My military service was during peacetime, in a non combat MOS. I never saw armed conflict. That being said, I have much respect for those who went before, and after me, WHO DID do the needful.
 
  There are some things I will never know. Hell, most civilians will never know either.
   What was Iraq like? Guys who were part of the invasion in 2003, that went back, how was it different? If you went back multiple times, was it better or worse? Did it depend on your AO? What was the Green Zone like vs outside it? Biggest threat you felt? How were the locals?

  What was Afghanistan like? How different were our bases depending on where in country they  were located? Kandahar vs Kabul vs Bagram? How were the locals? Biggest threats you felt directly affected you?

  Men who have done business in both places, what was THAT like? Comparisons? Differences?

 Much respect to our vets on this board. I look forward to your anecdotes.

ETA: I almost forgot. How did you feel when you got your orders to go?
 

Like you, I too was a peacetime soldier.  I was "combat support" as an MP.  My father on the other hand:

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I remember getting my first set of orders, I was an E2. They told us it was just a year long deployment. Then I saw the 545 days listed at the top and I was like “uhhh sarge?”

It gets easier each time you deploy and you get used to it. I did anyway. I loved each deployment, they were all different and all the same in some ways.

Afghanistan was better in my opinion.

In Germany during Viet Nam.

Walked in the Sergeant Majors office one day and told him I would go.

Told me to get the fuck out of his office and don't come back.

@JarheadPatriot,

Many things come to mind and I will try to answer as best as I can. I did Iraq twice.  The first was the invasion,  the second being 06-07.  The invasion deployment was a year long with 9 months in Baghdad at an early COP.  It is the best thing hands down I have ever done with clothes on and if I could do it again,  I would do it in a heartbeat.  Iraq was a varied place. To the south is the desert areas but around the Tigris are many swampy areas, so you see a mix of vegetation environments.  Baghdad Island as an example. The people were typical of Arabs but tolerable.  We did a lot of cool shit like exploring the Ziggurat outside of Talil airbase,  and just stomping Iraqis at will. The big difference was the ROE was let loose and they didn't want any part of that. Green zone has and always sucked.  Like the woke, fobbits turn everything to shit. When I returned in 2006, I went to Mosul.  But by then all the idiots E-8 through O-11 had ruined any chance of having fun. The missions were just dumb, there were salute zones and pt belts everywhere.  I'm proud of serving with my brothers and would do so again,  given the right Administration.  In 03 the biggest threats were snipers and some ieds. 06-07 was some snipers but more svbieds and occasional mortars. We worked with about every level of .gov at some point.  The only service we couldn't stand was the air force.  They were always pricks to us. Working with the Navy and USMC were no issues at all and no egos, which surprised me at first. We celebrated when we got our orders.  We knew what was coming and wanted the opportunity.  I got the chance to " carry America's faith and honor against her enemies ". I was very fortunate and grateful for what she has done for me.

Great photos.

Civilian tagging for stories.

Thanks for that.

I had orders like that, the origin of my user name.

The first Gulf War was more fun in retrospect.  I was a platoon leader (Army Engineer) and since we operated essentially autonomously I was pretty much free do do whatever I wanted as long as we accomplished our mission.

Baghdad sucked.  I was just another field grade cog in the CENTCOM machine spending 20 hour days making PowerPoint slides.

Spent 2004-2005, OIF II, based out of LSA Anconda.  Traveled to several FOB's and they all had something to offer, some good and some not so good.  I volunteered to back fill for a Unit that was already there.  I would do it again!!  That is what we do!

First deployment was to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. It was a combat deployment, I got shot at a whole bunch, was in a vehicle that was hit with a (small) IED and in patrols that got hit with a few IEDs. I shot at people, did helicopter raids on things. I was in a helicopter crash (again, pretty minor considering) and got shrapnel into my hand at one point. I climbed a lot of mountains. I was in what was called RC-East, so the mountains near Kabul, basically. We were out of Bagram (which is near Kabul) and routinely went out to smaller COPs and worked with the Afghan National Police, so we'd stay at police stations. I was 21 at the time, so while the physical stuff took a huge toll on me, I was really smart and just kept ignoring the pain and pushing through it. That's caused lifelong pain in my joints and back.

