This Yakima trip was much different than the other 3 I have been on-
A-We have our strykers
B-It was NOT 10 degrees out
C-See A&B
The trip itself was actually fun. We were all really dirty from all the dust the strykers kicked up (from this point forward I am going to call them trucks), no shower...most of the time there. And the chow was sub par...again most of the time.
Mission wise...it was cool. We did an Ambush on some AQI (Al Quieda in Iraq) forces...with some intel we got from them we did a raid on a small town. -THAT was fun. We hit the town at about 0430 (AM) and we used blanks and had some OPFOR (bad guys) Shooting back at us. We had our MILES (Lazer tag like stuff) on...so it made it KINDA realistic. I was second dude through a doorway upstairs. Well...I saw the machine gunner first, lit up my tac light to blind him, which it did and he froze just long enough for me to get e few rounds headed his direction. BUT, with one squeeze of his trigger he sent about 10 "friends" my direction. Bummer. So we both sat down...beeping. It was funny when my squad leader and team leader had to get me out to the MEV (the medical truck) They had dudes pulling security...laying down cover fire...it was all pretty cool. And they did not realize how heavy I was. hehehe.....not fat...just big.
The next thing we did was a few days later. We did a company live fire. We attacked another compound. But this time we set a breaching charge on the door. THAT WAS AWESOME! It made a big ole' boom! It was fun stuff. Especially at night. By the way....we woke up that morning at 5....and we finished that mission at 0430 the NEXT day! ugh....it was a bummer.
The next day we had a company mission. It was kinda lame....although we did get to use a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) Yea...they said the UAV saw only 2 in the compound. Whatever....I led a team in....guess the other SEVEN where hiding. We did well. My squad leader made me a team leader for this mission, as well as another specialist, Luker. He said we rocked...even though the mission did not go as planned (none of them do) we did well. So that was cool.
One of the coolest things that happened while we were there was AHA guard. (Ammo handling area) There were 6 of us that got selected to go...it meant alot of sleep, a shower, and a trip to the shoppette for some real food! The coolest thing was that there was a "Long Tabber" there. (SF Green Beret) Yea...on guard with us! They pull that some duty too! It was pretty funny. we never thought they did any of that. Guess they do. So we got to talk alot with this guy. Really laid back, typical SF guy. Quiet, calm, chill, but you can tell he can kick....well...you know.
So I am home now...and am going to back to work tomorrow. But I will be there for 3 days then another weekend. So that's cool. And, 2 of my favorite people are coming out here a week from today
!!!! STUD Driver
Coming back from the Company mission
WHAT A STUD!
1st Squad, 3rd Platoon-The Dirty Pirates
Stryker drag race!
