29 Palms

Here is an update of what I’ve been doing for the 2.5 weeks. Unfortunately, there is no internet access at the field camp where we are staying, but I am able to have 1 day of liberty to main side and therefore be able to do this.

Our unit has been training mostly in the basics of infantry because it is said that is where a lot of mistakes are made. Spent sometime doing BUST (Basic Urban Skills Training) like clearing rooms and building. Learning about satellite patrolling, through a city, which involves individual fire teams of a squad taking a street each. We also did EMP (Enhanced Marksmanship Program) to better our firing skills in confined spaces. This weekend, we begin our RCAX (Revised Combined Arms Exercise) which involves a lot of live fire ranges on the squad, platoon, and company level. After that, we are being shipped to March Air Force base for SASO (Security and Stabilization Operations) training and that involves basically what we are doing in Iraq right now: policing operations. At the end of SASO, we will be doing a 3 day exercise of it which involves role players, setting up a firm base, and conducting security patrols. After that, we are going to be pretty much done and waiting for further word of our fly out date.

Life here at 29 Palms kinda sucks; we live at a field camp which has hooches that have a hard rood, but sand floors. So everything I have is getting covered in dust. I get to sleep on a cot most nights and it is really cold at night here. It uses to be in the low 30s, now it is in the low 40s at night. Oh, no heaters in the hooches. It does warm up quite fast when the sun is out; like 70s sometimes. I am starting to get used to life here, so I don’t hate it as much as I used to, but still miss home. I try to go to church on Sunday’s, when they let us, but it is not very good. Try and merge Protestant, Catholic, Roman Catholic, and have a Lutheran chaplain. It leans more towards Catholics than anything I think.

Funny thing about here is that the base in Iraq, where we are supposed to be going, is better than this misery. I hear that it will have hard floors and roofs, internet access, and better chow compliments of Halliburton. Plus, locals are contracted to clean our rooms; a nice added benefit of being in a combat zone I guess. That’s it for now. I will post again next month if they don’t take away our liberty to Las Vegas again (1st had 4 days liberty, then no liberty, now 2 days).

Lance Corporal McCauley

Lance Corporal McCauley
Originally uploaded by nukeit1.

This is just a picture of me fully equipped for combat. More pictures will soon come, though internet use is not available at my camp in 29 Palms. I am on liberty for 1 day, so this is all I can do till next month's liberty in Vegas.

Goodbye Everyone

It's that time. I will be flying to California tomorrow and begin my intense training. If you didn't get a email from me about what I am doing, my address, and such, then contact me via email and I might be able to get something to you soon. Well, here is what I send out minus my address.

Well everyone, it is time for me to say my final goodbyes. I will be flying to California on Monday for some serious training to prepare me for Iraq in March. My unit is out of Columbus, Ohio and is called Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines (or 3/25 for short). I just wanted to take this time to thank everyone for such tremendous support I get, from you, for what I do. It means a great deal to me and it makes it easier knowing that I have a lot of people that care and love me back home. Thank you once again.

I will have very limited access to email and really won't know till I get there. As soon as I know my address in Iraq, I will try to get it out to everyone. When I do get to Iraq, the Marine Corps has a new system in place that you can type me a message on line and it will be sent via email to the post office in Iraq, printed, and then sealed in a envelope. In about 24 hours it is delivered to me. I can not reply the same way. Here is the link: http://www.motomail.us/. Please keep in mind, that you can't do this until I am in Iraq. By the way, I hear it takes about 2 weeks for me to get mail in Iraq and about 1 week for me to send it out (assuming the mail isn't lost or blown up in transit).
Some people have asked me if I will be needing anything when I am gone. Well, while in California, I really won't be needing too much, but in Iraq I will. Here is a list, but if you think of anything else, surprise me. Also, if you can get travel sizes, that would help a lot.
hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, baby wipes
athletes foot cream/powder
cough drops
q-tips
Tylenol, etc...
sunscreen
lotion
neosporin, anti-itch cream
tissue packs
deodorant, mouth wash, shampoo
eye drops, vitamins
Any kind of snack or candy will be great (please no chocolate due to heat) power bars, gatorade mix, sugarless gum, canned fruit, hard candy, etc...
batteries (AA/AAA)
ziplock bags, insect repellent (DEET)
journal paper, paper, pens, envelopes, computer spray
seek & find puzzles, nerf balls
pictures, books, magazines, DVDs
Alright, that's about it for now. Please pray for me to have strength and guidance. I am proud to be serving and helping give Iraq freedom. If all goes well, my tour in Iraq will only be about 7 months. Take care and I hope to hear from you soon.

