Constant Combat

The Eye of the Tiger - Brian Fox (Part 1 of 2)

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Great convo with Brian Fox who in 2004 was a corporal fapped to military police and refuses to drift away to his end of enlistment... and fights to return to Ramadi. Arriving alone to a bonded unit and earning trust by taking the wheel of Vehicle 2 in Rainmaker platoon. The story tracks hard choices, aggressive driving, VBIEDs on Route Michigan, and the rituals that hold a platoon together.

• volunteering out of a FAP to rejoin 2/4 as a first-wave combat replacement
• getting assigned to Weapons Company at Hurricane Point
• the lonely integration of a new Marine into a battle-hardened platoon
• adopting a sustainable five-section rotation for missions and QRF
• LCpl Savage KIA and stepping up to drive Vehicle Two
• tactics of convoy driving under IED and VBIED threat
• reading crowds, roads and tells for ambush
• chasing triggermen to disrupt IED supply chains
• firefights and respect for a clever enemy
• superstitions, small rituals and music pumps before mission

If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story


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If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.

All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

SPEAKER_01:

All right, Brian. Well, go ahead and uh introduce yourself, tell everybody who you were and uh what rank you were in 2004 and what platoon you were with.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, most definitely. Good afternoon. Uh name is Brian Fox. Uh I came to you guys from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines in 2004, and I was a corporal at the time. Rainmaker platoon, is that right? I did, I did with uh Sergeant Garcia.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you were before we push record, you already said that you're uh kind of thinking about the way you got over there, so we can start from there, the formation and uh learning about going on another deployment.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, actually uh I talked to Sergeant Garcia probably a few weeks back, shortly after he did his podcast and told me about your guys' program here. And uh he asked the question, he goes, Can you tell me or recap how we met? And I said, sure. So I guess I guess I'll start from that. Um, well, as you guys know, you talked to other people in 3.5. We were your guys' combat replacements, and I think it was the beginning of May. So building up how we how we got to that point. So got home from the initial push in 2003 with uh 3.5, got home around September, spent some time uh back in the States, and actually, I think it was the first time in San Mateo's history that all four battalions, including yourself, was was there. So we we, my company, we weren't able to live in any barracks in San Mateo. We actually got one of the Kwanzett huts in Horno for overflow because there wasn't any more rooms available when we first got. I'm sorry. Yeah, because that that sounds amazing. Yeah, all three battalions that were over, and then you guys, you guys were in Okinawa, and you got extended out there actually for a long time, didn't you? Yeah, six months. Yeah, and so we were all we were all there at the same time in the base, and of course, it's not set up for that one battalion that's supposed to be in Okinawa at the time, you know, and they just rotate the housing. So now that all four of us are there, we're in quantity huts. I tell you that, I tell you that because uh it builds up to we were having a battalion formation, so all the Horno Marines that were living there, we had to drive over to San Mateo. And of course, you get there early, right? You don't want to be late standby to standby. So we get there tremendously early, and our platoons holding a little formation. And we had one of our staff sergeants, no names, but we we didn't like his leadership style, and he gathered us all up at uh the basketball courts where we're just meeting a little uh horseshoe there, and he's just laying into one of our shipbird marines, like you every platoon has one, right? You know, and uh and he's just laying into them about personal things, your finances. I'm getting calls from this credit card company and this and this and this. And it wasn't a real formation, it was a horseshoe. But in there, I raised my hand, I was like, Staff Sergeant, maybe this is something you guys could take offline. You know, the platoon doesn't need to know about this stuff. For sure. And he yeah, and and and he goes, Corporal Fox, I think you just need to be quiet right now. And I go, Oh, with all respect, you know, staff sergeant. I think I think you're you're the one that needs to be quiet right now. That triggered now is spotlighted, right? So so we h we hold our formation, we go back to Horno, and that staff sergeant walks into our Kwanzaa and he's like, Give me Corporal Fox right now. And he pulls me over to the side and he goes, Do you have a problem with me? I go, I don't have a problem with you, I just have a problem with what you did. You know, that was all personal stuff in front of a formation, regardless of who it was. And he goes, he goes, Um, you're gonna be problems. He goes, if I can get you faced out, would you go? And I was like, Where's the dotted line? I'll sign it right now. So he got me actually fapped out. I was like one of two Marines in in 3.5 that got out and I was fapped out, and I got assigned to military police. And it it was a job. I I stood the gates, that's all I was. I wasn't certified to drive the patrol cars and do anything like that. You know, fapped out is you know, you like less than a year on your contract, you just get a filler filler job. I could have hopefully I could have got you know passing out towels at