I've been following this Marine's blog for a while. From Iraq through Scout/Sniper training to Afghanistan recently.
It's kind of interesting to read what's actually going on that the news doesn't tell you.
It's kind of interesting to read what's actually going on that the news doesn't tell you.
Well, I guess next up would be our actual living area. There's REALLY not a whole lot to write about here... Let's see- no water, no AC, no toilets, occasional power, lots of bugs/mice/cats, and nonstop explosions right outside our front door. Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
We shared a fairly large patrol base with a British unit and some ANP/ANA (Afghan National Police, Army). Those units had been established there for some time, so they were occupying the buildings located there. We, on the other hand, were just thrown in there, so we had to erect squad sized tents with sand bag walls. These aren't the type of tents that were fun to pitch and sleep in in your back yard when you were young. These are miserable, sauna-like, not enough space for a squad and all it's gear substitutions. We had 12 snipers in ours, and if you have ever seen a modern day sniper, you know they have more gear than a NASA mission. Space was a premium.
We made the most of our space, building a 'movie theater' out of wooden pallets and ponchos, complete with benches, a laptop PC stand, and retractable roof for blocking light. At night we could bring the roof down and watch 'The Notebook' underneath a beautiful starry sky. Trust me, that last one actually happened...awkward.
We covered the gravel floor with plywood sheets, which, at first, seemed like a great idea. That is, until we figured out that that lingering smell in our tent was being caused by the decaying mice that we had crushed underneath the wood. Sweet.
We had some combat engineers come out at one point and bring a generator. It was great. We had power for all of 36 hours before it was fried. It takes a lot of juice to power up 120 iPods. We didn't get power for a few weeks after that, but eventually they brought in a bigger generator, that made life awesome. Movie night was back in business, and it started with a 6 night Star Wars I-VI marathon. How nerdy, right?
They gave us standard GI cots to sleep on. Awesome, cots. They'd be sweet if they weren't engineered around a Marine that stands 6'1". Did I mention I'm 6'6". I spend most of my deployment with bruised shins from resting on the metal bar underneath them. Why not just sleep on the floor, you ask? Did I mention the rats, bugs and stray cats? Screw that.
Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, the constant booms. We lived in what often sounded like Stalingrad. It was not uncommon to be woken up by an explosion only 400 yards away that you could feel in your chest. Or to be playing cards in the middle of the day and here a firefight start raging close enough that tracers were snapping over the wall out into nothing. You can ask my sister Sarah about that one, as we were on the phone one night when a British call sign got ambushed only 300 yards outside the front gate, that phone call got awkward real fast.
Me: "yada, yada, yada, so Brett Favre is a traitor" (gun fire erupts)
Sarah: "Jake, is that gunfire"
Me: "ummm, yeah, hold on" ( I look over the HESCO wall, see what looks like a laser light show)
"Don't worry Sarah, you have to believe me, I'm behind a wall and in NO danger"
Sarah: "Jake that sounds really bad"
Me: "It's the Brits, don't worry, most of the shooting is them, this happens all the time, they aren't attacking the base"
Sarah: "ooookay" (fire picks up to insane rate)
Me: "Sis, I better go see what's going on, I'll call you later"
That pretty much sums up our humble abode.
We shared a fairly large patrol base with a British unit and some ANP/ANA (Afghan National Police, Army). Those units had been established there for some time, so they were occupying the buildings located there. We, on the other hand, were just thrown in there, so we had to erect squad sized tents with sand bag walls. These aren't the type of tents that were fun to pitch and sleep in in your back yard when you were young. These are miserable, sauna-like, not enough space for a squad and all it's gear substitutions. We had 12 snipers in ours, and if you have ever seen a modern day sniper, you know they have more gear than a NASA mission. Space was a premium.
We made the most of our space, building a 'movie theater' out of wooden pallets and ponchos, complete with benches, a laptop PC stand, and retractable roof for blocking light. At night we could bring the roof down and watch 'The Notebook' underneath a beautiful starry sky. Trust me, that last one actually happened...awkward.
We covered the gravel floor with plywood sheets, which, at first, seemed like a great idea. That is, until we figured out that that lingering smell in our tent was being caused by the decaying mice that we had crushed underneath the wood. Sweet.
We had some combat engineers come out at one point and bring a generator. It was great. We had power for all of 36 hours before it was fried. It takes a lot of juice to power up 120 iPods. We didn't get power for a few weeks after that, but eventually they brought in a bigger generator, that made life awesome. Movie night was back in business, and it started with a 6 night Star Wars I-VI marathon. How nerdy, right?
They gave us standard GI cots to sleep on. Awesome, cots. They'd be sweet if they weren't engineered around a Marine that stands 6'1". Did I mention I'm 6'6". I spend most of my deployment with bruised shins from resting on the metal bar underneath them. Why not just sleep on the floor, you ask? Did I mention the rats, bugs and stray cats? Screw that.
Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, the constant booms. We lived in what often sounded like Stalingrad. It was not uncommon to be woken up by an explosion only 400 yards away that you could feel in your chest. Or to be playing cards in the middle of the day and here a firefight start raging close enough that tracers were snapping over the wall out into nothing. You can ask my sister Sarah about that one, as we were on the phone one night when a British call sign got ambushed only 300 yards outside the front gate, that phone call got awkward real fast.
Me: "yada, yada, yada, so Brett Favre is a traitor" (gun fire erupts)
Sarah: "Jake, is that gunfire"
Me: "ummm, yeah, hold on" ( I look over the HESCO wall, see what looks like a laser light show)
"Don't worry Sarah, you have to believe me, I'm behind a wall and in NO danger"
Sarah: "Jake that sounds really bad"
Me: "It's the Brits, don't worry, most of the shooting is them, this happens all the time, they aren't attacking the base"
Sarah: "ooookay" (fire picks up to insane rate)
Me: "Sis, I better go see what's going on, I'll call you later"
That pretty much sums up our humble abode.
Comment