"Late Night Nostalgia" with Straybullet, Part 2.

Compliments to the Manufacturer

Lets get right into the meat and potatoes of this. This is a result of a 50 cal bullet hitting a M-ATV (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle), it's the ATV version of the MRAP. Regardless, a Corpsman and good buddy of mine was driving this vehicle at the time. We were in a convoy of about a half a dozen trucks and I was in a vehicle behind him. Instead of me abridging the story, I will let him tell it through a brief Facebook chat (plus I wanted an excuse to touch base with him again). Also, compliments to Oshkosh for making superior vehicles that saved countless lives and reduced what should have been fatalities into broken bones and headaches.

In His Own Words

I just want to add that a Corpsman is never supposed to be driving a vehicle but considering our reduced manpower we had to make due. Also, Corpsmen are some of the best Marines out there (if you aren't in the military you won't get that joke). Regardless, dude handled it like a champ, completely un-phased and like a BAMF, he only spoke about how he could have done things better rather than freezing up or getting macho about it. Insanely nice and level headed guy.

"Just get rid of it."

This is how we Combat Engineers prefer to "get rid of it." This is a pile of seized and expired munitions that we drove out into the desert to make go boom. I'm not a Mortarman (0341) so I can't tell you much about the rounds, but I can tell you they "splash" when they go off, as in, they throw debris everywhere. But from my time of listening to comm's I can say "splash" doesn't mean what I just said it means. From a Mortarman's term "splash" means the round is about to launch from the mortar tube. (Correct me if I'm wrong 41's).

Tending the Opium Fields

I was kneeling in this field while out on patrol and I'm uncertain if the guy noticed me or not, but we didn't exchange looks or attempt to communicate. There would be no point to. But some fast facts for you, is he was scraping the side of the opium (what wasn't scraped already and dried out) with a miniature claw. I will explain in the next photo. However, I was in a field like this when I was mortared for the first time. I nearly shit my pants because I had no clue where the mortars were launching from, so I didn't know which way to run; there was no cover to be had. The thing about mortars I found out that day, is there is no way of knowing if where you will run to is going to be better than where you currently are, and vice versa. The general guideline when being mortared is to run towards the origin of the launch as mortars lob, and it would require the mortarman to aim higher (and closer to themselves, which they wouldn't do). Like I said, I didn't have clue. I heard a SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and a M240B start firing and the mortars stopped. +1 for Lance Corporals and 0331's.

The Scrape

A closer shot of an opium plant that like the top picture has been dried of all its drug goo. To further expound, farmers scrape the side of the opium and it oozes out "opium gum." Somehow add magic and a process and you get heroin. Eventually the opium plant dries up and becomes brittle and makes a lot of noise when you're trying to be tactical at night. I recall doing a night op and crunching through a field of dry opium and everyone just looking at each other in the green light of the NVG's like "what the fuck are we doing? We are making so much noise right now." It wasn't very tactical but young squad leaders...

It's a Ford Toyota, or a Toyota Ford

Afghani's love decorating their vehicles with random ornamentation. However, this kind of contradicts itself. I think my buddy's face (whose name I cannot recall at the moment) says it all. My guess is maybe the hood came off a separate vehicle and was affixed to this Ford? I don't know. It's goofy.

My War Buds and I

This photo had to be edited slightly to be brighter and I suck at editing, so sorry for the Instagram look. But uh, yeah, there I was with a lot of marijuana. I ended up sending this photo back to where I used to work, no bullshit, I kid you not, they made me a safety director when I got back and I was the one giving out drug tests to construction workers. Yeah. Weird twist. I don't know much about marijuana and I don't know if you can smoke this but the ANA (Afghan National Army) did and they seemed to get pretty lackadaisical when they smoked. Then again, the stories I have about those guys, "lackadaisical" is when they are most alert compared to how they are any other time. Another story of ridiculous proportions for another time.

A Bit on the Nose

Only in Afghan have I seen this labeling on cigarettes. I don't smoke (though I did a bit in Afghan, it helps with the ol' bowels after many days of eating MRE's). I don't know where the smokes came from and why they had this labeling, but it was a bit straight forward. But Marines didn't care, "I'm trying to make it through the next few months, I will worry about the next 20 years after that" as I someone roughly put it.

Essence of Work

The top is a before photo when you get a hit with a metal detector on an IED. The bottom photo is when you clear a bit of dirt out the way. This was actually an easy find, it was close to the surface and had metal components that gave a strong (high) signal back. This was the essence of my job in Afghan; walk with a metal detector in front of everyone else and clear a lane, either with the metal detector or with my own feet. Ensure safe passage, and when we got where we were going I could blow stuff up, maybe. To this day I can't stand disturbed Earth and out of place things on the ground. 8 months of looking at the ground and thinking with each step I take I might lose my legs has caused me to avoid dead patches of grass on the lawn when I walk my dog.

Breaking it Down

We (the 1371's) were instructed to disassemble huts and complexes within the base because we were moving to a new location. In doing so my good buddy and I got access to the planning hut where all the higher ups coordinated operations and such. The name placards were left so I played Commanding Officer while my buddy played Sergeant Major. The knife, I feel, really illustrates the cutthroat relentless nature of our CO while my buddy sips a juice box demonstrating the passiveness and playfulness of our Sergeant Major. We were juvenile, but I still think it's a funny photo. My buddy in the photo (we had another photo that went viral at one point) ended up getting hurt and sent home early. It was devastating to me, but I at least got him to the bird to fly out. We bumped fists before he jumped on the helicopter, he said "I will be back in a few weeks." I said, "hurry back man, it sucks enough with you here, I can't imagine having to deal with this shit and not have the humor." His wound ended up getting infected, and he went to Germany, then back home.

