Second Deployment - The Middle and End

As I had stated in the last part of my post, I was going to be prepared for this deployment. Man, it was great to have my own team and guys to this day I still love.

As odd as it is...we flew over in a plane even though we were a "MEU" and should have been on ships (I alluded to this earlier). But, this wasn't a huge deal although it was extremely hot on those planes especially wearing our gear and I think we even had our weapons with us. Just a little odd bunch of Marines on a commercial plane with our gear and the like.

I can't remember a whole lot about Kuwait except that I just can't believe people can live in that environment, it's inhospitable.

Our command element was put in place (as we all were for the time being) at FOB Kalsu (I would later come back to this base in my 3rd deployment to Iraq). It's a little south of Baghdad and I want to say maybe east of Iskandariyah. It did seem like we were there too long instead of being pushed up with 2/2 (2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines) Infantry Battalion in Mahmudiyah. As always, when you get bored Marines altogether...bad things happen. I was messing around with our Gunny and grabbed his knife from the sheath...he reached down and instead of grabbing my hand he enclosed his hand on the blade and I took it out of his grip. Left him with a huge gash in his palm and he had to get a bunch of stitches...my team and I were on a convoy to a new base within the day.

As we arrived in Mahmudiyah to take over from one of the west coast MEU team it was clear there wasn't a whole lot to the base. We had the normal things like showers, chowhall, haji mart (local Iraqi selling goods), MWR tent. But, just because we had those things didn't necessarily mean they were open all the time but hey...I loved living this way, it always excited me.

We lived and worked in a tiny shack away from a lot of the command things but close to the chowhall, computer tent and heads. As we first arrived, as was custom with my team, Frese went out to learn about the base and make contacts with people (he was my Assistant Team Leader and our people person). He never ceased to amaze me the people he would get in good with to help us out later on (fine example was with the supply chief who gave us brand new sunglasses). We worked with 2/2 for only a month or two and that part of the deployment is hard to remember (except the Commanding Officer coming to me and telling me my guys weren't wearing all the body armor gear they were supposed to be...).

A reserve infantry battalion out of Chicago, 2/24 (2nd battalion, 24th Marines) came to relieve 2/2. We were a little worried about having a reserve unit there with us, you have these pre-conceived notions about reservists that they are fat and lazy and not "real Marines". I tell you what, I've never worked with a better group of professionals in my life. A lot of them had done active time but what really made this group more professional and mature than most Marines is you would have Corporals who were maybe 35 years old and worked as Sheriffs or Deputy Sheriffs back home. So, they had the experience, the maturity, just the "right stuff" to be successful in what they did in the battlefield.

We didn't get hit much by indirect fire on Mahmudiyah, I think the terrorists in that area were just stupid really. They couldn't hit crap even though we were right there in the city pretty much. The reserve unit there decided to take a couple other towns where units had tried but failed continuously. Those towns were Lutifiyah and Yusifiyah, I believe it was Fox company that went to Yusifiyah and we weren't far behind to provide support. We spent a little time there at first only with our Humvee and a tarp as cover. They mortared us multiple times daily and these guys were very good. I know as we were there the first day or so an Iraqi police (maybe military) was hit as well as a Marine. They had to be medevac'd out. Not sure how much time we spent there the first day but it wasn't very fun.

As Fallujah 2 was about to start up we went back out to Yusifiyah, it was in November of 2004 and we celebrated the Marine Corps birthday ball out there. Still got mortared some but wasn't nearly as bad. We ate steak and crab legs for the birthday ball even though we were in a craphole of a place, they did that for us. As we were out there, a long firefight took place and some of guys acted as spotters for the snipers. I think we ended up spending a couple weeks out there or maybe a week, it went by pretty fast.

I spent the rest of the time back in Mahmudiyah and let me tell you about Iraqi winters...it's not warm. We'd wake up in the morning and our bottles of water outside would be partially frozen, we'd have to sit in sleeping bags while working because the heaters wouldn't work. It was much colder than many might think.

I loved this deployment but there were obviously some things that weren't so hot. I remember they closed the chowhall down on Thanksgiving so I had a Turkey MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) to celebrate. A lot of Marines got killed, the place wasn't called the "Triangle of Death" for kicks. We were all there during some of the most important holidays that families get together for.

I do miss the guys I was with, I don't get to see them very often if at all anymore. I'm glad some of them are still in the Marines so I have a better chance of running into them again.

We came back in February 2005, worked out well we went with the MEU instead of with Radbn since we would have been there for a year. That deployment prepared me for leadership more than I ever knew it would and it makes me yearn for more leadership roles.

That was also the deployment Amy became a born again Christian, I resented her at the time for it and didn't want to have anything to do with it. I'm glad God gave me another chance though and she helped lead me to the Lord. Praise God.

Very busy

So, after that last post I stopped drinking. I found my faults in that verse and have really come to think drinking alcohol is wrong. I have this new craving and eagerness to get into God's word. To have a good testimony and live more for Him. I've been alcohol free for probably 2 months or a little short of it. I don't plan on going back and feel like I have more energy, remembering more and more every day and can get my thoughts across to people in a more professional manner.