the gym or something like that, but no, they got military police, and and actually, like the schedule there wasn't that bad. If if they stuck to their schedule and didn't play fuck fuck games like they do, you would work like 16 days a month. It was a schedule like work two, two days off, work three, three days off, something like that. Um well, I tell you that because all of a sudden I get a phone call from um one of my friends. He's he's his name's Travis Day, or Colonel. Yeah, you guys know. Yeah, yeah. He was in my platoon. Yeah, yeah. So so I get a I get a phone call from Colonel, and and he goes, dude, they're gonna get another round out of us. I go, what do you mean? He goes, uh, I guess we're holding a formation tomorrow and they're gonna give us three options to pick from. And I was like, What what time tomorrow? And yeah, I don't remember the time, but he told me, but it was on one of my days off. And I go, you know what? I'm I'm gonna go and I'm gonna go listen. So it's it's my day off. I think I showed up in civvies and I don't remember where it was. I heard someone said it was in the gym or something like that. And and they pretty much uh gather up all the the short timers, people with less than a year, uh, and they go, it boils down to three options for you guys. Uh either you're gonna re-enlist and stay with 3-5, you're gonna extend your contract and do one more deployment with 3-5, or you're gonna be a combat replacement for 2-4. It's your choice. We need your choice pretty much now. And uh so everyone's just like, oh shit, okay. You know, when you when you get that thrown at you, what are you gonna do? And uh I remember my old uh platoon lieutenant was there, uh Lieutenant uh uh Dunkelberger, I believe it was. And uh and I go, sir, I said, I said, I don't I don't know how this works or anything, but can I get out of my FAP? He goes, I'm not sure either. I was like, well, how do I get on that list? He goes, I don't know. You're gonna have to talk to your uh military police chain of command. And I was like, okay, I think I'm gonna try doing that. And and I go back and I talk to the desk sergeant on that day off, and I go, hey, I was like, how does this work with FAPS? Can I like volunteer to end my FAP and go out? He goes, I don't I don't think it works like that. He goes, Tomorrow you're gonna have to talk to your first sergeant. And I was like, okay. So the next day comes and I I go talk to the um first sergeant. No, no, no, no, I take that back. The staff sergeant says, I don't think you can. Uh, if anything, you're gonna have to talk to first sergeant. Well, I had questions, okay? And me being naive, it worked out. I actually called 3-5's XO. Okay, so I called the office, I got somehow connected to him, and I sir, how does this work? I'm Brian Fox, 3-5, I'm FAP Dow, 81's platoon, all this other stuff. You know, they the the rest of the guys were given a choice. I want to figure out how to work out this fact to get out of this. You know, he goes, Okay. He goes, here's my office line. Give it to your command and have them call me. I'm sure we can work something out. So that's where the next day I went to the the first sergeant and I and I knocked on his door for the military police and I said, Hey, first sergeant, you know, Corporal Fox, you know, fapped out from 3.5. Uh, my guys are in a situation, they're going back. I want to figure out how to go back with them. He goes, You have no right to talk to that chain command, you no longer report to him, you're military police, you know, all this other stuff. And I said, Okay. I said, but I do have a phone number of my old SO, and I'm hoping you can give him a call. And he's like, Okay. And so I paused and I'm waiting for him to grab a pen, like he's gonna write down that number. He's like, Corporal, what's the damn number? And I'm like, Oh, 760, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he didn't write anything down. He goes, Good job. You gave me the phone number, get out of my office. And I was like, Well, that son of a bitch, he's not gonna call him. They didn't even write down his number, you know, obviously. And so, so what do I do? Well, I have the number, so I call it back and I talk to my exo again, my old XO. And I was like, Hey, sir, talked to you yesterday, you know, faced out. And he didn't take down your number. I don't think he's gonna give you a call. He's like, Hold up. You hear some type, and he goes, Is it first serious? I don't remember his name. And I go, Oh, yes, sir, it is. He goes, Tell him to check his damn email. And I was like, Oh, not doing that, not doing that, you know. So, so the next morning was my work day, and and in there, when you start a day, it's a 12-hour shift. So I report there like at 0400, and we get our morning briefing, and then we go out to all our gates, and you get a sign what gate you're signing at. Okay, you know, Bobby and Jim, you're going to you know, Del Mar gate, you're doing this, and my name wasn't called. And they go, Corporal Fox, report back to your chain of command, you're no longer military police. And so I was like, Oh, hell yeah. So I got out of the fat, you know. So, so now I'm like in this purgatory mode. I'm I'm like really assigned to military police. I'm somehow figuring out how to finagle my way back to a deployment with my with my brothers, you know. The only reason I want to go is because they're going. And I heard some of you guys' podcasts, like uh one of you guys were uh uh embassy, uh, you had orders to it, but your feeling is if you went to that and something happened, you you know, that would probably haunt you for the rest of your life. Well, that was my feeling with with my guys that I was very close with, yeah, yeah, uh, since since SOI. Um, so so now I'm somehow on this roster back with 3-5, and and so I'm on the list to be a combat replacement because that's what I picked, and then we had an option to be first wave or second wave. First wave is leaving like in a week or two, and second wave is a to be determined date. Well, if you're gonna do it, let's rip off the band-aid. So the group that you guys know of were the ones that all raised our hand to be part of first wave.