GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 Well, as for my unit. 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines, an infantry unit; we went deep into BIAP (Bahgdad international Airport, spelling may be wrong) for a little bit, and then flew to Kuwait. All in all, we had about two weeks of down time. We got to eat at an Air Force/Army chow hall which had ice cream and salad, and all kinds of good food. We were amazed at the conforts they had there. We also were able to watch movies and play Playstation. (this is in BIAP) My unit was under constant mortar attacks and ambushes for about three months straight and then off and on. We lost six good men to hostile actions and sent home a hundred or so more with pretty bad wounds, so it was good to relax a little. As for if it helped? I don't know man. When I got back, the arty on Camp Lejeune made not only me, but many other Marines jump and want to hit the deck lol. It took some getting used too. That reminds me of something funny. When we were in Al Momadia (sp) they would shoot rockets at our FOB. Usually they would fly right over, and durring the day, you couldn't see them but you could hear the destinctive fire/propulsion sound. So when we heard that we'd be like, OH SH**, and take cover; however jet's apparently make the same noice sometimes, so you'd have guys running and jumping into cover when a jet flew over and others would just be laughing at them, because they knew it was a jet some how. Let me tell you, it's not cool taking incoming when you're taking a crap, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akd Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 This is very sad for (presumably) adults. Have a picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 "This is very sad for (presumably) adults. Have a picture!" What do you mean by that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisbech_lad Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 GasMask - thanks for the reply. US armed forces are - interesting. It is my observation that their is a bigger culture gap between US armed forces & civilians than exists in other countries. Whether this is a good or bad thing I am unsure. I.e. - as you point out, it is often very apparant if someone in the US was in the military. It is not so apparant for ex UK military. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juan_gigante Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Originally posted by GasMask: "This is very sad for (presumably) adults. Have a picture!" What do you mean by that? Adults wouldn't be having a silly and pointless argument like this. And akd's our guy with the Iraq pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Originally posted by juan_gigante: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GasMask: "This is very sad for (presumably) adults. Have a picture!" What do you mean by that? Adults wouldn't be having a silly and pointless argument like this. And akd's our guy with the Iraq pictures. </font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 There are Marines in Iraq? All the best Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 One or two I would imagine...I think they are manning the check out counters at the Baghdad PX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 "Adults wouldn't be having a silly and pointless argument like this." That's why I've been saying let's just drop it for 3 pages now. "One or two I would imagine...I think they are manning the check out counters at the Baghdad PX." I hope you are joking with the best intentions man, because 6 Marines in my unit didn't die for nothing. That's really upsetting to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Hi mom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 Aparently Nidan1, you've never been in combat. If you were, you wouldn't be acting like such a child. I'm going to be the bigger man however and walk away from this discussion; as I stated before I never wanted a fight, just a mature discussion. If this is how the boards are all around on this site then I might just stop coming here, because there is no need to fight on a website. Only on the internet can you be ambushed by virtual tough guys who think they are safe behind thier computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Yeah GasMask I meant to ask you why you thought Heart BREAK Ridge was cheesey...I think Gunny Highway was cool...he was an Old Corps Marine trying to whip some young assholes into shape, at the same time bucking heads with a ticket punching CO, who wanted him out of the Corps, what could be cooler than that I ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 It just wasn't realistic, that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Originally posted by GasMask: It just wasn't realistic, that's all. You don't think it was an accurate portrayal of what the Corps was like during the Grenada thing, or did you think the combat scenes were cheesey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civdiv Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 "...two companies of Marines are running all over the island and thousands of Army troops are doing nothing. What the hell is going on?" Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., USA, Chairman of the the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the assault on Grenada, 1983 [ February 13, 2006, 06:27 AM: Message edited by: civdiv ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 Both. Sure I wasn't in the Corps when it happend but I know a lot of Marines who were, and my first unit 3/6 was the unit that took part in that campaign; thus it was talked about frequently. Marines like to talk about there history. When you join a unit, the first thing you do is learn where it's been, what it's done, and where it's going. 