This time, I hope I really am ready to start this blog back up.

Drinking

I have still yet to find a verse in the Bible that forbids drinking alcohol. In fact, this one really worries me (it basically says the deacon should only drink a little...). It's hard to misinterpret this because if first says the bishop will give into no wine (does not drink) and deacon into much wine (allowed to drink some).

1 Timothy 3

1This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

3Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

4One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

6Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

7Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

8Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

9Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

10And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.

11Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.

12Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

13For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.


And of course getting drunk is most definitely mentioned in the Bible is not allowed. So, I've been convicted with drinking is the main point. Sometimes I will have one with dinner but in the last few months I have barely drank anything. And I don't even remember the last time I was drunk. I realize that most fundamental Baptist would rather leave the temptation completely out of their home and I tend to agree with that mentality because since I've been saved I have tripped up, I have gotten a little tipsy and it's because the alcohol is in the house...but that was long ago. I have shown restraint in that aspect and now show restraint this way by just not buying it. I can't say in the future I won't have a beer with dinner or something but I don't want to be controlled by this anymore, I don't want to be controlled by anything of the world any longer and will try my best to do just that.

I plan to start up the deployment posts soon but need to get back on track of where I left off and what I wanted to say.

Take care.

The Blessing of Life

Just wanted to take a small break from the deployments posts to talk about blessings of life. Some of you might not call them blessings, they might be "fruit of your labor" or just plain old "hard work" or maybe even how you were raised reflect your ideas on why you have these things in your life. Let me perfectly honest with you, everything you have...every millisecond of your life, all your children, all your money, your car, your house...God allowed you to have those things. You wasn't your hard work that got you there, it wasn't spending 20 hours a day at the office (that's another issue for another time)...it was ALL God, you can't take any credit for it.

These three, blessings:


Yes, even this hat is a blessing:

Second deployment - The beginning

Ahh, so I finally arrive home and we are greeted impressively by those that had to stay back and our families. It was awesome that they did everything for us so we could just go home to our families, I always hated how the Army would make the soldiers march into a gymnasium or something and basically sit there waiting to see their families. We got off the bus, a Gunny took our rifles from us and let us go hug our loved ones. I think we got a couple days off then went in for a day or two and they let us go on leave...I believe I took 30 days or so. Went up to New York and about a week into my leave...gotta call...

Turns out, the 24MEU needed some people to go back to Iraq...I volunteered. I was going to be a team leader and lead a 6 man team in Iraq where yet again I would gain new brothers that I will love forever.

I have to say, this was the best deployment I've ever been on...I had a great time. My 6 man team was Frese, Reyes, Kauffman (Bud), Sutton and Riley. We stood up (which means we trained in the states pretty much) for about a year. Things didn't start off that great though, the senior enlisted and I didn't get along...pretty thought he was a pompous ass and it didn't help I did something stupid the first couple weeks I was with the unit. Turns out, parking in front of a dumpster and getting the entire trash contract canceled for your unit really irritates people...who knew? Eh, learned my lesson...had to pull out all the trash and put it in a HUMVEE to bring to the landfill. Better than paperwork if you ask me.

My team and I went through a lot of crap but I always stood my ground and took as much blame as I could so that it didn't land on others on my team. It became painfully clear that I would have to provide cover for the entire deployment because the leadership was more about paperwork than actually using bad situations as an educational tool (like with the dumpster thing, a Gunny not in our unit did that to me and I appreciated it later on). I realize paperwork has it's moments and occasionally it needs to be exercised...lets not overdo it though eh? We all became very close and looked forward to the day that we would be with an infantry battalion instead of with our "head shed" and all the brass (officers). I actually had more issues with the higher enlisted in the group than the officers. I probably came off as pretty cocky though but I don't intentionally disrespect people, no matter their rank, the senior enlisted did this (with all this said, I ended up having a great relationship with him at the end).



We trained in the heat, we trained in the snow, we trained in the nasty wet mudhole of Camp LeJeune for a year...it was brutal but it was FUN! I gained a lot of great insight into planning and I learned a lot about leading Marines.

Before we ended up deploying, Sutton was yanked from my team and made team leader of the MEWSS team which really hurt our team in a communicator sense...luckily, Riley and Frese really stepped up...they saved my butt quite a few times. We gained Kniskern who was not happy about the change and it was tough to see him so beat up...I immediately made sure he felt welcome...to this day I still can remember how bad I felt seeing him so hurt. It was understandable though, he had spent a year with his team and was ripped away without warning to become a part of our team.



We had planned on taking the USS Saipan and we went for a few days to "test" out our work spaces and living spaces. Ship life was old to me by then...I think I slept 20 hours a day when we were on there (come on now, I have two kids at this point...sleep is precious). Ended up, we FLEW to Kuwait...what the heck...a MEU..flying? Stupid...

I was ready for this deployment, we had been planning what we'd bring and what we could actually run off of vehicle power. Yeah, that's right, I brought an electric cooler! Do you know how awesome 60 degree pepsi is compared to 110 degree pepsi? Oh man, it's so good.

More later...

An Addendum

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.

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.