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, what what happened is second wave, who was who was gonna do it, they actually never went, you know. Oh, so so they they never got called up. So so I got out of MPs, I did this first wave, you know, second wave didn't deploy. And then we're um they actually did like a week training or something like that. We were all pissed off because we were like, if we're if we're going back over, why are we spending a week camping at this mountain town doing doing some room cleaning clearing training? Or you know, if we're leaving, we would rather be with our families. Like we it was it was a camp out. We were we were staying the night over there and all this other stuff. So that training went by, and now it's time to fly out. And and like some told you, we flew a commercial flight and and got into uh Kuwait, and um, yeah, and we were off to go see you guys. Actually, actually, it's a little more to that. They we flew in, I don't remember where we trucked to, and we we set up at one of our base, and there there was a handful of people from 3.5. We had we have the group that you know, which is all 81's platoon, I think it was there was a total of nine of us. There was a small group of cat platoon, and there was pockets of group of all our line companies, Lima, Kilo, and India, and everything from 3-5. So, for the sake of conversation, let's just say there was nine to ten of us in each one of those clusters, right? And and we staged at this place, and we're getting who what battalion we're going to. We did not at that time, I told you it'd be a combat replacement for 2-4. It wasn't actually said that way, it was just a combat replacement. We didn't know who it was for at the time. Okay, and we didn't we didn't know who it was until we we we all got staged up, all those clusters of 10. Um, and I don't remember where we were at. Uh we we landed in Kuwait, and I think we trucked to this place. Yeah, and um and all of a sudden, like all of Cat Platoon, they got sent somewhere else, and then everyone else that was there pretty much got sent to 2-4. Okay, so Cat Platoon went somewhere else, 81s, and then I think it was two or three pockets of line company guys uh went went to 2-4. And and we got there. Um, I know for a fact that from where we were at, either we flew somewhere closer and they trucked us on seven tons. And I remember that because um we were all like standing up on the seven tons and looking, and then when we got to you guys, you're like, You guys trucked in? And we're like, Yeah, we're trucked in. But I'm I'm sure one of you guys met us as mission, day missions, or QRF and escorted SN or something like that. So we get to you guys, and and I and I don't know where they clustered us all up. I want to say it was so we're all in Hurricane Point at that time. And let's just say we're in one of the, I think there was a bigger room in one of the palaces, or or maybe it was a large tent or something like that. And it was it was, I want to say it was first sergeant um Mac that was hosting and organizing everything. Off of my memory, my story, that's what it is. I remember that we're all we're all like sitting in our groups. Because when you're in your in your close with your unit, so that's who you hang out with. You you're you're all 35, but you're different things. So we're all clustered, all of weapons company, all of the Lima company guys, and First CERN says, Hey, you guys are all gonna go in your little clusters to different areas. Um weapons company needs needs like 10 people. Um Snake Pit, was it? Yeah, Fox Company. Yeah, uh, and there was there was another combat outpost with golf and echo. Okay, so they were dividing it up. And from what I remember, that uh first star Matt, very, very cool guys, let us make a lot of our own decisions. Um and he goes, So I will leave it up to you guys on where you're going. And I remember when he came back in to figure out where we're going, he he started with one of our line companies, and he goes, So where where is this group going? And someone says, Hey, we we want to be the people in your guys' weapons company. And then he goes, All right, where are you? Where's this line company going? And he said, uh, whatever company was in Snake Bit. And then he got to us and we're like, Well shit, that means we're a line company. We aren't a line company. So our group was like, Well, hold up, there's a problem. We want to be weapons company because we are a weapons company, and we understand that you guys aren't using your cruise serves, but if you do, we know how to operate the mortars and everything. And and the fact that the first time uh after we got to Baghdad, we all settled in a city and we were we were QRF for that city, so we drove all the Humvees and all the cruise serve weapons and everything else. So that's what we do, and that's what you guys are doing here. We think it should be us. And he and he was like, Yeah, that makes sense. You're going to weapons company, you're going to the line company. So so thank thank goodness for that, actually. Um, just because that's what we knew, that's what we were comfortable with. Yeah. Um, so we we were now uh weapons companies, and and we we walked up to your guys' uh uh huts. I think there was six of them. The first one was the first one staring at all of them was the translator hut, I believe. Yeah, the closest one to the gate. Yeah, and then rainmaker, you guys sled, and then the then the others.

