. Terry). that was really a huge blessing.
I had to come back to base on Thursday the 5th, Friday, we had a super thrash session PT after which our platoon commander called us a "bunch of weak women," spent most the day recovering from PT (i don't remember a single thing we did that day other than pt), and got the weekend off. got my computer set up over the weekend, it's a huge blessing. This week we were supposed to go to MOUT town for urban training, but something happened to that idea and we ended up doing other not so fun things. Monday was an easy day, aside from our morning 3-mile flak run, we got issued RCOs (scopes formerly known as ACOGs - I'm not sure why, but the Marine Corps has been changing the names of all sorts of acronyms and stuff lately. It's like they're deliberately trying to confuse us or make our acronyms less pronounceable or something). anyway, Tuesday wasn't too bad of a day, we went to the gas chamber and got gassed. The worst part of getting gassed is that it burns your skin - my neck, forehead, and wrists felt like they were on fire. It could have been worse - one of the marines in my platoon had a broken mask and was breathing CS the whole time we were in there. we came back from the chamber and prepped for the field for most of the rest of the day. That night we left for one of the K ranges. We got there, and a thunderstorm was coming for us, so we headed down the road to find shelter. each range has a pavilion big enough for a few squads, so we didn't have to go too far. Captain Manchester decided to put my squad in a live-fire shoothouse that was on one of the ranges. Not the best place I've ever slept. i found a dry spot, but we were crammed in there real tight, Marines sprawled across each other and stuff. There was a four foot gap in the ceiling between the two rooms, two walls were open, the walls were made out of fiberglass-reinforced concrete (to keep the walls from falling apart after being shot a billion times), so there was fiberglass everywhere, the floor was all sand (and sand fleas). it only rained for about five minutes, no nobody got too wet. Wednesday we BZOed our weapons with ACOGs, did squad level training in MOUT and squad rushes, got in a pine cone fight with fourth squad, and chilled. That night, i strung up a pretty nifty hammock i rigged out of 550 cord and my poncho. However, as soon as it was dark enough to not see what i was doing, i had to take it down because of a thunderstorm, and i ended up cutting my thumb fairly deep with my leatherman (which has proved invaluable btw- you 2A guys who got it for me, thank you. you guys are awesome). So, we went back to the shoothouse to sleep, only this time it actually rained. the ponchos the guys put over the gap in the roof collected water, then dumped it all at once on the Marines on that side of the room. oh well.
anyways, we woke up at 0300 and met up with the 7-tons. the motor-t guys were all complaining about how they had to wake up early to pick us up, but we weren't very sympathetic. they trucked us over to range F-4, which is my least favorite range of all time. Remember how last email i talked about doing fireteam rushes in the sand? yeah, same range, same thing. only this time it was squad rushes. i was acting team leader (Cpl Estock was at BAS with a hole in his foot from a blister on a blister on a blister that got infected or something like that), so that was a kinda good experience for me. this time wasn't as bad as last time we went there, partly because we're in better shape, partly because the PSOs weren't interfering as much, and partly because there wasn't as much live fire - here's a great little story:
Back in the impact area, there's dirt roads, so while we're at the range, we have to set up road guards to make sure no one drives down them. it's a 24 hour post, the two roadguards get a crate of MREs, lots and lots of water, and a PRC-119F (radio) to keep them company. Last time we were here, a pair of the roadguards were sitting around, when the range went hot. suddenly, they hear the snapping noise of incoming rounds, twigs start flying off trees, dust starts kicking up around them, and they're like, "hey, we're taking fire." so, they have a little discussion on whether or not to call it in on the radio, but for whatever reason, they decided not to, that it was part of their post or something (hey, nobody said you have to be a genius to be a grunt). They were out there all night taking incoming rounds, after gunny came to pick them up the next day, they told someone about it, and everybody was like, "hey, you guys are retarded." they said they thought getting shot at was part of training...
anyway, so this time, we got a couple roadguards with enough common sense to radio in when they started getting shot at, and so our RSO and OIC started trying to figure out when they were taking fire. F-4 consists of three objectives, after attacking the first one, you turn left, move across a bridge, turn right, assault through the second objective, turn left, and assault through the third objective. so F-4 is really three ranges in one, each one pointing a different direction. First off they pulled the second objective, which was where the roadguards were taking most of the fire from, then they pulled the first objective because there were sporadic rounds coming from there, which left us with one objective to do live fire on. we still did dry runs on the other two (that means we yell "bang bang" instead of actually shooting). the first time we went through the range, Cpt Manchester said we were the best squad in the company so far to go through. So, yeah.
