Its my party and I'll cry if I want to

Alright so after a delay brought to us by broken down equipment here is another update. Life out here at Camp Dwyer hasn't changed much. My squad is now the only squad left in Charlie which defaults us to the company's do everything squad. It is in my nature to be helpful so that quickly turns into me and my squad doing everything for everybody. It makes the day go quick but my Marines are getting frustrated because we haven't gone out on any sort of mission yet. The good news is that this will change very soon. We are all going out to pull some bridges out and put culverts in. That will be nice cause it will chew up a week or so but it also means that we will more than likely that we will be working on Christmas. Oh well, welcome to the Marine Corps. Talk to you all in a couple of weeks

A week to remember

Last Monday a couple of Marines and I flew out to a small base to do some bridge recon. We couldn't get a ride on Monday but we were promised a ride on Tuesday down to at least one of the bridges. WE were supposed to leave at 1000 but when we showed up the drivers were just waking up because they had been driving all night. We were told to come back at 1130 but when we came back the told us it was going to be at least 3 hours before they could leave because the trucks had to get loaded. When we checked at 1530 they were still messing with the trucks so we just decided not to go because the sun was going down and we couldn't do the recon in the dark. So Tuesday was a complete wash. The convoy never left and so I had nothing to do all day, typical. Then on Wednesday we left base early (around 0600) in order to make up for Tuesday. Well we made it 20 min out of the gate and one of the 5 trucks we had started acting up so we turned around to get a new one. So now we are an hour behind schedule. After that things went smoothly for awhile we made it to 2 of the 4 bridges we were supposed to look at that day. On our way to the 3rd bridge, however, we took a wrong turn and while we were trying to turn around the 7-ton I was riding in got stuck. It took 2 and a half hrs for us to get unstuck and continue on our way. So we finally got all of the bridges looked at and made our way to another FOB where we were going to pick up some detainees. When we got there we were told that it would only take 30 min to an hour before we left. Well that turned into 3 hrs and so we didn't leave to return back to Deli until after dark. About 20 min after we left the lead vehicle took a wrong turn and got himself stuck in a giant mud hole. Where we were driving was open desert with a smattering of mud huts and this guy managed to find the local watering hole and tried to drive straight through the middle of it. So now we had 1 vehicle stuck. The next truck decided to try and get around the stuck one so that he could chain up to him and give him a pull . While truck 2 was going around he got stuck worst than the first guy. 2 vehicles stuck. Well the thought was that the 7 ton I was in and a lot of pulling power to we all jumped out and the driver took our truck around on some drier ground to pull the second truck. The problem was the 2nd truck was stuck really bad and the 7 ton driver didn't know when to let off the gas so they managed to get the 7 ton stuck. 3 trucks stuck. At this point the convoy commander was pretty ticked off so he sent his truck up to give the 7 ton a tug because it wasn't stuck THAT bad. Well the driver of that 4th vehicle miscalculated his route and attempted to drive through the worst of the mud. In the process he got vehicle number 4 stuck. We had one truck left that was mobile. It was big and heavy and its 4 wheel drive was broken so we weren't expecting much. True to form 20 feet off the road on its way to try and pull the 7 ton it too got stuck. So now it was 2000 getting cold and all 5 trucks in our convoy were hopelessly stuck. My buddies and I had planned on a 7 hour round trip so we only brought minimal cold weather gear. All I had besides my uniform and flak jacket was a light weight fleece, a fleece beanie, and my gloves. The convoy commander called in to his battalion and they sent a convoy down that was supposed to meet up with up at 0200. So there we sat freezing, keeping watch, and hoping the Taliban were as cold as us and didn't want to come and play. The other convoy showed up at 0200ish like they promised but they weren't there to pull us out. They were there to pick up the 3 detainee's we had because there was a time limit on how long we could hold them with out processing them. So the bad guys were whisked away to warmth while we were left to fend for our selves with a promise of a wrecker sometime the next day. So we waited and froze and kept watch. The next morning (24 hrs into the convoy, 12 hrs into being stuck) the sun come out and warmed us up and we were excited because the wrecker convoy was supposed to be on the way. It wasn't. That convoy didn't leave until 1600 that day. So we spent the day listening to firefights going on all around us wondering if they were getting closer. We saw a couple of IEDs go off and prayed that none of our boys got hurt, and we saw 2 harriers do gun runs on targets in the city. And we waited for the wrecker. By the time they got to us it was dark again and so they didn't stop they just drove on past to another base....twice. So we spent another night freezing and worrying and watching. Finally Friday morning at 0900ish, 39 hrs after we first got stuck, a convoy showed up with 2 wreckers and we were pulled free with in an hour. We all danced a jig and jumped on the trucks and headed back up to the base to clean up and get into a warm sleeping bag. So thats how my week of bridge recon went. It was an adventure to say the least.

