Thank you mister. I started off writing about a time when I was temporarily stationed at 29 Palms MCAGCC (Marine Corps Air/Ground Combat Center) and I had to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed.
The scene opens inside of a tent with a floor of sand. It's BLAZINGLY hot and I'm in the dentist chair when the dentist comes in.
He was a Navy Commander and his name tag said: Dr. Ream.
Thank you mister. I started off writing about a time when I was temporarily stationed at 29 Palms MCAGCC (Marine Corps Air/Ground Combat Center) and I had to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed.
The scene opens inside of a tent with a floor of sand. It's BLAZINGLY hot and I'm in the dentist chair when the dentist comes in.
He was a Navy Commander and his name tag said: Dr. Ream.
Hey, Adam, ex-Jarhead here! I was at 29 Palms in 1975, Aug thru Nov. Comm School - Honor Graduate. When and where were you? Aside, I once had to see a Dr. at Camp Lejeune who was named - TRUTH! - Dr. Hacker. Only in the Marines!!
I was out at the Stumps in 1984 or so playing Mux instructor in the desert. I nearly died there my first day but damn do I love the desert. Went to bootcamp at the dreaded Parris Island and did Radio School at Lejuene (Camp Bluebird).
I didn't know they moved radio school AGAIN! I first began radio school at MCRD San Diego, and about 2 weeks in, they announced the move to "Stumps" ( I had forgotten that lovely nickname!). Actually had a great time there. Got to know Joshua Tree National Park very well, and met a few celebs in Palm Springs. Fought the Black Widows, and dodged a couple rattlers, as well. Good Times!
What about the centipedes? Armored BEASTS they were! Faster than you could see, almost. Huge they were too! 18" to 24" easily. And not 1, not 2, but THREE kinds of scorpions.
But I loved the desert. 100+ during the day, 20 degrees, sometimes less at night. GD beautiful country even though it's mainly comprised of scrubland and sand, but the rock formations, declinations, arroyos and the sheer expanse of it all spelled beauty for me. Not to mention the various species of plantlife (not that many), cacti, birds, mammals (like those bloody coyotes), snakes. raptors and such.
Nothing like moonlight illuminating ripples and rills of sand, while you smoke andf drink with your buddies and watch while the tank crews blow the absolute SHIT out of large chunks of desert in the Delta corridor. Tracers like lasers in the night! Then LIGHT!!! and BOOMBOOM!!!
GOOD TIMES!! I loved it there too. Went to Lejeune from there, and it just wasn't the same. We were housed in the old aluminum quanset huts. They had been empty for years before the school moved, and were infested with YES! the centipedes, and the Black Widows. The electric outlets were offset from the walls, with 2" gaps behind them. That's where the spiders lived. We would use cans of Right Guard as flame-throwers to get rid of them! The scorpions were the worse, though, because they would come out at night, and climb in your boots. Didn't get me, but I was one of the few. Wish I could remember the name of the bar in "town" that had all the rattler skins hanging on the walls. If I still drank, I'd invite you for a beer to share stories!!
Hahahahaha! Had a Master Sgt who would get a case of beer, crawl into the back of a Mark-109 and proudly proclaim "I'm bout tuh see jist how much o this BEER a man kin drink n stay upright!"
I could tell you some good-uns and I know you got some for me.
What? Dude, I was a 2531. Field Radio - Multichannel. We were Net Control. We were the guys in the Mark 109's which are/were the jeeps built around a multichannel, encrypted radio. We encrypted everyone else's radio traffic too.
Mux Marines were known as shitbirds because we didn't starch or iron our uniforms nor did we polish our boots.
Why? We were in the Air Wing! That shiny starchy ish is highly flammable. One of our punishment tasks was to clean the JP4 tanks (jet fuel #4). Jet fuel is so flammable that I once witnessed the poster child for foolishness light a cigarette 100 feet away from an empty tank. The undetected fumes in the air ignited and shot back to the tank which erupted with a loud "Whump!" I saw guys do stupid stuff that killed them. Go ahead. Do dumb stuff and risk retribution right then and there!
