Fast Track to the Front Line - James Anderson (part 1 of 2)

We talk with Jim Anderson from Mobile Assault Platoon 2 about getting rerouted from SOI into a combat replacement pipeline and how a brand-new Marine earns a place in a weapons platoon through truck workups, call signs, brutal first contacts, and the relentless tempo. Jim also reflects on being a “replacement” and the quiet ways that can shape belonging, pride, and memory when a unit has already been through intense fighting. 

• getting pulled for deployment at the end of SOI to Combat Replacement Company 2 
• the rushed gear-up cycle, hurry up and wait
• the journey through Kuwait and Al-Asad with no clear assignment
• arriving at Hurricane Point at night and meeting the platoon
• early lessons on IED awareness, five and twenty-fives, and rookie mistakes 
• learning the M240 and TOW routines 
• first major contact, comms failure, and pushing through an ambush 
• movement to contact fights, rooftop shooters, and the reality of urban density on combat operations. 
• the long view on Ramadi’s pace, identity as a replacement, and what gets forgotten 

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

----------------------------------------------
If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088

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 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Cool man. So everybody here y'all.

SPEAKER_03 0:12

I'm uh Jim Anderson. I was uh at PFC. Uh I came as a combat replacement to uh map two uh with my battle buddy um PFC Bass. Um so we were the I think second or third wave of replacements. Um listening to some of the podcasts. I didn't fully understand how that

From SOI To Combat Replacement

SPEAKER_03 0:36

process went after you know the the April stuff that everybody went through.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yeah and the weird thing with you guys is you were dropped straight from SOI. Uh the other replacements we got were people who had at least some experience from other battalions, mostly from 3-5.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Yeah, well, we were supposed to go to 2-8 um going into the end of uh SOI's culminating event. Um, everybody that was supposed to go to 2-8 uh got pulled into a you know an empty squad bay, and the company commander was like, Congratulations, you guys get to go to the show, you know, and everybody kind of like was confused, but there was a cheer. Um one guy was a little distressed because he started moving his family out, even though they told him not to. Um, and the captain was like, You take your mosquito wings off, I'll give you my bars and I'll switch places with you because this is what we do. Um, you know, it was it was pretty intense. Um then, you know, we left for the airport basically right after graduation and flew out to throughout, flew out to Cali not really knowing what to expect. Uh, and we joined up with Combat Replacement Company 2. Um, and it was a bunch of uh there were a bunch of uh Lance Corporals, corporals, sergeants, um, a few staff NCOs that were there, not a ton of people. Um, I don't know where everybody was coming from. Um, I think some people got uh voluntold that they were gonna be a part of it. Um so we we did the basic gear up, some really basic training stuff. Um we went out to Mounttown for a week, um, and then weapons familiarity, BZO, that kind of stuff. Um, and I remember it was about a week before we left, uh, something happened, and uh staff sergeant came out to us on the parade deck and uh said anybody whose EAS is uh this date, you don't have to go. And there was about 40 guys who just like stood up and you know started cheering and were, you know, because they I don't know what it was with the timing, but it was that was kind of a shock to me too, because you know, I was a young infantryman and it's like this is what I joined for, and to go right into it, and then to see these guys who were more experienced, and it's like what are they what's going on here? It was it's kind of a crazy dichotomy um to face on the way to on the way to country. Um and so I think I graduated like mid-April, and we were in um we were in Kuwait uh by the end of May.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yeah, if you don't mind me asking, when what do you remember where you were doing your training at in Pendleton?

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Uh we were uh we got put at Margarita, uh so we were in uh where Division Schools is. Um then we spent a lot of time at Horno as well. Um, I believe it was the Horno parade deck where that um where that announcement was made. Um, and that is where I learned the true meaning of hurry up and wait, because it was just it was like thrown together. The there were training events, but there were just like hours of sitting, waiting on transport, like just doing nothing. And it was, you know, just time for the senior guys to mess with us. There was probably two dozen uh of us from SOI, and we were just like the toys that people would keep themselves entertained with. So some better that you know, some were cooler than others, but you know, I got a little bit of that uh that uh initiation here and there. Um and that was one thing. How long? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Uh how long were you there again? Like how how long was the that uh evolution?

SPEAKER_03 4:17

It's hard to I think it was four weeks max. Okay. It was really quick turnaround. We were we were getting uh everything jammed in, getting kitted up um with you know our our packs, our our uh the gas mass rifles, um, and then running us through the you know, running us through the paces. Um and we didn't.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Did you bring that gear over?

