Rock Star

You thought we didn't have rock stars in the Marine Corps? Let me explain otherwise.

We just returned from two days in the field. Our first night was a quick excursion to a forward operating base. We were up early the next morning and off for a patrol that took the entire day. We covered just shy of 100 miles, going probably 10-15 mph the whole way. The "roads" frequently seemed to me to be more places that a lot of other vehicles had driven then actual roads in the desert. We learned to brace ourselves when our driver told us it was going to get bumpy. There was more than one time when I bounced off the seat, my kevlar bounced off my head, and then we all came crashing back down a second later.

We got "hit" with an IED once the first day. The instructors stopped us as we patrolled, told us what had happened, and then evaluated us as we responded to the event. So the first day was a lot of travel and very little action. We slept out under the stars last night. There weren't enough tents to go around, but it wasn't cold, and the stars were out in force. Both the milky way and the little dipper were easy to pick out; this was the first time since I got here that I've seen the little dipper. Breakfast this morning was an MRE, but I ate it as I watched the sun rise over the desert. There isn't a much better way to start a day.

The day got hectic pretty quick. We had been traveling for about five minutes this morning when one of our vehicles spotted an IED. We responded to the incident, cordoning off the road, setting up security, etc., and called EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) to reduce the device. Our second scenario was a bit harrier--one of our vehicles had been hit by an RPG and had three casualties, the vehicle was blocking our exit from the "kill zone", or the location where the enemy wanted us, and we had a VBIED attack approaching from the rear.

This scenario, more than either of the others, gave me confidence than I'll be an effective leader in country. Frequently, when approach something new and difficult--attending school at Mudd, Cycle Oregon, OCS, etc.--there's always a moment where I realize that I can, indeed, meet the most recent challenge. This scenario was that moment for me today. I didn't always know exactly what was the best thing to do at the moment, and I made some mistakes, but I kept my cool and kept working even when my heart was pounding, and was an asset and not a liability.

The second scenario ended with us calling in a chopper and moving the casualties onto the bird. We mounted up in the vehicles and kept pushing. Our third scenario was a chain IED that hit multiple vehicles at a time and required that hook the vehicles up to tow them out. We also received fire from a tank on the other side of the valley, which required calling for artillery fire to suppress the threat.

One of my Sergeants was in charge of the call for fire, which is a procedure that requires knowledge of both how to locate the target knowledge of the correct radio procedures to request fire from the artillery battery. This Sergeant had never done the call for fire before, but was very close to the target on his first call, and was able to hit the target with only one small correction.

This feat earned him a very enthusiastic label of "Rock Star" from the Major that was observing the exercise, and I have to agree. Sergeant Rock Star was also dealing with comm issues as he was calling in the fire request--our radios have been used by many, many units for training here out at 29 Palms, and they had a tendency to not work at times. His performance was impressive, and one small example of the outstanding performance of all of my NCOs over this field exercise.

I've been here--five?--days now? I've lost track. But I've started to get to know some of my Marines, and they are an outstanding platoon. I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.