Quoted: I can't have any weapons or anything like that here and life is just crappy. You are 11B and you are getting no weapons?

I think he means personal weapons.  He seems to be forgetting that he would not be allowed to have them on any OTHER assignment either. Oh, and it's eight years, not three.  Cheer up. When you get off active and go reserve, THAT'S when you'll get deployed to Iraq.

I do understand the Korean situation.  I understand that 2ID isn't what would be stopping a North Korean attack or anything like that.  We have 4 armor companies and 4 Infantry companies in the entire country.  All within the range of the thousands of NK artillery pieces and now that NK is suspected of having multiple nuclear weapons what will I do in the event of an attack?  I will probably get roasted at a cool 5000 degrees while starting up a Bradley in the motor pool by a nuclear blast.

I don't think there will be a war here.  We've waited for 50 years and now there is the whole nuclear deterrant thing.  2ID is moving South and Camp Casey is supposed to close within the next two years (whats left of 2ID).  We have only 1 brigade (BDE) in country because the other already left to Iraq in August 2004.  They have since been moved to Colorado (Ft. Carson).  As the last brigade in the country, we will not be deployed as that would reduce our combat presence to nil (save for artillery and aviation).

That being said I will develop all of my infantry skills as far as possible, I hope to leave Korea with a 300 PFT score, more college credits, and anything else I can take with me.  I believe they closed the Air Assault school here when 2nd BDE left to Iraq so I doubt I can do any of that stuff.  I never had a desire to apply to SF, that is the only recruiting I see happening (2+years of training...ugh).

I understood the risk of getting Korea but the Army upset me when they denied guys that actively attempted to be assigned to Korea then gave me that assignment.  I met so many people in basic training (I would say the vast majority) that joined for the college money or the large bonuses.  They were hoping (against the odds) that they would somehow avoid service in the WoT.  They mostly got Hawaii which will deploy this Spring/Summer...they event sent a kid that went AWOL during basic to Alaska (probably as a punishment) but he will be in Iraq by the end of the month because the 172nd Stryker Brigade is already in the sandbox.

I just hope that the pogues that work in HQ can design a system that lets 11B REMF wannabes stay in the rear with the gear and lets those of us that want to put our necks on the line do our fair share.  I could also whine about how I got issued older and shittier gear than I had in basic training and that my SGTs were all surprised that I have the shittiest gear of anyone they've seen in a while but that's for another day.

Quoted: once they tried to move me from infantry to mortars

Yea that almost happened to me.....oh wait.  it did happen to me.  Just be glad you aren't humping a mortar tube while on those patrols.  They will make your assualt pack feel like a bag of cotton balls.  And as for that when its -20 out and you are fighting the commy koreans look no further than the 5 O worst.  Here we come to save the day.

Quoted: actually facing a professional army in a battle the US might well loose.

BLASPHMY!

The assignment sucks.  but at least one day you can tell your grandchildren about it...unless you get one of those black VD's that make your dick turn green and fall off.  Sniff test them hookers.

You think every 11bang bang in the sand box is kicking in doors every day and smashing rag head skulls? no.  In afg. our guys put in more time on a xbox controller than on there mortars/rifles combined.

Quoted: In afg. our guys put in more time on a xbox controller than on there mortars/rifles combined.

We didn't have xboxes in Afghanistan but we probably spent a lot more time beating off than anything else.



natedogg,

I was in the only Marine infantry battalion on the East Coast that didn't go to Iraq for OIF 1. We sat around at Lejeune and didn't do dick. Yes, it sucked, but there was nothing we could do about it.

You'll get to go to the desert sooner or later.

Be careful what you ask for.  

Rest assured, you are doing you part, as much as the guys that are kicking in doors.  

The fact that you are ready, willing and able to act as an instrument of America's defense means the nation will forever owe you a debt of gratitude.


I missed the first gulf war by 2 months, and I have always slightly regretted having lost the opportunity to hit some hard targets.  However,  my fate was to be a deterrent in the cold war, and to this day, I stand ready to "protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies......"

You are young enough that you will almost certainly have the opportunity to battle terrorists at some point.
Until then,  enjoy life, and to learn all you can in preperation of that time.

At your age, 3 years feels like forever, in truth, it's a blink of an eye.