Personal Narrative: My First Deployment

We were told to get in rows and stand at the positon of attention, this was frightening. We were told to run to the bus from here, this is where I was split up with everyone I came with. The base was three hours away from the airport. On the bus ride over there I called and texted everyone I knew for three hours. I called Jed first, he could not talk long because he had a meeting, although I knew if I called my mom or Ayden they would both cry and that would make things harder on me. After I talked to Jed and he convinced me everything was ok after 20 minutes of me crying to him as if he could come pick me up and take me home. After this I texted Boone to be sure he made it on a shuttle, he did. Boone was on the Shuttle behind me. That was the last time I talked to him until the day after graduation. We made it to the reception building at nearly 11 o’clock and briefed until about one. We finally got to bed at 2, and we were woken up at 4:30 the following morning. During reception they checked our dental, blood type, eye sight, etc. this is where we received our uniforms, and most importantly where we met our first Drill Sergeants. In receptions Drill Sergeants are almost done with their contracts, they cannot make you preform corrective action, or give you RBIs, all they can do is get really close to you and scream as loud as they could. I was here for seven days, and then after those seven days were

Four or Five years ago if you were to tell me that I would be confidently applying to the University of Miami I would have laughed. Through high school I did not give much effort and like most of my peers, thought that furthering my education was my only option. Nearing the end of my senior year I started realizing that no noteworthy university would even consider accepting someone like me. As the days ticked away, I applied to a nearby college with an incredibly high acceptance rate and found myself opening an acceptance letter a few weeks later.

When Halstead was given this mission in Iraq, she never anticipated the challenge she would soon face. She had one year to plan her operation, train and certify her units for deployments and after months of painstaking preparation and training, Halstead was confident her soldiers and unit were ready to be certified for deployment. However, certification had to be issued by her superior, a three-star general recently back from Iraq—and the most challenging boss Halstead had ever encountered in all of her years of services.

I’m a military child. Change was instilled in me since my birth in Spain. My childhood was spent briefly in Europe, the east coast of the U.S, and eventually the Midwest. This change of scenery, schools, friends, and just about everything else in my life led me to be the person I am today. Travelling was amusing and I enjoyed change of pace every couple of years, but it wasn’t easy. I learned early on that getting attached to people wasn’t a good idea and should be avoided in preparation for the next move. This led me to being an incredibly shy child who couldn’t open up to people. The world I come from is an adventurous but problematic one. When I concluded making friends would assist with each transition I found myself too terrified to attempt

When I went on mobilization to Fort Lewis, Washington and left my son in the care of my parents, I thought my parental duties would be set aside until I returned home. Unfortunately, the soldiers of 351st Ordnance Company would prove me wrong with their excessive alcohol consumption, commonly term “binge drinking,” and destructive behaviors. I would then spend the next year sharing the responsibility with four other junior noncommission officers in the task of taking care of soldiers. Despite the efforts of myself and the others we were not fully prepared to handle some of the outrageous events and lack of engagement from the leadership that would challenge us during the tour. My abilities as a junior noncommission officer and the understanding of leadership were redefined and I learned exactly what it meant to ensure soldiers have proper guidance, leadership, positive morale, and well-being.

Arriving in October 2005, the entire campaign units were struggling throughout with being over-tasked and under-staffed, and 1st platoon was a major victim of this occurrence. Relieving the 48th Infantry Brigade, who had no relations with the locals and very little presence in the AO, they had to reestablish control of the area around FOB Yusufiyah. With terrible living conditions and little to no equipment, the platoon had to juggle improving their fighting positions while at the same time secure the JSB and the AVLB. The company TOC had no kitchen to cook food nor any running water. Soldiers would fill sand bags from sun up to sun down trying to provide themselves with some sort of cover against attacks. The PSG Miller would request supplies constantly, but it seemed a low priority of the the higher command. This was a common theme throughout the time they were in the triangle of death. It wasn't often that officers would visit the FOB or provide supplies to enhance their situation, but when they did it was not a welcomed response. Kunk would come by and tell the soldiers how undisciplined and how little work they had completed with little consideration of how hard the soldiers had been working with the limited resources.

