Afghanistan update, with pics. 56k = FAIL
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Topic: Afghanistan update, with pics. 56k = FAIL
Posted By: brihard
Subject: Afghanistan update, with pics. 56k = FAIL
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 12:36pm
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Hey everyone. It's coming on close to four weeks now since I arrived here in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Up til now my platoon has been doing convoy runs protecting resupply convoys from Kandahar Airfield out to our various forward operating bases and patrol bases where our forward elements operate. Kandahar's a pretty huge airbase, well equipped and stocked with comforts, so life isn't too bad. Our days are one of either two things; either nice and easy, when we're doing vehicle maintenance, or bloody long when we do convoy runs or other security tasks around the airfield, usually babysitting locals employed as labourers on base. I've been out four times so far. We roll in armoured patrol vehicles, and the trucks we protect are basically wrapped in steel. The biggest threats to us are roadside bombs, the 'Improvised Explosive Devices' you hear about on the news, but with the vehicles we have I'm not overly worried. they're much more of a threat to the other countries here who don't have quite such good kit. This place is a weird combination of absolute rural destitution and third world urban squalor. Outside the city is either desert, where small villages still seem to manage to eke out a very meagre exisence, or it's the green belt along the Arghandab and Tarnak rivers, and a couple of other small water courses that run through the area and support just enough agriculture to prevent most of the people from starving. Not too far north of the airfield is Kandahar City, the provincial capital and one of the major cities in Afghanistan. If I recall correctly it's got about 600,000 people or so, but in any case it's fairly large, especially by Afghanistan standards, and it sprawls a lot. The people are extremely poor, although there's still economic activity everywhere, people running open air market stalls and small shops, or farming small patches of scraped earth. Outside the city it's almost all agriculture and farming, lots of goat herding, with occasional small cottage industries. A lot of foreign aid comes in here, most of the infrastructure normally has flags of Afghanistan and another coalition nation pointed on it. It's not nearly enough though, a lot more rebuilding needs to happen. The economy is growing quickly, but when you start from almost nothing even rapid growth doesn't mean a whole lot. Convoy ops are pretty good. We get to see a lot of the countryside and see a fair bit of the locals. There are some moments that get a bit tense. Sometimes we have to dismount from our trucks to check drainage ditches under the road for bombs, sometimes a vehicle will break or a load will work loose and we need to hope out and provide dismounted security while it's sorted out. Other than these though, things are generally alright. The only problems we've had thus far have been mechanical in nature. Convoys almost never get hit because we're too hard a target and the areas we use have very frequent military and police traffic, though sometimes we have to go outside our normal area into hairier spots. Rather than write at length about the various particular things I've gone out and done, here's a bunch of photos, with brief accounts at the bottom of some of them.  This is a bunch of Afghan kids in northeastern Kandahar city. Most of them wave at us, some throw rocks. The presence of kids is good, as the locals almost always know what's going on, and if there aren't any kids around, they're probably absent for a reason, like a bomb or something. The attitude of the kids also serves as a bit of a barometer for what the adults think of us.  This is us rolling on a convoy through the Arghandab district north of Kandahar City. It's a river valley, most of their agriculture happens along the Arghandab. Last summer there was some pretty serious fighting in this area. We've established a new forward operating base farther up the river to protect an irrigation/hydroelectric dam project that Canad is working on.  This is one of our convoys coming back onto the road afer bypassing a drainage culvert that passed under the road and had been degrading to the point where it was impassible. This is in the desert area west of Kandahar City, in the Panjwayi district. About ten meters beyond where our vehicle is on the right is all minefields form when the soviets were here in the 1980s. Mines are not your friend. This is me outside our truck as we stopped to make some dropoffs/pickups at the Provincial Reconstruction Team in downtown Kandahar city.  Here I am dismounted, as a few of us moved up to check out a drainage culvert to make sure it wasn't stuffed with bombs. It wasn't, and to make things even better the road wasn't flanked by mines. That's a good day.  This is one of my better convoy photos, taken from the back window of my truck, which was the lead vehicle. We were on our way to get rid of some surplus explosive ordnance, and the ammo techs needed an escort to the demolition range.  Me sitting out on our perimeter security at Tarnak Farms, an old Al Qaeda training camp that's now used for firing ranges and disposal of ordnance. It's a pretty secure area, but we take along security anyway.  Yeah, so those demolitions I mentioned? They blew up something like 2500lbs of old ordnance in five batches of 500lbs each. This is taken from a kilometer away, and there were still a few scraps of stuff that made it out as far as where we were parked.  More of the same. So yeah, things are going well. Any specific questions, let me know, and I'll answer what I can. I'm glad I've got the opportunity to get lots of photos while I'm out here. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Replies:
Posted By: PaiNTbALLfReNzY
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 12:39pm
| Awesome. Stay safe. Sweet gat too. |
Posted By: Project Irene
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 12:48pm
Very nice pics. I have an EoTech in the mail. 
