A word I nearly thought I'd never hear: liberty.
If you haven't heard, I'll at long last be getting a liberty, if a slightly shorter one than anticipated. It lasts from noon on Friday the 14th til 6 p.m. on Monday the 17th. I'll arrive in Chicago at roughly 8 p.m. on Friday and leave out of Chicago at roughly 11 a.m. on Monday. The plan is to stick around Augie til Sunday morning, save for a few hours home to see Dad's RCIA deal at St. Pat's in Dixon. Sunday I plan on spending time with everybody as much as I can, and spending time at Grandma Willey's. Sunday night after family stuff I thought I'd spend time with as many Sterling people as are home. Furthermore, as many Sterling people as want to come hang with me at Augie on Friday/Saturday are welcome to as well, though like I said, Friday night I won't be getting around between 11 and midnight. I doubt I'll be doing much sleeping at all while I'm at home...I can sleep on the plane trips. Time at home is too valuable to spend sleeping.
I went back to Palm Springs briefly Friday night, but found it to be mostly inhabited by rich people between the ages of 28 and 45, and homosexuals. Seriously. So it wasn't terribly exciting and I won't waste precious internet time discussing it.
Saturday I had guard duty from 1330-1930 and then Sunday morning from 0130-0630. I basically sat/stood at the RSU gate with an M16 looking pretend mean. It turned out to be extraordinarily difficult to keep my mind busy without imagining the damage I could do to the little birds and rats running around with my rifle, or imagining being attacked by rabid coyotes. Like I said, it was pretty boring.
We're hitting the range this week with both the major machine guns (M240G and .50-cal) and grenades, not to mention the primary reason for our being their, our M16-A4's with ACOGs. We have to sight in our ACOGs and all that, and they saw it as an opportunity to get us trigger time on everything else (except the MK-19...too much money for rounds). I'm eager. After we get back from liberty we head to Del Mar (at Camp Pendelton) for a couple weeks, then it's off to Iraq via roundabout cargo plane trips. Oorah. Should be an adventure. Until liberty, though, my address is now:
We got our full gear issue today and should be getting our rifles issued tomorrow (hopefully). I've got all kinds of brand-new, high-speed gear to play with. It's very exciting to me, because I've never had a full gear issue, much less all the sweet new stuff. I got my flak jacket all set up with magazine pouches and grenade pouches and first aid kit and all that trash, so I'll have to get a good moto picture once I get my rifle, in all my gear looking hard-charging and ready to kill. The ladies like that kind of thing, I'm told.
Something I've been meaning to mention, just a little tidbit of information about the base here, is that the Marine base here at 29 Palms, CA (Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, if you're wondering) is large enough to fit every other Marine base in the United States in it and still have room to spare. It's just barely smaller than Rhode Island at 935 square miles. It was bought from the Army in something like 1957 for a dollar because the Army had deemed it "uninhabitable." Ha.
I started reading the Da Vinci Code because it had been so popular and it's finally in paperback. The writing is a bit poor, but the story itself is thus far pretty interesting.
Today Klauer told the staff NCOs that he hadn't gotten paid yet and needed the money for his new baby (Isaac Jacob, 7 lbs. 6 oz., born the 30th at 0150 hours), and when they looked into it, it turned out they had accidentally ended his contract. Like, he technically was finished with active service and could have gone home. So, they're trying to fix that. In the meantime, it turns out I haven't gotten paid yet either, and as I have been in the same boat as Klauer all along, it stands to reason that the same has happened to me. So, perhaps my activation is at an end, or at least as it stands on paper (as a matter of fact, it is...I just checked Marine Online and it tells me my expiration of active service was March 30th). I'm not worried, though...they want me in Iraq as much as I do. They'll be able to fix it, I'm sure.
I'm all out of interesting comments. Hope all is well back home, and I hope I can see many of you again soon. Take care and Semper Fidelis.
[edit] I just found this on Drudge. Ridiculous.
I went back to Palm Springs briefly Friday night, but found it to be mostly inhabited by rich people between the ages of 28 and 45, and homosexuals. Seriously. So it wasn't terribly exciting and I won't waste precious internet time discussing it.
