So there i am just got off the plane and in the nice 130 degree desert. Been there a few weeks in Kuwait and recieving all the newjoins coming in from the US. Dust flying and cant see 10 feet in from of me.. when a few navy doctors and corpsmen show up off the bus and land in good ol Camp Tarawa.. 200 or so i think.
They get off the bus and look lost as hell and you can tell they have no clue what to expect. Time on deck is about 2200 and life sucks.
In a flak jacket, full ammo and locked and loaded. Life is just grand.
When you leave the US you leave with ammo and your weapon so you can literally land off the plane running if need be.
We have the Navy side providing us medical support. .. In proper procedure when you enter a camp you have to clear your weapon wether it be an M16 or a M9.. every one gets off ...and gets mustered..
1st off these guys are 06's all the way down to e2's and they are trying to figure out how to form up... these poor guys have been inside hospitals their entire enlistment and last time they formed up was in boot camp.
so after 20 minutes of getting together and the Senior Petty Officer took charge, they finally get a makeshift formation.
I brief the SPO on the regulations as far as the clearing of the weapons and how we will be doing the procedures..
note: Ever rememeber that trick you tell someone something and it goes down a chain ... and by the time the chain is over... you get something totally different.. well yeah thats what happened
I go to my sentry and instruct him to clear every weapon and ensure that everyone is checked before entering the camp. When i turn around to talk to the SPO the whole formation has their weapon in the air and clicking their M9s...
reminder: these people have ammo and have to be in condition 1 when traveling .... (condition one: magazine inserted .. ROUND IN CHAMBER)and are now getting cleared to condition 4 ... (condition four.. no magazine no round in chamber)
My head goes down and almost can hear the rounds go off. I walked over to the SPO and asked him to please have his personnel take their weapons and holster them...
Half the personnel had never touched a weapon.. and the other half had never had live ammo with their weapon.
But 100 percent had ever fired their weapon and the last time they had it was more than years ago.
I had to give an impromtu class to a whole bunch of Doctors and Corpsmen ..
I feel bad and feel my life in danger from my own service members. God help me and god save me, i love the NAVY because they are my DEVILDOCS in combat and stay by my side if need be when rounds go down range.
But when i see these guys, i see lost looks..
they are assigned to the trauma platoon and specialize inside the garrison environment, but in OIF there technically is no garrison environment. SCUDS only land a few hundred yds away. So everyone is in need of a weapon just in case.
The navy was not concerned IMO to instruct their troops and officers as weapons training.
But you have to imagine those 200 M9 up in the air. clicking..
OMG.. what a site to see.
I laugh now because i can ..but now every time i hear a click on an M9 berreta.. i think of the NAVY
GO NAVY!
They get off the bus and look lost as hell and you can tell they have no clue what to expect. Time on deck is about 2200 and life sucks.
In a flak jacket, full ammo and locked and loaded. Life is just grand.
When you leave the US you leave with ammo and your weapon so you can literally land off the plane running if need be.
We have the Navy side providing us medical support. .. In proper procedure when you enter a camp you have to clear your weapon wether it be an M16 or a M9.. every one gets off ...and gets mustered..
1st off these guys are 06's all the way down to e2's and they are trying to figure out how to form up... these poor guys have been inside hospitals their entire enlistment and last time they formed up was in boot camp.
so after 20 minutes of getting together and the Senior Petty Officer took charge, they finally get a makeshift formation.
I brief the SPO on the regulations as far as the clearing of the weapons and how we will be doing the procedures..
note: Ever rememeber that trick you tell someone something and it goes down a chain ... and by the time the chain is over... you get something totally different.. well yeah thats what happened
I go to my sentry and instruct him to clear every weapon and ensure that everyone is checked before entering the camp. When i turn around to talk to the SPO the whole formation has their weapon in the air and clicking their M9s...
reminder: these people have ammo and have to be in condition 1 when traveling .... (condition one: magazine inserted .. ROUND IN CHAMBER)and are now getting cleared to condition 4 ... (condition four.. no magazine no round in chamber)
My head goes down and almost can hear the rounds go off. I walked over to the SPO and asked him to please have his personnel take their weapons and holster them...
Half the personnel had never touched a weapon.. and the other half had never had live ammo with their weapon.
But 100 percent had ever fired their weapon and the last time they had it was more than years ago.
I had to give an impromtu class to a whole bunch of Doctors and Corpsmen ..
I feel bad and feel my life in danger from my own service members. God help me and god save me, i love the NAVY because they are my DEVILDOCS in combat and stay by my side if need be when rounds go down range.
But when i see these guys, i see lost looks..
they are assigned to the trauma platoon and specialize inside the garrison environment, but in OIF there technically is no garrison environment. SCUDS only land a few hundred yds away. So everyone is in need of a weapon just in case.
The navy was not concerned IMO to instruct their troops and officers as weapons training.
But you have to imagine those 200 M9 up in the air. clicking..
OMG.. what a site to see.
I laugh now because i can ..but now every time i hear a click on an M9 berreta.. i think of the NAVY
GO NAVY!