SPEAKER_01:

Map one headquarters, map two, map three.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So so we're all standing in between Rainmaker and Sledgehammer, and it was like all the sections leader came out, you know, and it was just like it was like picking your Pokemon cards, you know. So I I remember like um Sergeant G was like, Well, Rainmaker needs one, and he goes, Oh, we'll take you, and he pointed to me. So when I told Sergeant G the story, I told him all that, and I go, So how did we meet for the first time? You just pointed at me and said, Hey, you're with us, and I said, Okay, you know, and then uh Sledgehammer, you guys got Adams Martinez Clark, and the first time you got Larson, and then um Hampton, Colonel, um Martinez and uh John Mark Lopez, uh, they all went to the maps. Um so yeah, so that's that's how I first met you guys. Um and it it was it was an experience. And I tell you, it was an experience because I mean I was I was picked all by myself. And and I was all this is this is if you if you edit that, this is where you put in the sad soppy music and everything because this I was I was I was I was so alone. I I really was so so everyone had someone, and I think it was just a couple of days, you know, that I was with with them all by myself, but I mean not knowing anyone. I mean, I remember the first time after we got settled in D Winia and everything, we got we got some NBC guys dropped to us, and I remember it was a very cold welcoming. Like they aren't they aren't with you, they aren't bonded with you, you don't know how they operate or anything like that. They may have rank, you don't, you know, rank is everything in in the infantry. You don't respect that individual or that rank because they're new at that time. And I never thought I would be in that situation, but there I was, you know. I was I was that new guy by myself with a platoon that I mean you get you guys went through shit. Um, and you guys, you guys were definitely bonded um through battle, and um, and here I am, just this new guy by myself. And man, I just felt so isolated and so out of place and everything. And and I was like, man, this is what I volunteered for, you know, not to be with anyone because the whole volunteer thing was to be with with one of my guys from 3-5. Sure. Um, so it was it was actually for Sar Mac. Uh did a really good job. Kudos to him. Um, he he he checked in on us. You you you could tell who we were to, and the reason you could tell who the 3-5 Marines is because we didn't have the Dead Dizzy's, so we got those just before we deployed, but we didn't get the uh eight-point covers, we got Dedget Boonies, so we were the only ones that had boonies with you guys. Yeah, um, so so when you saw a boonie guy, that was a combat replacement. But he he checked in with us, and I think he started with me, and he goes, Hey Corporal Fox, how's the platoon you know, treating you? And platoon was actually very respectful, um, uh as welcoming as they could be, you know. Um, I was right beside uh Hodges and Herschel. Everyone everyone has a story of him. So I slept right beside them.

SPEAKER_01:

Um everyone has a uh every everyone has a Joe Herscher story, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I saw that man naked more than I see myself naked, but um and it's a humbling experience, isn't it? Yeah, and then Hodges Hodges was like senior by age, I believe. I believe it was much older than everyone. He's like, God dang, you know, put that weapon away. We don't need to see that thing, you know. So that that was like my mornings I woke up to. Um, but but he uh first sergeant checked in and he goes, Fox, how you doing? I said, Doing well, how's the platoon treating you? Oh, doing well, getting to know everyone. And he goes, Well, who's your buddy or something like that? I go, I don't have one, you know, they only needed one person. He's like, No, it ain't gonna work like that. You need you need one person. And so I remember gathering up um Adam, Martinez, Clark, and Larson, and I go, Hey guys, I said, It sucks not having someone. I was told to pick from someone, you guys have four, everyone's either else two or three. I said, uh, who want who wants to come over with me? And and Martinez and Adams were like, Wow, you know, we're we're we're best friends. They're you know, they they're like two kittens always wrestling. And uh and and Clark, Clark is just like, hey, they're they're they're giving me a leadership position or something like that. And I was like, Larson, come on, come on over here, you know. Um, so I took him and and that was good. In fact, my 12 year old that you may hear, his name is Royce, and the guy that I took was Royce Larson.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03:

So that that's that's how we got to you guys. That's where it started.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, no, I can't, I I hadn't really thought. about it until we're really having a little bit more of a conversation with Mike and Jason. That uh I mean the the tale is as old as time of the new guys coming to a uh a unit that's been hit hard that they're a combat replacement and then the the people that have been there just like it's you know whether it's conscious or unconscious it's hard to integrate that new person um for a variety of reasons. That's uh that's a that's a rough role.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah you don't you don't ever think you're gonna be in it until you're in it and then you're like oh this is this is what it's like you know so um but but that feeling was short lived you know the um uh sergeant sergeant g and you're gonna you guys are gonna have to help me with names sergeant uh leighton I believe it was yeah um there's a lot of other individuals obviously in the platoon um but they uh they were welcoming I I didn't really like receive cold shoulders or any or anything negative um it was a very it was a young platoon uh I knew that uh a lot of the a lot of the corporals were were newly promoted and um sergeant G and Leighton they they seem to be seasoned and everything but it was a young platoon so I'm thinking my my rank helped um another thing that helped is uh I'll get to it it was when I volunteered uh to drive but uh I guess that will segue into this so when we got to you guys um you know I I think we flew out beginning of May and staged for a while and ended up finally getting to you guys either a day or the day of of salvage and and we remember that that uh I think Rainmaker um they were going out well first off you know what your guys is the schedule that you guys had was very good and and I I don't know if you guys talked about that um you guys had five sections I believe between the things and your rotation your rotation was was healthy and it was good um one of your questions is is who would you like to call out and one of my answers is whoever organized that rotation that you guys had and what I mean by that is you guys did day missions day QRF night missions night qrf and then guard and those were one week intervals so it and then if if the city roared up or anything or something happened like you know everyone was going out and they were willing to but when it when it was the normal operations it was it was livable um you if you got your sleep you got your your downtime you got whatever so it was a really good rotation uh uh whoever did that you know good good job to you guys um I'm gonna be honest I don't know who came up with that I'm gonna bet it was uh a combined effort but I I have no idea who came up with that I'm hoping I'll find out in the future that's a good question yeah you know I noted that because when we first got in I don't want to do a lot of the back and forth of of three five to this but when when we got into Ed D Wania the first time the rotation that we set up it it it was it was it was like a four hour foot patrol two hours back four hours guard two hours down four hour foot patrol and you we were doing that over and over and over again and we were just like walking zombies that's so I yeah I remember I remember seeing your guys' schedule and I was like okay this isn't bad you know um so yeah good job on that um what was I saying before then why did I say all that uh did you think you were just talking about how coming in on uh savages you know right around there that that you were hitting probably right at the beginning of a cycle so yep yep yep so so you guys uh Rainmaker went out on a mission and I was not allowed to go out with them I uh acclimated or climatized I don't remember which one they said but they said and I I needed a few days there before I start going out in your guys' rotation and I don't know what it was I I I believe that you guys ran I think he called them IED sweeps uh at times you know um I mean think think of the wording behind that you guys were driving around for IEDs um um so I they went out and and and everyone knows the story you guys got hit and it was it was a long day and you guys came back we didn't know what was going on and um of course emotionals were high rightfully so and and everything and and um that's when Savage was killed and in fact I I think you guys also um you didn't lose but another a driver of vehicle too was injured I believe someone took on their leg and and so that gets me that's where I was going with it is I I was saying my rake hill but also me volunteered so later on that evening they held a formation they said all right you know they're given a debrief and everything and they said you know uh we're we're still here we're still operating someone needs to drive vehicle too and and that's where I raised my hand. So I raised my hand to be the driver of vehicle too. I told them I said I I wouldn't mind doing that I drove a lot the first time the only thing I would ask for is can I have a mono instead of a bino and the reason I wanted the mono uh for people that listening is um you we don't drive with headlights but all the locals do. So instead of getting whitewashed in both eyes when a car drives by at night and and you're blinded I would close the one eye and and open up the one that wasn't covered and then do the reverse when they were done.

SPEAKER_01:

It's the old pirate trick man.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah the old pirate. So Sergeant G says I'll get I'll get you a set of monos and he got me a set of monos and then I was I was the driver for vehicle too which was uh his vehicle I was driving him around and that's uh where we really kicked off our relationship so that's cool man and that's actually uh that's I mean I don't know how I don't know why you did it necessarily but that's smart I mean it gives you a chance to kind of you know exactly what to do you're just driving I'm just driving yeah and then when you get somewhere then you can do something else but like 99% of the time you know you're gonna be behind the wheel and you got to take care of the truck so that's that's a good starting place.

SPEAKER_02:

