Veteran's Day

Today is my first Veteran's Day as a civilian and I gotta admit it feels kinda weird. Here is a brief overview of my short military career:

I enlisted in the Marine Corps as Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 26XX, Signals Intelligence and Ground Electronic Warfare, on December 12, 2000. After completing boot camp in San Diego, California, I went to Marine Combat Training (MCT) in Camp Pendleton. During the final days of MCT we were told what our actual MOS was to be. I was hoping for MOS 2676, which would be a Russian Cryptologic Linguist. I was told I was going to be a MOS 2672 - Arabic Cryptologic Linguist. I went to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to start the basic Arabic course. Being in a party town like Monterey, I did not focus enough on my studies and was flunked out of the course. Instead of putting me in another language or another 26XX field with my TS-SCI security clearance, the Corps in its infinite wisdom, decided to make me an MOS 6112, CH-46 Helicopter Mechanic.

I soon received orders to MCAS New River, Jacksonville, North Carolina, where I was to report to HMT-204 FREST for training as a Phrog mechanic. I completed the training at the top of my class and became a fleet Marine on August 6, 2002, when I joined my first squadron HMM-266, The Fighting Griffins. My first deployment was in October of that year when we went to Camp Dawson, West Virginia, so the pilots could practice terrain (TERF) and night vision goggle (NVG) flight. Soon after we returned from Camp Dawson, we started work-ups for 22d Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Elements of three other squadrons, HMH-461, HML/A-167, and VMA-542 joined the squadron to become HMM-266 (REIN). After completing Training in an Urban Environment Exercise (TRUEX), Expeditionary Strike Group Exercise (ESGEX), and Special Operations Capable Exercise (SOCEX), 22d MEU (SOC) shipped out of Norfolk, Virginia on February 20, 2004 aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1), USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41), and the USS Shreveport (LPD-12). I was aboard the USS Wasp.

After a brief visit to the island nation of Malta, we participated in the Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) 04-5 off the coast of Albania March 8th-12th. On April 14th HMM-266 arrived in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF-A) and set up shop. It was hot, dirty and hot. Operations came fast and we worked hard to keep up. On May 7th we had our only fatality of the deployment when Cpl. Ronald Payne Jr. of BLT 1/6 was killed during a firefight with Taliban insurgents. The MEU's efforts in Afghanistan were called "the most successful military operation since Operation ENDURING FREEDOM began" by Army bigwigs. By August 18th we were back on the boats and on our way home. We had a port call in Tarragona, Spain, and then it was on to Rota, Spain, for washdown and agricultural inspection. On September 16, 2004, we were finally home.

In November I transferred to HMM-264, the Black Knights and in December we left for MCAS Yuma, Yuma, Arizona to participate in a training exercise called Desert Talon. In February of '05 I was back in the mix when the squadron left for Iraq to participate Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 04-06 where the squadron flew a record breaking amount of hours and had unparalleled aircraft readiness percentages. We returned home on August 26, 2005.

When the squadron returned home we were placed on standby for Hurricane Katrina relief, but that order never came. My 5 year enlistment with the Marine Corps quietly ended on December 10, 2005.

After being in for more than 1/5th of my life I am kind of at a loss as to what to do next. Sure, I have the G.I. Bill, but where am I supposed to make time to go to school? I can use a V.A. Loan to buy a house, but as of right now my credit is shot and I am in relatively low paying job. Not to mention my wife doesn't work because anything that she would make would go directly into child care. There are times that I miss being in the Marines. I especially miss early mornings on the flightline at New River right before the sunrise. Standing amongst the rows of silent machines watching the sun rise really made me feel like I was part of something. That is a feeling that is going to be hard to replace...

In memory of Cpl. Ronald Payne Jr., 23, KIA, 05/08/2004, near Tawara, Afghanistan - Semper Fi, you won't be forgotten!

Thought of the day:

"But fame is theirs - and future days
On pillar'd brass shall tell their praise;
Shall tell - when cold neglect is dead -
'These for their country fought and bled.'"
- Philip Freneau