Boot Camp: I stood on the parade deck hearing the word "dismissed", and felt free. I'd just finished Marine Corps boot camp, and was overjoyed to be standing there watching my parents walk over to me. Looking back, the predominate memory I have of boot camp is when a drill instructor would have us stack three footlockers, on top of each other, to act as his podium. He'd set his campaign cover on the footlocker. We would get instruction on the topic of the week. All of these topics have long passed through my memory. The topics weren't what stuck with me, about these moments. These carefully selected times the drill instructor spoke as a human being. It was the only moment when we saw his sense of humor. As a teacher, it is import to push students to do the work better, improve students' skills, challenge them to demonstrate their best behavior, but I've never forgotten that valuing dignity, loyalty, honesty, and respect, in equal measure, are the long lasting effects of the student / teacher, recruit / drill instructor, mentee / mentor relationship.
The Extended Stay: I ended up getting a stress fracture at the end of phase 1, in boot camp. I had run a 21:30 three miles, as part of a PFT and once it was over, I was limping around a little bit. The captain saw me limping and he asked me what was wrong. "I'm fine, sir. I'm fine." He knew I wasn't and sat me with a group of recruits that were headed to sick-bay. When the injury had more or less healed, I was ready to get back to training and start counting "T-days" again. I tried to come back to fast, and developed another stress fracture. In sum total, I spent about nine months at MCRD San Diego.
Redstone Arsenal: My A-School was located at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. At the time, it was where marines were trained, in radar systems, for the HAWK missile system. The Marine Corps was the only service still using the HAWK system, and it would be phased out three years later. Being an Army base, there were the usual interservice rivalries, and the trash talk that went along with the basketball games.
I enjoyed Huntsville and the surrounding area. There were a number of great places to eat, I was an alley rat at the base bowling establishment, and there was always the mall. A number of friendships were made, and I've always had fond memories of the year that I spent there.
MCAS Yuma, AZ: I went to the fleet as a radar technician. I spent a short stint at Battalion Maintenance, and then was transfered to Delta company in 2nd Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion (2nd LAAM). If I recall correctly, the company was formed from personel in the other companies. There was the moniker "Delta Delinquents" that applied for oh so many reasons.
As the Marine Corps decided to go in other directions, for missile defense, the LAAM battalions were dissolved. 2nd LAAM was merged into Marine Air Control Squadron - 7 (MACS-7). I would spend the rest of my time in Arizona writing TAD (temporary duty) orders and processing travel claims. It was a time of transition, in the Marine Corps, across the board. Most of the administrative duties were consolidated, and the localized S-1 shops ceased to exist, for the most part. People are proud of where they've served and the long traditions of the units, from which they've come. It was an interesting time to see a little of the underbelly and the politics that takes place, during those transitions.
I made a number of friends, and my early twenties were a time of growth. I was trying to discover who I was and what I wanted to accomplish, in that decade of my life. I'm not sure I fully answered that question, but the experiences gave me work experience, and exposure to electronics. That heavily influenced future choices, and partially what led to me starting my academic career as a computer engineering major. I disliked the dessert, but there's no denying that there was no other situation where I would have been working on multi-million dollar radars at the age of twenty.
Japan: We did two trips to mainland Japan. The first was a short three month hop. It was my first "real" international travel. It was a joy to experience a different culture, eat the local cuisine, and ride the train.
Our second trip was for six months, and we had more time to do some longer weekend trips. Our section took a trip to Hiroshima. I was glad that I was able to experience Peace Park and the museum that is there. There are few memorials where I've experienced that feeling. We finished out the day with sushi and a baseball game. It was a trip with good people, and am glad that I was able to have the experience.
September 11, 2001: I had gotten up early that day so that I could get to the armory on time. I was scheduled for rifle qual that week. I remember the sun was up, and starting to dry the dew off the grass. We were back on the 300m line, and there began this strange feeling in the air. I was fairly close to the midline, and the rolling shack had a radio in it. My mind was on trying to qualify, but there was a buzz in the air. As time passed, a decision was made to cancel qualifying for that day. We turned in the unused ammo, and were in formation when the announcement was made. We all headed back to the shop.
The Officer-in-Charge had gathered everyone together, and we had a meeting. I don't particular remember anything about the meeting, beyond an individual stating that he was pissed. We were all secured back to our barracks; eyes glued to CNN. There was a lot of politicking as it became clear that the Bush administration was going to war. I wasn't privy to much, but it was also clear that commanders were lobbying for their units to deploy. Defending the nation was what we were trained to do, and not having an opportunity to be a part of that was unacceptable.
The Sandbox (It was HOT!): There was a point at which it became clear that some unit was going to deploy. It was simply a matter of which one. The unit I was with was next in the rotation, and the Wing commander chose to stick with that deployment plan. We were put on 24 hr notice, put all of our stuff in storage, and it became a waiting game. At 4:00am one morning, we got the call, and went to board a plane.
I remember very little about the trip. It was 120 degrees when we landed at PSAB in Saudi Arabia. It seems like the first order of business was customs, and then smallpox vaccinations. We stayed in tents, on a blacktop parking lot. We later moved into tents and then trailers where the majority of troops were. Two overwhelming impressions, from that time, were the British servicemembers were extremely funny and very helpful. The French wanted nothing to do with the war, and nothing to do with Americans.
That whole smallpox vaccination thing... We were given the vaccination, and there were a number of protocols in place to insure that it didn't spread. We were supposed to report ill responses to the vaccination within four or five days. I went through those four days and reported that I had no ill effects from the vaccine. Two days later, I was on night duty, and became quite ill. I went back to my rack, in the tent, on the black top parking lot, early that morning, and went to sleep. I woke up around 10am drenched in sweat. So, much for no ill effects.
One flight operations got underway, there was little discussion of politics anymore. The job was to give the aircrew as much information as possible, get them in the air safely, and get them back on the ground safely. The mission was what mattered. Suddenly personal and personel issues were put aside, and we simply needed to "get it done."
It was hot! However, as part of a flying squadron, our time in Saudi was short. Once the air war was over, and it didn't last long, we were sent home. Those who were part of the invasion, had much lengthier stays and much more threat to their lives. Time passed quickly, in the large scheme of things, and nine months later I was on terminal leave.