The land itself has a rugged beauty to it, and it would probably be nice if it weren't for all the people and the landmines. Mountains the size of the Alps, small mountain rivers, ragged forests. It's a neat place geographically.

Second deployment was to Kuwait and then Syria. That one was very much a "keep your armor and rifle near you, but for the love of God, don't get hurt here" deployment. I actively avoided combat then and let the locals and support fires do all the fighting. I stayed pretty far away from the actual fighting and always had a local bodyguard with me. In Syria, not Kuwait. In Kuwait I could go to the mall and out to restaurants and I didn't really worry about anything other than car accidents. Kuwait is hot and sucks and is miserable 90% of the time. Northern Syria was pretty alright other than all the destruction in built up areas. I left Syria in late March of 2017, just in time to see the SDF guys initiate their big operation that had been a few months in the making. That was really neat.

Getting the orders to Afghanistan was something I was trying to get to happen. I asked to go to the next unit deploying when I left my unit prior and they did not disappoint. I got to Ft. Bragg and was on a plane to Kyrgyzstan about 18 days later. Getting orders to the second deployment was expected, but I literally only got 3 days off from a year long CONUS TDY before those orders were effective. That kind of sucked.

Me109 or Bf109, beautiful aircraft

I did boot and infantry school at Benning in the last year of the seventies, and six in the NG. Nobody was shooting while I was in, except that little excursion in Grenada.

Friend of mine hung out for his 30 in the Guard, was the top kick for the Company, a Business owner, a State Senator, Married with two kids at home and got called up for Iraq.

Always wondered how that must’ve been. One day I’ll ask him.

I was in the air force in 68 when I got orders that had SEA printed in giant red letters.  I thought what the hell does the Air force have to do with the ocean.

Placeholder for when I can type on a keyboard instead of phone.

Iraq 2005 and multiple countries 2007.

Iraq during the surge was kinda the Wild West. Even after the surge at the worst of the “restrictive” ROE it was still more loose and fast than Afghanistan was at the same time. MUCH more loose and fast. I can’t speak for the whole army. I can say though the 82d Airborne was given very clear but very broad left and right limits and was 100% empowered to act with aggression. There Even as late as 2009.10 times out of 10 if the insurgent be they JAM or AQI didn’t get captured shot or fucked up w helicopters, it was because we couldn’t see them.

As a country, Afghanistan is absolutely breakthaking. It’s beautiful. Iraq not so much. Up in the norther part in Kurdistan it is, but the rest of Iraq is just kinda shitty desert farm land with some palm groves along the river. It’s a retarded level of hot that can’t be described, and in the winter and spring it rains biblically.

I went to Iraq twice for OIF. The first was to central/eastern iraq during the surge. There we fought primarily Shi’a militias. Most notably Jayesh Al Madhi (JAM or the Madhi Militia). Their weapon of choice was indirect fire and EFP IEDs and our job was to hunt down and destroy their IED and IDF cells. We did. Very successfully.

My second trip was to Anbar where we relieved the Marines for their withdrawal from the country. Those guys were Sunni and would use SVESTS and anti-armor grenades called an RKG3. Actually the Al Qaeda Iraq (AQI) training video for the RKG3 was shot on the east entrance to Al Qaim of them blowing up some USMC trucks. That tour we ended up getting flexed to secure the borders and destroy the smuggling networks that were providing various insurgencies with money and weapons they were smuggling in from Syria. Iagain, other units were bitching about having their hands tied, our guidance was to be aggressive and relentless, and our command was all about any action short of a war crime. Our AO stretched down into Sunni territory and up into Kurdistan. The Peshmerga were the best partner Force I’ve ever worked with. Very successful, and actually the best time I’ve had on a deployment. The Kurds as a whole are wonderful people and true warriors. Arabs not so much.

