Just wanted to add that before I had left to go to Iraq that first time, Amy had just gave birth only a few weeks before. So, I had to leave my little one (Ryan) so soon after. It was tough but I was determined to come back...just gave me more motivation. Turns out we had to move as well (tearing down the old houses and building new ones). Our house was broken into while I was gone and some things stolen. Even though Amy was going through post-partum (spell?) she never let me know because as a good military wife knows...it's best not to have your spouse thinking about things like that while they are at war. She has been a God-send and I love her to death, not sure what I'd do without her.
Still hoping to get some pictures up, I know I have some from both 2nd and 3rd deployment. Will start with 2nd deployment soon and then my journal entries from the 3rd.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Life in Iraq in 2003
So, we were running 12 hour shifts and usually moving every morning just about. Very early on it was decided I would lead the night shift. Basically this is how it worked, we would drive all day and by the time we stopped my night shift was on duty (or would go on duty within a few hours). So, we'd get maybe a couple hours of sleep (we had to help put the tent up and get all the gear in the tent before we could), then we'd work 12 hours and then we'd have to help tear down the tent in the morning and then we'd leave to the next site. We pretty much didn't sleep, finally I got the OIC (Officer in Charge) to change the shifts to 8 hour shifts (between 2 teams) so our schedule would change everyday and my shift wasn't the one always killing themselves.
Our first "long" stop was in Nasariyah where we made camp pretty much in the middle of a landfill. As we ate our MRE's, we had to keep close eye on them because if you looked a way for a second it was filled with flies. It was one of the most disgusting places I had seen up to that point. We slept in Humvees, it was hot, we had our MOPP gear on and had to cover our faces because those flies bit like you wouldn't believe. It was not pleasant, there were no crappers out here either. We took an old, empty ammo box...dug a hole with our e-tool and crapped there. That didn't help with the fly problem but tried to cover it up as best as we could. When we weren't on shift in our tent, we were either sleeping, standing guard for our tent or standing guard on the berm.
An Nasariyah was where Jessica Lynch was captured and this was the place we first came under fire. It was dark and I was sitting guard watch at our tent when something very large, very heavy skidded across the street, sparks flying and blew up. An infantry battalion was across the street from us and they got a couple casualties, something blew up over...looked like a Humvee. A lot of this later on seemed to be friendly fire but there was small arms fire coming from somewhere as well, it was crazy but exhilarating at the same time. It sounds sick and cliche but I was enjoying myself because this is why I joined...to this day I love deploying and cliche because your training really does kick in. It's instinctive to us on what to do in those situations, I don't know how long it lasted but it seemed like a couple hours. We aren't infantry and we didn't really have any infantry in our perimeter...we stood on the berms, we stood in defense of our "base". Every Marine is a rifleman...it was evident that moniker was true at this point. An Nasariyah was the critical point to keep since it was a huge logistical problem if we lost the bridge in this town. Those Marines and Soldiers that were ahead of us on their way to Baghdad needed supplies to keep them on the move.
I don't remember how long we were in Nasariyah, something like 1 or 2 weeks. I remember we had some 8th Comm guys with us (they carry the satellite that gives us connection with our computers). At night, there are no lights...light discipline is a huge thing. A small light stands out in that dark sky. With that said, helo pilots and the like use night vision. One of the 8th comm guys comes out of his tent and takes a flash photo as the helo is taking off. I honestly think if a couple of us weren't in view there, the Gunny that came over would have severely beaten that guy for taking a flash photo of the helo. To explain it a little better...if you are wearing night vision goggles and someone shines a light at you...it's going to temporarily blind you. You don't want a helo pilot blind.
I don't remember if this happened before or after Nasariyah but I remember we were in a convoy going to a new location and we had had no time to clean our weapons. So, I was cleaning my weapon in the vehicle when we get a message over the radio that mortar or something was incoming to our location. We had to stop the vehicles, get out and get down right now. I had my entire weapon apart with it's many small parts. This sucked badly but was able to get all the parts in my pockets or anywhere I could, crazy times.
