Tick, tock

I don't even know where to start, it's been so long since I posted.

A significant event I don't believe I've touched on yet occurred back at 29 Palms, before we headed home for libo. We did this virtual reality convoy training out at Camp Wilson, and it was run by a master sergeant who was one hell of a wise old leatherneck. His name was MSgt. "Top" Formosa, he referred to himself in third person constantly, is one of the last remaining enlisted Marines who served in Vietnam, and claims he is the third oldest Marine in the Corps, after Gen. Hagee and LtGen. Matisse. It was quite an experience listening to him. He has a theory that the twenty-something years preceding our current action were largely peacetime operations for the Marine Corps, and that we basically had too much time to spend, so we spent it on stupid PC rules and looking good, instead of combat preparation and staying hard. He believes that we ought to basically do away with most of the customs and courtesies and drill training we receive in boot camp and replace it with practical infantry training, which he believes is in a sad, sad state. I don't know any Marines who would disagree with him, at least that a great deal of our training functions around ridiculous rules that don't make us any more effective in combat, and don't make the Corps stronger but rather weakens it, specifically ridiculously demanding equal opportunity/sexual harrassment/physical and mental abuse rules, which allow too many outs for recruits and Marines in training. Not that I'm saying we're not still better than every other service.

I got to see Mr. Tedrick's parents on Easter. It was terrific, as I had been eager to speak especially to Opa ever since I enlisted. It was awful nice to see them again and catch up.

As soon as I got back from libo we got all our trash together and packed it on the bus to come down here to Camp Del Mar, part of larger Camp Pendleton. The next day we headed out early. Del Mar is right on the ocean, the weather is beautiful, and our barracks are pretty nice, so we were enthused. We're literally like three blocks from the ocean. We've got a great view. Furthermore, these barracks are part of I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, and directly across the street from Headquarters I MEF, meaning when I look out my window, I see directly across the street the red flag with three stars indicating there is a lieutenant general (as in THE commanding general of I MEF) on deck. Maybe I'm just starstruck or something, but a LtGen. is kind of a big deal. There are like eight in the Marine Corps, if that. Probably less. I'll just stop talking about it.

So anyways. Last weekend we went out to the field, more specifically to the urban combat training town at the base of the Reaper. I never expected to see the Reaper again, but once I did, it was a tad disheartening. It looked much smaller and less steep than I remember it, plus it was all grassy, as opposed to the sand and loose dirt that dominated it in my time. Whatever. The MOUT training was pretty damn sweet though. Two hard-charging infantry experts and a Force Recon vet were our instructors, and they passed us some damn good training. We're talking like room clearing and high speed trash like that. It was terrifically motivating.

For the most part, since we've been here, we've been doing a bunch of power point classes on all sorts of stuff we've already learned, namely IEDs, combat lifesaving, rules of engagement, POW stuff, medevacs, etc. It's been pretty dry, but pretty easy, too, and we've been getting most of our nights and weekends off. Mostly I've been busying myself with watching assorted movies, squaring away my gear in preparation for leaving, and drinking beer.

I started writing in the journal I had originally bought for Asia. I didn't write much in it in Asia, and figured this might be the kind of life event worth documenting on paper. So far I've done a reprehensible job of keeping it up, but I'm hoping when I get in-country I'll work out a set time each day to write in it so I don't forget about it.

I've got some pretty motivating pictures from the assorted ranges, and some of the other training we've done here. I wanted to get some good shots of MOUT town and the Reaper, but forgot to bring my camera this weekend. Regardless, here are the ones I've got:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/rogerwilley/Straggler%20Platoon/
As you can probably see from those pictures, the desert sucks and I'm happy to be back in SoCal, at least insofar as the climate is nicer. Could use a touch fewer liberals, however.

I heard a statistic this morning. Apparently, somebody studied how long it takes for members of the different services to reacclimate or reassimilate into the civilian lifestyle after leaving the service. Apparently Air Force servicemen assimilated almost immediately upon their return to being a civilian. Soldiers took three to four weeks, sailors took almost three years to reacclimate to being a civilian, and almost all the Marines studied never reacclimated to being a civilian. I thought that was some pretty motivating stuff.

I finished The Da Vinci Code in Palm Springs Airport while I was waiting for my ride back to base, and bought Angels and Demons by the same author (Dan Brown) as soon as I got back on base. I'm about half done with it. It's more of the same. Decent, not outstanding, but sure to keep you hooked.

I failed to mention it earlier, but I spent a week as fire team leader, which is only significant because it is a corporal billet and I'm only a lance corporal. The sad fact is I got fired because one of my Marines screwed up, and I couldn't even blame anybody but myself if I wanted to. It was a great learning experience in terms of developing my leadership skills, but I'm relieved to pass the torch onto someone else. Besides, now I'm back in my buddy Schauer's fire team. I'll shoot for more responsibility when I feel more prepared to handle it, which I think will be soon.

I've got about a week left. I'm not getting anxious, nor am I getting excited. Bizarre. Hopefully I can update again before I punch out. Godspeed, folks.