Shi’a Iraq and Sunni Iraq were two different places. Shi’a militants wouldn’t attack you when there were women and kids around. If the people were gone, hair stood up. Sunnis didn’t give a fuck. Everyone gets to be a martyr! On both tours one of the keys to success were being discriminatingly savage. Threats were met with an aggressive lethal response. Those lethal fires were very discriminating though and clearly sent the message that we were not there to kill civilians, but if you tried to fight us you would meet a swift savage demise. We also dismounted and walked a lot. Those behaviors greatly paid off with the local populace.

The third time I went to Iraq was after it had all been shut down and the Islamic State decided to start chopping everyone’s heads off so we started it back up. VERY different war in terms of US involvement, but I took nothing but pride in every single bomb I was a part of delivering. Every single one of those bombs  was f dedicated to the  Kurds I worked and fought with, and the Yazidis they are honor-bound to protect. I am sad that we couldn’t have killed IS faster than we did. That said, Inherent Resolve in the early days was a scorched earth campaign, and I was time and time again stunned by the mindblowing destructive power of the US war machine. I’d called for fire and air support before but in retrospect it was a fraction of what the US and NATO can unleash when it’s time to burn something off the face of the earth.

@smokycity - Moar about your father please.

@4v50  Here you go.  I’ve talked about him a few times here.  Sorry if this is a TL/DR for some.


My dad grew up in Pittsburgh, PA.  He graduated from Carnegie Technical College (now Carnegie-Mellon) with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1942.  He joined the ROTC while in college because the Army would buy the ROTC cadets lunch and paid for some of the classes at the time. This was apparently a big incentive during the depression. He thought (planned) he was going to be in the Army Reserve after graduation, until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and that changed everything.

His class graduated early, at the end of March 1942, because of the war and the Army wanted them.  He was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, 121st Combat Engineers.  From April to late September, he was at Ft. Meade and Ft. Belvoir.  At the time the 29th was a National Guard Division and the new officers were tasked with taking the unit to active duty.  My dad started out as a 2nd Lieutenant, platoon leader, and became the Executive Officer of his company by October.  In October 1942 they were deployed to England.  From October ’42 until June of 1944 they trained all over England, preparing for the invasion of the continent.  Prior to the invasion they were based in the Cornwall area, in a place called Padstow.  

They left on June 3rd or 4th and boarded the ships for France on June 5.  Dad said they got into their landing craft about 0300 on D-Day.  He stepped off his landing craft at 0705 on the line between sectors Dog Green and Dog White.  His company was assigned to clear the Vierville Draw, one of the few ways off Omaha Beach.   When they deployed my dad was still the EX-O.  He also was acting as the 3rd Platoon Leader because the officer in that position was in the hospital with an appendicitis and couldn’t deploy.  By the end of D-Day, my dad became the company commander after the current commander stepped on a landmine.

My dad stayed in the position through the end of the war.  Along the way they saw combat in St. Lo, Vier, and Brest, in France.  Then they moved to the Belgian and German border and zig-zagged back and forth along the border through Aachen, Julich, and into northern Germany, linking up with the Russians after crossing the Roer river.  They ended the war in and around Bremerhaven.  Along the way my dad earned the Silver and Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts and the rank of Captain (O-3).

After the war, he went home for a while and stayed in the reserves, working for a while at (Chance) Vought Aircraft in Connecticut. When the Army Air Corps became the US Air Force, they sent out requests for reserve officers to reactivate to assist with the transition.  Dad volunteered and thought he was going back as an Army Captain.  When he arrived for duty, he was greeted by a young Sergeant who addressed him as “Major.”  It was a surprise to him that he was recommissioned into the Air Force as an O-4.  Deciding this wasn’t a bad thing, he stayed in the Air Force after the transition.