Well yeah and go ahead.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh I was just gonna say that when we've had you know I don't know if we've said it this directly before but um over over in Ramadi during that time you needed to have really really good drive thank god we did but that was not a time to have the biggest idiots behind the wheel um you needed you needed somebody that could actually think for themselves and so yeah I I'm Sarge G would compliment the driving he goes I love it I'm aggressive you know he goes you'd push people out of the way you would yo you'd speed up you'd slow down you'd swerve you'd do all this other stuff you know and so so that was my job. I mean what what tense moments driving through the marketplace right where the foot traffic is heavy as hell and you can't just buzz right through but I I knew that my Humvee was a lot heavier than you know people walking in the street. So I I wasn't hitting them I was right right so um so yeah so that was that was me volunteering and I and I think I said that because um I wasn't in the back I drove uh I started out with a high back um so so the people in the back were dismounting do their thing if it was uh I always called them county fairs were they was that one of the things that we we saw that Operation County Fair was right before you got there uh but they but there was three operations that were called bug hunts and those were the bigger ones yeah um county fair is also another one we had a couple of those the county fairs usually were smaller and the bug hunts were bigger like district size I don't know who decided these naming conventions and then Operation Traveler was the other big one that was in like late August or in early August and that was uh most of the section south of Route Michigan where uh Zarkawi's family supposedly was okay so anytime one of one of the operations happened like I wasn't because when if it was a mission or a QRF like he they they turned when they dismounted it was a form of a line company right they're on foot but I was not I I was I was with my gunner we we had one of the 50 cales so I always stayed with the vehicle so I say maybe my my rank volunteering and you know just staying with a vehicle where I wasn't I wasn't mixed with the the line company um practices when they dismounted you know uh I think I think that helped where I was I was gaining respect with the guys a little bit so yeah nice yeah very good the so um and I don't want to go I I don't want to jump the story just too far but just for my framing purposes how long did you stay in country with us?

SPEAKER_02:

Did you leave early or did you come back?

SPEAKER_03:

I I I don't have I don't remember no no no I I I flew out on one of the Helos I think it was like four or five weeks before you guys left I believe we left we left the end of August and you guys left the end of September. Yeah okay that sounds right okay yeah I don't mean to jump the story I'm just trying to and in the in the in the reason for that is my my um my end was October 1st so that was the end of my contract. Oh yeah well that was quick then for you too yeah yeah yeah I mean they they were getting one more deployment you know and and if I if I wasn't fapped out for you know uh button heads with that staff sergeant you know I I I would have been there but yeah they they gave me they gave me about four weeks to get checked out okay yeah all right so going back to uh so let's see here going back to May um we had a couple a couple uh operations coming into there um you said that you were sticking mostly with the truck because you were the driver do you do any of the any of the missions in particular stick out to you? Uh um not the names uh if you tell me events that happened in there that's that that rekindles a lot of my stories um uh I could tell you I could tell you stories about you know the BB IDs that that went off behind us I yeah I mean why why don't why don't we just why don't we just start with some of the stories right so so the so I I started driving so let's just say it was May 13th um may 13th or 14th if I could start driving after a few days and after everything happened and and I I was driving around and just being aggressive and probably naive of the situation you know all all I was used to was was firefights from organized groups right and they you know that was the first time and and this this was now different warfare and and and what a change then not the terrain um just the tension and and our tactics and their tactics um you know that the first time over you know uh it it would be six people um as stupid as it sound probably no radio communication going out in town drinking chai with the locals just to show presence um your your guys' time and what we expense uh experienced is when we wanted to run to the army base or something to go get lunch because they had better food it was mandatory five vehicles with full crews you know uh every you know in in calm and everything and then and then like I said the first time you know uh gunfires we knew who were fighting we we saw them and then you know kind of I just think guerrilla warfare um and your guys very on Mount Warfare and and really the biggest fear then was IEDs and I we didn't know what IEDs were the first time um and then neither did we yeah yeah yeah and then and then and then um yeah IEDs that that then go to VB IEDs and um you know one of you one of your guys's question is what what do you wish people knew um I guess about Ramadi or Iraq or whatever and and I wrote down I go well they're not stupid they're not dumb they're very they are very very very creative you know when when we would when we would um go out in one of our bug hunts and we would gather up all the weapons we found and all the makeshift stuff you know there's a lot of creativity in some of the weapons and how they launched them especially like the mortar systems you know morning and night uh they knew we had counter battery radar you know covered by the by the army and stuff but they found out to keep the low the shells you know low enough or or they were launching them where they were you know plenty of yards away where if we turn fire went they weren't being hit um I I remember you know um tail signs were new construction like if you saw a piece of we'll say curb if it looked brand new port or whatever like stay away from it you know why why is that poured what's in it well there there's there's an artillery round or a mortar round with the device and the concrete is now the shrapnel around it you know yeah um you know if if if you roll we talked about my shigan downtown and and all of a sea sudden you know you get the feel the locals really if you see the foot traffic start to clear an area you better stay out of that area too um it's it's because they knew what was going on I mean just just the creativity that they had um by all means they weren't dumb at all.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you remember your first firefight uh on this round uh I know you fought in you know during the first push I'm sure you got in a couple but do you remember your first one with the 2-4?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah yeah I do I uh I don't remember the date or anything like that. Uh I remember I mean the town the town reared up a handful of times I I think even in the time that I was there. And then one of our first little scrimmages I I think it was when we were on the QRF rotation during the day and we we launched out with one of the line companies and it was a firefight they dismounted so I don't I don't know where the guys in the vehicle were or anything. I I just know that I had I had I don't remember it was it was it wasn't it was a like a two-way radio a push button right here single single mic and I was connected to Sergeant G with that and he would tell me hey I'm uh you know I'm down down the road down the road and and I remember just being aggressive like I have the 50 cal this is what they want you know so I I would push my my gunner up and you watch down that way I'll and then I'll get out of the vehicle I'll watch this way wherever your back is that's where I'm at you know stuff like that and I rem I remember that was the first firefight uh I remember I was very intrigued I was taking a lot of pictures I was very intrigued by like bloody shoes for some reason so if if you ever want photos yeah the art installation I thought it was so wild that like hey this person actually ran out of their shoe you know and I was like I get why they didn't there's a big old pile of blood and stuff like that right there. So I I got a lot of those maybe that was me trying to be an artist or something like that. I don't I don't know um but that that was my first firefight I remember like crashing through something because I was like I you know Sergeant G wanted the 50 cal watching down this road and I was like okay um I'm trying to think who my gunner was um I called him Furby I called him Furby because he was super hairy all over the place so I was like you're yeah defluentes yes that's the hairiest well probably the second hairiest man I've ever seen but he's he's he's up there man that guy yeah likes that squad he was super cool I I remember he said that I think he's from Washington and his family had a Christmas tree farm and they sold Christmas trees yeah weird that's a good memory man yeah yeah now that you said it I remember that but I wouldn't have remembered that yeah yeah he he was a cool guy I think it was was he a Lance corporal at that time he was I think he was super nice guy wore glasses and everything a funny story about him I think it was his birthday or something like that and the platoon um helped him stay still on the floor by all of us holding him down and and we shaved in 81s in the back hair so yeah that's perfect so he he walked around and it looked like he had a football jersey number 81 on but that was that was his body you know it was cool yeah so I he he was on the 50 cal and and he wanted him down the road I was watching the back and I I remember that was like the first mount fire fight uh in Ramadi that I remember and I I don't remember why we were out there or anything I I think it was to support a line company or something like that.

