Paint Job

Today, I had the opportunity to learn how to paint a car.  Last weekend, I was hit by a bicyclist on the rear driver's side door.  The result was a nasty scratch and dent.  Painting was always something that I have always wanted to learn, but never had the chance to do it.  So I figured that this was the perfect opportunity to hire someone to come over and show me how to paint it.

Carbon Fiber Bowtie Project

 

Today, I stopped by the local Pep Boys store and picked up a roll of carbon fiber for 10 bucks.  This is a simple mod that doesn't cost much and darkens the look of your manufacturer emblem for that midnight racer look.

Visiting the Port of San Diego

We went to visit the Port of San Diego.  On our way there, we stopped at Panda Express for some grub.

 

At the San Diego Pier.  Vicky was a bit too scared to get on any boats or submarines.

 

Kids fooling around in front of the Hotel in Downtown San Diego.

 

Later that night, we made Pizza Bagels!  Nayeli likes to put lots of cheese on hers and Vicky only likes pepperoni.

Trip to the ER

Vicky did her usual thing of jumping up and down and slipping and falling.  This time, she slipped and fell back and hit her head on the brick fireplace.  She has a gash in her head about 3/4ths of an inch long and she bled out quite a bit.  She got 6 staples in the back of her head and is on antibiotics to fight off infection.

2012 Camaro Convertible

Being a typical American, I decided to blow my hard-earned deployment coin on a brand new, shiny red convertible.  My reasoning?  I need to take the kids to school with class.

Disney California Adventure and Disneyland

Why does the Press know more than I do?

Attackers in Afghanistan wore US uniforms

Associated Press – 35 mins ago

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Coalition military authorities in Afghanistan say the insurgents who attacked a British airfield in southwestern Afghanistan on Friday, killing two U.S. Marines, wore U.S. Army uniforms and destroyed six Harrier fighter jets.

They said in a statement Saturday that about 15 insurgents carried out the attack, describing the attack as well coordinated by insurgents who were "well equipped, trained and rehearsed." Fourteen of the 15 were killed. One was captured.

They said attackers penetrated the base's perimeter and were armed with automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and suicide vests. Besides destroying six planes, they destroyed three refueling stations on the base and damaged six aircraft hangars.

Coalition authorities have not yet identified the two Marines killed. Eight military members and one civilian contractor were also injured in the assault.

------------
Break*  Break*

Why the heck does the press know more than I do?  Well anyways, everyone here that I know is okay.  Outside the normal conveniences of being able to shower and do laundry, everything else is pretty much business as usual because the base here is so freak'in huge this tiny little attack by the Taliban literally has little or no effect to daily operations.  The Taliban is extremely dumb if you ask me.  Attack a well-armed military base?  Stupid.  Is the press making some of this stuff up?  Harrier fighter jets???  Haha!

Leadership put to the Test

Being out here, I started out at the bottom.  I was just a technician.  I flew out on a business trip, and came back and my boss was promoted to the Staff Noncommissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) and then that guy had to leave.  Then one of my peers got bumped up into that position.  Then he left.  Now guess who's next in line?  Ah hem...  me.

One of the most challenging questions that came across me was this.  A junior Marine had come to me asked me why all the lazy douchebags who did the bare minimum get to be rewarded with an early ticket home.  He told me that he has given me 110% and has busted his ass everyday to get the mission done, so why does the hard working and the smart people have to hang back to pick up the slack?

Hmm...

After much thought, he was absolutely correct.

We are the A-Team.

Silences of Glum

Camp Leatherneck is a big transient hotel of some sort.  People here have came and went.   Some people don’t make it back to the states.  I hate the instance when the dead need to return government issue goods.  When this has to happen, there is this unspoken silence filled with sadness and glum when teammates came to Supply to return gear for a fallen Sailor killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).  Clearly, we are close like family and the entire unit has to suffer the consequences of this loss.  It is hard physically and mentally.  Physically, being that there is one less team member and the rest of the team must pick up the slack for an ongoing mission that doesn’t seem to slow down.  Mentally, being that there was a slight possibly that it could’ve been them that stepped on that bomb.  Some of us is thanking the Lord that they didn't die.  The rest of us is wishing that they did.

Music Preference Says This

I tried this little experiment.

Hit Shuffle on your Ipod or music player.

Song #1 is what other people think of you.

Song #2 is what you really are.
Song #3 is your future/present/past spouse.
Song #4 is what sex is like.
Song #5 is how you will die.

Here are my results.

1. J. Geils Band - Centerfold

2. Dragonette - Hello
3. Eminem – Till I Collapse (Explicit)
4. Darude – Calm before the Storm
5.  Sean Kingston – Fire Burning


Hahaha!

I Still Don't Know What I Want to Do When I Grow Up

Dear Universe,

Being that I'm in the military and that I joined right out of high school, it still feels like I never left.  New kids are always enlisting with the usual conversation about high school tits, rebellious banter and general immaturity.  In reality, we are all kids at heart, no matter how senior we are within the ranks.  We insert morbid quotes by General James Mattis under our e-mail signatures and we frequently tell each other to go fuck ourselves.  We curse at business meetings, we say "kill" after every sentence, we watch seasons of "Dexter" for therapy purposes and most importantly, we all love to shoot guns and blow shit up.

Well, that is what it's like right now and sometimes I wonder what I'll be doing in the next 6 years when I retire.  One thing is for sure, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. 