SPEAKER_03 4:42

Yes. Really? Yeah, okay. So I I arrived with uh, you know, a pack in my sea bag um when I flew in on a helicopter to hurricane point. Me and me and Bass and I think there was about I was trying to remember this the other day. I think it was two two people per company. Most of them were guys that I went to SOI with, but one of them was uh uh corporal, I can't remember his name. He cross-teched to 2-5 and passed away. I just left my mind just as I was about to say it.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Clark? Not Clark, um Ryan. Yeah, I think he's talking about Ryan. Yeah. Yep, yep. Huh. I you know, I I I I'm sorry, I just just just real quick. I I did not fully appreciate, and you know, I you know, you kind of get into your own little world when you're over there. I did not fully appreciate that we had boot drops uh as a combat replacement. So I I did not that's fucking wild.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Well, I I think as far as I know, uh Anderson and Bass were the only two, and they came straight to my platoon. I think that was it. I don't think we I don't think weapons company got any other boot drops straight to yep, it was just that for weapons.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

So uh it was I believe it was two people per company came. Um it may have been three in one in one company. It again, it's these things kind of fleet as you I can I can see faces of the guys that I went through SOI with, but like the names of I know a couple I know for sure a couple went to uh HS and a couple went to each of the line companies, and then it was me and uh me and bass to weapons. Um and it was funny, like when we got the announcement, Bass was like, You're gonna be my battle buddy, because we they got you know told everybody to pick. Because I guess uh you know General Mattis uh was saying you have to have a battle buddy, you can't go like as a combat replacement, you can't go somewhere without anyone, um, without knowing anyone, it'd just be too much. So um Bass was like he jumped on because he was a machine gunner. He really wanted to be in a weapons company. And being a tow gunner, he knew he knew smart. Um we were we were we were tight all the way through uh SOI. We uh we met in camp guard and then uh picked up into the company and just you know, he was uh I was I was a little bit older, you know. I didn't join right out of high school. He was definitely older. Um, you know, he looked like an old Nicholas Cage.

Hurry Up And Wait Training

SPEAKER_03 7:26

So uh but it ended up it ended up working out, and uh you know, we went to Kuwait and then into Al-Assad. We spent uh a couple weeks in uh a couple weeks in Al-Assad and just kind of people filtered out as people got assigned to units. So we we just were sitting there just not knowing where we were go going or when, just kind of pooling around Al-Assad, and we'd you know, we'd have check-ins throughout the day, and then it's like all of a sudden it's like all right, you're up.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Who were you were you reporting into like an army unit or a marine no we were we were combat?

SPEAKER_03 8:05

We were combat replacement, so we had a staff NCOIC that seemed to be the one that ran everything. He was a uh a staff sergeant, and he just kind of was the contact and he, you know, did everything. So I it's like again, is this was I I found out later, like this was a new setup to need replacements in this in this action. It was the only second combat replacement like effort, so it just kind of got seemed to get thrown together. And I mean, the fact that I didn't know anything isn't, I don't think, just because I was a uh boot, it was also because they were just kind of figuring it out as they went. It I could be wrong, but that's how it felt.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

That is that is the name of the game for our uh for our time period, man. They they were just trying their best throwing it against the wall, saw what saw what stuck, what didn't it stick, and uh you know, hopes, dreams, and prayers.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Well and this story sounds like something like straight out of World War II, right? Like you were like out of infantry training, we stick you in a weird makeshift company led by some random staff NCO. We'll gear you up, give you like two weeks of training, and then stick you on the front lines and see what happens.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

Like so that had no idea. Yeah, I even to this day, it's it's hard to it's hard to really uh quantify like all the different feelings as you're as you're going through this. Um, you know, not knowing what you're doing, where you're going, and then also the the reality on the ground of where you're going, other than that they need combat replacements. You know, I was just a dumb boot, but I knew like, okay, if they need people, something happened, but I didn't know anything about anything. I knew generally, I don't even think Fallujah One had kicked off quite yet. Like it is somewhere close to that, but um it was crazy. And then we're just one day it's like, all right, you guys are up, get on a helicopter. I still didn't know what unit I was going to. They just like we uh we we uh they put us on a uh helicopter to TQ, and then we sat there for a while. It was like the middle of the night, and then they're like, All right, you guys counted us out. It was like, all right, it's time for you to get on a helicopter, and we get on a helicopter and we land it. Next thing I know, I'm in the middle of the night, land at Hurricane Point. Um, and you know, helicopter flies away, and uh Sergeant uh Sergeant Major is there, and it's like all right, he's got a list, and it's like you go that you all get on a uh a seven-ton and bass and Anderson, and I think the two headquarters guys uh come come this way, and then you know, very shortly we met uh uh Sergeant Nylon and uh Sergeant Randall. Um and that was the that was the start of it.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

No shit.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

That was I believe June June 9th is what I had in my uh journal that I was going through and realized that I I found a note on one of my pages that you and Bill actually read found my journal and were left me a little love note in there.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

That's hilarious. That sounds like something we would do.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

That was a funny thing too. It's like I've never been a writer, but for some reason my aunt just happened to give me this book like before I left. Uh um and so I just took notes kind of sporadically throughout, and I have a I have a pretty decent timeline of what you know I experienced through that time um with dates and um like the what seemed like big events to me.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Yeah, no, that's that's crazy. Well, I mean, you're already kind of in it as far as uh your story goes. Talk a little about your first impressions meeting the unit and and what you thought of Hurricane Point, and then and then probably your first mission.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