SPEAKER_02:

That's a very common story.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean that's that's a how a lot of those fights were there were really they're no named they're they're no name firefights yeah I I I tell people I go it's it's so weird like we would stage we would stage QRF if you were QRF all the vehicles in case you had to like jump on in it like you know jump on it like a horse and ride off in town the all the vehicles were staged ready to go and and you would you would go on in town and um I I I tell people it's just it's just very weird you know having having that mindset of we're going out in town and you I I crossed my fingers was like please find a fire fight please find a firefight instead of an IED because it was only one of the other you're gonna find a fire fight or you're gonna find an IED uh and I was like please let it be the fire firefight side you know oh there's nothing you can do for the IED you just get fucked up yeah yeah uh first first IED I mean shortly days after I started driving I I think it I think it was nova actually didn't I know nova had the the hospital but was there a school or were there schools on Nova there was okay so I there were there was one basically at each end west and east so so we were driving then it was nova and it was a dirt road at the time right and I was nova a dirt road some parts of it were not all of it okay and and I remember we're going down that route and someone says hey you know Nova should be safe kind of like the unwritten rule is hopefully they don't mess with the road that has the hospitals and schools or something like that. That's probably I I know it's completely inaccurate but at the time okay I was like okay you know that makes sense but I remember the first IED was was right in front of our vehicle and it it it was buried deep so it blew straight up in the air and I was like oh shit that was meant for us you know and I was like well then they're bad at their timing you know but I remember that being the first first IED I saw was right outside the school and it was buried really deep on the side of the road.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah it was nice it was nice when you got to see it because I always figured the one that was going to kill me I wasn't going to see it anyway. Yeah the one time the one time I got hit I didn't see shit I just remember getting hit and feeling like I got punched and then I that was it and I didn't see anything. Yep where where at in town was that uh that was on route Michigan we were on our way to combat outpost it was just as the main buildings of the city started to break up and you started to head out into the farm country to get to combat outpost right at the east end of the city on route Michigan okay I remember I remember I think we're on an LPOP at the graveyard or something like that and just overseeing it we spent hours out there probably days actually um and I want to say we rushed out and we were driving down Michigan because I think the I think that was the day the police station got hit or something bombed or something like that.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. And we we were rushing out there and as you're heading back to Hurricane Point um there's a s there's like a a big split like it ws off on Michigan. Yep yep and and right there where it ws off uh I remember we passed and then uh right behind us in between vehicle two and three that That was the BB ID right behind our truck. I listened to one of the podcasts of the people that were in the back of the truck. I was like, yeah, I was driving, you know? And that thing, I mean, you couldn't see behind it. All I was worried about was vehicle number three because at that time then, uh, Royce Larson, who I took, was the driver for vehicle number three. So I was like, oh shit, was that was that Royce, you know? And then all of a sudden you see him just go through the um through the dust cloud. Um, but yeah, right in that location was the BB ID. And I remember listening to that individual's podcast. He goes, for some dumb reason, we dismounted right then. Like we stopped our convoy, herringbone, and we dismounted. I was like, Yeah, that was pretty stupid. Why did we do that? But I remember we dismounted and and the blast went in between our vehicles, but going the opposite direction was like an I Iraqi taxi driver, and he took the hit. Um I I remember seeing him, and then um, like we we were just like, all right, well, we we gotta go. Police station just got attacked, and so we we went back over there.