Finally Ready

It's Friday night and I made it home alright to finish some things real quick before I go back tomorrow morning. For some reason, they (my superiors) have been nice to us and let us go an hour early today and half hour yesterday. Next, we get off tomorrow at 1300 and don't have to come back till Sunday at 1600. I don't know; when someone who is mean to you and all of the sudden is nice, something real bad is going to happen. The suspense grows, but at least the week is pretty much over with and we are finally ready to go.

A funny little story was told to me today by my platoon sergeant. I asked him if it was OK to carry my laptop, in a case, as a carry on to the plane. He then asked me if I was a designated laptop carrier. I said no, since it isn't government laptop; it's mine! The sergeant then told me how it might be a bad idea since it might get damaged and not make it back home cause of the environment and such. Also, the company is apparently short of laptops and if I do carry my laptop, I will then be designated as a laptop carrier. Which means that my personal use of the laptop will be 2nd to the company's use of the laptop. So basically, they can use it whenever they want. Funny; I don't remember Lima Company ever giving me some money to help me buy MY laptop. Of course, me being a inferior rank and person, in the Corps eyes, I just politely said roger that and carried on with my day and packed it in my overstuffed seabag. During that time, I was thinking on how wonderful it will be when they try and take my laptop from me and give it to fricken admin so they can pretend to be doing something important like typing or drinking coffee, while I am patrolling the streets looking for insurgents. I don't think it will happen. They would have to remove it from my ninja grip only after I am dead. Well, I thought it was funny and so did a few other Marines.

1st Day of Duty

Well, today was the 1st day of my activation and it went pretty slow. As a matter of fact, all I did was sign my orders, do another gear inspection, and got one of the new flak jacket covers (they are all brown and contain IR inhibitors). The rest of the time was pretty much sitting around reading a little bit of Spare Parts and fighting off sleep. Thankfully, they will only keep us 0800 to about 1700. I might even get off early Saturday and be able to come in a little bit late on Sunday; won't know till later this week.

From what I can tell, the other Marines are positive about our mobilization. We just don't like to put up with this 1st week of waiting around doing paperwork and such. Just to let everyone know, I will be sending out a email later this week with my address and some other information. If someone wants the information and I don't email them, then talk to Pastor Larry or leave me a comment. I can't really put such information here due to operational security. That's all for now. I will try to blog and flickr as much as I can in the coming months.

Good Times/Last Times

Good Times/Last Times
Originally uploaded by nukeit1.

Well, with only 4 days of freedom left, I am feeling a little bit anxious; actually, a lot. I find myself not being able to eat very much and just the stress of trying to put together everything in my life so that my mother can take care of everything for the next 10 months. I am worried that I might be forgetting something because once I reach California, I am pretty much training nonstop, so I won't have much time to do my personal matters.

Here is just a picture taken last Wednesday evening at Applebee's. I thought it looked happy.

Finally!

Hey everyone, I finally got with the 21st century and purchased myself a digital camera. It is a Olympus 300. I like it so far, and it pretty much is just meant for the rough life of the desert coming up next year. Now, I will be able to send you all back some pictures of what I am doing and such on a CD or something. Maybe flickr them; who knows what I can do now.

Christmas Eve

Family, girlfriends, beer, board games, vulgarities, name calling, and even a hand gun. How else could you spend your holidays?! I think I know some other ways.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I Love Snow

That's right, I love snow and I am proud to say it LOUD! You can have a lot more fun in snow that with any other kind of precipitation. I can't wait to go skiing again this season.

Well today, as most of you know, it snowed like fish and gerbils. I got bored from being inside, I decided to shovel snow like a psycho. I spent like 2 hours shovel, spending a little time on the back porch, then moving to the driveway. I even shoveled half the street in front of my house so it would be easier to get in and out of the car. You should see the mounds of snow in front of my house. It is like 5 feet high and about 40 feet long. It did start wearing on my back, perhaps that a sign of old age. I don't know. Anyways, I finished around 8PM and now there is like another 2-3 inches that came back. Guess I will just hit the shovel early in the morning. It also looks like more snow tomorrow and negative low temperatures for Friday. I can't wait.

