I also was to pick up some Marines and bring them back to the field.  A SSgt that had been in Vegas attending to his ill father and a Sgt that just decided to take a vacation for a few days.  The SSgt was there the Sgt was not (jackass left his gear in the rear trying to stay out of the field).  I then had to head over to the Regimental Tech Shop so that I could drop off some of the radio gear that the batteries had broken.

While dropping off the gear I started talkin with the techs from my shop that I was giving the gear to.  They started telling me about diferrent guys that had gotten hurt out here.  One of the young PFC’s from out shop gut his finger and took stitches, a guy twisted his ankle pretty bad, and a guy that had a cornea abrasion (not good).  Mostly minor things with the exception of the eye. 

Then they prodeeded to tell me about a kid that had dislocated his shoulder.  Well they say he is all baged up with scratches on his head and face and that he had his arm in a sling.  I ask what he did and they said he fell down a hill.  Well that in and of its own is not an uncommon thing out here as there are some steep mountains and hills.  They then proceed to tell me what he was doing when he did roll down the hill.  You see this kid had gone up into the hills so that he could answer nature’s call.  He went up the hill dug his hole and squated over it when to drop a duece.  He then lost his balance and proceeded to roll down the hill.  I laughed my ass off when they told me this as I am sure you are doing now.

Related posts:

1. Back From Hell

Baby wipes are a man’s best friend out in the field and can at least cut down a little on the stench that permeates from your body.  The only thing though is that they can only get you so clean and you become more and more rancid the more you have to run around and set up nets and the more yuo drive through this infernal hell of an area.  Some time or another you are going to pray for a trip to the rear so that you can get a proper shower and shave and all that good stuff.

Unfortunately that trip never comes for the most of us so you are down to a couple of options:

1. You can do nothing and stink more as well as get crotch and foot rot.
2. You can continue to use baby wipes and hope that you are getting clean enough.
3. You can find a way to take a shower.

Well eventually you are going to go with option 3 but how are you going to do that.  Well if you are lucky (not a grunt) there will be plenty of vehicles around to give you a high platform and a little shelter from the wind and elements.  You grab a 5 gallon can of water throw it on the hood open it up, wet down, scrub the cheese from unda and rinse off.  Most of the time this will work and you will be clean, relatively speaking of course.  It works but there is a better way

I went to Wal Mart the night before my trip up to 29 palms for the necessities, granola bars, poptart, slim jims etc because I can only hande MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) and Tray Rat ( Big MRE’s to feed dozens) for so long.  I ventured into the camping section to see if I could find anything of use.  That is where I found the best piece of geat that I have ever brought to the field a solar camp shower.  All it is is a heavy duty platic bag with a hose and nozel on it.  It is clear on one side so you can set it in the sun and heat up the water.  I have used that thing out here twice climbing up behind the cab of my 7-ton and setting it on the cab.  I was able to “run” the water most of my shower and was able to get that disgusting funk off my body.  This thing cost me 5 1/2 dollars and is awesome.  I will definately carry this with me whenever I think I might not have a shower facility.

Related posts:

1. A Tribute to the LCpl
2. You Might be a DOUCHE BAG if…

We got to the staging area here in 29 Palms and proceeded to get out gear ready for the field.  Sunday night was a bitch because there was a MSgt (E-8) that would not change vehicles and made us take the radio system out of his vehicle and put it in another vehicle (a 3 hour job when I should have been sleeping).

Monday mornign came around and I was ready for a relatively east day of getting to the first position.  It didn’t happen that way.  First thing in the morning the Cpl I have supporting one of the platoons came to let me know that he had 2 bad radios (guess the operators didnt do their pre-operational checks properly).  This was followed by a third radio going bad.  so we are now 3 radios down not a good start to a 2 week field op. 

After that I inspect the gear that the Marines packed in Camp Pendleton and find that most of the ducting for my AC is missing.  Luckily I was able to get the ducting from one of the other Marine’s from my shop as the brought out more than enough.  You really don’t want to spend days in 29 Palms with out AC if you have the chance to have it .  I get the radios turned in to the Regimental Tech shop for repair and head out to the great void of 29 Palms.

