Since I have been asked several times in here over the years about things military (and had my brain picked), I thought I would open up a thread in here for people to ask about what it is like.

Feel free to ask about anything, from training and daily work schedules, to equipment and wars and battles.

All I ask is to try and keep questions non-political.  If you have an axe to grind because you hate the military, please take that elsewhere.

What branch are you in, what's your rank, and what's your MOS?

What branch are you in, what's your rank, and what's your MOS?


Which time?

US Marines, 1983-1993, 0311 Infantry
US Army, 2007-2012, PATRIOT Missile System
US Army Reserve, 2012 - Present, Information Technology Specialist

What originally made you decide to enter the Army/Marines?

What originally made you decide to enter the Army/Marines?


Wow, hard question to answer.

If you ask "Why I joined", it was because I wanted to serve my country.  And by that I mean the people of my country.  And this goes back as long as I can remember.  As was common in that era, my mom had a "When I Grow Up" book, which she asked me things and added photos so you could see my progression as I aged.  And for the entry in December 1969 (my 5th birthday), I said I wanted to be a soldier.

When I started High School, and immediately joined ROTC.  And before I even graduated, I had already joined the Marines, as an Infantryman because I wanted the challenge.

Now fast forward 20+ years, and I went into the Army.  I was to old (and had bad knees), so the Marines was out.  So I chose this time PATRIOT missiles, the closest I was able to get to "combat arms".  And once again, the reason was more or less the same.  My neighbor across the street was in the Alabama National Guard, and as I sat at home during Hurricane Katrina, he was in the back of a plastic covered truck going to New Orleans.  When he got back a month later he told me that the National Guard was looking for people with my experience and maturity.

But after over 2 years of frustration, I gave up on the Guard and instead went full time active duty.

Wow, hard question to answer.

If you ask "Why I joined", it was because I wanted to serve my country.  And by that I mean the people of my country.  And this goes back as long as I can remember.  As was common in that era, my mom had a "When I Grow Up" book, which she asked me things and added photos so you could see my progression as I aged.  And for the entry in December 1969 (my 5th birthday), I said I wanted to be a soldier.

When I started High School, and immediately joined ROTC.  And before I even graduated, I had already joined the Marines, as an Infantryman because I wanted the challenge.

Now fast forward 20+ years, and I went into the Army.  I was to old (and had bad knees), so the Marines was out.  So I chose this time PATRIOT missiles, the closest I was able to get to "combat arms".  And once again, the reason was more or less the same.  My neighbor across the street was in the Alabama National Guard, and as I sat at home during Hurricane Katrina, he was in the back of a plastic covered truck going to New Orleans.  When he got back a month later he told me that the National Guard was looking for people with my experience and maturity.

But after over 2 years of frustration, I gave up on the Guard and instead went full time active duty.


Thanks for your answer. I think we are about the same age. In High school 2 of my good friends joined the army (The Canadian forces, I'm from Canada) in 1978 or 1979, part time (they were still in high school at the time as I was)  and they would go to Petawawa (Canadian armed forces base) a few times a month, on weekends. One of them also said he joined because he grew up as wanting to serve his country as a soldier.

Thanks for sharing. :)

Did you ever serve in combat?



Cat

Did you ever serve in combat?

Cat


Well, I served in a combat zone, but not in actual combat, per se.

In 1990 I was gearing up to go to Gulf War I with my unit (2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment) when I was injured in a motorcycle accident.  So I had to stay stateside and watch as my buddies went over and participated in the distractionary "amphibious assault", then land at Kuwait City Airport and secure it from the Iraqi Army.  I would have been involved in that, if not for my accident a few months prior.

However as many know, I did spend 2009-2010 in Qatar, looking across the Gulf at Iran.  And that got hairy quite a few times, as tensions were running quite high at that time (and still are).  To be honest, I felt more of a sense of "inbound attack without warning" during that year then I ever did during the Cold War from the Soviets.

However, I did come under what I consider "enemy fire" back in 1987.  I was in Panama doing jungle warfare training, and at the time tensions were already rising between the US and some of the Panamanian Forces.  I was leading my squad on a training "Jungle Patrol" along the Chagres River, and saw a Panamanian Defense Force patrol boat come up the river.  Now some members had been involved in our training, and we got along quite well with them.  So when we waved at these guys, we were shocked and hit the deck fast when they started to fire their M-60 machine gun at us.

This went on for about 5 minutes, they would put back and forth shooting randomly above our heads.  We were trying to dissapear into the mud behind anything we could get for cover.  Finally they started laughing and shouted something over the PA (nobody in my squad knew SPanish, but with the word "puta" repeated several times, I knew they were not being friendly) before roaring off upstream.