In September 2009, I checked into my first command, eager to learn and ready to work. Unfortunately, my command was a shore command, meaning the command did not deploy people. Fortunately, my department arranged for my temporary attachment to a command that did deploy, a maritime security squadron whose mission was to protect US and Coalition warships as they transited in and out of port in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. I was deployed from April to November of 2010, living in Dubai and working at Jebel Ali. During that seven months, This deployment was the steepest learning curve I had experienced in my life to that point. I learned about waterborne tactics, Iran’s Naval power, and extremist groups operating in the Arabian Gulf. This was especially relevant when an al-Qaeda aligned group, Abdullah Azzam Brigades, attacked an oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Our unit was responsible for making initial reports on the damaged tanker when it limped into port.

Second of all, our first mission the “pump house” when we made all i heard was a loud boom. We were hit by an IED ( improvised explosive devise) as we were entering the gate of the pump house. Mat was the only one who had suffered any kind of injury he a concussion. SSG Scott then told us to calm down and go to a post til we get the situation under control. We stood on our post for 12 straight hours in till we got some help to gain control of the situation.

I was in the Marine Corps serving under Third battalion Eleventh marines Mike Battery in Twenty-Nine Palms California from 2009-2013. What our unit did was put rounds down range, oorah. We were an artillery battery, think modern day cannons. As far as twenty-nine palms all you have to imagine is sand in a five hundred square foot mile area. My job as Ammo chief was to insure the safe handling and transportation of hundred pound high explosive bombs. On one partially long training exercise I was instructed to take my marines and four ‘7-ton’ trucks and go to the rear to load up with more ammo. No problem, I’ve done this before but on this occasion when I was going to return the battery would have moved positions. So they gave me the grid number

Though serving in a highly disciplined, well trained, and well equipped force, I faced mental and physical adversity, a numerically superior enemy, and a dynamic battlefield. I served with fellow Noncommissioned Officers and leaders with vast tactical combat experience, but we were operating in highly restrictive terrain behind enemy lines. As we worked to create breathing room for the Battle Space Owner and defeat the insurgents on their own turf, we took several casualties and would be tested in our ability to remain equally dynamic to the battlefield, bring every asset to bare to accomplish the mission, and adapt our common tactics in order to survive.

After returning to the States for 10 months, I was placed on orders to deploy to Iraq. I served our great country in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. My first deployment was to Victory Base Camp Iraq that was from November 01, 2004 to November 15, 2005. My second deployment was to Camp Adder Iraq that was from January 23, 2009 to January 19, 2010. My first deployment was the hardest. It was during a major turning point of Operation Iraqi Freedom. My duties as a 25L (cable installer systems maintainer) to were to install communications equipment and help facilitate the arrival of the Iraqi Army Headquarters at Victory Base Camp. The first deployment in 2004 was the roughest. I had seen a lot of mortar attacks, and lost a couple of close friends.

I was assigned to B Co 1-12 Cavalry as a dismounted fire team leader when the 1-12 Cavalry deployed with the rest of 3rd BDE, 1st Cavalry Division in support of Iraqi Freedom in December of 2008. I deployed a few weeks after everyone else due to a death in the family. Once I finally arrived at the coalition outpost (COP) where my company was positioned, I quickly fell in with my platoon as they had already begun their patrolling of our Area of Operations (AO). Our COP was positioned, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere in the Nineveh Province. After a few weeks of patrolling, our platoon was tasked with taking over a COP to the north in the city of Hammam al-Alil, which is about 30 kilometers south of Mosul. We were taking over an area that was, up to that point, the responsibility of a Military Transition Team (MiTT). The COP, COP Scorpion, consisted of a small open area just large enough to park our vehicles, two long rectangular two story buildings that at one time served as a college dormitory, with a small space to the rear of the second building that served as a mechanics bay. Around the complex was a 12-15 feet high stone wall, with one entrance on the COP, with a large metal slab on wheels that was used to secure it. Around the COP was the remains of a college, which had since shut down and was now being used by the Iraqi Army to house a battalion of soldiers.

As a new Corporal and a team leader for a Mortar Squad, we had trained

I joined the Marine Corps looking for a challenge. I wanted to open doors for a new career and longed to have a positive impact on the world around me. Looking back five years later, I realize I found all that I originally sought, but I’ve also found something profoundly satisfying and meaningful that I never knew I was missing.

For us it was amazing, great opportunity but also great responsibility. First time in my military career I had had full scale of freedom of action. In front of us there was nothing but blank paper and given legal and strategic framework. Making