6 Years in the Marine Corps

6 Years in the Marine Corps

Recently someone has talked to me about blogging some more and with that I have been thinking about writing about my 6 long and fruitful years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Parris Island
Before I left for boot camp, I felt that I had a good idea about my life and the things of the world; I was wrong. I went to boot camp a young and skinny boy. It was a life changing experience in that I experienced pain and loneliness. Being yelled at and corrected in ways that made you reach deep down into yourself to realize that you are nothing. You come together with the other recruits, in this experience, to fully understand what it means to work together and become warriors. This was only the beginning of my transformation into someone who is confident, strong, and one badass killing machine that every Marine strives to be at the end. That is what was expected and that is what we all became at the end of boot camp.

Infantry School
Further training in the way of weapons and tactics further enhanced every Marine’s ability to wage war against the enemies of the United States. With many long nights of road marches, live fire ranges, and bonding together has helped to forge me into my desire to serve even more even if that means my death for another. Infantry school is brutally tough at times so that has allowed me to understand that I can always perform under any pressure or problem thrown at me in combat and life.

Drill Weekends
Serving just one weekend a month and 2 weeks a year was fun and interesting at first. That feeling last a short time before I would dread those drill weekends. I was still developing myself into a Marine and more importantly, a man. I did not feel any real connections with the other Marines in my unit until I volunteered for my first deployment called UNITAS.

UNITAS
My first deployment was to Central and South America, but before I could debark on the USS Tortuga, there were four months of training that needed to be done at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During these times, I was able to start bonding with several members of my home unit, who also volunteered with me. We further enhanced our knowledge of weapons, tactics, and leadership. Training such as riot control, radio operation, and physical training, though at that time I did not realize it, has all helped me complete my combat tour to Iraq. When we finally got on the ship and sailed down South and across the equator, the training with nine other countries became some of my fondest memories with the Corps. From fast roping out of a helicopter fifty feet to the ground, conducting large scale beach assaults from the ocean, and even some trigger time on several machine guns all made the deployment a success. Our interaction with the other militaries, even though they spoke Spanish, was another great memory of mine. We all had the same desire to serve our country and fellow man. Times such as introducing smokeless tobacco to Soldiers for the first time to teaching them our tactics allowed me to understand other people, from other cultures, has allowed me to be able to work with anyone.

To be continued in my next post.