Update - 06 Aug 05
Sorry for the long delay in getting back on here.
Since the last update, we did indeed swap companies to Ramadi, so Gy Ellis and SSgt Walsh are back with us and SSgt Decamillo and Gy Roche are over in Ramadi for a few days. I went with the convoy up and back when the swap occurred; pretty interesting. Nothing like being the lead vehicle behind an M1A1 main battle tank on a convoy at 0430; that thing at night all blacked out screaming down the highway has GOT to scare the crap out of the bad guys. Believe me.
Been busy this week with local patrols and other operations. Got the team out to the machine gun range to just practice a bit. Firing machine guns and traveling with them safely is just not something we are all expert at yet. An M4 rifle or M9 pistol is easy: magazine in, round chambered, on or off safe, etc. But the care and feeding of a .50 cal, M240G, or M249 can be potentially more hazardous. I will include a couple of pictures from our time on the range.
Hmmmmm, other news… Believe it or not, the chow hall at TQ has steak and lobster once a month, so three of us made the 4.2 mile drive last night to attend. I had just finished up walking on a patrol with Top Radke through Civil Camp, felt like I was going to drop from heat exhaustion, drove the HUMMV with the two other Marines game for the trip, and was eating steak and fried shrimp an hour later. This is one strange deployment, my friends.
I have been negligent in keeping up with my Absurd Moment of the Day. Here is one from the other day. I was in the office of an Iraqi officer talking to he and some other officers about an upcoming operation. Behind the other officers, playing on DVD on a television, was an old World Wrestling Foundation match with Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper, volume off. Trust me, very distracting when trying to listen to an interpreter. Just s-t-r-a-n-g-e.
Just for S.A. (situational awareness), SSgt Walsh is still easily leading the team in terms of mail received. By a long shot. Exponentially. Both in letters and packages. Just thought I’d mention it.
Will write more soon. Again, let me know if you have any things you would like me to expound on.
P.S. Just learned from my father-in-law that he has half of Ocala, FL “tuned in” here. Guess I better get serious about updating this thing. Again, I invite suggestions for subject matter. There is only so many ways I can say, “I’m hot, the jundee did something off the wall again, and my back hurts”!
Since the last update, we did indeed swap companies to Ramadi, so Gy Ellis and SSgt Walsh are back with us and SSgt Decamillo and Gy Roche are over in Ramadi for a few days. I went with the convoy up and back when the swap occurred; pretty interesting. Nothing like being the lead vehicle behind an M1A1 main battle tank on a convoy at 0430; that thing at night all blacked out screaming down the highway has GOT to scare the crap out of the bad guys. Believe me.
Been busy this week with local patrols and other operations. Got the team out to the machine gun range to just practice a bit. Firing machine guns and traveling with them safely is just not something we are all expert at yet. An M4 rifle or M9 pistol is easy: magazine in, round chambered, on or off safe, etc. But the care and feeding of a .50 cal, M240G, or M249 can be potentially more hazardous. I will include a couple of pictures from our time on the range.
Hmmmmm, other news… Believe it or not, the chow hall at TQ has steak and lobster once a month, so three of us made the 4.2 mile drive last night to attend. I had just finished up walking on a patrol with Top Radke through Civil Camp, felt like I was going to drop from heat exhaustion, drove the HUMMV with the two other Marines game for the trip, and was eating steak and fried shrimp an hour later. This is one strange deployment, my friends.
I have been negligent in keeping up with my Absurd Moment of the Day. Here is one from the other day. I was in the office of an Iraqi officer talking to he and some other officers about an upcoming operation. Behind the other officers, playing on DVD on a television, was an old World Wrestling Foundation match with Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper, volume off. Trust me, very distracting when trying to listen to an interpreter. Just s-t-r-a-n-g-e.
Just for S.A. (situational awareness), SSgt Walsh is still easily leading the team in terms of mail received. By a long shot. Exponentially. Both in letters and packages. Just thought I’d mention it.
Will write more soon. Again, let me know if you have any things you would like me to expound on.
P.S. Just learned from my father-in-law that he has half of Ocala, FL “tuned in” here. Guess I better get serious about updating this thing. Again, I invite suggestions for subject matter. There is only so many ways I can say, “I’m hot, the jundee did something off the wall again, and my back hurts”!
posted by Sisyphus actual at 1:44 PM
6 Comments:
Major Erik,
you also have a growing group of followers from ARNG 1/110th.Thanks again for the awesome pictures & your wonderful stories.
God Bless&Semper Fi
I've also turned some folks onto your blog, possibly including some older (don't worry) Boy Scouts here in Jersey. What I did was send the link to the Scout Master and left it up to him to forward. I think this is a wonderful way to stay connected in a real way, outside of the news networks. The news makes me cry. This makes me laugh. By the way, the pictures are really terrific.
Take care, and stay close to those M1A1's.
A fan here in Tennessee too. I am a parent of a Young Marine and a Soldier's Angel. I have passed the link around to my email buddies. Love the great pics! Keep it up.
May God bless and keep you safe.
The packages are meant to have goodies for you guys too. Just drop me a line to let me know what you'd like in the way of goodies and bartarables and the family will work on it....You all have a huge support network here in Nottingham and eastern Pennsylvania. I can't tell all the well wishers what to send. Let me know what kinds of things you WANT and need. (Emphasis on Want). Thanks and keep up the good work. Be safe.
What is TQ?
Major- Would it be possible to include a glossary of pertinent
military terms/ abbreviations/ current slang, etc.
This would help to make this already excellent info source even better.
Thank you.
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