Well, it's dark. I didn't know where we were. I had no frame of reference for how big the base was on. It was like nothing. You know, we just walked down uh a short distance to and you know, we got to the hooch. Uh, I think you and uh Randall talked to us for a minute and then showed us to the room and uh into the squad bay and told us basically be quiet because everybody'd been working and everybody was asleep. Um so we got all our gear trying to be quiet, sneaking around. You know, we see on the whiteboard, welcome uh uh what was it? Neo and fish was the was the call signs that we had. That's right. Uh and then you know, we're trying to unpack. And of course, while I'm getting there, just being clumsy, my rifle hits the deck, and immediately everybody's like, push, push, bitch, like two, that's two four. I didn't even have my pack off, and I just like didn't know what to do. And I just start pushing with my with my pack on, you know, and after they started yelling at me, everybody just kind of rolled over and went back to sleep. And I finished my you know push-ups and uh we dropped our packs. I think we came back outside and uh, you know, I went with you and uh Bass went with Randall because we uh each one of us went to a section. Um, but it was like again, that culture shock in that moment, you know. I knew you guys had seen some stuff, so to me, uh like you were all legendary when we walked into it, and I was trying to, you know, find my place, but also live up to something because you guys had already seen what is the culmination of an infantry man from my perspective. It was uh it was surreal in a way, and then also I did have the awareness to know that I was the most junior person in the company because uh Brian uh Bass got uh he was a PFC out of boot camp, so he was senior to me. And then even while we were there, he got promoted to Lance Corporal, I think him and New Meyer together, and then I was the only P, I was the only PFC in the company. So it was like if they needed more than one body, I knew it was me. And so I seemed like I was on every single working party that was all over there. I don't know if it was purpose, but it seemed like my firewatch has lined up to uh right before we left for mission and immediately when we got back. I don't know who was in charge of that, but it I swear every single time.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

That that was on you guys, man. We uh I I didn't concern myself with firewatch. I just wanted to make sure there was one. So whatever you guys did to to arrange it, that was on you.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Well, I was holding it down most of the time, so I was good.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

It's funny you mention it's funny you mentioned the call signs. We got your names, I don't know,

Kuwait To Al-Asad Uncertainty

SPEAKER_00 14:45

two hours before you got there, maybe four hours before you got there. And we're like, oh shit, we gotta give them nicknames like before they even get here. And I was like, well, bass is easy. And we're like, yeah, we'll just call him fish. I think Metroca is the one that figured that one out. Is like he's like, we'll just call him fish. He's like, it's a fish anyway, we'll call him fish. And like wrote that down, and we're like, what do we do with the Anderson? Like, who knows? We don't know anything about this guy. And then somebody was like made the the matrix like voice, and they're like, Mr. Anderson, and then I was like, Oh, that's perfect. All right, yeah, we'll do Neo. And then we're like, that's way too cool of a nickname for a new guy, and they're like, ah, fuck it. That's fine, we'll write it down.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

Right. Well, I I had that same thought. Like when I came in, I was like, no way my nickname is that cool. Like coming in. And I was like, I was pretty, I was pretty stoked with it. Um, of course, it did it didn't last very long, unfortunately. Uh it got it got superseded uh uh pretty quickly. Not immediately, but pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Yeah, we used so so much unsecure calm, and it was it's an old I'm sure every platoon has this, like this isn't like a something we made up, but it was definitely a cat platoon thing because cat platoon always had radios in the trucks, but we always had personal radios that were basically just walkie-talkies with no crypto. And so everybody had call signs. You always had call signs because you were always on unsecured comms and you just assumed the enemy was listening, so you always used unsecured comms and and like some kind of cryptic language to mask whatever you were talking about. So everything had nicknames. The weapons had nicknames, the trucks had nicknames, like everything was different.