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Posted By: Benjichang
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 12:50pm
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Wow, really cool pics. Best of luck, come back safe.
-------------  irc.esper.net #paintball |
Posted By: Thor
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 12:59pm
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I always thought that those EOD have the best and worst job in the forces.
Oh, and it's always nice to see a picture taken from in front of the weapon system. Regardless, keep up the good work. Don't let your GAFF go below three. And, every now and then when your bored/bummed/pissed off, remind yourself you're in Kandahar :) Have a good one! ------------- A second class drive is always better than a first class walk. |
Posted By: Tical3.0
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 12:59pm
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Nice pic man. Stay safe and all that good stuff. ------------- I ♣ hippies. |
Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:07pm
LOL, it's hard to do much here without occasionally being in front of loaded and readied weapons. I've never had an ND; I'm not one of those chairborne lumps who isn't comfortable with a readied weapon. Besides, Tarnak's pretty safe, and I was still watching my arcs.  ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Thor wrote:Posted By: Beil
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:11pm
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how are you liking the MRAP trucks? I work for a company that builds them, and IMHO, they trump the old humvees in pretty much every way... good to know you're staying safe. be careful out there, man. ------------- I do it fast, slow, hard, and easy. I sometimes even do it in the woods. Yeah, I'm a runner. |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:11pm
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Your second picture clears up a lot for me. Around here every now and again we'll have a formation of jets or a few helicopters fly in, buzz us and cruise off leaving many bewildered and fascinated locals. I was told that it was because our topography was very similar to parts of Afghanistan and our airspace is being used for training purposes. Your picture pretty much confirms that. Anyway, good to hear from you, and glad to see that you're still in one piece. ------------- ? |
Posted By: GI JOES SON
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:14pm
| thats awesome! stay safe |
Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:22pm
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Is that an M240G I see or a Canadian version?
Plus, gotta love the OH-58 action... atleast that looks like an OH-58... darn Canadians copy everything  ------------- 
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Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:23pm
I'm Canadian, we never used HMMVWs. The RG-31 (our South African truck) is sure as hell better than the Mercedes truck we were using though. Linus, both Canada and the U.S. use the FN MAG. We call it the C6, you call it the M240. The OH-58s are not ours. There are a lot of nations operating in concert here. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: Snake6
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:46pm
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How many hadjis have you killed so far? I demand skinhat pics!
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Posted By: JohnnyHopper
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:02pm
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In honor of an old snl skit about the first gulf war :
What can you tell us about troop locations and movements? Where do you think the weakest area of your perimiter is? What would be most demoralizing information for the coalition if it were known? ------------- My shoes of peace have steel toes. |
Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:07pm
1: The troops are moving into location now. 2: It's probably the small thermal exhaust port. But it's pretty far down a trench, we're not too worried about it. 3: The cake is a lie. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: BARREL BREAK
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:22pm
| Stay hydrated buddy. |
Posted By: blackdog144
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:26pm
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how hot is it there?
------------- http://imageshack.us">  
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Posted By: impulse!
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:30pm
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Ia it true the Polish forces are always trashed?
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Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:33pm
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Right now, 11 at night, it's 70 degrees. Mid 90s during
the days, down as low as 40 early in the morning. In celcius, that's 20, mid 30s, and 5 respectively. Not too bad, though it gets hot with all the kit on in the direct sun. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: oreomann33
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:35pm
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Throw a puppy off a cliff, be sure to get it on vid!
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Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:37pm
That's the first time I've seen a Canadian use Fahrenheit before Celsius  -------------
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Posted By: oldsoldier
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 2:54pm
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Keep it safe, bro, keep a good pic record of your time, great stories for the grandkids.
No matter how deep the ---- gets, remmember, "It don't mean nothin." Skysoldier 6 Delta....out. |
Posted By: carl_the_sniper
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 4:38pm
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Cool pictures
I do hope to get deployed someday but I have a feeling Afghanistan will be pretty much over before I am fully trained. How do you like the Nyalas? ------------- <just say no to unnecessarily sexualized sigs> |
Posted By: Ford
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 4:57pm
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I like the last two pics the most.
