Told all of you I'd keep you posted, so here's some new news. I have another three weeks of demolitions training, and then I will be cut loose from engineering school! The unit I will be stationed with for about the next...1-3 years is 3rd CEB (combat engineering battalion) out of 29 Palms, California. I'm hoping at some point to transfer up to pendleton, just for a change of scenery. We deploy to OEF (Afghanistan) next april, but again, thats just a window, so, give or take a month. I'm 5 of 34 in my class to get a CEB, vs getting sent to an airwing unit, so I'm happy that I'll be actually doing what I'm trained to do. That being said, chances are I will be working right alongside a grunt unit, kicking in doors, and doing IED/Mine sweeps, (one of the most dangerous jobs currently). I'll obviously be letting everyone know when I deploy, so if you can, just keep me in the back of your minds so you can add me to your prayer list, ha. (PS, if you're in an Air Wing unit or something, I dont mean that to be offensive, you just drink a lot more lemonade on the runways than we do :biggrin ON TO THE GOOD STUFF: I will be home June 6th through the 16th on "leave" which is actually travel time that I am given. Seeing as 29 palms is around a 30 hour drive from the cities, I will be leaving early on the 14th in order to report in on time. I hope to see a few of you before taking off! :biggrin:
:hsugh:I think that you should join the LaXCruise and see MOST of us before you go!:hsugh: http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23124&page=6 Everyones doing it Jack!...peer pressure>you. LOL.
oh geeze. I'm going to have to see how that works out for me. Can I just stick myself on the list as a possible? I dont know how much driving I'm going to want to be doing, and I'm hoping to sleep in with my girl after having not seen her for...almost 4 months now.
Good to get an update. Sounds like you are going to have you work cut out for you over there. there is going to be a lot of ordnance that needs to be taken care of. Perhaps if you are lucky they will let you use the Barret .50 cal, as thats "supposed" to be primarily for ordnance disposal.
^ I've got a sooby, but I'm going to be getting quite a bit of work done to it while I'm home in order to get it in shape for the drive out to cali. 28 hours, 1850 miles. I also want it to be in good shape for when Im out there as who knows when the next opportunity to work on it will be. There is a LOT of ordinance in afghanistan. Never heard of using a .50 to get rid of it...? We use MRAP's to get really close to mines if we have to, or an m1a1 with a whipper/scraper, or we just get up close and personal with mine detectors. We are pretty skilled...okay, very skilled, in the use of high explosives, so thats generally how we take care of...explosives. Everything from shooting line charges for vehicle passage, to blowing bangalores for foot pathways (in mine fields). We also can rig up shape charges to cut through thick shells/IED's. We've got bots, but not many of them. The sad part is that I could litterally build the robots we use for...I'd say about $1500. The problem with the military is every civilian contractor that works for us gets paid about 10 times what they deserve, to keep in confidential, and to sell to us primarily. Our rovers cost over 10k a peice...so we dont get many of them. Most of the work is done hands on, which is why right now, marine corps combat engineers have nearly the highest fatality rate in the corps, as well as the 2nd highest purple heart ratio. Anyways. haha, we've got good equipment, and its a shame we cant get more. Again, I'll talk to her about going. I think she'd love it. She might be a little shy at first but yeah, we'll see. Whats the deadline on getting my name in for that? Can I just show up if I bring my own food?
^ I think you would be fine if you just showed up. Otherwise just bring some cash to throw in for the food/raffle and I am sure you will be fine. Make sure to tempt the GF with kickball. When I was bored one day and was looking up the 50 cal it said the "primary" use or probably what the army says they are using it for is ordnance removal. makes sense kind of, shoot a mine from 2 miles away and you are plenty safe, and the mine should be gone. You should start a bussiness making bots and selling them to the core.
haha, I'm pretty dead set on coming depending on what time my flight gets in friday night. Again, I've got to talk to her, but it should work out just fine. She's a soccer player, and is big into track, so if we show up we'd definately be down for kickball and stuff. The army might use the .50? Not sure. They base a lot of their stuff off of how we do things, but then again, their on their own program with everything else. We're completely expeditionary. As an engineer, we build our stuff to last as long as possible, but we only have about a day to construct even MASSIVE fortifications. The army builds their stuff to last forever, and have a lot more time to do it. In regards to IED disposal, we are a LOT different. They have a lot of toys we cant afford yet on the money the NAVY gives us, so we just kick it old school and do stuff the tried and true way, with a LOT of demo. Also, Marine Corps Combat Engineers (especially in CEB units like the one I'm heading to) are attatched to grunts like the army sometimes does. We also operate in completely self contained combat teams, including everything from the breaching of buildings, entrance, movements, containment, and exfil. I'll get you guys some video of the stuff we do as soon as my buddy loads at the end of the month.
a few of you may also see my car out and about (those in mound) My old boss (who owned a lot of homes) let me park the car in a garage at a house he owned. The house sold, and the subaru was in need of a drive, so I told him to take it out for a spin whenever it suited him. So if you see a 50ish car enthusiast zipping past you in a silver rex wagon, give him a wave. His name is gary and he's a great guy.
^ good to know! If you get a chance you should bring back on of those DMR (designated marksmen) rifles for me, it would be much appreciated. ;-)
The Army doesn't destroy IED/Mines with .50 cal unless they are in a hurry and there is no other way. Usually we stop, call the FOB, and wait for our EOD team to come out and clear the path. Army = No fun. Back in the bad old days (2003-early 2005) the .50 or 25mm was the preferred way to get rid of IEDs you found. Of course, first you have to FIND the damned things. Harder than it sounds... Perhaps things are different in Afghanistan. I was in the relatively modern theater of Iraq. Afghanistan is still kind of the Wild West. Come home. Hang out.
11 days...cant wait. We're finishing up our mine detectors part of the training syllabus right now. GPR (ground penatrating radar) is the ****... Again though, with the over spending; 20 grand for a metal detector? I guess they've gotta be rediculously reliable, durable as hell, and have solid technology, but really? 20 grand? geezus...
so do you live like right by the 4 way stop on 51/110? kinda by the highschool? I drive by your house in the geo like 123 times a day. you should come to my shop when you are back! its about half a mile from your house 20gs for a metal detector? well thats crazy