Joel and I tried to get out for a bit and did not get far. About 8PM, Joel left his house, got stuck twice, and 10 minutes later, arrived at my house. Then, he picks me up and we get like 2 blocks and get stuck on Marion Dr. and Rt. 444. After about 15 minutes of pushing and what have you, a Jeep came by and tugged us free. We then drove to IGA to turn around and get to a intersection down the street from my house. And what do you know, got stuck again. Lucky, we were on a hill and were able to get turned around and decide it would be better if Joel takes his parent's SUV to get me home. No further problems after that. Total trip time: 1 hour. Total distance traveled: less than 5 miles.

Combat Life Saver

I am now a certified combat life saver compliments of the Marine Corps. It was a very fast paced and very informational 3 days. Now, we just lack the practical application of it all, which is supposed to take place when we are in 29 Palms. One thing I didn't care too much about the class was all the horrific pictures of troops and other people having suffered from war and such. I saw some really jacked up people, like this one guy was blown up by a pipe bomb and he really no longer had a body; more like a dozen pieces. Oh, and seeing someone who took a shotgun to their head wasn't too pretty either. On the good side of things, I feel more confident in my first aid abilities and hopefully won't have to use it, but if I do, I know what to do. This marks then end of my annual training for this fiscal year. I don't want to learn anything else for awhile.

On a nice little side note; thanks for the Marine Corps for giving me a flu shot last week. Now, I feel like crap and can't stop coughing, sneezing, and really just don't feel all that great. Another quick little bit of information, I finally got DSL hooked up at my house. Now I can take advantage of the full potential of the internet and play XBox Live. Too bad I only got 18 days left. (Look for Columbus, OH)

Last Day of Annual Training

Today is the last day of annual training with my unit in Columbus. Let me tell you, I've never thought that I would ever sit for so fricken long and partake in so many classes in 10 days. I thought they generally sent dumb guys to infantry; I guess I was mistaken, not that I am saying that I am dumb or anything. Today should be pretty easy, just a gear inspection I think. Should be done around 1300 I hear, but who cares because after that, I get to drive my happy butt to Brookpark, near Cleveland, for 3 more days of training. I am taking a Combat Life Savers course; basically advanced first aid. I get to learn to stick people with needles and I don't know if I would like to learn that cause it is a little weird for me to do that. Well, I will let you all know how it turns out. I think it will be a better experience than this last week. Time will tell and so will I.

Just to Let You Know...

What are the 5 things I want to experience in the next three years?

1. Combat - same time, I don't
2. Graduate from Wright State University
3. Enjoying life and good health
4. Move out of my mother's basement, f'er real
5. Show courage in a time of great fear and let my testament of Jesus Christ save a few good Marines

Annual Training

Well, since Dec. 4th, I've been in Columbus doing the annual training for the Marine Corps. It isn't the whole 2 weeks like normal, but rather just 10 days. I got some good news to report: yesterday I was kinda promoted billet wise to fire team leader. So, now I am responsible for 3 other Marines. In addition, the hotel room I am staying in has free Wi-Fi. The bad news is that I found out over the weekend that instead of leaving on Sunday the 12th, we have to stay till Monday the 13th. Then on top of all that, after they let us go, I have to drive to Brookpark (near Cleveland) for 3 more days of training. True, I did volunteer for this Combat Life Savers course, but they told me last month that it was during this week's training, but it isn't. So, I took another one from the Corps and won't be home till next Friday the 17th. Which leaves me with only 17 days left before I leave. I am now starting to think about everything that I wanted to do and things I need to get done before I leave. Throw in Christmas and New Year's, that doesn't leave me with a lot of time to get things done.

It is starting to hit me that I might be gone for a long time. We were told that we should expect to be activated for a whole year, and maybe even longer. Some more good news, I just got issued a bunch of new gear and equipment. It is a lot better than the crap we had before including the lighter kevlar, better goggles, better pack, and the SAPI plates for the flak jacket (so that I can take a 7.62 round to the chest and not be injured).

I tell you what, I am getting sick of all the stupid crap we have to do around the drill center like busy work and endless classes. Today, we had a 4 hour class with only a 5 minute break. I was fighting myself to not fall asleep. I was in like a daze and not really learning anything. I can understand the fact that we need to know this stuff to help stay alive and fight better, but they are just drilling us with knowledge at every minute and keep telling us to stay busy going over this or going over that. 10-11 hours a day of this stuff starts to wear you down mentally and it has only been 3 days. God help me.

