MRE bombs?

2/23/2007 4:28:54 PM

^haha, a couple of my buddies ambushed a group of other Marines in our company on a night patrol exercise one night in Quantico using MRE-bombs.

Quote :

"The first time I got sent to Iraq some of my mom's friends actually asked her if I could just tell them I didn't want to go"

HAHA

and Senator Kerry thinks the stupid people go into the military...

2/23/2007 4:49:19 PM

New pictures were online- from the Eagle Tower. They looked like they were having TONS of fun.

2/23/2007 5:03:06 PM

^^ Tabasco and Tuna fish juice make excellent additives for indoor use. I went to a military college so we tinkered with them quite a bit.

2/23/2007 8:30:49 PM

Basic at P.I. wasn't that hard for me, but a lot of guys struggled with it. For me the more challenging part (but more fun) came afterward: RIP, BRC, ARS, SERE, AAS.

I think your boy will be ok. If he's done anything physical in his life then boot camp won't be too tough for him physically. The worst part of it is how they screw with you mentally, and that's not too bad if you don't let it get to you. If you can make it playing football or wrestling, you can handle boot.

You should definately keep writing him. Even if he doesn't get a chance to read your letters, I know he'll appreciate getting them.

As for deployment, I've been to Afghanistan once and Iraq twice. It's tough on relationships (as many have already pointed out: divorce rate ect.) but if your realistic, maintain your resolve, and find something to do that keeps you from constantly thinking about it, you can handle it. It's tough, but you can do it. My wife and I are proof of that.

Good luck to you and the other young lady in this thread. I hope it works out for you both.

Oh, and the caveman is definately a Marine. Us Jarheads always recognize eachother.
Recon!

2/24/2007 3:31:52 AM

WTF is a marine doing at RIP??????????????

2/24/2007 9:18:44 AM

Recon Indoctrination Program, part of Indoc, requirement of MOS0321. We also got assigned a Recon Indoctrination Platoon which we called "our RIP."

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Smith_112003,00.html

2/24/2007 12:09:38 PM

Quote :

"stargazer, i stand corrected."

(joe_schmoe)

no worries... you did make very valid points, just not necessarily applicable to my situation.

3/4/2007 4:02:42 PM

^^^Yep, I was thinking "Ranger Indoctrination Program" too - made since with SERE and the other stuff in there...

3/4/2007 5:44:00 PM

Quote :

"Oh, and the caveman is definately a Marine. Us Jarheads always recognize eachother."

3/4/2007 6:06:13 PM

letter 5

3/6/2007 5:31:22 PM

aww a sweet letter 6

3/7/2007 4:05:54 PM

I'm not sure how this works. He's going to be stationed in Hawaii after leave. What will that be like? Is it like Basic or will he have more flexibility?

4/23/2007 4:46:09 PM

well if it's a specialty school, then it should be more flexible

4/23/2007 4:47:38 PM

I don't know anything other than that he's Infantry and will be in Hawaii. I just wonder if he'll be able to call more, write more, be online, have visitors??

^would that be considered a specialty school?

[Edited on April 23, 2007 at 4:51 PM. Reason : .]

4/23/2007 4:51:18 PM

not sure

googling army infantry hawaii brings up the 25th Infantry Division. So it seems that that will be his division. which means he might be done with all his schooling once he graduates. so yes, more free time and being able to talk to you more often

4/23/2007 4:55:13 PM

4/23/2007 4:55:41 PM

glad i could be of help

if that's the case this is the division's website

http://www.25idl.army.mil/index.asp

4/23/2007 4:58:09 PM

thanks dear

4/23/2007 4:59:38 PM

25th ID = many,many mountain/jungle ruck marches and little time at the beach

4/23/2007 5:27:35 PM

I had a friend in the 25th ID

He didn't have to go to Iraq because he got drunk and drove his wrangler off of a mountain.

4/23/2007 6:00:40 PM

Not a horrible place to be sent.

4/23/2007 6:12:51 PM

in the infantry they finish all their training at benning, hence why infantry training is 13 weeks (i think) and the other MOS's is only 8, because they lump it all in at once

the 25th is a pretty good place to be, and hawaii is the shit, obviously. however, doing PT runs up and down those mountains SUCKS

4/23/2007 6:16:02 PM

OSUT sucks

4/23/2007 6:28:26 PM

So while he's there he'll be doing what? More training? Will he be able to have visitors, go visit family, etc? Does this mean he wont have to go to Iraq?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, I just don't know anything about it.

4/23/2007 6:36:19 PM

you're not with this guy, are you?

cause i read your away msgs sometimes and i see things

4/23/2007 6:38:05 PM

haha no- as it turned out we've kept things simple since he's going through such a huge change.

4/23/2007 6:39:07 PM

Quote :

"So while he's there he'll be doing what? More training? Will he be able to have visitors, go visit family, etc? Does this mean he wont have to go to Iraq? Sorry if these are dumb questions, I just don't know anything about it."