3/6 was also in Belieu Wood durring World War I, which earned us the title Devil Dog; and so I got to wear the French Forashay. (I spelled it how it sounds because it's french and I suck at spelling). Just a little bit of history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 I worked with a guy who said he was an infrantry officer in the army durring Grenada. He said he was part of a recon unit that was ordered to recon the airport before the main force arrived. He said when he got there, they had armor and lots of troops defending it and were quickly cought up in a feirce fire fight; but he said he couldn't withdraw because they were all alone so they fought them back and took the air port. He seemed to be a pretty good guy and honest, and his actions might be secret, I don't know; but if it's true, I think that's pretty damn cool. I don't a whole lot about Grenada, just a little, so don't go quizing me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I still think that Clint Eastwood looked really spiffy in his dress uniform, with the MOH around his neck. That friggen Major just knew he would never live up to Highway's reputation as a combat Marine. What was your occupational specialty in the Corps, GasMask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 I was a logistics Marine. I wanted to join the infantry, but at the last moment changed my mind because my wife got pregnent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Originally posted by GasMask: I was a logistics Marine. I wanted to join the infantry, but at the last moment changed my mind because my wife got pregnent. What does a logistics Marine do? Is that like supply? Doesn't seem like a much safer job than an infantryman..you said you got mortared quite often in Iraq. It must be tough leaving your loved ones at home, when you go over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 Yeah, it can be tough, but you just gotta do it you know? Anyways, I was incharge of making sure all our combat gear was operational. It's more complicated then that, but that's the basics of it. Logistics are the 3 Bs. Bullets, bandaids, and beans. It's pretty much making sure the main fighting bodies have what they need to survive, ammo, food and water, and medical supplies, among other stuff. Being a non infantry Marine isn't as dangerous as being in the infantry, but it's still dangerous, because you're on the front lines with them. You might not participate in combat actions, but usually non infantry Marines are called up to do just that. An example of this would be when an Army convoy got ambushed a few miles from our FOB. Most of our infantry guys were out on patrols and our QRF was also out, so we loaded a bunch of non infantry Marines into a few gun trucks and rolled on the scene. The army had left a few guys behind so we picked them up. While we were doing that, the insurgents didn't run away like usual, they stayed behind and thus ambushed our Marines, and of course were destroyed. So, is it safer being non infantry? Yes and no. Are you always on the front lines? If you are in an infantry unit, everyone goes... everyone. But the infantry guys are great, they get a lot of my respect, especially the snipers. Every infantry unit has a sniper platoon and I tried to get to know them where ever I was, cool guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 Oh, and another example would be in Afghanistan. 3/6 had occupied the airport there and needed to surround it, so they turned H&S company (headquarters and service) into an infantry company; and put them in fighting holes all along the perimeter. They even took an artillery company, K' battery I believe, and made them into an infantry unit. That's the kind of tactics, and mind set that I've been talking about. There is no, "I can't do this because I'm not infantry." Every Marine a riflemen, and most Marines think like that, thus making us, in my mind better warriors; but that's just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I read somewhere that all Marines are infantrymen first, and even though they might be a clerk or a medic or something they are all trained as infantrymen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasMask Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 Yes that's true, and we constantly train and go to the field to keep that going. My dad told me that the army just isn't like that. Like I said he was an Army tanker and for 24 years. He said when they sent him to Vietnam, they sent him as an infantrymen, and he was freaking out because he had no idea how to be an infantrymen, because all he knew was tanks. He said that I probably had more infantry training in a couple of years then he had in 24 years, because the only training he got was boot camp. Now, I'm not making this up to make fun of the Army, this is coming from a retired 1st Sgt of the Army. The army is a good fighthing force. Their armor is the best. Hell, I was born at Fort Knox for crying out loud, "The Home of Armor." So I don't hate the Army, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civdiv Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Sort of an example of what Gasmask mentioned, in regards to every Marine being first and foremost a rifleman, when I was in Somolia we had a Marine helicopter squadron stationed at Mogadhishu Airport. They provided their own perimeter security and they ran all their own patrols outside the wire. While I was there an Army helo squadron replaced them. They came with 2 companies of MPs; one for internal security and another to run patrols around the airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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