SPEAKER_03 16:26

Yeah. Um that makes sense. That I mean, I I also thought, you know, watching movies is like I just assumed everyone gets a nickname, you know. But being you know, still fresh in it. Um and you never pick I did know you never pick your own nickname. That's not how it works, but I was like, hey, that landed pretty good on that one. But you know, it was uh I think about a week when uh we went out on a night mission, and you know, one of the things they taught me in my my build-up, because the big thing with uh I guess IEDs and dealing with them is five and twenty five. So like we we went over that a bunch of times. So you know, we found we were uh going to an OP or something, I think, uh at night, where we maybe uh kicked out uh uh um Tweeter and his little group uh to do their little snoop and poop kind of a a little distance away. And you know, you told me, hey, you know, hop out and post security. So I, you know, I walked around, I was doing my fives and twenty-fives and um couldn't really see anything. And then all I get around the back of the truck and I it's kind of kind of I feel a wet step, and then the next step is just like my boot sinks in, and in my mind it was like like the thought of going backwards wasn't even an option because I have to complete my five and twenty-five. So I try and like high step and it's just like eight steps ankle deep, and then until I hit dry land again. So I circle around and then uh uh a couple minutes later I come back to get in the truck, and uh it's almost immediately like what is that smell? I think you told me it's like what is that smell? And I was like, What? I don't know, I don't know. He's like, Did you step in something? It's like, yeah, uh I stepped in a puddle, I think. He's like, This is like rack. It's like when's the last time it rained? You stepped in shit, get the out of the truck. And I think I I posted security, I don't know how long we were out there, but I posted security the whole time. Um and uh so we got back, we got back uh in the when the sun came up. Um and uh you had uh uh doc Bundy, I think, like check out my feet. I went down over and I had to wash out my boots and stuff like that. I still have those boots actually. Um I mean they are legendary, but right. I thought about getting them bronzed, but never went over there. Um uh so doc checked me out, making sure I didn't have any parasites or whatever. Um and then I think I think that was the time after he checked me out, he sent me over to BAS to fill out my ID 10 T. And I uh did not uh I did not figure it out. And I I walked over to after all this, I walked over to BAS and you know, I I think Navi was in there with somebody else. Um and he's like, I I asked to fill out I got sent over here to fill out my ID 10 T and it's like you're an idiot, aren't you? And I was like, Yeah, probably, but I gotta fill this form out. I don't know. They sent me over here. He's like, say it again, say it, say it again, and I say it like five times. He's like, don't spell it. It's like it took me way longer than I should have to figure out that they were messing with me. But that was like that was like my first, my first hazing experience, um, which really I didn't get a ton of, uh, which was you know, thinking back on it, you know, as uh coming in as a you know as a boot. Um, there is a certain level of that that you get for your entire first buildup. You know, I know now, experiencing multiple, um, that it just like skipped over. I think one of the first nights you you told me, uh, Nick, that um we don't got time to fuck around. It's like we're here, like you do your job, you learn, like we'll take care of you. Um, but like I didn't get messed with in really at all. Like um in in that way I was accepted very quickly um into the into the unit um in my little PFC role, you know.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Yeah, my first memory of you was you we did a gear check because we're gonna go on mission. I think I don't we didn't give you very much time to like hang out. Literally, I think we went on mission like the next day after you after you uh got there. And I remember uh having you show me your gear. And I was like, how do you have it set up? All right, you're gonna move this, you're gonna do these things, you know, talking about stuff. All right, show you got you have ammo? You're like, oh yeah, they gave us ammo. All right, show me your ammo. And I remember one of your mags was like was light, and uh, and I was like, these are all gonna be 28 rounds. I was like, this one is not 28 rounds. Oh, Sergeant, it's absolutely 28 rounds. I would never do that. And I was like, bullshit, count them out. And if you're wrong, I'm gonna fuck you up. And you were like counting it out. And it was like twenty four rounds or something like that. And you were like, Oh shit, I'm sorry. It was so fucking funny. Uh I remember having you count out your rounds into your helmet. That was great.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Well, I learned because they was never it was never short again. Yep. Um and then uh you know, rolling into to missions and and and everything, I was uh

Hurricane Point Arrival And Nicknames

SPEAKER_03 22:05

I was a dismount. Um so I basically just got in the truck whenever you told me it was time to go and then I got out when you told me it was time to get out. My job quickly became prep the truck um before mission. So we had a tow tow missile that always had to get put in before the mission um that we kept across the back seat. So I'd have to you know pull it out, throw it up, go around, make sure it was it was in there right, um get the 240 ready um which I hadn't at that point that's like very little experience with any machine guns. And um Redman was great as a as a mentor for machine gun and the you know he cared about me knowing how to do things correctly. He took a lot of time with me I know we did with uh with Radsky as well you know how to take care of the gun um and you know I learned learned a lot and eventually got you know opportunities I'm sure we can talk about this at some point but to actually be a gunner in the gun on missions um and fire it in anger um I got better over time we'll say the first one was a little uh a little shaky um but and then you know to ride in that ride in a truck is a completely different you know platform at SOI you know yeah we played with the toe but it was always ground mounted and you know um dealing with it maneuvering with that big hulky thing uh up top and then looking around and everyone else has taco shells and you're just exposed to the world as a gunner. Um it was uh it's a crazy experience uh to just be riding through town standing up exposed to the world in an urban environment um it's like that's what you know one of those questions like you know what what do people need to know about the experience is is like the density of that city is like you play video games now and it's like you know I've played you know Call of Duty and stuff like that where you're competing against people and it's like oh you got a few windows and things like that that you got to watch and people can can snipe you from when we were out there it was just is nothing but windows and rooftops and alleyways is everywhere no matter where you go in every direction and you got your guns running down the street and you know your front front's point of front back's point of the back and then you're alternating as you drive down the street but that's like such a small percentage of the actual degrees of threat it's like there's no way to look at every danger. It's just like a lot of times what we had to do is wait till we got got contact and you're like and hopefully you could see where it came from. And most of the times I experienced we didn't see where it came we got a general direction of where it came from um and it's the mentality you have to enter into where it's just like well the danger is danger whatever we're going. This is just what it is it's like you're gonna get it or you're not but like if they miss good luck because we're gonna bring it back. You know is it's just like it's a crazy mentality of you know and we were in trucks so like we had some armor but like I the the the line company guys who are just walking through that every day it's like um I got an opportunity to to do more ground mounted stuff in in a later deployment when we got deployed to Barwana. It was definitely a smaller town uh you know smaller urban areas but still it's you know I want to be inside the truck you know after that experience it's it's just different um it's like my look is you know it's my safe my safe zone I still can sleep in the truck like at the fall of the hat if I you know if I can't go to sleep I'll just go sit in the driver's seat and I'm out like a light.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Dude yeah that's that that's absolutely uh a weapons company superpower is past you give me a flag jacket and I can just huddle down like a turtle and I can I'm out yeah oh man that was no better naps man yeah well you were kind of talking about contact a little bit do you remember the first time you took contact and how long it was after you got in the country uh so the first what was it the first time uh I was in what I would call an ambush was um it was a uh a rocket that got shot at us uh it was pretty late um for you know as I have it as August 10th interesting okay two two months later uh okay that's not what I remember for you but I'm I'm I'm curious to hear your story so go ahead so the um we were driving back from some mission and uh we were we're on Michigan let me see if I can find my note on this too uh we were near the the OPs um and a rocket came across and I think it I think it actually hit uh Swede's antenna and Bill was in the gunner was in the gun um we kind of stopped quick um and but uh the first two trucks kept going so then we quickly we had to run down there and catch up to him um so I think that was the time we turned we turned around and came back after that um but I remember uh it was Bill Bill was in the gun and RPG missed and I think it hit the antenna of the truck and I believe that was August 10th okay yeah I mean I do remember that engagement tell me a little about that I think I feel like you were in the gun at that one I think I was in the gun. So that might have been the first time you got engaged while you were in the gun because that's I mean that's what I remember but that doesn't mean anything memory is weird.