During the Korean War he was stationed in Japan where he oversaw the construction of radar and radio listening stations to monitor the Chinese and Soviets.  When he returned to the US in 1953, he was stationed in San Francisco where he met my mother.  He retired in late 1964 as a Colonel (O-6), just before I was born.  He passed away in 2012 at 92 years of age.

Who told you it was "South East Asia"? Lol

Fucking outstanding! Thank you.

OIF III out of Baghdad for the most part.
12b combat engineer

spent the first month digging up weapons caches and blowing them up, super cool

spent the next 10 months doing route clearance 6 days a week. Anywhere from 4 hour to 12+ hours a trip.  Had a Buffalo and 4 m1114s in patrol.  Drove 5-10 miles an hour and looked for IEDs day and night. Found a lot and a lot found us.  It sucked, was there for the transition of traditional EID to EFPs.


last month was outside guard tower duty at ABu ghraib.

Afghanistan smells like moldy butt.

Thanks Smokycity!  The 29th was the blue/grey division and untested when they landed on D-Day.  They fought very well and became respected.  Joe Balkowski has a book on them that I read decades ago.

@demoMouse

Do you know if that was the one that hit the PTT Team in July of 2009? It killed the turret gunner.

Iraq 07-08. I had two years in the Army and was living the high life in Germany at the time. 4-2 SCR.

First half of tour was on a nice FOB in the green zone split with a combat outpost on Haifa St. This was a cav scout troop. Was relatively chill considering the fighting the guys we replaced went through. Our troop had one KIA and a few WIA from an EFP at the entrance to the green zone while returning for a chow run. The destroyed Stryker at the motor pool with the interior splattered in a friend's blood was a shock. Most of our time was spent patrolling the areas around Haifa St, KLE's, and guarding the COP. Lots of foot patrolling and interacting with locals.

Then we moved to FOB warhorse outside of Baqubah and split time at a combat outpost at an old media center. Lot of IEDS, made small arms contact a few times. We had one KIA and WIA from a HBIED. I was back at the FOB trying to catch a flight for mid-tour leave so wasn't there when it happened. I delayed my leave so I could at least go to the memorial at the FOB. After our KIA from the HBIED any unoccupied dwelling we would reduce with airstrikes. In the month of July our troop encountered 94% of the IEDS against US forces in Diyala province.

Tour was 15 months and like most things in combat, it was hours of incredible boredom and then seconds or minutes of absolute adrenaline. Glad I did it and glad I made it out uninjured. Our troop was roughly 80 men and we had 2 KIA and had 4 or 5 WIA. Many of our sister squadrons saw very heavy fighting had numerous KIA and WIA so I count myself lucky.

=

Your Dad was a great American, God bless him....

My dad was interviewed by Joe Balkoski on a few occasions. Several years ago, I found out Mr. Balkoski was was working on a book that would include the battle for Brest France.  I reached out to him and told him who my dad was.  I arranged for him to call my father.  It was also a way for me to get my dad to talk about his experiences beyond the few things he told me about as a kid.

My dad appears in a couple of Balkoski's books, From Beachhead to Brittany and From Brittany to the Reich.  He is pretty prominent in Chapter-7 "Brestgrad" of Beachhead to Brittany where Balkoski talks about the taking of Ft. Montbarey and the U-Boat pens outside of Brest.  It's where my dad earned his Silver Star.

@JAG2955

No idea. I would assume so, it was a solid hit on a Cougar and those things were pretty nasty. Our S2 showed us the unabridged AQI training video, and then the first time my platoon went out we drove straight through that gap because it was the only eastern route into the city. It was at the place on the east side of town where they made a huge cut in a hill to run the road level through it. You can't see anyone on that hilltop until they're looking over the edge when you're in it, and they'd stage up top, toss the grenades down, and then run down the backside of the hill away from the scene.

By the time we got there, the Marines had started dismounting a fireteam to walk up each side of the hill and clear it before driving the trucks through.

I spent 2yrs in Africa, 2yrs in Iraq and 4.5yrs in AFG. My time was divided between the Corps and contract work.