Our next long stop was at an abandoned Iraqi base (I think it was Diwaniyah but I can't remember, started with a D I think). We stayed here for quite awhile and the beginnings of the war were pretty much winding down (believe the Saddam statue was brought down as we were here) and there were no more worries from the Iraqi army because they were pretty much completely destroyed or deserted. Terror cells hadn't really started so there were no worries from mortar attacks or IEDS or the like. We had many local Iraqis come up to the fences and we gave them water, food and candy. To show that we were really done with this phase of the war...Aaron Zimmerman celebrated by streaking and sliding on the mud in our base in front of all the leadership...yes, I said streaking (nude running for those of you with virgin minds). It was a good time, we finally got to take off our top part of the MOPP suit. We got to check out the abandoned Iraqi base and even took a trip to Babylon and went through the museum.
At this point, we hadn't showered in probably about 3 months. We hadn't talked to our loved ones on the phone or internet (there wasn't any at that time in Iraq), letters were the only communication. The phone we eventually got to use was an old field phone, used like radio wire to connect to the network and we had to wind it to get power pretty much...it's crazy how cozy Iraq is today compared to when we first went.
We started heading back now and stopped in a semi-hard base that actually had crappers!! And temporary showers (I still didn't take one, had to live up to my nickname of Dirty right?). The crappers were open so everyone just kinda sat there watching eachother take a dump. At night, the lower ranking personnel (hahaha, glad I went as a Sergeant!) had to dump diesel fuel into the barrels of crap and light them on fire (yes, that's how you cleaned them out pretty much). This was our last stop that I can remember before we got back to Kuwait, it was awesome to be back and we felt like we accomplished so much and this began another generation of war veterans. I miss those times, I miss those people I was with, the experience was priceless.
I'm hoping to add some photos if I can find them, will have to scan them though. We spent a little more time in Kuwait, got on the LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and went back to the boat. Our experience and training wasn't done though. We worked on the ship and did MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) every day pretty much on the way back. As we got back, we were greeted with joy and it was a great day. Was nice just to have some time off...while I was on leave for 30 days...I volunteered to go back to Iraq (man, I'm a sucker for a deployment).
I'll be talking about that deployment in the following posts.
Our first "long" stop was in Nasariyah where we made camp pretty much in the middle of a landfill. As we ate our MRE's, we had to keep close eye on them because if you looked a way for a second it was filled with flies. It was one of the most disgusting places I had seen up to that point. We slept in Humvees, it was hot, we had our MOPP gear on and had to cover our faces because those flies bit like you wouldn't believe. It was not pleasant, there were no crappers out here either. We took an old, empty ammo box...dug a hole with our e-tool and crapped there. That didn't help with the fly problem but tried to cover it up as best as we could. When we weren't on shift in our tent, we were either sleeping, standing guard for our tent or standing guard on the berm.
An Nasariyah was where Jessica Lynch was captured and this was the place we first came under fire. It was dark and I was sitting guard watch at our tent when something very large, very heavy skidded across the street, sparks flying and blew up. An infantry battalion was across the street from us and they got a couple casualties, something blew up over...looked like a Humvee. A lot of this later on seemed to be friendly fire but there was small arms fire coming from somewhere as well, it was crazy but exhilarating at the same time. It sounds sick and cliche but I was enjoying myself because this is why I joined...to this day I love deploying and cliche because your training really does kick in. It's instinctive to us on what to do in those situations, I don't know how long it lasted but it seemed like a couple hours. We aren't infantry and we didn't really have any infantry in our perimeter...we stood on the berms, we stood in defense of our "base". Every Marine is a rifleman...it was evident that moniker was true at this point. An Nasariyah was the critical point to keep since it was a huge logistical problem if we lost the bridge in this town. Those Marines and Soldiers that were ahead of us on their way to Baghdad needed supplies to keep them on the move.