"Mustn't Be Afraid to Dream a Little Bigger Darling"

I'm a Nolan fan, through and through. Before we left to fly out to Afghanistan, "Inception" trailer 2 was released and I was considering going AWOL (kidding). I was totally pissed that I couldn't be around to see this movie when it hit theaters. About 6 months into the deployment I got my hands on am M32 MGL (Multiple Grenade Launcher) from a grunt. I had to go off memory of how the closing shot from the trailer went but I did the best I could. I couldn't help but smile when holding a light-weight 40mm launcher. So yeah, I thought that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was still holding his rifle up in the scene and still looking back at the great Tom Hardy. I was wrong.

Pointing Home

The British Royals started a trend on the base they founded (I will leave unnamed) that forces that would take up residence would post a sign pointing home with the distance on it. Ours was Roanoke, Va. and it was very far away. It's was kind of a memorial of hope, you passed it on the way to the outside mess hall and you passed it on the way back to your rack. It instilled hope but at the same time gave me a sense of despair because the only thing really separating good things from bad things is distance. If bullets traveled further, nobody would ever be safe. Distance builds invulnerability and invulnerability facilitates ignorance. (End rant).

Mousey Coffee

This was the last month of the deployment and we were on the British base waiting to fly out in a few days. Got up to make some coffee and found this little bugger in there. I'm just glad we checked before we brewed. I want you all to know we let him go. But not before naming him Mr. Jingles ("Green Mile" reference). I also have footage of us freeing him if there is anyone that doubts me. By the end of the deployment I didn't even want to kill insects, I don't believe in God personally, but if there was one I wasn't about to offend him by unnecessarily hurting his creatures. This principle still stands today. I will go out of my way to safely remove bugs from my house before stomping on them. Unless my girlfriend @wlfqueen07 screams about a bug, then I must defend her honor. Not before putting on my flak and kevlar, grabbing an assortment of guns and knives, tying a bandana around my forehead.... (just think of any Rambo montage).

This is Fine...

"Skirmisher Hole", or what I call "a hole that barely qualifies as a hole." These are designed to sleep in with a little berm around yourself to stop horizontal fragmentation in the event that a grenade or mortar goes off. Also, the ground is hard, more so than I thought it would be, so I didn't dig that deep. I spent four nights in this hole and I was happy to have it. I say that because there are fewer things that have amazed me than looking at a starry night sky with no light pollution and putting on NVG's (Night Vision Goggles) and literally seeing every possible star there was to see. It's the best way to get ready for sleep.

The Tag List

I am seriously in shock. There are no words (except the litany of words I'm about to dump upon you). I assumed maybe like, 10 tops, would be interested in these in the future. I honestly did the best I could with the spelling (1's and I's look alike and O's and 0's). I am honored to have so many people that are interested in this kind of stuff. It's like I'm opening a scrapbook and instead of everyone feigning interest there are people that want to know more. I'm not going to lie, I'm having a hard time keeping this down to 15 photos. I haven't even got to the good stuff yet. Once I can get a handle on gif's and such I have so much more stuff to show. Obviously I won't bombard and I intend to keep these sparse, maybe once a month. I have school right now and I have to pay some attention to that, plus I want to make sure you are getting good quality OC. I got a little treasure trove down in the basement I haven't dug through since 2010 and I'm wondering what's it in it. Perhaps one post we can dig through that as well; old photos, journals, etc. In fact, this is kind of like a journal for me, posting to Imgur, putting words to photos. Maybe in 10 years I will have a nice pamphlets worth of material. Something people wouldn't mind taking a deuce to.

Also, you Imgurians got some great names, I think "SombreroWieldingLawMaker" and "DemandToSeeLifesManager" are some of the ones that stand out. Also if I jacked up your username and you find this post, correct me.

As always, I'm not posting damage, injury, death or general carnage photos. I believe those images to be too personal and too revealing. Plus, OPSEC. Eventually I will lean into some more personal stuff that hits a bit closer to home while maintaining some level of professionalism. I aim to give an accurate unbiased perspective of a ground pounder in what is now America's longest active war; Afghanistan. We can dabble into the good feels of my second deployment; Uganda. I got photos that reveal humanity in the worst and best ways but some simply don't have words to go with them. Plus, Imgur isn't that kind of place, you know? For me, if it isn't somewhat funny or impressive then it doesn't belong here. Alright. I'm rambling. It's past 3am and I love talking to you guys, even when you aren't talking back.

As always, I apologize for grammar and spelling errors. Also, if you are interested in the military shoot me a PM, I won't mince words, I will tell you straight. Understand though, I feel that the Marine Corps is the greatest organization in the world; opinions may vary.

Also, Semper Fi to my warriors (old, new and in queue).

TL;DR: Part 2 of a possible ongoing photo diary of a former Marine Combat Engineer Sergeant.

Part 1: http://imgur.com/gallery/xN9Yd