Remember having to ground your vehicle when approaching the fuel pod area (the pod was buried under the sand and pressurized) for fuel?
Good Times indeed. I'm gonna sing the song. Temporary layoffs - Good Times - Easy credit and ripoffs - Good Times - Scratching and surviving - Good Times - Ain't we lucky we got em (repeat 3x) - Good Times
I was 2534. HFCCOC. Probably no more by your time. Air conditioned 6-by-mounted units, broadcasting teletype overseas. We had back-up transmitters, and overnight, while overseas, we'd tune into US MARS stations, who could connect to the phone systems. Allowed guys to call their wives or families. Got paid $10.00 per 15 minute call. Had lines all around the truck every night; made a killing! Our uniform of the day was always shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops! Closest I ever came to lighting the sky was at the end of an exercise at Onslow Beach, where some dude was in charge of the trash detail. A big pit was dug, and they poured some kind of fuel on it to burn it. Dude used twice as much as needed, and when they lit it, he was a little too close, and the ignition just sucked him right in. Never forget those screams. That was the exception, though. Mostly great memories. Had a beach landing exercise in Turkey, and the home folks would come around trading home-made Ouzo for our C-rats. Shit would kick your ass!!
Was lucky. 'Nam had ended, so things were pretty lax. Got to travel all over Europe pretty much my whole time. Everytime a new MAU was going out, my hand was the first one raised! Got out in late '78. Was gonna re-up, but something said to go home. Couple years later, my unit was in the barracks in Beruit. Some guys I was in with were there. Had I re-upped, I would have been too. Overall, some of the best years of my life.
We still had those teletype/telegraph behemoths. But they were being phased out.
I hadn't mentioned it but when I volunteered to go to 29 Palms, everyone said that I would hate it. I was at Camp Lejeune (I saw that, thanks) and 1st Battalion, Headquarters Company was my home unit. One of those units activated to go to Beruit.
Thank you mister. I started off writing about a time when I was temporarily stationed at 29 Palms MCAGCC (Marine Corps Air/Ground Combat Center) and I had to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed.
The scene opens inside of a tent with a floor of sand. It's BLAZINGLY hot and I'm in the dentist chair when the dentist comes in.
He was a Navy Commander and his name tag said: Dr. Ream.
Hey, Adam, ex-Jarhead here! I was at 29 Palms in 1975, Aug thru Nov. Comm School - Honor Graduate. When and where were you? Aside, I once had to see a Dr. at Camp Lejeune who was named - TRUTH! - Dr. Hacker. Only in the Marines!!
I was out at the Stumps in 1984 or so playing Mux instructor in the desert. I nearly died there my first day but damn do I love the desert. Went to bootcamp at the dreaded Parris Island and did Radio School at Lejuene (Camp Bluebird).
I didn't know they moved radio school AGAIN! I first began radio school at MCRD San Diego, and about 2 weeks in, they announced the move to "Stumps" ( I had forgotten that lovely nickname!). Actually had a great time there. Got to know Joshua Tree National Park very well, and met a few celebs in Palm Springs. Fought the Black Widows, and dodged a couple rattlers, as well. Good Times!
What about the centipedes? Armored BEASTS they were! Faster than you could see, almost. Huge they were too! 18" to 24" easily. And not 1, not 2, but THREE kinds of scorpions.
But I loved the desert. 100+ during the day, 20 degrees, sometimes less at night. GD beautiful country even though it's mainly comprised of scrubland and sand, but the rock formations, declinations, arroyos and the sheer expanse of it all spelled beauty for me. Not to mention the various species of plantlife (not that many), cacti, birds, mammals (like those bloody coyotes), snakes. raptors and such.
Nothing like moonlight illuminating ripples and rills of sand, while you smoke andf drink with your buddies and watch while the tank crews blow the absolute SHIT out of large chunks of desert in the Delta corridor. Tracers like lasers in the night! Then LIGHT!!! and BOOMBOOM!!!