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Posted By: Thor
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 6:55pm
I wouldn't be so sure man. Don't always pay heed to Gov'nt bullplop. Look how long we were in bosnia before it closed...same goes for Cyprus. Besides, I want at least 1 combat tour before we go back to fighting for shopping tours ------------- A second class drive is always better than a first class walk. |
Posted By: carl_the_sniper
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 7:24pm
If I go armour though? Doubtfull. ------------- <just say no to unnecessarily sexualized sigs> |
Posted By: Thor
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 8:12pm
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Dude go armour, ask for me by name at the regiment. Put me in the 9er veh.
Besides, the recce element of armour (which is about 50% of total strength) gets deployed all the time as a brigade commanders asset. ------------- A second class drive is always better than a first class walk. |
Posted By: ShortyBP
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 8:22pm
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Sweet pics!
Thanks for sharing! 
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Posted By: XtremeBordom
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 9:26pm
Cool what do you do? ------------- 
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Posted By: Zata
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 9:40pm
| This thread is awesome. Thanks for sharing. |
Posted By: ammolord
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 10:00pm
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nice. ------------- PSN Tag: AmmoLord XBL: xXAmmoLordXx ~Minister of Tinkering With Things That Go "BOOM!"(AKA Minister of Munitions)~ |
Posted By: carl_the_sniper
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 10:44pm
That's about the only reason I would go recce. I have been thinking about armour. I am most likely not going to get pilot as it is the most popular job with the least amount of spots. Besides, i'm not even sure if I want it anymore. Right now, it is between armour and infantry most likely. ------------- <just say no to unnecessarily sexualized sigs> |
Posted By: Zata
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 10:50pm
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Question for Canadians; Is joining your military considered a 'bad idea', by a lot of people? It seems like here in the US I always here, "Yeah, such and such is crazy for joining with the way the world is now bla bla bla." I remember when I was really looking into the military, my whole family flipped out. |
Posted By: Tical3.0
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 11:10pm
I see allot of support for our army out here in Ontario. ------------- I ♣ hippies. |
Posted By: XtremeBordom
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 11:14pm
Same with me. I still really wanna join when I get old enough, but my mom says the only way she would "let" me join is if I was an officer. -------------
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Posted By: carl_the_sniper
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 11:18pm
Mostly depends on your location and family. My parents were... I guess you could say worried that I was joining the army (as opposed to the air force) but they are proud and used to the idea now. ------------- <just say no to unnecessarily sexualized sigs> |
Posted By: JohnnyHopper
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 12:57am
Wow, somebody is either a good kid or mom hasn't cut the cord yet :) So many parents where I work are begging their little darlings to put down the game controller and consider doing anything, military included. ------------- My shoes of peace have steel toes. |
Posted By: Kayback
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 6:15am
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The rifle? I'm thinking flat top M16A4? But the green foregrip makes me think C7?
What type of sight is that? BUIS with a Ehotech? Keep it safe. KBK |
Posted By: carl_the_sniper
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 12:44pm
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It's a C7.
------------- <just say no to unnecessarily sexualized sigs> |
Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 9:55am
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C7A2. EOTech 552 sight with a crappy issued BUIS.
Got back in today from a bloody long overnight run out to the American FOB west of here. We took our first IED hit, though no injuries. My truck wasn't hit. One of the trucks was broken pretty good though. Other than that, all is well. Gonna go grab a coffee now and some good food. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: Zata
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:03am
| Wow, good to hear no one got hurt. How common is it for an and IED To actually go off? |
Posted By: ThatGuitarGuy
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:35am
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If you're ever up near Jurf As Sakhr let me know, cause I got some friends up there still. They're basically trying to rebuild farms and such, but I'd love it if you could drop them a line for me.
------------- Skillet: I've never been terribly fond of the look of a vagina |
Posted By: Kayback
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:40am
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Glad you ok. Keep it safe.