4/23/2007 7:39:53 PM

Quote :

"So while he's there he'll be doing what? More training?"

Training never stops. Training is the point of the military, to be ready.

Quote :

"Will he be able to have visitors, go visit family, etc?"

Yeah, he'll be able to go on leave as it is accrued. He'll have "off time", but it's not M-F 8-5 like some other MOS's.

Quote :

"Does this mean he wont have to go to Iraq?"

No. He may have to.

4/23/2007 7:53:51 PM

What are the 8-5 MOS's?

4/23/2007 7:55:17 PM

Thanks.

So he wont have weekends free or anything like that but can earn leave over time?

4/23/2007 7:55:37 PM

The ones that are 1:1 equivalent to civilian jobs tend to keep hours much closer to 8-5 than infantry or other combat MOS's.

electricians, motor pools, shit like that.

not that there aren't times when they're in there busting their asses at 4 am too, but not as often.

[Edited on April 23, 2007 at 8:00 PM. Reason : *]

4/23/2007 7:56:30 PM

I don't know if you've been to Hawaii, but they seem to have a 4-day weekend at least monthly over there.

4/23/2007 8:45:14 PM

FT. BRAGG IS AN AWESOME PLACE TO SERVE. i served there and worked hard definitely. paratrooping, etc and keeping it jungle, but the thing was we got the most 4-day weekends than anybody. we just worked hard, B.


HOOAH !!!


-Amsterdam718.

4/23/2007 9:33:44 PM

I wasn't in the Army, but a number of schools that I attended during my USMC enlistment were Army schools. As such, there was plenty of time to compare notes during downtime.

As already stated, soldiers have their primary MOS (job) training somewhat comined with their boot camp. After training, he gets his command assignment.

For practical purposes, that's it. That's where he lives & works. In his case he will live and work in Hawaii most likely assigned to 25th ID at Schofield Barracks.

He will train a lot like any infanrtyman. But, when not in the field/at the range/on duty/etc he should generally have time off. To summarize, when he's not fulfilling other obligations he should be able to knock off at the end of the day just like any job. This includes weekends. Liberty (aka "time off" in civilian terms) is separate from leave (which is the same as vacation in the civilian world).

Eventually his unit will deploy as all operational units do durning wartime. You can expect that he will deploy with his unit for this duration and then will return to Hawaii when the tour is complete.

While he is in Hawaii you should be able to visit him. But because of base and barracks restrictions, you will most likely have to arrange for your own accomodations off-base. Hope this helps clear up some of your questions.

4/23/2007 10:53:56 PM

Sounds like he's done with his training and is onto his permanent duty station. While he'll obviously have responsibilities/training/work, he's pretty much as "free" as a soldier can be on active duty. No Drill Sergeants, etc etc. Unless he's in the field a lot, he should have plenty of time to get on the internet, write letters, talk on the (his) phone, etc etc etc. Not sure where "Tropic Lightning" is in the deployment schedule but even if I didn't I couldn't tell ya!

Feel free to PM me and I'll answer any questions you have...

PS Ask him how he likes being a part of "Tropic Lightning" - he'll get a kick out of it

PPS Yes, he can have visitors. He will also get 30 days of leave per year.

[Edited on April 24, 2007 at 2:17 AM. Reason : .]

4/24/2007 2:17:26 AM

wow- thanks guys. I really appreciate your answers and input here.

4/24/2007 7:04:56 AM

yeah, tropic lightning and the electric pineapple

4/24/2007 9:57:01 AM

I had a buddy from HS in the 25th ID there in Hawaii. He was killed back in July of '04

4/24/2007 10:50:46 AM

sorry to hear about your guy getting killed, G.

4/25/2007 10:51:44 AM

^^Sorry for your loss, but not good encouragement for BrookeRuff, ass

4/26/2007 1:46:08 AM

^^^I'm sorry about your friend.

^this is true.

He's going back to base today from his last big assignment out in the woods. Yay.

4/26/2007 6:45:38 AM

25th? hell yea


my father was 25th in Nam

4/26/2007 6:55:47 AM

He graduates one week from today. He found out he'll have 2 weeks of home town recruiting and 2 weeks of vacation. Anyone does the home town recruiting before? How busy will he be? What will he be doing?

5/4/2007 6:59:53 AM

exactly that - hanging out with recruiters helping them recruit. depends on the recruiter how long his days are. enjoy his month home though!

5/4/2007 8:49:58 AM

5/5/2007 9:20:21 AM

aw yay. the guy i was seeing just left for basic training. we joked around about getting married so he would get paid more . hope everything works out for y'all.

5/5/2007 10:03:02 AM

thanks! 6 more days!!

5/5/2007 4:09:01 PM

3 days!

5/8/2007 7:03:22 AM

^^^haha i thought about doing that too, but knowing my luck the bitch would take my ass to the cleaners for no good reason

5/9/2007 11:55:52 PM