GOOD TIMES!! I loved it there too. Went to Lejeune from there, and it just wasn't the same. We were housed in the old aluminum quanset huts. They had been empty for years before the school moved, and were infested with YES! the centipedes, and the Black Widows. The electric outlets were offset from the walls, with 2" gaps behind them. That's where the spiders lived. We would use cans of Right Guard as flame-throwers to get rid of them! The scorpions were the worse, though, because they would come out at night, and climb in your boots. Didn't get me, but I was one of the few. Wish I could remember the name of the bar in "town" that had all the rattler skins hanging on the walls. If I still drank, I'd invite you for a beer to share stories!!
Just thought about a day when they were dropping 2,000 lb bombs in the corridor.
GFD! Made the ground JUMP!!!
Hahahahaha! Had a Master Sgt who would get a case of beer, crawl into the back of a Mark-109 and proudly proclaim "I'm bout tuh see jist how much o this BEER a man kin drink n stay upright!"
I could tell you some good-uns and I know you got some for me.
OOH RAH!
Sounds like you got to have all the fun! As a radio man, I was always "in the rear, with the beer and the gear"!!
What? Dude, I was a 2531. Field Radio - Multichannel. We were Net Control. We were the guys in the Mark 109's which are/were the jeeps built around a multichannel, encrypted radio. We encrypted everyone else's radio traffic too.
Mux Marines were known as shitbirds because we didn't starch or iron our uniforms nor did we polish our boots.
Why? We were in the Air Wing! That shiny starchy ish is highly flammable. One of our punishment tasks was to clean the JP4 tanks (jet fuel #4). Jet fuel is so flammable that I once witnessed the poster child for foolishness light a cigarette 100 feet away from an empty tank. The undetected fumes in the air ignited and shot back to the tank which erupted with a loud "Whump!" I saw guys do stupid stuff that killed them. Go ahead. Do dumb stuff and risk retribution right then and there!
Remember having to ground your vehicle when approaching the fuel pod area (the pod was buried under the sand and pressurized) for fuel?
Good Times indeed. I'm gonna sing the song. Temporary layoffs - Good Times - Easy credit and ripoffs - Good Times - Scratching and surviving - Good Times - Ain't we lucky we got em (repeat 3x) - Good Times
I was 2534. HFCCOC. Probably no more by your time. Air conditioned 6-by-mounted units, broadcasting teletype overseas. We had back-up transmitters, and overnight, while overseas, we'd tune into US MARS stations, who could connect to the phone systems. Allowed guys to call their wives or families. Got paid $10.00 per 15 minute call. Had lines all around the truck every night; made a killing! Our uniform of the day was always shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops! Closest I ever came to lighting the sky was at the end of an exercise at Onslow Beach, where some dude was in charge of the trash detail. A big pit was dug, and they poured some kind of fuel on it to burn it. Dude used twice as much as needed, and when they lit it, he was a little too close, and the ignition just sucked him right in. Never forget those screams. That was the exception, though. Mostly great memories. Had a beach landing exercise in Turkey, and the home folks would come around trading home-made Ouzo for our C-rats. Shit would kick your ass!!
Was lucky. 'Nam had ended, so things were pretty lax. Got to travel all over Europe pretty much my whole time. Everytime a new MAU was going out, my hand was the first one raised! Got out in late '78. Was gonna re-up, but something said to go home. Couple years later, my unit was in the barracks in Beruit. Some guys I was in with were there. Had I re-upped, I would have been too. Overall, some of the best years of my life.
We still had those teletype/telegraph behemoths. But they were being phased out.
I hadn't mentioned it but when I volunteered to go to 29 Palms, everyone said that I would hate it. I was at Camp Lejeune (I saw that, thanks) and 1st Battalion, Headquarters Company was my home unit. One of those units activated to go to Beruit.
I would have been there too.
Forgot to mention that we lived in "A Frame" huts in the real GD desert.