When did the Canuks change from the Eclan to the 552? KBK |
Posted By: carl_the_sniper
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:47am
Elcan is the issued sight but they can buy prety much whatever they want. ------------- <just say no to unnecessarily sexualized sigs> |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:48am
Eww. I hated the EOTech 552 sight when I was shooting with one. It just didn't feel right, and I couldn't hit crap with it. Luckily we were just plinking around, I don't think I'd have cared to have that sight on a rifle I was going to depend on to save my skin. ------------- ? |
Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:50am
We didn't. Elcan C79A2 is still the standard issue sight, however in the past couple years we acquired a bunch of 552s as well, for obvious reasons. The one I have is my own personal one I bought. I've seen lots of other sights kicking around too. I  my
EOTech. Zata- IEDs aren't frequent, but neither are they rare. Most IEDs are either detected or are turned in by locals before they go off, and the few that do go off are seldom targeted at our convoys, specifically because our equipment is excellent at protecting the crews from tham, as we saw last night. Most IEDs that do go off do so against Afghan army or police, or other nations with less armoured vehicles than ours. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 11:07am
To each his own I guess. Granted my experience with the EOTech was very limited. ------------- ? |
Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 11:44am
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Bri, glad to hear no one was hurt. Reb, having confidence in your equipment is very important. Even if the sights are equal* the fact that he trusts it makes him more effective with it. *I wouldn't know, I'm an "iron sights" era guy. I was already in a position where I didn't arm up daily anymore when we got in the M4s and their included electronic sight. ------------- 
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Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 1:34pm
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The EOTech's fantastic. Very fast target acquisition regardless of time of day, you don't need to worry about eye relief, cheek weld, or lining up
a front and rear sight. If you're sticking your head out the roof of a moving vehicle I can't think of a better optic for engaging a target. The Aimpoint is equal in quality and versatility, the EOTech is simply my personal preference. ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 2:04pm
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There you go then. Practical application of the EOTech makes it more valuable. More suited to your use than to the idiot plinking at bowling pins in broad daylight without having to worry about said pins shooting back.
------------- ? |
Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 2:10pm
"That's not a split, they're just trying to flank me." ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: Tical3.0
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 5:20pm
I actually laughed at that... wow ------------- I ♣ hippies. |
Posted By: ParielIsBack
Date Posted: 22 October 2008 at 10:17pm
It was legitimately funny...I did too. ------------- BU Engineering 2012 |
Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 23 October 2008 at 12:09am
They're just a distraction; the one you have to worry about is the one low-crawling up the gutter. -------------
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Posted By: JohnnyHopper
Date Posted: 24 October 2008 at 1:53pm
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Not to steal from Brihard's awesome pics, but http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4227541&cl=10259654&lang=en - this news report was very neat. (I did not want to start another Afghanistan thread)
------------- My shoes of peace have steel toes. |
Posted By: brihard
Date Posted: 24 October 2008 at 2:06pm
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Dammit, my connection's too slow to run it. Care to
summarize for me? ------------- "Abortion is not "choice" in America. It is forced and the democrats are behind it, with the goal of eugenics at its foundation." -FreeEnterprise, 21 April 2011. Yup, he actually said that. |
Posted By: oldsoldier
Date Posted: 24 October 2008 at 2:26pm
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Basically 60 min reports on the Afghan change in tactics, and the crossover from Pakistan. A LtCol describing how the g's are using better tactics larger units to fix targets and then try and maneuver in on a weak spot. Also increased use of indirect fire.
The simularities to VN are quite evident, how the VC changed tactics and applications right up till Tet, fighting in larger better trained groups, with indirect fire support. My boy has told me simular things after his deployment as a Company Commander, Afghanistan is turning into a real problem. He states we are still ahead but the g's are getting better and more frequent engagements. |
Posted By: Bruce Banner
Date Posted: 24 October 2008 at 2:30pm
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That's not what I wanted to hear... ugh. ------------- Waste and excess are not conservative family values http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/07opclassic.html - Nature is not a liberal plot http://pickensplan.com - A Good Energy Plan |
Posted By: Predatorr
Date Posted: 24 October 2008 at 2:49pm
...do you have any military history in your family? If you go in, I strongly suggest doing ROTC in college, or going to college, having the regular experience, enlisting and then going to OCS. Most of the butterbars I've met have been toolbags. Why do you need permission from your mom if you're 18? |
Posted By: XtremeBordom
Date Posted: 24 October 2008 at 7:38pm
I don't need permission... I was just saying that my family would be worried about me. I don't think it will stop me though. -------------
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Posted By: WUNgUN
Date Posted: 25 October 2008 at 11:33am
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Stay safe! ------------- [IMG]http://hometown.aol.com/hlwrangler/myhomepage/revised5_copy.jpg"> ""...the Marines we have there now could crush the city and be done with business in four days."--LtGen Conway on Fallujah |
Posted By: diabloho
Date Posted: 25 October 2008 at 1:47pm
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I'll second that! ------------- LIVE GAMERTAG: diabloho "I know that you believe you understand what you think I wrote, but I am not sure you realize that what you read is not what I meant." |