Thanksgiving here was more of the same. You wouldn’t have known it was Thanksgiving if you didn’t go to the chow hall. That is rather odd because while Eric and I were eating, right in the middle there was a rather loud explosion. Imagine being one of the few individuals that doesn’t have a firearm and everyone around you is a little trigger happy with theirs. When a loud explosion occurs and it is not expected, many Marines go for their weapon and begin to load the magazine. This reaffirms that the military engrains procedures and training into the heads of these Marines and oddly makes me feel good about it. As it turns out there was a rather large controlled detonation that occurred right as everyone was sitting down to eat the Thanksgiving meal. Typically we are warned about such events right before they happen so that we can maintain some semblance of calm and professionalism but that was not the case on Thanksgiving. We got the e-mail that it was going to happen about an hour afterwards. There is nothing like having things like this to remind you where you are.
Here are the details of a controlled det. A controlled detonation is when they take an unexploded ordinance (UXO) and they safely blow it up hence the phrase controlled det. Most times when EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) finds an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) that they can safely transport back to the base, they will do so because we want to run the controlled det to see how big of an explosion these IEDs are causing. Research is always occurring. This is also a great way to remind anyone around us or those that are on base and shouldn’t be, that we are still here and they may want to think twice about doing anything stupid.
We fire rockets that are called HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) and it is phenomenal. If you wait until you hear it, then all you see is the trail of smoke from where it flew up. If you are lucky enough to catch sight of it when it is fired, you are truly in awe of it. It is almost like seeing and hearing an F-22 flyover head. When they are firing one, they will probably fire more. I have seen dozens fired since I have been here and I am still like a kid in a candy store when it happens. Shortly after that I have to make myself remember that the result of the HIMAR is tragic and shouldn’t be celebrated but it is captivating nevertheless. 9 times out of 10 if you are reading about casualties from a rocket attack, it was a HIMAR.
There are firing ranges everywhere at Leatherneck and they are used constantly. Marines here have itchy trigger fingers and they must get a work out either for training or in combat, either will do. Gunfire from an M-16 (the rifle that all junior Marines carry) and an M-5 (the pistol that Marines carry) is rather boring and hardly noticed. When the big guns are being shot, everyone knows. I can actually pick out the differences in gunfire from a .50 caliber to a 40 mm to a 20 mm. Note: faster sounds and fire equal smaller round. All of these weapons can be put on the vehicles that the Marines drive in convoys and anywhere outside the wire. I have yet to hear a .762 mm or a 1.05 mm but these are more commonly on Air Force Gun Ships (1.05 mm) and Helicopters (.762 mm) and I would be shocked if I ever got to hear it. It doesn’t mean that I can’t hope.
Since I have been in Afghanistan, we have experienced the bloodiest months of the war here. I am extremely thankful for what I am about to say but it is also odd. I don’t feel like I am in a warzone. I got to experience a rocket attack on my first night in Afghanistan and that has been it and it wasn’t here at Leatherneck. To read the newspapers and see that the war is getting worse doesn’t seem like reality here at Leatherneck. It does seem like reality for those units that I support at the outlying FOBs (forward operating bases) because they are taking the brunt of the attacks. I am glad that I haven’t had to experience some of those things but it is not what I expected. Reality definitely sets in at the ramp ceremonies and visits to the medical center here. Those are stories for another day though.
So that is what I am thankful for this year. My family, my friends and each one of the devil dogs out here that is ready and willing to make sacrifices that seem foreign to all too many.
Another month has come and gone which leaves only one more month to get through before I get to go home.
Thanks again for your candid and descriptive writing! What you wrote today is particularly significant for me, personally. I have only the deepest admiration for the men and women of our armed services. They have voluntarily put themselves into positions of being on the battlefields of the world. They are keeping us safe in America, by keeping the enemies of freedom away from our boarders. They are making it possible for millions around the globe to hope for a better future for themselves and their coming generations. They do this for little pay and without a promise of a better future for themselves and their own families.
ReplyDeleteEach time I am in the presence of a member of the uniformed military, I take the opportunity to say "thank you" to them. Whether they are regular enlistees or members of the National Guard, makes no difference to me. I hold these people in the highest regard.
Yesterday, while shopiing, a young man came up to me to say hello. He was a former student of mine. He has just returned from his third deployment to Afgan. He ssured me that it is rough, even in the best of conditions.
I also am grateful for the part that you (and others like you) are playing in the war zones over the globe. Our military cannot stand in the readiness that it must without the backup and assistance that is provided by the civilian powers that keep them supplied. YOU are also one of our heroes, and we can't wait to see you step off the plane in January!! Luv ya. Uncle Pep