SPEAKER_02:

So if my memory serves me, I think part of our philosophy on that was that we wanted to try to capture the trigger man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the human extraction teams uh and some of the Intel people that that came over and talked over at Hurricane Point, they always said that if they they felt pretty confident that if they could get any of the triggermen, they could at least figure out where they're getting the munitions. Because there was not a huge artillery shell munitions depot anywhere near Ramadi. It was the the closest one we knew of was over by TQ Air Base, which was out past Hobbiny and a whole bunch of other shit that's on a map that nobody's gonna understand anyway. But far away, that's the short version. And they that somebody was bringing it in and and cacheting it somewhere. And so if they could figure out where those supply points were, we could break up the supply of IEDs and at least make the lethality less. You know, if they were just putting like a little bit of comp B in a soda can or something, like mostly that's not gonna kill somebody, but the 155 shells were really tearing tearing trucks apart and tearing people up.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it was uh it was different. That's that's what I feared the most.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, by far. By far.

SPEAKER_03:

And and and like we started out, I I'm pretty sure you guys did what you guys called IED sweeps. Oh, we did. Yeah, yeah. So just I mean, just just think just think about that. The thing, the thing that we were scared the most, we were just like, we're driving around and seeing if there's an IED. Well, how do you how do you know there's an IED if it goes off?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, mostly. If you were lucky, you could see something like you said, disturbed pavement or disturbed dirt, and then call call out EOD and take a look at it, but mostly that wasn't the case. The line company guys were doing the same thing, they had a uh an area to patrol and they would do IED routes on foot. Wow, and same thing, they lost dudes the same way, they would walk right over the top of them because sometimes you saw it, but uh sometimes you didn't see shit.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that's that's wild.

SPEAKER_02:

And I know a couple guys, and I be and I have a story myself of it where you know we would be on those patrols and it would be buried, and for whatever reason they chose not to pop at that time, but then you know, a few hours later where you were standing, or you know, like that exact area, even though that had to have been buried previously because there was enough activity that they wouldn't have had time to do it. But by the grace of God, for whatever reason, they've decided not to pop it well. And I have one specifically where I was literally standing right on top of it, and then it hit it hit uh the Fox Company patrol.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, wow, yeah. Well, they they were saying uh they they said the curse of vehicle two, vehicle one drives by, I guess they're attacking vehicle number two, you know. And I was like, Well, hold up, I'm driving vehicle number two, I don't like this story, you know. So yeah, interesting. Real interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, everybody had their their superstitions. Ours was uh vehicle five and six always got when we had six, we didn't have six most of the time, but vehicle five always got hit, always.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah, I I had my rituals and routines. I I guess let me let me tell you that superstitions, rituals and routine. I mean, I mean, I I always wore I always wore the the a cross that I wore the first time and everything and everything like that. Uh the platoon used to make fun of me because so in in the huts or hoochas or or whatever you guys call them, so it was like it was like a bunk bed setup, and and a lot of the younger Marines, you know, bottom bunk, top bunk, and stuff like that. And then mine was I just had the bottom bunk and my top bunk was storage. And and I remember always thinking, because we we you know, we you got mortar where we got mortared all the time, you know, usually usually in the mortar pool. And I would look up at the the ceiling, and I'd be like, Yeah, round would go through that. So I would always like lay my gear out with my flat jacket, like where I lay down, you know, on my bed just in case and stuff like that. My helmet would be where my head is and everything. Um, but I I had a um a CD player, and and every mission they started out making fun of me. Every mission I would I would blast Eye of the Tiger through my oversized headphones, you know, and I would listen to Eye of the Tiger. But then, but then they started to buy into it. I remember like Sergeant G, like when we would stage up and and we had another ritual in the vehicle, he'd be like, Did you listen to Eye of the Tiger? I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did. We're good, we're good, you know, stuff like that. So they they started out with that, you know, and and right beside me was uh Hodges and all that. And uh I think he's he would start out making fun of me, but at the end he'd be like, put that music up, you know, let's listen to it. I was like, okay, that's awesome. One of our routines.

SPEAKER_02:

Um you're gonna try and take any advantage you can. Yeah, right? Hell yeah. Yeah. If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story.