You didn’t miss anything. We’re all moving on with our lives.

Tagged to later post my thoughts and pictures as a submariner in the gulf during the 03 Iraq war.

I was recently at a football game where at one point they asked veterans to stand up for recognition.

I served honorably in the Army for four years, but I was about as far as combat as you can get.

I kept my ass in my seat and clapped louder than anyone else.

Never went to OIF
OEF depended on what year you were there, where you were in country,and what your job was, in my opinion.

If your only exposure to Afghanistan was the armored bus ride in from the airport on the day you arrived and the bus ride out on the day you left, you had a different experience than the guys who were outside the wire on a daily basis. If your primary complaints were that the DFAC ran out of crab legs on Friday nights, you had a different experience than the guys who were outside the wire daily while hundreds of miles from the flagpole. I'm not saying that fobbits weren't doing needful things,just that they had different experiences.

Bless you guys and those in your family for serving. It's a privilege to hang here in these forums with you.

I went over 4 times total.

02’ Afghanistan, 03’-04’ Iraq, 07’-08’ Iraq, ‘10 Afghanistan. I was in the 82nd Airborne for the 1&2 and the 101st for 3&4. I was an Infantryman for all of that.

If I can get a minute later on today, I’ll share a few thoughts.

I was in Iraq. 0311 Marines

I got in trouble for shooting an attacking dog.

My squad also got in trouble for not showing up to post on time after an 8 hour patrol turned into a 36+ hour ordeal when the COC told us halt our patrol to go do a hasty ambush, then to do security after an IED attack, followed by our extraction team getting stuck, followed by the recovery team getting stuck, which resulted in us walking ~30 kilometers back to the COP, where we then took post in cold wet clothes for 10 hours.
6 hours posts, but we had to wait for the extraction team to get back and rest to relieve us from post.

@demomouse
It may have been them. My buddy Matt and I were in our tiny COC at the provincial level. We called in the medevac for them. A few years later, I ran into the KIA's (don't want to post his name so it's not tied to the video) squad leader at SOI.

He was the only KIA that out PTT group took during the deployment. We had a few WIAs from the RKG3s, and a HME that they tried to employ in the same fashion. Had a lot more that didn't hurt anyone. They'd cut off the drogue chute to help hide them better, but it meant they often didn't orient themselves correctly. Iraqi Police wouldn't respond to the RKG3s, because they would report them as "flash bangs" thrown by the convoy, no matter how many fucking times we told them we don't do that.

They hit another PTT with a RKG3 a few miles from us, and it badly wounded the doc in vic 3. He kept his leg though. Two CAT tourniquets broke on his leg. The civilian police advisor in the backseat probably saved his life, and held the door closed the rest of the way into TQ. I think the tango took some shrapnel from the explosion, he was REEEAALLLY close. There's a vid of that one, too.  Those guys were in Humvees.

So who cares what a Submariner who was safe in his tube has to say about going to war? That's the point, to give the perspective of someone that was relatively safe from direct harm and how you can take for granted those that you're supporting from afar. I was a nuke in the engine room, so my job was pretty far removed from the war making capabilities of the boat. We just had to push. Except I was also the "battle stations geo plotter" and "missile strike party geo plotter." This meant that when we were going to do some shit, I was in Control helping to track and keep an eye on all the contacts and ship's position and make sure we were "in our lane."

I got to see and do some really cool shit. As a nuke, though, we only had a secret clearance, and sometimes we did things where I wasn't allowed in Control without signing special documentation (and there were still areas curtained off that I couldn't see), and as far as I can tell, some of those things are still classified. I keep an eye on the ship's logs that get posted publicly hoping one day to see some things declassified so I can tell stories about them.

Anyway, for missile launches, they would sometimes station the missile strike party many hours in advance, sometimes up to twelve. I remember being woken up for missile strike once and thinking "Ugh, this fucking blows!" because 99% of my job on the missile strike party happened 10 seconds before a bird flew. So, I spent many hours sitting on the floor in control in self pity. Of course, I was showered and well fed the whole time.