SPEAKER_03 28:17

Right I don't I don't think we actually returned fire on that one.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

I think uh we stopped and uh maybe uh who was the corporal um like fired a warning shot at a vehicle because it kept coming when we were stopped uh but like that I think that was only uh the only firing we had that day okay wait no that was wrong that that's wrong that was that was the day because we did we so we the rocket hit we stopped uh first two trucks kept going so we raced down to go get them we caught them right as they were about to come into hurricane point and then we flipped around and we went back and as we came back then there were uh there were more shots and that's when um there was a building uh I'm trying to remember uh south of Michigan it was the way that I was going and we saw some uh saw some people in that building and uh firing from that building um and I kind of hesitated and uh McCabe was down below he was dismounted on that side of the vehicle kind of down below me and it was like what are you doing it's like take you know open up um so I kind of got into position and my first burst was way low um and it took me a couple to get on and he definitely gave me some shit after that because he was like it was low and close towards him um so I took uh but that uh those uh 240s the because we had the toe on them I think those those uh the mounts that we we used were were fabricated for us I believe that's the understanding they were welded together by us from a design that Gunny Mori had uh if I remember correctly he drew it on like a like a piece of cardboard like it was not he I I I don't know where he got the idea from but he he found some old tripods and we we cut the pintle out of the old tripods and we welded all that shit together ourselves. So yeah it was I mean it was angle iron and shit we welded together.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

Yeah and so it was you know I was free free gunning and that you know I hadn't had a bunch of time actually firing I mean I've I I had sighted in I had you know uh uh red man had run me through some drills and stuff to be ready for it but actually like getting your shoulder in there and aiming um I definitely was I definitely was loose but you know after that first burst you know I dialed it in pretty good and we didn't stick around long enough to I mean we never really went and searched everywhere that we took contact from I think we did go I think uh tweeter and knife and maybe maybe bass was a part of it too I think they went into the building and maybe found some like AKs or something um but that was farther up I I think I heard that second hand um yeah but that uh speaking of that mount I mean uh that design was awesome and uh I because of my experience with it and staying with two four as long as I did

Learning The Truck And The City

SPEAKER_03 31:40

I had to have those refabricated like uh for every deployment we went on after that um because we get yeah we get to Okinawa and uh we you know got the old school trucks and you know and they want to use a 240 because that's that's now our our SOP it's like okay it's like well there's this is a tow truck it doesn't have a mount so like what do we do and we go through this kind of rigor morrow every single time it was like oh yeah we need a mount what are we gonna do it was like oh well I kind of remember what we had you know and McCabe was there you know and he was leading it you know the guys uh that that next okey deployment there was you know uh red man uh tweeter was was there you know there were guys that more senior guys but I remember being a part of the discussion uh you know at that point I was just a Lance corporal but you know every time because we go to Okinawa and it was the same thing and then the next deployment was uh on a Mew is that we so we got a new round of trucks it's like okay we got this so what are we gonna do it was like oh we don't have them because every every time we give them back to wherever we were at except those in Iraq in Okinawa now they have them in Okinawa then we go on the Mew it's like okay now we need trucks and we do it again it did it like every single nearly every deployment it's crazy that's crazy I think the last deployment we finally got up armored tow vehicles because they're the last ones to get uh to get the armor and they actually created uh created a taco for them that had a mount in it and it had uh one of the back panels dropped for to clear area for the back for the uh back blast but that was like way late I went on that was like my fourth or fifth deployment before we saw those that's crazy I mean you're basically saying like you waited what like eight nine years before they finally accommodated the tow well it's it wasn't that long i uh I mean I was in I was in 2-4 for uh for six years um and I had deployed I deployed five times in in those six years Jesus wow Jesus Christ yeah so we were uh direct to uh direct to Iraq then we went to Oki um then the 15th Mew um and we that was our uh that was my second Iraq tour because we uh we did a tour there um then we did then we did the 31st again and then we did the 11 um and there were two opportunities for like a short term uh short term afghanistan tours um that I didn't go on but a uh a couple different guys did from from our from weapons company attached I think uh one of them was uh Echo Company I think actually I think they both were like Echo Company went on like a a standalone uh rip attachment type deployment weird all right well I'll tell you the story I remember and I actually I can fill in that part of what you just talked about so just some of the details.