Saturday I had guard duty from 1330-1930 and then Sunday morning from 0130-0630. I basically sat/stood at the RSU gate with an M16 looking pretend mean. It turned out to be extraordinarily difficult to keep my mind busy without imagining the damage I could do to the little birds and rats running around with my rifle, or imagining being attacked by rabid coyotes. Like I said, it was pretty boring.
We're hitting the range this week with both the major machine guns (M240G and .50-cal) and grenades, not to mention the primary reason for our being their, our M16-A4's with ACOGs. We have to sight in our ACOGs and all that, and they saw it as an opportunity to get us trigger time on everything else (except the MK-19...too much money for rounds). I'm eager. After we get back from liberty we head to Del Mar (at Camp Pendelton) for a couple weeks, then it's off to Iraq via roundabout cargo plane trips. Oorah. Should be an adventure. Until liberty, though, my address is now:
LCpl Willey, Roger K.I just realized how much I'm probably repeating myself from my last post, but whatever. Hope you don't mind.
1st BTN 14th Marines
CRP
Box #788600
Twentynine Palms, CA 92278
We got our full gear issue today and should be getting our rifles issued tomorrow (hopefully). I've got all kinds of brand-new, high-speed gear to play with. It's very exciting to me, because I've never had a full gear issue, much less all the sweet new stuff. I got my flak jacket all set up with magazine pouches and grenade pouches and first aid kit and all that trash, so I'll have to get a good moto picture once I get my rifle, in all my gear looking hard-charging and ready to kill. The ladies like that kind of thing, I'm told.
Something I've been meaning to mention, just a little tidbit of information about the base here, is that the Marine base here at 29 Palms, CA (Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, if you're wondering) is large enough to fit every other Marine base in the United States in it and still have room to spare. It's just barely smaller than Rhode Island at 935 square miles. It was bought from the Army in something like 1957 for a dollar because the Army had deemed it "uninhabitable." Ha.
I started reading the Da Vinci Code because it had been so popular and it's finally in paperback. The writing is a bit poor, but the story itself is thus far pretty interesting.
Today Klauer told the staff NCOs that he hadn't gotten paid yet and needed the money for his new baby (Isaac Jacob, 7 lbs. 6 oz., born the 30th at 0150 hours), and when they looked into it, it turned out they had accidentally ended his contract. Like, he technically was finished with active service and could have gone home. So, they're trying to fix that. In the meantime, it turns out I haven't gotten paid yet either, and as I have been in the same boat as Klauer all along, it stands to reason that the same has happened to me. So, perhaps my activation is at an end, or at least as it stands on paper (as a matter of fact, it is...I just checked Marine Online and it tells me my expiration of active service was March 30th). I'm not worried, though...they want me in Iraq as much as I do. They'll be able to fix it, I'm sure.
I'm all out of interesting comments. Hope all is well back home, and I hope I can see many of you again soon. Take care and Semper Fidelis.
[edit] I just found this on Drudge. Ridiculous.
posted by Roger W. at 10:01 PM
6 Comments:
It will be good to see you, Roger. Take care of yourself.
Booo...I won't get to see you! I'm heading home and Friday to see my family for Easter and coming back Monday afternoon. :( But I want to say I miss you and I'm glad to see you're doing ok. Love ya kiddo!
Like Kristy I won't be here either :( I'm REALLY sad I can't see you before you go... but regardless, have a good Easter weekend, Rog.
that article is rediculous. maybe if schools focused their attention on something more important than dress, the students would too. not to mention that banning patriotic clothing is twice as moronic...
Of course, appease the illegal immigrants but as soon as 8th freakin graders stand up for their rights and patriotism knock em down! This country is itself getting a bit ridiculous. But I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend! Best be prepared for a mind blowing hug that will hopefully knock you to the ground. =) See you soon!!!
Hey Roger.
Sorry to say I won't be able to be in Rock Island over Easter Weekend. :( I wish i could. Hope you have an amazing time! I miss you a ton. Take care of yourself.
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