We got to out position to find that the net that was put in our trailer was too big.  My Sergeant and I attempted to put the net up as is but it just wasn’t happeneing it was too big and the wind too much and we didn’t have enough poles.  By this time I am totally frustrated so I pull out my knife and begin making the net smaller (got the stress out).  We finally pulled the net down disconnected some pieces and made it the proper size.

The next few days were pretty mundane as we sat there waiting for the Bn to get communications with the Regiment so that we could start firing (didn’t happen til we moved on Thursday).  The most exciting thing that happened during this time is that the MSgt who refused to move his gear making life easy for me had his Humvee go down and it is more than likely going to get trailered back to Pendleton (fate works in mysterious ways).  he also lost his pack for about 18 hours so his sufferins made up for my lost rack time.

Like I said we moved on Thursday and the Bn was able to start training finally.  Again I sat around doind little to nothing except when the firing batteries brought me broken gear to fix.  I did get alot of gear but most of it was beyond the repaid capabilities that I have in the field so I had to send it to higher so that they could get it replaced.

We moved again today (Sunday) and I have both power and cell phone coverage so I am able to give you the update of my week.  I have some good stories that I hope to write about in the coming days but for now this is all I have.

Related posts:

1. Please Forgive Me

If you are married, again you are given an allowance for your housing based on your rank or you have the option to live in base housing.  If you live in base housing, your bills are similar to those that live in the barracks – your living expenses are paid for.  You also receive an allowance for food that will cover the majority of food costs for a family of four, especially if you shop on base at the commissary. 

As long as you are not buying more car than you can afford or not running up huge credit card bills you will be able to survive on the money that the Marine Corps gives you regardless of your rank.  There is no need for a LCpl to be driving a $50,000 BMW or Escalade, or for him to have every new electronic device that comes out.  No, that LCpl should buy a practical car. One that he can afford not only the payment on, but also the insurance and gas.

Why am I so passionate about this?  It is because I have lost too much of my personal time trying to get some Marines’ finances back in order.  I had to do paperwork on too many Marines because they bounced checks or did not paid the bills that they accrued.  Here are some examples of what I have seen:

LCpl #1

When I was a Sgt I had a LCpl that was severely in debt.  I only found out about his debt when the command received a letter from AAFES that he had bounced a check on base.  This resulted in a counseling, informing the Marine that further financial irresponsibility would result in punitive actions.  I hoped that this would be the last of it, but it wasn’t.

About a week later when I got the mail from the Company Office for distribution to my Marines. I saw that there was a notice from the Los Angeles County District Attorney Fraudulent Checks Dept addressed to the same Marine.  I had the Marine open the letter and give it to me to read.  He had written a check at a drug store for $4.91 that bounced.  After all the fees and charges from the store, county, and his bank were factored in, this check cost him $164.91.  YES the fees were $160!!!!!!

After I saw this and conferred with senior leadership, they had me take this LCpl to the bank and get copies of his last three months’ bank statements.  We walked over to the bank, got the statements, and I went to work analyzing them.  I looked through his statements and found 40 $20 fees for insufficient funds (bounced checks).  This guy had given the bank $800 dollars because he tried to buy things he did not have the money for.  I also noticed that every payday this Marine had multiple checks being cashed at payday advance establishments.  He was basically out of money by the 6th as and the 20th (paydays being the 1st and 15th) if not sooner.

Again talking with senior leadership we decided that this Marine was to receive NJP (where he got 14 days restriction to the barracks), we also relieved him of his ATM card, debit cards, and checks.  Then for the next 4 paydays I had to escort this Marine to the bank withdraw $20 dollars so that he could buy stuff for himself and then put the rest of his money in money orders so that he could pay his creditors.

LCpl #2

When I was a young SSgt, I had another Marine at different command that got himself into financial distress.  This Marine had multiple car loans on multiple cars. The thing is, he only had one car.  You see, he had a loan on a car that got totaled in a wreck. Instead of paying off the loan with his insurance settlement, he blew it. 

This Marine made many other bad financial choices. He did not pay rent or utilities on time and he caused us to have to escort him to Navy/Marine Relief Society to get money for his bills.  These factors, along with phone calls his creditors made to the shop, made me investigate his finances.