I don't remember how long we were in Nasariyah, something like 1 or 2 weeks. I remember we had some 8th Comm guys with us (they carry the satellite that gives us connection with our computers). At night, there are no lights...light discipline is a huge thing. A small light stands out in that dark sky. With that said, helo pilots and the like use night vision. One of the 8th comm guys comes out of his tent and takes a flash photo as the helo is taking off. I honestly think if a couple of us weren't in view there, the Gunny that came over would have severely beaten that guy for taking a flash photo of the helo. To explain it a little better...if you are wearing night vision goggles and someone shines a light at you...it's going to temporarily blind you. You don't want a helo pilot blind.
I don't remember if this happened before or after Nasariyah but I remember we were in a convoy going to a new location and we had had no time to clean our weapons. So, I was cleaning my weapon in the vehicle when we get a message over the radio that mortar or something was incoming to our location. We had to stop the vehicles, get out and get down right now. I had my entire weapon apart with it's many small parts. This sucked badly but was able to get all the parts in my pockets or anywhere I could, crazy times.
Our next long stop was at an abandoned Iraqi base (I think it was Diwaniyah but I can't remember, started with a D I think). We stayed here for quite awhile and the beginnings of the war were pretty much winding down (believe the Saddam statue was brought down as we were here) and there were no more worries from the Iraqi army because they were pretty much completely destroyed or deserted. Terror cells hadn't really started so there were no worries from mortar attacks or IEDS or the like. We had many local Iraqis come up to the fences and we gave them water, food and candy. To show that we were really done with this phase of the war...Aaron Zimmerman celebrated by streaking and sliding on the mud in our base in front of all the leadership...yes, I said streaking (nude running for those of you with virgin minds). It was a good time, we finally got to take off our top part of the MOPP suit. We got to check out the abandoned Iraqi base and even took a trip to Babylon and went through the museum.
At this point, we hadn't showered in probably about 3 months. We hadn't talked to our loved ones on the phone or internet (there wasn't any at that time in Iraq), letters were the only communication. The phone we eventually got to use was an old field phone, used like radio wire to connect to the network and we had to wind it to get power pretty much...it's crazy how cozy Iraq is today compared to when we first went.
We started heading back now and stopped in a semi-hard base that actually had crappers!! And temporary showers (I still didn't take one, had to live up to my nickname of Dirty right?). The crappers were open so everyone just kinda sat there watching eachother take a dump. At night, the lower ranking personnel (hahaha, glad I went as a Sergeant!) had to dump diesel fuel into the barrels of crap and light them on fire (yes, that's how you cleaned them out pretty much). This was our last stop that I can remember before we got back to Kuwait, it was awesome to be back and we felt like we accomplished so much and this began another generation of war veterans. I miss those times, I miss those people I was with, the experience was priceless.
I'm hoping to add some photos if I can find them, will have to scan them though. We spent a little more time in Kuwait, got on the LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and went back to the boat. Our experience and training wasn't done though. We worked on the ship and did MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) every day pretty much on the way back. As we got back, we were greeted with joy and it was a great day. Was nice just to have some time off...while I was on leave for 30 days...I volunteered to go back to Iraq (man, I'm a sucker for a deployment).
I'll be talking about that deployment in the following posts.
Intermission - my ankle
Just wanted to add a small blurb about my ankle problems. I sprained the back ligament that connects the heel and fibula in late August. It's been very slow healing and I was only about 75% mid November. So, decided to go for a short "fun run" with the Marines to celebrate our birthday. I seemed to overcompensate with my one ankle still hurting (I wrapped it) and sprained my OTHER ankle. So, I go back to the doc yesterday (17 Nov) and have it evaluated. She refers me to the on base physical therapist and believes I have some sort of stability issues. So, last night as I am walking I sprain a different ligament in the ankle I sprained in late August...yes, this is getting ridiculous. So, sitting at home now with both ankles taped, elevated and trying to ice every few hours.
The LONG wait in Kuwait
Ok, so it wasn't THAT long of a wait but it felt like it. To be honest, I don't even remember how long we were in Kuwait as the U.S. military performed feint exercises against the Iraqi border. We were at 2 bases (or more like staging areas) before we staged on the Kuwaiti/Iraqi border.