That's the point of taking for granted those on the front lines when you're in support under the sea. I reflect back now and think about how immature I was wallowing in self pity and being mad that I had to get out of my rack to support those on the front lines. It's easy to think only inside your bubble in those circumstances. "Going to war" was relatively easy for me. Yes, we were submerged for >90 days at one point, down to chicken nuggies and rice, with trash piling up in the engineroom, but I didn't have to face the enemy eye to eye. I don't have to live with memories of directly killing people, and my friends being killed, and being fired upon by the enemy.


I did begin to realize some of this when we pulled into Rota Spain for reload and resupply, and at the same time, some of the initial ground forces (I cannot, for the life of me, remember what units they said they were with) were also there cleaning their gear, R&R, resupply, etc. Here's some photos I took pulling in;
















When we got off the boat, we were immediately swarmed by Marines. They were completely enamored with us. Things like "I can't believe you guys do this shit!" "Can we get a tour?" "You have huge balls!" Etc etc etc,. I was personally taken aback because, as noted in my story above, there was nothing ballsy or heroic about what we did from my perspective. But these Marines, the guys who were on the front lines, saw it differently. As they told us what they had been through, that's when I started realizing that I needed to stop being a bitch about complaining in my "safe space."

We did get as many of those guys on the boat for a tour as we could, and they absolutely loved it.

We also helped them clean their gear. All of their vehicles and such were on the pier and we helped hose them down with fresh water to get the sea water off of them and we helped load their stores since we're expert stores loaders.

There was no rivalry whatsoever.

At the E-club later that night, and over the next couple days, it was nothing but cheer and merriment. They bought rounds for us, we bought rounds for them, and we shared stories of our slice of the war. Again, we were enamored with them because of what they did, but they reciprocated with admiration for us. It was fucking awesome and one of the best times I had not only in the Navy, but in my life.

I guess war will do that, huh?


Anyway, one cool thing we did get to do after that, was to recover a seal team. I don't know where we were recovering them from or what they were doing, but how we recovered them was Tom Clancy shit which I can talk about. We had to get close to shore, while submerged at periscope depth, and wait for the Seals to come out in some sort of inflatable craft. They had a line tied between them, and we hooked it with our periscope and pulled them further out to sea where we did a quick blow to surface, pop the hatch, and get them their gear below before diving deep and hauling ass. That was cool as shit.

I learned that similar to how the machinery in the engine room has preventative maintenance schedules, Navy Seals must work out at specified intervals to keep their qualifications. I don't know the details, I just remember it being a big deal when they were on board because there is very little space to work out on a 688i submarine. In fact, the only space is in the engine room. To go to the engine room, you have to have a TLD (monitors your dose from the reactor), and none of these guys were qualified to have a TLD, etc. I was the one in charge of TLDs on the boat, and it created a nightmare for me. Eventually the skipper ordered that they be issued TLDs so that they could work out, which was good because he had the authority to circumvent the procedures, but my biggest concerns came to fruition. Because they had no training on how to wear TLDs or their care, we would find them in the engine room 1) without them, 2) with them hanging on a hook nearby 3) sharing one 4) 3 of them lost to the bilge. It was an admin nightmare, but they got to work out.

They also happened to be on board during our "halfway night." Traditionally, in the Navy (at least on Subs), at the halfway point of a deployment, you have a big celebration and it includes the enlisted taking over the ship and usually a drag queen show. Because, you know, it's not gay when you're underway.

The seals were more excited than we were to join in on the fun. In this photo are some seals dressed as women and yours truly in the middle of the photo (seated, looking at seals, in poopysuit) as "XO of the day" in the wardroom.







It definitely helped take all of our minds off everything. It was a lot of fun.