Thanksgiving ......Marine Corps Style

It started off just like any other day...the squad walked the 1 mile to the lot so we could continue working we did that all morning but then we knocked off early so that we could go stand in line at the chow hall that was 300 yards long. After chow we got to stand around for 2 hours waiting on General Conway and Sergeant Major Kent, the Commandant and SgtMaj of the Marine Corps. They came and told us that we are all doing a really good job and that this Thanksgiving will be one of the most memorable ones because I spent it in Afghanistan. Doubt it. But that is not to say that I am not thankful. I am extremely grateful for my parents and my sisters who have put up with my running of for the third time. I am also really thankful for everyone else back in the States that is suporting me with prayer and packages. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

The Class IV Lot

In the Marine Corps, Class IV refers to any material used in construction. So, lumber, nails, HESCO, concrete, windows, all that is Class IV. We have a giant lot full of shipping containers that are full of class IV. Unfortunately when those containers got here they were not put down in any sort of actual order. This means that for the next week or so 1st squad gets to hunt through all of the containers and figure out what is in them and clean up all the stuff that got broken in trnasit. It can be kind of a dirty, backbreaking, and tedious job. But in the end it makes it worth it when we are trying to prep for a mission.

Camp Dwyer

Well here I am chilling at Camp Dwyer. As of right now it looks like 3 platoons from my company (120 Marines) will be living in one giant tent, sleeping on cots. I guess that means we will all become really good friends :). I am worried about the lack of running I will get to do out here. Most of the roads are made of moon dust, a kind of sand that is the consistency of baby powder. Hopefully the missions will start comin fast and hard so I can be busy and not think aobut the crappiness. I'll keep you all informed.

Ahhh Kyrgyzstan

Today for the first time I wished I was in Air Force. Yep you heard me right, the Air Force. The air base I am at right now is AWESOME. It is about the size of college campus. There is a good chow hall that is open 24 hrs, 3 phone centers, a whole little shopping plaza with all kinds of little shops, a Pizza hut and a Green Beans Coffee, we can get wireless internet in our racks and there is even a bar here where the permanent personnel (aka Air Force bubbas) can drink 2 beers a day. This place is the lap of luxury to bad I'm laving today for the loveliness of a Marine Corps run base.
I am so excited.

The Last Day

What to say, what to say. I can tell you this I am defnitly ready to be done with SoCal. After 5 and a half months of worthless training I'm ready to see what my squad and I can get done. I have just spent the past two days packing for this excursion. The Marine Corps, in its infinite wisdom, told us that we were only allowed a 10lbs carry on and that our three other bags had to weigh less than 60 lbs a piece. Using my almost complete degree in mathematics I have determined that each Marine can take 190lbs of gear over seas with him. I am about 90% positive that I am sitting roughly at 210lbs of gear right now. I'll let you know who wins

so bored its boring

For the next couple days I am on standby before we head to the airport for our flight outta here. "Standby" means we sit in our rooms repacking gear for the 100t time, sleep, watch movies, or play video games. This wouldn't be terrible (lets face it i get paid a whole bunch to play Mario Kart) but its all I and my Marines have been doing for the past 5 months. Here's hoping everything changes in the next week.

Howdy

Hey friends. Ive decided to try and keep a journal/blog for this deployment. I don't do a very good job of sharing my emotions with people but I have decided that this deployment I would try to fix myself and you get to watch. My plan is to give a rough outline of my day to day activities and my commentary on that so we shall se what happens. Internet access might bad so I wont be able to update online that much but I'm going to write stuff down and kind of outline my next 7 months for you all emotional roller coaster and all. So hang on lets go for a ride.