Three memories that stand out in my mind when we moved bases to be closer to the whole of RCT-2. 1) This was the first time I got "the sickness" where my equilibrium was messed up. Woke up one morning, tried to stand up and fell flat on my face (they told me I was dehydrated but I never get dehydrated and this crap happened to me about the same amount of time in to my next deployment to the middle east). 2) Aaron Zimmerman when he got up, grabbed his gas mask and rifle and ran to the crapper without pants (barely made it, lol!) and 3) General Mattis as he gave a speech to all of us and said something to the effect of how we controlled the airways already (we hadn't even crossed the border yet) and then a couple fighters flew overhead as he was saying it.
Well, it was time...we were going to stage next to the border. I remember quite a few Kuwaiti's giving us salutes and waving as we left. The first night I remember seeing a multitude of Patriot missiles flying overhead to intercept SCUD missiles and I don't know how many times we had to put our gas masks on (I was happy for the practice but smokeless tobacco and gas masks aren't a good combo...). I think by this point we were strictly on MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and the hot meals were done, hadn't had a shower either since leaving the ship that I can recall. Didn't end up getting a shower for another month or two. That's why baby wipes, beef jerky, gum and the many things you see that are good to send to troops were so huge. Not so much today with their huge PX's (Post Exchange stores) and running water for showers everyday. It's cozy nowadays.
Anyway, I digress, when we finally stopped the feint exercises and went into Iraq it was exciting...it was a little scary, mostly exciting. I think I MEF (Marines) and V Corps (Army) were the first units in and were going directly to Baghdad, we were a little behind them and would hold key points to defend logistical routes.
Life in Iraq is next...
Three memories that stand out in my mind when we moved bases to be closer to the whole of RCT-2. 1) This was the first time I got "the sickness" where my equilibrium was messed up. Woke up one morning, tried to stand up and fell flat on my face (they told me I was dehydrated but I never get dehydrated and this crap happened to me about the same amount of time in to my next deployment to the middle east). 2) Aaron Zimmerman when he got up, grabbed his gas mask and rifle and ran to the crapper without pants (barely made it, lol!) and 3) General Mattis as he gave a speech to all of us and said something to the effect of how we controlled the airways already (we hadn't even crossed the border yet) and then a couple fighters flew overhead as he was saying it.
Well, it was time...we were going to stage next to the border. I remember quite a few Kuwaiti's giving us salutes and waving as we left. The first night I remember seeing a multitude of Patriot missiles flying overhead to intercept SCUD missiles and I don't know how many times we had to put our gas masks on (I was happy for the practice but smokeless tobacco and gas masks aren't a good combo...). I think by this point we were strictly on MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and the hot meals were done, hadn't had a shower either since leaving the ship that I can recall. Didn't end up getting a shower for another month or two. That's why baby wipes, beef jerky, gum and the many things you see that are good to send to troops were so huge. Not so much today with their huge PX's (Post Exchange stores) and running water for showers everyday. It's cozy nowadays.
Anyway, I digress, when we finally stopped the feint exercises and went into Iraq it was exciting...it was a little scary, mostly exciting. I think I MEF (Marines) and V Corps (Army) were the first units in and were going directly to Baghdad, we were a little behind them and would hold key points to defend logistical routes.
Life in Iraq is next...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The beginning of the Iraq War
It was crazy how this all started, 9/11 happened when I was in England...I thought it was a movie as it happened around lunchtime there. That's where this story begins, where after 9/11 deployments took a whole new meaning. They weren't the med floats most of us Marines know from before 2001. A deployment on ship to the mediterranean was more of a vacation then real work it seemed.
In July of 2002 I arrived at Camp LeJeune, NC...one of two very large Marine bases where most of the deployed come from. When I first arrived, there really wasn't much on the mind as far as going to war. This might seem pretty dumb but want to know why I volunteered to go on a MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit)? Because my boss had just told me I would have to start giving a weekly brief to the CO (Commanding Officer) of my unit on Iraq. I figured I'd rather ride on a boat than do that. Little did I know...volunteering for this MEU would lead me to be one of the first units to enter Iraq, our MEU became RCT-2 (Regimental Combat Team 2). We did a lot of the work-up before we even knew we were going to Iraq...out in the field so much, cold as hell during the winter season in NC...not to mention, Amy was very pregnant with Ryan.