Why I Joined the Corps

Tonight's the night...dark and rainy...the perfect night for killing. They won't expect us tonight. They'll just hear the rain. But we are ready. Swift. Silent. Deadly. Your rifle is loaded and locked. Your bayonet is fixed. Your eyes study the shadows. Tread lightly. Watch the Marine in front. Repeat the signal. We will make the first move. It's a rush just before it happens. Muzzle flashes and the crack, crack, crack, of rounds. It's a beautiful thing--a fire-team rush. Face-to-face with the enemy. Get up close if you can. Thrust the bayonet in. Don't forget to twist on the way out. Once you grate the ribs you'll know he'll drop. The rainwater mixes with the blood. Dark red at first... then diluted to runny lines of cloudy pink. The smell of wet gunpowder... Ahhh, you gotta love that. Savor it. You've done your job. It was him or you. That is what we do. Listen to the rain. Stare into the night. Move on. There are others waiting to die tonight.

Cafe Boulevard

I'm sorry, but I have to apologize for something I did today. I went to a French restaurant today for dinner. My mother took me out to dinner for my birthday, which was a couple weeks ago, to Cafe Boulevard in the Oregon District in Dayton. It was a very nice place to eat. I ordered the boneless pork chops because it looked like the safest bet for me, but I was wrong. It came with apples, walnuts, and bleu cheese topping and with some kind of zesty sauce. It did not taste good at all. Though, it did come with some asparagus and these little round things of mashed potatoes fried, which was quite interesting and good. For the first time ever, I told the server that I did not like my pork chops and he took it away and I ordered something else. I got the plainest thing on the menu I knew the French couldn't screw up too much; grilled chicken with some veal glaze. It wasn't too bad.

As I Promised

Here is a little something for you people out there.

What are 3 things about myself I have tried to change, and have not yet changed?
1. Procrastination with school work
2. Consistent quiet times with God
3. Be more tactful with people

What are 3 things I wanted to change (either about myself or about anything else) and I did change?
1. I am more confident in who I am
2. Learned to play the guitar
3. Learned how to dress well

Kudos to Dell

I have to give Dell some points on their customer service in regards to fixing their computers. My cute little dog decided to chew up my AC power cord while I was using the laptop and it was plugged in. Unfortunately, the dog was not shocked and luckily I was able to stop it before it chewed the wire through. I believe the wire was shorted a bit and cause my motherboard to get jacked up. As a result, I could no longer recharge my battery, but everything else still worked while it was plugged in to the AC power. I contacted Dell about this, of course I left out the part of the dog chewing the cord, and they sent me a box to ship my laptop back to them for repair (it is still under warranty). My laptop was picked up on Monday evening on Nov. 29 and was returned to me this morning. It took less than 3 days for it to travel to Tenn., get it fixed, and then sent back to me. I was greatly amazed. Dell replaced my system board and gave me a system Bios update. Good job Dell! Now I can take it with me to Columbus next week and have it to entertain me during my training.

Can't Keep the Fans Waiting

Well, its been a grip since the last time I posted anything here, so I will try to not do that again. After all, I do have fans to please.

One thing that I wanted to do with this blog, and have not really started, was to blog about some things that people that know me, might not know about. So, I will start tomorrow with a little something something to allow people to get to know me better and why I act the way I act sometimes; which isn't a bad thing is it?

Minesweeper

I can happily say that I beat minesweeper on expert after 334 seconds. This tremendous feat took me several years and countless hours, but at the end, I stand as the victor.

AE Retreat

Last weekend, Alternative Edge youth ministries held its annual retreat. This year was another great year for the youth group to bond and get real with God. I had the opportunity to get to know some of the youth that I didn't really know before the retreat. I think that the whole youth group got to know me as well, especially when I was "the Marine." I think this is the first year that I felt like a bad guy or a parent. I hate to feel that way and to have to keep on saying don't do that, get your legs off him, don't throw pens at people with the mic, be quiet, ok shut up, etc... Oh, and the trash that was left everywhere outside; it was bad. A camp employee stopped me and told me about it and I did not like to hear it because it does not look good for us.

Well, besides that, it wasn't all that bad. I had a good time and was able to get away for a bit. I jogged through the woods and was able to check out a lot of the camp that I never have seen before. It was very nice and peaceful, just the quiet stir of the wind through the woods. I know that there were some bonds broken during Saturday night’s service. Josh took the mic and just spoke some great things to the teens to let go and give it to God. He had them write down their problems and addictions on a sheet of paper. Afterwards, we burned it. Some relationships were healed as well.

I was able to lay some things before God that have been bothering me lately. Mainly worries about my future and what’s in store for me. Hopefully this won’t be my last retreat.