SPEAKER_00 34:37

Yeah we took contact uh the lieutenant's vehicle which was Jordan's vehicle and Randall's who was leading the convoy uh we were yelling contact over the radio but like uh basically perpetually on that deployment crypto would drop or radios would drop or something would happen and we didn't have comms and so they kept going and we were in contact and so I made the call I was like fuck it push through the ambush then we push through and then we get comms on the ICOM radios and I'm yelling to them turn the fuck around at the traffic circle come back we're in contact and everybody's up everybody's good Bill's like I got shot but I'm fine and he just had whatever wound he had so a bullet had gone through his sleeve and he had some wound on his hand or something like that but he was fine. And we came back and that was when so what you were talking about with the dismounts I think it was bass it was Tweeter Bass, uh Neil, um Lopez Gonzalez they all got out they found where the rocket was shot from but the rocket was shot from the north side and then the gunfire came from the south side. Right. We were lucky enough that there was a foot patrol from Fox. I don't know if you remember this but there's a foot patrol from Fox that came I don't know maybe a half block away they came running when they heard the 240s open up and the well the 240 and the mark open up. So you fired first and yeah I remember you hitting I remember you killing lots of worms that day. And uh and then I mean immediately it was like three seconds you walked on target and got two guys for sure. I don't remember the rest but I know two guys for sure. And uh and then the marks hit right after that. So even if they lived through the 240 burst they didn't live through the mark burst. And the guy the squad leader from Fox came running up and I told him I was like hey they're there and they swept around the back and they called over that there was nothing. I was always on the radio so I I heard the updates but they cleared the guy with the rockets you know whatever he was dead took care of that and he had had like a bowl of grapes and water and all that set up like he was planning to be there all day. Like he I I don't know I don't know what their plan was the first contact I remember with you was much earlier than August 10th though. So we had gone out on a mission to underneath one of the OPs I think if I remember correctly it was OP Hotel but I could be wrong. But uh the the reserve group there's three trucks from the reserve unit that came from Blue Diamond and they were in the city and they were requesting support and we met them out there and they started taking very accurate fire sniper fire and this was after because we were already calling you chip boots by then so you were uh you were officially chip boots yeah and I remember you getting out and the sniper shooting at you and this was in June. I don't remember what what day in June but I know and I remember you I'd be like goddammit chip boots get down they're gonna kill your ass and you were like you're like running and like ducking back and forth and then finally got like actual cover and then the the sniper moved on to a different target but they're shooting at you that was definitely not in August and that was like very early because I remember you were like what the fuck and it was they were snapping over your head I don't remember that out oh okay that's all right that's good that's why we're here we have shared memory but that was literally I mean I remember the mission where you jumped in the chitter trench and that's how you got the name shit boots but like it was maybe a week later was when we switched from night to day and we had that daytime mission to back up it was 325 was the reserve unit that had three trucks out there. And they we got there and they bugged out that was the other thing that pissed me off is like they were taking accurate fire and they're like oh you're here see you later and they took off right and I we never did get that sniper we fired back but I mean I don't I don't know that we ever hit anything because we I don't think we knew where we were shooting at we were just we were just shooting.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

Yeah I don't I don't remember that uh I still like I still don't I don't have a memory of that even as you describe it. Um I remember vaguely um maybe around that time a little bit after is like we were at the Iraqi police station and there was some sniper fire there um while we were waiting. Um and I thought I saw maybe where it came from