ETA: We did received orders at one point to hunt and sink an Al-Qaeda surface ship suspected of carrying drugs (a source of income). You want to have a giant shot of morale into a Submarine crew? Give it orders to torpedo someone. Something that hasn't been done since WW2. We were all amped up for it. We were at battle stations when we found it and therefore I was in Control. The problem was, the surface Navy has already captured it. What a let down. I said to the Skipper, "Sir, I think we can shoot it out from under them." He just grinned and stood down battle stations. Here's what the new said about it, left cold since CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/19/alqaeda.drugbust/index.html


That's this Submariners "war story."

Rock on. Was a San Diego submariner, fwd ET guy 02-07. Didn't get to do much cool in support of Iraq/Afghanistan but did join the reserves after leaving active duty and ended up going to Kabul, Afghanistan for a year for a year 2011-12.
First getting the orders was nerve racking. What the hell is a electronics geek going to do in Afghanistan? Consulted with old friends who joined the Army and they loved it. That eased a bunch of anxiety about going.
Once there, ended up loving it. Kind of wish I would've went a different route and joined the Army out of HS instead of going submarines. It was a rush, and I was generally happier being outside and doing more physical work than being underway. Tried to extend out there for a year but at the time they were telling people no.
It was a boring job out there, was working as a commo basically. Hooked up with a AF and Army 04s as well as a Korean Army captain and terp, and went out with them 1 or 2 times a week as their driver security guy all throughout Kabul to meet with the Afghan Army Colonels and Generals to "train, mentor and advise" (give them money mostly) and screw off and go to different bases to find different food to eat.
Going out we were all geared up in full battle rattle ready to kick ass but fortunately we never found trouble. Couple attacks while out in town, and while on base a suicide bomber blew himself up right outside my office on the other side of the fence but nothing was ever directed at me personally.
Anyways, probably not that interesting to those who actually were out there kicking down doors. But going from working in a submarine, then to Afghanistan with just a short spat of training and issuing us a M4 and M9 giving us zero clue what we were going to do out there was quite the range of experiences in the military. Especially since after Afghanistan, since I couldn't extend, I just volunteered for another deployment and found myself in Ethiopia as a commo in support of the Army Engineers running convoys all over the country, drilling wells and living in tents in the middle of nowhere living off the local economy.

Even after things are declassified, you still can never talk about them. Don't want you getting yourself in trouble (obviously not a big chance, but still, who knows with .gov)

Anyhow, good stories.

. Yeah good point. Probably best to just let whatever they put out tell the story.

One of my Uncles was an aircraft commander in HAL-3, the Sea Wolves. He retired as a commander in 1989, years before He married my aunt. He would never tell anyone any stories, not his kids, grandkids, no one. He’s passed on sadly, but I did get his Ruger GP-100.

My step-Grandfather was a navy gunners mate in the brown water navy in Vietnam, he was in RivRon 9. He also made it back home but died of cancer from the agent Orange when I was 3-4. I would have loved to hear his experiences as well. When he died he was a Senior Chief Gunners Mate.

My FB friend posted this 9/11/20 and when I read the thread title I immediately thought of it.  To me, It captures what it's like to know you are going off to war but I will let you be the judge.  Yes-lots of words.      