And there was nothing we could do, because between the 8 of us, we had exactly 1 clip (30 rounds) of blanks, in case we got lost and needed to fire to help somebody find us.  WHen we got back and reported it, we found out this was actually quite common from one faction of the PFD (the Pro-Noriega crowd).  Those that were training us actually apologized for their behavior, and were glad none of us were hurt (a few over the years had been shot during these kinds of "games").

Well, I served in a combat zone, but not in actual combat, per se.

In 1990 I was gearing up to go to Gulf War I with my unit (2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment) when I was injured in a motorcycle accident.  So I had to stay stateside and watch as my buddies went over and participated in the distractionary "amphibious assault", then land at Kuwait City Airport and secure it from the Iraqi Army.  I would have been involved in that, if not for my accident a few months prior.

However as many know, I did spend 2009-2010 in Qatar, looking across the Gulf at Iran.  And that got hairy quite a few times, as tensions were running quite high at that time (and still are).  To be honest, I felt more of a sense of "inbound attack without warning" during that year then I ever did during the Cold War from the Soviets.

However, I did come under what I consider "enemy fire" back in 1987.  I was in Panama doing jungle warfare training, and at the time tensions were already rising between the US and some of the Panamanian Forces.  I was leading my squad on a training "Jungle Patrol" along the Chagres River, and saw a Panamanian Defense Force patrol boat come up the river.  Now some members had been involved in our training, and we got along quite well with them.  So when we waved at these guys, we were shocked and hit the deck fast when they started to fire their M-60 machine gun at us.

This went on for about 5 minutes, they would put back and forth shooting randomly above our heads.  We were trying to dissapear into the mud behind anything we could get for cover.  Finally they started laughing and shouted something over the PA (nobody in my squad knew SPanish, but with the word "puta" repeated several times, I knew they were not being friendly) before roaring off upstream.

And there was nothing we could do, because between the 8 of us, we had exactly 1 clip (30 rounds) of blanks, in case we got lost and needed to fire to help somebody find us.  WHen we got back and reported it, we found out this was actually quite common from one faction of the PFD (the Pro-Noriega crowd).  Those that were training us actually apologized for their behavior, and were glad none of us were hurt (a few over the years had been shot during these kinds of "games").



Scary.



Cat

Scary.

Cat


Trust me, it was.  It was all I could do to not..  mess myself when that happened.

Have you ever been stationed in Hawaii or another island country?

Have you ever been stationed in Hawaii or another island country?


Well, I spent over a year on Okinawa.  And it is not a country, but was also stationed on Mare Island for 3 years.

Never made it to Hawaii though.

What was the most difficult thing to adjust to (Or what did you miss the most) when you joined the army?

What was the most difficult thing to adjust to (Or what did you miss the most) when you joined the army?


Not really.

When I first joined the Marines, I was 18 and just out of High School.  This was 1983 after all, so there was not all that much to miss.  If anything, I actually hated the fact that I was stationed only an hour from home (I wanted to travel and see the world, not be stuck in a suburb of LA).  But there was never really any kind of adjustment for me, I had always been a pretty good kid, and adapted to the discipline and training pretty easily.

Now for the Army, it was a bit different.  Being from a military background of "Yes Corporal", hearing guys say "yea, whatever" to a Staff Sergeant took quite a bit to get used to.  In fact, even calling a Staff Sergeant "Sergeant" took a while to get used to.  TO most of us that had been in the Marines and go to another service, the biggest change is getting used to the much more lax levels of discipline.

What was your best duty assignment and what was your worst?



Cat

What was your best duty assignment and what was your worst?

Cat


Oh my goodness, I had so many of them!  And each of them had their own good and bad things.

Probably one of the best was the 6 months I was in Okinawa the first time.  I was detached from my unit and spent it as the Camp Commander's driver.  So I got to drive all over Okinawa, and got to spend a lot of time sitting in the car reading when he was at meetings.  Also once a week he went to meeting s with the local Mayor, and after the meeting they would bring me in for sushi until the "after meeting party" was concluded.

I also enjoyed Jungle Training in Panama.  The roughest training I ever went through, but also the most spectacular landscape I had probably ever seen in my life.  Entering a clearing in the jungle, only to find an abandoned French base camp from when they tried to build their canal (and a long lost and forgotten cemetery for the French workers) is something I will never forget.

Not sure if I could pick a worst.  If I have to pick one, it would be my year in the Middle East.  Hot as blazes (the running joke was it was 135f outside, because the thermometer maxed out at 135), and being away for an entire year was not fun.  Blus the long hours (24-36 hour shifts) and ulcer inducing tension did not make much fun either.  But even then there were some good times.