First Big Contact And The Ambush

SPEAKER_03 39:10

but I wasn't confident enough to like really pipe up and do anything about it and like and it stopped immediately. So it was pretty quick. And that's a lot of the contact a lot of the contacts that we had were like that. They you know take those pop shots and then the run just like disappear like ghosts. Um until you know a little bit later we were do we'd uh did some uh movement to contacts that were more deliberate and were you know tracking them basically and pushing them they didn't have anywhere to run because we were boxing them you know boxing them in a direction um well tell me a little about that tell me what you remember of those missions um so I remember one it was after a bug hunt and then we did a movement to contact um I don't remember what section of the city I never knew where the hell we were honestly um sir I don't know that I even saw a map of the city uh except the very rare occasions that I'd go into the CP um um which I avoided like the plague because I if I walked in there I was afraid I was going to get a working party or Gunny Martha I was I was scared to death of him um just like you know it uh the all the stories of you know where he came from and the training he put you guys through and you know what he you know what he did I how many times I heard about him firing offhanded out of a vehicle you know uh picking guys off the roof it was just like you know I I just did everything I could to avoid him um but uh so I remember after one bug hunt we did uh movement to contact um I think might have been with map one um and I don't remember what what company um but I remember the F uh the F-15s doing f flyovers and just how freaking loud that was um it was like I don't know if I've ever been as patriotic as in that moment you're like hell yeah you know they didn't shoot anything which would have been cool and different but like just having them do a flyover is like shook your bones it was crazy yeah um I don't think the I think the line company guys got in some contact on that one I don't think we did in that one um but I know there was another uh another movement of contact that we did um that we did end up engaging as we pushed because we were pushing them towards the the edge of the edge of the uh the city as like once you were past the city it was just kind of like a big hill and we got kind of towards uh we got towards the end and uh um we're at a we're at an intersection and uh there was somebody shady down the road and um had a had a uh had a weapon and uh corporal richie was gonna hit him with the mark but the mark jammed so we pulled up and um I was in the gun that day so I had to fire um then we kind of we backed up got back in order and then there was a from that same area there was a car that came and it was just like barreling at us and again like the mark the mark jammed uh I think uh geezer pulled up with the 50 because like for some reason the 50 didn't go off so you know we pulled into position and I hit it with the 240 and it was like took like two or three bursts for the car to car to come to a stop um and then it was then it was like all right they're getting ready to load up so we turned right I think and were like kind of staged posting security and they were gonna the the line company was gonna get loaded up um and then one of the guys got hit in the ankle I think while they were loading up so that slowed us down and delayed everything. We were looking down uh an alleyway and there was a mosque up towards uh probably 150 200 yards down and to the right um and uh I'm watching down and I'm you know uh there's a tree by the by the by the wall and in the in the shade there's something moving and Ratsky actually like caught it with his uh with his RCO he's like there's a guy popping out of that popping out of that moss um and it was like yeah I couldn't really see it was too far that I could make anything out and he was kind of in a shadow um And then he's like, he's got a rifle. And I think Ratsky fired a shot and I fired a burst at him. Um, then there was another guy popping out from the other side of the street. Um, what do you want me to do? He had a rifle. He's like, You're like, shoot him. Uh he fell behind a car. Um, and then he was like, you could see him kind of beh behind underneath behind the car. And he was laying there, then he started moving, and then there was more shots. So I was trying to shoot him and ricochet under the car to shoot him. Nice. Um, and and uh I don't know why uh Randall had come over to the to our vehicle, uh-huh and you know, and then right as I'm firing a burst, he shoots uh he shoots a two of three, and I think it hits the uh it I think it the first one misses. I don't remember if it hit in my mind it hit a wire, like a one of them Haji wire wiring is just everywhere. I'm pretty sure it hit a wire and exploded up above.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Um, and I fired another burst, and by the time that burst was done, he had reloaded and popped another one, and that one just landed right in the middle of the guy's back. Um, and there was less of him uh there afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 45:19

Yeah. Um Randall was very good at that. He would always I I feel like he always fired one shot. We would just call that Randall's warning shot. Right. And then the second one was dead in the middle of the of the enemy, like every time. That was just his MO. Yeah. With that damn 203 that we all teased him about all the time.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

Right. Well, then so right after pretty quick after that, it's like he went back to his truck and we got we got flipped around, and our order was backwards, or like we were all jumbled up because of like how the layout of the ground was. So um Randall's truck was actually the farthest out, then it was us, and then it was I think it was Swede's truck, and then um I think Tweeters was number one, was number one with the LT, and I think Big Boy was number two. Normally he brought up the rear. So we're all switched around, and the line company guys like they just haul ass out of there. Um, so we're like, all right, we got to catch up. Um, because it's just our platoon out there at the back end of that convoy. So as we're driving out of that area, all of a sudden you start hearing like contact, contact left, contact left, uh, and on the PRR, and I think it's being reloaded over the Green Gear too. Um and heard uh the line company guys' rifles like firing, but like they kept going. And then we heard the shots and stopped. I'm like, okay, like contact left. That's I'm pointed to the left, and I end up looking down this alley that's like 12 to 18 inches wide. And I'm like, there is no way that it came from this direction. It's a it's it's a tiny alleyway. And right as I had that thought, the rounds hit behind the truck and up the wall in front of me. So I unlocked the the turret and spin around. And right at that time, you see guys shooting from the roof across the way. Um, I engage, Moselle's in the gun behind me. He has a clear shot. So we get talking guns on the 240 going for a couple seconds, and at that same time, uh Swedes truck is backing up and Monroe is in the gun, and he starts opening up, but like he doesn't have a clear shot quite yet. So he's like hitting the building in front of him as he clears the corner and like walks on to this group of, I think it was like two, two or three guys up there, and just I remember right about that time somebody because there was a stairway