Sept 11th
Everyone has there own experience and most Americans will never forget what and how they felt on that day. Especially those directly impacted by that horrific act that took so many. So many brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children, Aunts, Uncles, grandparents, friends..... first responders did everything they had to and could do with quickness and Percision. Selfless acts of heroism!! Such amazing people helping more amazing people. With all this horror, New Yorkers and fellow Americans United that day and many days after showing Americas true colors!  I certainly remember the day and days after as if it was yesterday, so many feelings and emotions.
A Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps stationed in 29 Palms, CA with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Completing one of our first  SOC-X (Special Operations Capable-qualifications) before deployment. “Desert Warfare Training”.  It was a long 4 months and the day of Sept 11th, we were returning all the equipment back to 29 Palms Main Base that we’re issued for the exercise.
That morning the desert air was crisp and there was a chill in the air. All the equipment was staged and ready to be driven in a convoy out of the training area and back to main base. Myself and a few other Marines jumped into the vehicles and headed out. Brought the vehicles back to the motor pool where they were to be checked in.    That morning a few trips were made back and forth. It was lunch time and we all headed to the chow hall.   In my platoon there were 2 Marines who were New Yorkers.  Myself and Nigea, we had a strong bond as Marines and what made that bond even stronger was that we were both New Yorkers. New Yorkers stuck together. Nigea was in a different detail that morning but little did I know he would also be at the chow hall for lunch. I was walking to a table with my chow, not realizing what was going on outside of 29 Palms. I noticed people in silence starring at the one lone 13” tv in the corner with the look as if they had just seen a ghost. I continued to walk while watching the tv, planes hitting buildings, buildings on fire, smoke, people full of ash.......so many unsuspecting views that I just couldn’t put together. I stopped and stood with everyone in shock. Not knowing what to do....what was happening? Is this real life or a movie? So many emotions/thoughts going threw my head. Still not understanding what is actually transpiring. A fellow Marine Blackburn grabbed me and asked if I was ok? I looked at him. “WTF is going on Blackburn?” He said “planes hit the towers. Planes hit the towers.” Visions of the worst flashed in my head. He said “go, try and call your family”. I had no cellphone in the field, not even sure when the last time I called home...not while I was there in the desert. I knew that much. My only option to call was to find a pay phone on main base.  I said “I will, where is Nigea? Does he know?” A few minutes later Nigea walked over. It was bitter sweet to see each other. Bitterness was that our home City was under attack and the sweet was that we gave each other a big hug,  convincing each other that our families at home were ok. We watched the news a little longer, I found a payphone. But NY phones were down....Tried over and over to call my parents and sister with no luck. All I could think about was the worst as my sister worked in the city at that time. Was she ok? I than headed back to the desert with the rest of the company.  Continued to pack our gear as we had 4 more days and than we were heading back to NC. That was the plan anyhow. That night I didn’t sleep at all, I don’t think anyone slept. How could you after seeing 2 of the biggest buildings in the world get hit by planes and crumble in your home state right in front of your eyes. How could I after not knowing if my family was ok after this horrific tragedy.   How could you when you didn’t have answers and the thought of being attacked on our home soil. What would be next?
The following morning the battalion commander held a state of emergency formation. All of the Marines in the battalion met. Our battalion commander addressed confidential information letting us know that it was no accident and the training that we all had just recently gone through while in 29 Palms will soon be put to the test and used. “We were going to war” It was one of the many influential motivational speeches that I have ever been apart of. As it was designed to pump me up and make me focus,  it still didn’t take my mind off of not knowing the status of my family. Shortly after the formation My platoon Sgt pulled me and Nigea aside and told us to head to COM (Telephones for the non military) to call our families. We both went together. The phone now rang as it didn’t the day before. My father answered the phone......I asked about everyone and how they were doing. The sound of his voice was like nothing I ever heard before, I was so thankful to hear it. All were safe, my sister ended up not going to work that day. Don’t recall the reasoning. But thank god all were ok. We talked for a bit and I told him that we were heading back to NC soon. The rest of that day all the gear was returned and area cleared / cleaned. Our MEU was commanded by President Bush to return to Camp LeJune, NC immediately as the 24th MEU was the next deployable certified unit. All the planes in the United States were grounded until the President said it was ok. The first and only plane to fly just 24 hours later was the 24th MEUs 747 to return back to NC.  We left that night.
From there the 24th MEU shortly deployed to Iraq and other countries. The next few months to a year would further mold me into the man and person I am today. Providing many challenges and hard times to myself and my fellow Marines. I am Forever grateful to be apart of such a fearless group of Marines to do what we had to do to come back from a very evil place and mostly serve and protect.
Never Forget!!!
Semper Fi

Jesus Christ that gave me goose bumps. I walked much of the same streets at 29 Palms as you. I can close my eyes and see the parade deck. I took a cab to the Palm Springs airport on 3/29/1989 and never looked back.

Thanks for the stories!