I found a bunch of blackberries at that range, which was the one good thing about it. Aside from that, it's a pretty miserable place. we had a eight mile hump back, which wasn't bad at all. Major Dremann kept an easy pace between three and four miles an hour, and Sgt Harold had his GPS and kept us updated on our speed, how far we'd gone, and how long we'd been going for. The worst part of it is that after five days of being in the field, being soaked from rain and sweat, and sleeping in sand and pine needles, i was covered in bug bites, i had heat rash, and my cammies were full of sand, so full of sand that everywhere they rub on me is now rubbed raw. But overall, not a bad hump. My feet didn't even get hot spots or anything, just blisters on the top where they were swollen from sand flea bites on top of mosquito bites on top of ant bites on top of chiggers. But blisters on the top of my feet don't really bother me that bad, so it's all good. During the hump, Captain Manchester called me up to the front of the platoon to explain the answer to the chicken/egg problem to someone (if one and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days, how many eggs will ten chickens lay in three weeks?). I thought that was slightly odd. Anyway, we left at 0300, got back about 0645, cleaned weapons, and got cut loose about 10. so, since I'd been up about 30 hours, i took a shower then racked out, and here i am now. And that's the story of my last few weeks.
So some prayer requests:
Attitude - that I'll keep my attitude in check when I'm tired, wet, and covered in fiberglass. Basically that I'd be a reflection of Christ in what i do. He went through a whole lot more than i could imagine, but was silent as a sheep before it's shearers.
Unselfishness - kinda self explanatory
Wisdom - that I'll be able to discern between people who are seeking Truth and guys who just want to argue for the sake of arguing.
just a side note, doing what i do really gives me an appreciation for little stuff that I'd normally take for granted. Stuff like cold water, a roof, music, stuff like that... We really are blessed to have all that stuff, don't take it for granted.
Right after i wrote last time, we went out to the field for 3 days for a patrolling exercise. we lived in the woods in a bunch of brush and low vegetation that was tick and chigger heaven, and our patrols didn't make that much sense - one route my squad went was so densely vegetated that the only way through it was to have our point man run and slam into it, then back up and run into it again, and again, and again, trying to make a hole for us. For whatever reason, i got chosen to be the radio operator (RO), even though I've never been to a comm class, and there's a few guys in my squad who've been through all sorts of comm packages. That means that in addition to my gear, i also had to wear my pack (nowhere else to put the radio), and i had 4 feet of antennae sticking up over my head that got caught on absolutely everything... so yeah, that pretty much sums up that whole training evolution. The one upside to it was that there were good wild blueberries everywhere out there. There was a nine mile hump back to the rear that was one of the hardest humps I've ever been on - our XO was leading it, and he was walking faster than most people run. we started out down a tank trail that consisted of deep sand, it really wasn't unlike a beach run in full gear. The Docs were kept busy, for a while there were so many Marines passing out and falling over that about every 20 paces or so I'd pass someone lying on the side of the road. Not just the typical Marines who always have trouble with PT and humps and stuff, there were plenty of squad leaders and even a platoon sergeant who went down. for a good while, the entire path we were on was completely covered in vomit... it was really pretty nasty. anyways...
That Sunday - July first - we got turned to a 96 hour liberty, which means i got to go home for a few days. that was a real nice break, Mom drove up here to pick me up, and we were home that night. I spent the break hanging out with family and friends, it was a good time to kick back, chill, and try to recover from chiggers. Spent the fourth at my house, watched a movie with my sister and had a cookout on the back porch. one of our neighbors put on a massive fireworks show that we watched while we were cooking... it was a good time. One of the awesome things that happened over break was that i had decided to get a laptop while i was at home. Bonni and I went looking for one, but i couldn't find anything i liked. we came back to the house empty handed. about 5 minutes after we walked in, the doorbell rang. It was a friend of the family, and he was like, "Hey, your parents told me you needed a laptop. Here's my spare one." Wow, thank you God (and Mr. Terry). that was really a huge blessing.
I had to come back to base on Thursday the 5th, Friday, we had a super thrash session PT after which our platoon commander called us a "bunch of weak women," spent most the day recovering from PT (i don't remember a single thing we did that day other than pt), and got the weekend off. got my computer set up over the weekend, it's a huge blessing. This week we were supposed to go to MOUT town for urban training, but something happened to that idea and we ended up doing other not so fun things. Monday was an easy day, aside from our morning 3-mile flak run, we got issued RCOs (scopes formerly known as ACOGs - I'm not sure why, but the Marine Corps has been changing the names of all sorts of acronyms and stuff lately. It's like they're deliberately trying to confuse us or make our acronyms less pronounceable or something). anyway, Tuesday wasn't too bad of a day, we went to the gas chamber and got gassed. The worst part of getting gassed is that it burns your skin - my neck, forehead, and wrists felt like they were on fire. It could have been worse - one of the marines in my platoon had a broken mask and was breathing CS the whole time we were in there. we came back from the chamber and prepped for the field for most of the rest of the day. That night we left for one of the K ranges. We got there, and a thunderstorm was coming for us, so we headed down the road to find shelter. each range has a pavilion big enough for a few squads, so we didn't have to go too far. Captain Manchester decided to put my squad in a live-fire shoothouse that was on one of the ranges. Not the best place I've ever slept. i found a dry spot, but we were crammed in there real tight, Marines sprawled across each other and stuff. There was a four foot gap in the ceiling between the two rooms, two walls were open, the walls were made out of fiberglass-reinforced concrete (to keep the walls from falling apart after being shot a billion times), so there was fiberglass everywhere, the floor was all sand (and sand fleas). it only rained for about five minutes, no nobody got too wet. Wednesday we BZOed our weapons with ACOGs, did squad level training in MOUT and squad rushes, got in a pine cone fight with fourth squad, and chilled. That night, i strung up a pretty nifty hammock i rigged out of 550 cord and my poncho. However, as soon as it was dark enough to not see what i was doing, i had to take it down because of a thunderstorm, and i ended up cutting my thumb fairly deep with my leatherman (which has proved invaluable btw- you 2A guys who got it for me, thank you. you guys are awesome). So, we went back to the shoothouse to sleep, only this time it actually rained. the ponchos the guys put over the gap in the roof collected water, then dumped it all at once on the Marines on that side of the room. oh well.