Movement To Contact And Rooftop Fight

SPEAKER_03 47:55

on the outside, so there's like a lower level roof and then an upper level roof. One of the guys decided that he was gonna like get up and run up the stairs, as like I watched it just like boom, boom, boom, boom. The 50 cal come across as he ran right into it, and it was just like he just fell into two pieces. It was it was crazy. Um, and then there was another shot from the top where he was going, and uh I had like not fully read registered it, but I thought something was coming from there. So right as I slid it in and pulled the trigger, I saw the guy pop up and like he didn't fire again, and then it was like, Okay, what are we gonna do? We realized that everyone had left us, so it was just those three trucks sitting there in the middle, and we're like, oh crap, again, the the comm failed, and so we we took off to like catch up and and get back with the convoy, and you know, that was the that was one of the most intense like series of days that I experienced while I was there, or like series of successive contact events um during my time.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

And that was if I remember, I mean you you may have to correct me, but if I remember correctly, that was like mid-August. We were doing it was hot as shit. It was like 130 degrees out, people were having to get IVs after these missions.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

And I think we originally got called out to a medevac that day, but when we got there, they had already been Medivaced and we're like, Well, since you're here, let's do this.

SPEAKER_00 49:25

Yeah, yeah, that and that happened all the time. And same thing. When they were already loaded up in seven tons, they didn't want to get a seven ton hit, right? Because that was a huge target. However, many 20 dudes or whatever were in there, so they would bug out immediately, and it was our job to like take care of it, so we would stay. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 49:46

Um, I just remembered like the the you know, the comms failing at those in our two in opportune moments is like, you know, we're already exposed, but being three trucks alone in the middle of you know, where were we been getting contact again, you know, surrounded by buildings. That that road wasn't even that wide. It was like um you couldn't have I'd in in sections of that road, you couldn't have fit two Humvees side by side to traverse that road. That's how tight it was, which is why you know I know why the seven tons were trying to get out of that area as fast as possible, but you know, I wanted to I wanted to get out of the area, but I also wanted to like you know fight the guys there, well, you know, while they were interested in fighting, because they weren't they weren't always interested in sticking around and having a you know having a sled fest. You guys got to you guys got to experience that in a way that I you know I never did. And that was something that you know I always felt kind of I don't know, uh not fully part of the unit isn't right, but there's like something that I that I missed, missed out of being a part of. You know, I heard I get you know, I spent a lot of time in the smoke pit. I I just sit there and I'd listen to all, you know, I felt like I knew a lot of the stories, but like I always kind of missed out. And then even after, you know, as you guys would like sit around and tell stories, you know, you in your mind sometimes it included me and Bass into the story. You're like, yeah, you guys were there, you remember this. I was like, well, no, well, actually, we weren't there yet. So like I think from your guys' perspective, it never separated us, like there was it felt I felt the separation, whether deserved or not, because I like I wasn't there for the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 51:29

Yeah, I April was intense. I would never say that it wasn't, and it was definitely uh unique, but I mean you you probably don't even remember half the firefights you were in. That's my guess. Because again, and and me and Blake have gone over this privately without uh being on recording, but uh it was basically every single day a weapons company platoon was in heavy contact of some sort, either uh an explosion or multiple daisy chained IED that that either broke equipment or wounded someone, or an actual gunfight where you return fire,

Tempo Of War And Part Two Tease

SPEAKER_00 52:10

not just took pop shots. Everybody took pop shots every fucking day. I don't think that ever didn't happen. And same thing with indirect fire. Indirect fire was every other day, every third, every third day, I think is at a minimum. Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_03 52:23

I I definitely I didn't I realized when I went back and I read through my journal, it's like I know we were getting it all the time that it I didn't even note it because it was just like it's it happens. Uh like I I remember it was very quick that I heard an ex, you know, I I got to the point where I heard an explosion. It was like, well, it didn't kill me, so that means I don't have to do anything. So you just roll back over and go to sleep. You know, and I tell people that and they're like, look at me like I'm it's you know, are you insane? Like, what is what are you talking about? But it was just like, yeah, that's just how it was. It's like unless we had unless we are on QRF, mortar that didn't hit you meant they you didn't have to do anything.

SPEAKER_00 53:04

Well said, that's exactly right. But anyway, my point of of bringing up all those all that sort of like the the tempo of everything was that while maybe you missed the one or two days of April, you you were in more combat and more contact than damn near every other unit in the Marine Corps. Uh and maybe for the rest of your deployments, I don't know. You'll have to tell me that would be up to you. But uh I I I mean you this was a consistent thing and not something that you you didn't miss much.

SPEAKER_03 53:44

Well, and like I said, it was that was maybe my my thing, and I recognize that as also because like I said, then a way I I raised you guys up on a pedestal, you know, one being a boot, and you have a tendency to do that to your seniors already, but in that situation as well, being like in it in a way that like I quickly realized how like how intense it was what you guys were doing, and then we were hearing, you know, juxtaposed to Fallujah, um, you know, it's like, well, we're you know, we're facing the same kind of things, and nobody talks about Ramadi. Um you know, but we we did, I would say, equivalent in a bigger area with less. And you know, I'm proud to be a part of that, um in in any way, but you know, it was, you know, I was trying to live up to the standards that you guys had set, and I tried to carry that on in into our unit into the future as well, you know, um, with uh, you know, the the guys that were there that stayed on through different deployments as well.

SPEAKER_01 54:51

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