Best Regards,
IncrediblyX
America Fuck Yeah
Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
(123)456-7890

"I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all." General James Mattis

The Greatest Thrill is Knowing that You Might Die

Going on convoys isn't for the weak of heart.  With every opportunity to leave Camp Leatherneck, I took it.  However, one of our trips was perhaps the most thrilling I have ever had.  After, I had spent the night at one of the most haunted battalion aid stations in Helmond Province claiming to have the most deaths two to five feet from where I was sleeping.   And after watching Paranormal Activity 3 with the lights out in the same location, going on a convoy on a road that used to be known as the most deadliest highway in the world still tops the list in "The Most Scariest Things I have Ever Done."


The morning after watching the movie started with the daily routine of hygiene and breakfast.  And once we got back to clean up our sleeping area to put away our foldable COTs (what we slept on), we were told that someone had found room for us on a convoy leaving in about 30 mikes.


I was thinking to myself, "holy crap."


We put on our flak jackets, helmet, strapped on our weapons, grabbed our bags and ran to the meetup point.  The convoy ops started with an intel brief, safety training and smoke signal training.  There was intel of a suicide bomber in the bazaar within our route to another location.  My pucker factor suddenly increased to a 1000%.  As we started to bring our bags to the trucks, a Master Sergent approached me with this question: "Are you wearing your ballistic underwear?"

"No. Master Sergent."

"Do you have any?"

"Yes, it is in my bags somewhere."

With veins popping out of his neck, he replied, "HM1, WHY DON'T YOU FUCKING HAVE THEM ON?!?"

I was thinking, "oh crap".  I put my bag down and took them out and changed out in the nearest berthing tent and off we go.


The moment I sat down inside the mine roller (the lead vehicle with a custom attachment in front of it to set off IEDs) the officer in charge turned around and said.  "Get into Condition One."

I got out of the vehicle and pointing my weapons at the hesco barriers, I racked my M4 and M9.

Luckily, we had taken a Lance Corporal with us to provide me and my partner security detail.  The officer turn to him and said, "Do you know how to operate the turrent?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Lance Corporal, what gun is that up there?"

"Sir, a M240."

"Okay.  If the gunner goes down.  You got it.  GOT THAT?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Doc, you provide first aid."

"Yes, Sir" I replied.

In my mind, a thousand different scenarios popped into my head.  I was about to panic because I was thinking what a horrible Corpsman I am.  I didn't have a freak'n medical bag with me.  Not even a tourniquet... 

I asked the driver if they had a medbag.  And sure enough, they did.


Picture of a vehicle borne IED that was seized shortly before our convoy.

How BMETs are Helping the Afghan National Army

On occasion, Navy BMETs are tasked to go outside the wire to perform various duties outside their job.  But recently, our expertise was requested when two dental chairs and an x-ray film processor went down.

Taking apart a dental chair.

 Performing repairs on an air compressor.

 Primitive dental tubing.

Putting it all back together.

Wag Bags and Piss Tubes

On this most recent deployment, I was given the opportunity to provide BIOMED support to one of our outlying FOBs (forward operating base) in Afghanistan. The one I visited recently is one of the most active and there are all kinds of extreme medical cases that happen all the time there. The action started almost as soon as we got out of the CH-53 Sea Stallion.

Me and Fred got settled in our tent around 2 a.m. and about 3 hours later, people were running in and out of the tent.

I heard very clearly, "We got a patient!!!"

I got up and put my boots on and walked out to hear that the patient had shrapnel wounds on his arms and legs. 

I was thinking "wow... This is cool."

And then I remembered that I was just there for BMET support, not corpsman support. There's lots of corpsman around here for that.

Now, that was just the beginning. I haven't even found the bathroom yet and I was starving. I asked someone where the urinals were. I was directed to these "piss tubes" which are large plastic tubes that stick out of the ground. I guess I am supposed to aim and pee into these tubes. Hmm... Okay. After trying that out, I couldn't help but be disgusted with myself after trying to aim into a piss tube and swat at flies at the same time. They all seem to swarm around nasty places and I had just intruded on their party.

The next thing on my agenda was getting breakfast and finding the real bathroom. After wiping the crust out of my eyes, a young female walked out of her tent.

"Excuse me! Can you point me to the head?" I asked.

"Oh, I see that you just got here. I heard you coming in early this morning." (refering to the distinct deafening noise that a CH-53 makes)

I followed her to the wooden structures which appears to be outhouses. She opened up one of the doors and showed me a toilet seat with a hole in the ground.

"Hmmm... that looks gross." I said in disgust.

"Everyone has to do it! And once we're done, we all have to do the walk of shame." she said.


"So what is the walk of shame?"

"Here, after you fill up this wag-bag, you take it and seal it shut like a ziplock bag. And then you walk it a quarter mile to the waste collection point."

"Oh. How embarrasing."

"Yeah. Everybody does it."

Working 12-18 Hour Days

For the entirety of our deployment, we have been working hard doing 12-18 hour days. Why the long hours? Because of inventory. Upon arriving Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, we have been retrograding materiel back to the states.

We are gradually reducing our troop numbers with the overall goal of being just a force to provide guidance and assistance to the local authorities. By the time our deployment is over, most of these iso containers will have been retrograded.

Lytle Creek Volunteer Project

This weekend, I organized a volunteer event at Lytle Creek, CA. It was a successful project with the primary focus of litter and graffiti removal. Within the first 15 minutes, we removed an entire truckload of refuse! I'm so proud of my volunteers and the U.S. Forest Service for helping preserve our forest and creeks!











Removing graffiti was the hardest part of this project. We removed a small segment of graffiti and did some impact. When my power tools ran out of batteries (I ran through four sets) we proceeded with covering up graffiti with mud and rock. Overall, we removed about 200 pounds of litter! What a difference we made!