The day we chopped to the MEU...we were told we were leaving the MEU and becoming the RCT-2 going to Iraq and departing in January. Ryan was less than a month old when I left, it was tough but it was also quite exciting (little did I know, I would learn to love deploying and still do to this day). We left for the Gulf on the USS Bataan. We trained hard, barely slept and worried about what was in store. We watched the Superbowl (Tampa Bay destroyed Oakland) and wondered when the time would come that we would go into the desert. We watched Colin Powel on TV and the intel that showed Iraq was carrying WMD's, we trained on using our gas masks. I don't think I can explain how unnerving it is to train with your gas masks knowing that...THIS TIME...it might be different and you might actually NEED this thing to save your life. YOU NEED TO GET THIS ON IN 9 SECONDS! It wasn't a good feeling, it scared the crap out of me...I wouldn't let it show though, I wanted to be strong, I needed to be strong, I reveled in the thought I could overcome this and know I accomplished something.
I was never stronger than I was during this deployment, we had a 6'9'' OIC (Officer in Charge) Reconnaissance Marine and a black belt instructor senior enlisted GySgt. We trained harder than most, we wore our gear (flak jackets, helmets, web gear, etc) all the time. It became a second skin, not to mention the MOPP gear as well to protect us from chem, biological weapons. It might have sucked at the time but we were ready for just about anything.
We were in the Gulf for awhile and I can't remember exactly how long it was but when we finally got the word we would be going into Kuwait...it was hectic, we rode the LCAC onto the beach...none of our lives would be the same and the war was about to begin.
To be continued...
In July of 2002 I arrived at Camp LeJeune, NC...one of two very large Marine bases where most of the deployed come from. When I first arrived, there really wasn't much on the mind as far as going to war. This might seem pretty dumb but want to know why I volunteered to go on a MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit)? Because my boss had just told me I would have to start giving a weekly brief to the CO (Commanding Officer) of my unit on Iraq. I figured I'd rather ride on a boat than do that. Little did I know...volunteering for this MEU would lead me to be one of the first units to enter Iraq, our MEU became RCT-2 (Regimental Combat Team 2). We did a lot of the work-up before we even knew we were going to Iraq...out in the field so much, cold as hell during the winter season in NC...not to mention, Amy was very pregnant with Ryan.
The day we chopped to the MEU...we were told we were leaving the MEU and becoming the RCT-2 going to Iraq and departing in January. Ryan was less than a month old when I left, it was tough but it was also quite exciting (little did I know, I would learn to love deploying and still do to this day). We left for the Gulf on the USS Bataan. We trained hard, barely slept and worried about what was in store. We watched the Superbowl (Tampa Bay destroyed Oakland) and wondered when the time would come that we would go into the desert. We watched Colin Powel on TV and the intel that showed Iraq was carrying WMD's, we trained on using our gas masks. I don't think I can explain how unnerving it is to train with your gas masks knowing that...THIS TIME...it might be different and you might actually NEED this thing to save your life. YOU NEED TO GET THIS ON IN 9 SECONDS! It wasn't a good feeling, it scared the crap out of me...I wouldn't let it show though, I wanted to be strong, I needed to be strong, I reveled in the thought I could overcome this and know I accomplished something.
I was never stronger than I was during this deployment, we had a 6'9'' OIC (Officer in Charge) Reconnaissance Marine and a black belt instructor senior enlisted GySgt. We trained harder than most, we wore our gear (flak jackets, helmets, web gear, etc) all the time. It became a second skin, not to mention the MOPP gear as well to protect us from chem, biological weapons. It might have sucked at the time but we were ready for just about anything.
We were in the Gulf for awhile and I can't remember exactly how long it was but when we finally got the word we would be going into Kuwait...it was hectic, we rode the LCAC onto the beach...none of our lives would be the same and the war was about to begin.
To be continued...
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