I again took my time to review his financial documents from the preceding few months.  Just as before, I found multiple charges from the bank for insufficient funds.  This Marine was over $300 dollars in the negative 6 days after pay day and it was a recurring situation.  My NCO’s took it from there and helped this young Marine out so that he could survive until the next payday.  They also monitored his spending and made sure that he was not spending more than he earned.

As you can see I have wasted not only my time by having to run Marines around to pay bills but also those of my junior Marines.  I have also wasted the tax-payers money because a lot of this stuff had to be taken care of during working hours when they should have been performing their jobs for Uncle Sam.  If Junior Marines would just learn to live within their means it would be so much easier. 

They also need to take it upon themselves to talk to their leadership and seek assistance because they will get the help that the need if they ask for it.  I, for one, have taken a young Private or PFC from dealership to dealership to find a good reliable used car (one that he could afford) so that he would have a vehicle to get from his house to work.  I have dug into my pocket to help a young married guy buy groceries if he did not have the money, so that he and his family could eat.  When I could not help out directly I got the Marine the help that he needed to hep the situation and to ensure that it would not happen again. I have seen these kinds of actions from many other Marines. The help is there if Marines are willing to seek it out.

Related posts:

1. A Tribute to the LCpl
2. Do You Trust Me
3. The Money is Running Out

For those of you unfamiliar with Oki Camp Schwab is possibly the worst camp to be on while stationed aboard that island prison.  It is a 45 minute bus ride from the larger camps (and any type of night life) located in the Southern part of the Island.  Most of the camp is over there under the Unit Deployment Program (UDP) and will only be there for 6 months therefore unless you are a SSgt (E-6) or higher you cannot have a car so you are stuck on the camp or the surrounding area off base.

So now that you know what kind of hell I was in back in 1996 let’s get back to the story.  The day began as any other Friday would begin we awoke at zero dark thirty and went on a little run around the camp.  We then went to work until 1600.  After work a few of us went to the PX and bought as much beer as we could carry (2-3 cases each) back up the hill.  That beer lasted out group of about 10 until about 1930 and we decided it was time to head to the bowling alley and play some beer frames. 

For those of you unfamiliar with beer frames it goes like this you get a group together and bowl a regular game.  Before you start the first frame you designate a frame or two or three that are beer frames.  Now whoever bowls the lowest score in this frame must then buy the rest of the bowlers a beer.   Then at the end of the game the low score has to go buy a round as well.  Well beer frames lasted until the bowling alley closed (midnight if I remember correctly) and needless to say we were quite intoxicated at this time, but more important we were HUNGRY. 

Time to go get some Yakisoba down at the quickstop in Henoko the little (4 blocks by 4 blocks) town just outside the gate.  We get down there get our grub on and are all feeling much better at this time so hey lets go further into town and continue this night and get some more beer.  After another three hours or so we decide we need to get back to the barracks so that we can get some sleep and then do it all over again Saturday. 

So our group is stumbling back to the camp (10 minute walk at most).  About 3 minutes into the walk Randy lets everyone know he has to piss.  Obviously there is nowhere for him to piss so we tell him to wait the 7 minutes til we get back because there are guard patrols of Marines (Henoko Patrol) as well the Japanese Police (JP) in the area and as a drunk LCpl in Oki you don’t want to be picked up by either.  He agrees and we go another 50 yards and he is complaining again.  OK we say go over to the fence (yes it is the camp’s fence) we will watch out for you and take care of your business.

Randy walks over to the fence leans against his head against the fence as only a drunk man can do and proceeds to drain the main vein.  We notice him give it a little shake stand up and start back towards us.  Well once he turned around we noticed he missed a very important step before he took care of business.  You see he forgot to unzip and remove his member from his pants before he took his leak and it was obvious as he had a HUGE wet spot all down the front of his pants.

We tease him and what not all the way back to the gate get through the gate with no problems (still not sure how that happened) and proceed back to the barracks.  We all go to our rooms pass out and sleep for a few hours.  We get up go to the chow hall eat breakfast and then another group head down to the PX to pick up the cases so we can start all over again.

Related posts:

1. Do You Trust Me