anyways, we woke up at 0300 and met up with the 7-tons. the motor-t guys were all complaining about how they had to wake up early to pick us up, but we weren't very sympathetic. they trucked us over to range F-4, which is my least favorite range of all time. Remember how last email i talked about doing fireteam rushes in the sand? yeah, same range, same thing. only this time it was squad rushes. i was acting team leader (Cpl Estock was at BAS with a hole in his foot from a blister on a blister on a blister that got infected or something like that), so that was a kinda good experience for me. this time wasn't as bad as last time we went there, partly because we're in better shape, partly because the PSOs weren't interfering as much, and partly because there wasn't as much live fire - here's a great little story:
Back in the impact area, there's dirt roads, so while we're at the range, we have to set up road guards to make sure no one drives down them. it's a 24 hour post, the two roadguards get a crate of MREs, lots and lots of water, and a PRC-119F (radio) to keep them company. Last time we were here, a pair of the roadguards were sitting around, when the range went hot. suddenly, they hear the snapping noise of incoming rounds, twigs start flying off trees, dust starts kicking up around them, and they're like, "hey, we're taking fire." so, they have a little discussion on whether or not to call it in on the radio, but for whatever reason, they decided not to, that it was part of their post or something (hey, nobody said you have to be a genius to be a grunt). They were out there all night taking incoming rounds, after gunny came to pick them up the next day, they told someone about it, and everybody was like, "hey, you guys are retarded." they said they thought getting shot at was part of training...
anyway, so this time, we got a couple roadguards with enough common sense to radio in when they started getting shot at, and so our RSO and OIC started trying to figure out when they were taking fire. F-4 consists of three objectives, after attacking the first one, you turn left, move across a bridge, turn right, assault through the second objective, turn left, and assault through the third objective. so F-4 is really three ranges in one, each one pointing a different direction. First off they pulled the second objective, which was where the roadguards were taking most of the fire from, then they pulled the first objective because there were sporadic rounds coming from there, which left us with one objective to do live fire on. we still did dry runs on the other two (that means we yell "bang bang" instead of actually shooting). the first time we went through the range, Cpt Manchester said we were the best squad in the company so far to go through. So, yeah.
I found a bunch of blackberries at that range, which was the one good thing about it. Aside from that, it's a pretty miserable place. we had a eight mile hump back, which wasn't bad at all. Major Dremann kept an easy pace between three and four miles an hour, and Sgt Harold had his GPS and kept us updated on our speed, how far we'd gone, and how long we'd been going for. The worst part of it is that after five days of being in the field, being soaked from rain and sweat, and sleeping in sand and pine needles, i was covered in bug bites, i had heat rash, and my cammies were full of sand, so full of sand that everywhere they rub on me is now rubbed raw. But overall, not a bad hump. My feet didn't even get hot spots or anything, just blisters on the top where they were swollen from sand flea bites on top of mosquito bites on top of ant bites on top of chiggers. But blisters on the top of my feet don't really bother me that bad, so it's all good. During the hump, Captain Manchester called me up to the front of the platoon to explain the answer to the chicken/egg problem to someone (if one and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days, how many eggs will ten chickens lay in three weeks?). I thought that was slightly odd. Anyway, we left at 0300, got back about 0645, cleaned weapons, and got cut loose about 10. so, since I'd been up about 30 hours, i took a shower then racked out, and here i am now. And that's the story of my last few weeks.
So some prayer requests:
Attitude - that I'll keep my attitude in check when I'm tired, wet, and covered in fiberglass. Basically that I'd be a reflection of Christ in what i do. He went through a whole lot more than i could imagine, but was silent as a sheep before it's shearers.
Unselfishness - kinda self explanatory
Wisdom - that I'll be able to discern between people who are seeking Truth and guys who just want to argue for the sake of arguing.
just a side note, doing what i do really gives me an appreciation for little stuff that I'd normally take for granted. Stuff like cold water, a roof, music, stuff like that... We really are blessed to have all that stuff, don't take it for granted.