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| LCpl Leos prepares for an early morning mission |
24 Oct
It is our last day of waiting for this
next mission and the mood is slowly shifting from relaxation to
business. Our next mission will leave us the most exposed to enemy
fire of any so far this deployment. Additionally, it will be a 3
a.m. rise and shine to complete communication checks and prepare to
move out at 5am. The young Marines don't have the same mood shift
that I go through. My driver, Lcpl Leos, is sitting next to me
playing Grand Theft Auto on his PSP. Sadly, this Marine received a
Red Cross message yesterday morning that his grandmother had passed
away. His family had requested that he be sent home but he informed
me that he wished to stay here, which I can completely understand.
Sometimes the best coping mechanism a Marine has with such news is
the band of brothers surrounding him and taking care of him. The way
in which fellow Marines manage to be sensitive and yet, still screw
with the Marine in need with an irreverent brand of sarcasm is a work
of art, and it is normally just what the Marine needs to continue
functioning proficiently out here.
26 Oct
Our 2nd mission is
complete, and what a long, painful mission it was. The 0300 rise and
shine was originally supposed to transition to a 0500 exit of
friendly lines, and a return to base no later than 1800. We knew it
was going to be a long day going in, but we had no idea how long it
would become. About two hours into our on-site work one of the heavy
equipment operators dumped his tram on it's side. Luckily he was not
injured, but it was a major setback which turned a 16 hour day into a
20 hour day. As with the first mission, the day was filled with
interesting sights, normally provided by the local Afghans. The
standing record of three on a motorbike was broken when I caught
sight of 4 on a bike shortly after 1400. Other than that monumental
achievement, the only noteworthy detail was once again the behavior,
performance, and professionalism of my Marines. My two gunners
remained in their turrets from the 0500 Oscar-Mike (on the move) to
the return to camp at 2300. 18 hours refusing to leave their guns
because they are that serious about their job. Marines like the ones
I am currently honored to be supervising are what I will miss most
when I retire. I doubt I will ever witness that type of drive and
dedication again in any other career path.
I currently have the Navy Corpsman
in my security vehicle. Naval Corpsmen, or “corpse-men” as our
President likes to refer to them, are the medics of the Marine Corps.
We have at least one on every mission and the current one is quite a
character. He can not only recite entire scenes of most movies, but
is quite proficient at applying these scenes to current conversations
in the vehicle. You can get a pretty decent impression of a guy when
you spend 18 hours with him in a vehicle, and I have to give our
“doc” the “Gunny Seal of Approval” so far. He seems pretty
good to go. He is from New York originally and was actually an EMT
in Spanish Harlem before trading that occupation in to become a
Corpsman. He has a pretty impressive tattoo on his forearm detailing
the outline of his state of New York with an outline of the twin
towers inside of the state. He is extremely patriotic and a staunch
conservative. As I stated before, he is “good to go,” as most
Corpsmen are.
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