Veterans' Thread

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CygnusX1
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Post by CygnusX1 »

Soup4Rush wrote:I was going to join the Corps but could not pass the physical, I just could not get my head to fit in that jar...so I joined the Navy. seriously though, the closet I ever came to being in the Marines was the wife of some Marine officer... Hey, if you can't beat em up, just have sex with their wives!!! :-D
You horndog! hahahaha

Dude, Marines are totally barbaric when together, but will say ma'am and
tip their hats when a lady walks by....go figure that shit!

I was in the old Enlisted Club at Little Creek, The Crocodillo or whatever
they called it, and there were plenty of "Cruise Widows" there, to be sure.

These Marines came in, and the first thing they did was lay $50 side bet
down to see who could pick up the UGLIEST girl.

The catch, you ask?

To collect, you had to tell the girl why she was at the table with you - in
front of the other guys.


They're cruel and heartless killing machines I tell ya!
Don't start none...won't be none.
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EJLUVSRUSH
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Post by EJLUVSRUSH »

That's funny, my Brother was in the Navy also! He served on the Constellation. According to him, he saw a LOT of shit the public in general never even KNEW about.
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Walkinghairball
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Post by Walkinghairball »

Soup4Rush wrote:
CygnusX1 wrote:I know EJ! I have some experiences of my own I would rather not discuss
as well.... :roll: :shock: :-D


my combat was limited to the bars of the PI... a lot of blood was shed in some of those places on a Saturday night... fighting with jarheads.. :-D
And at the Jazz Cellar and Mooses on Uahu huh Soupy?!?! :-D
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Walkinghairball
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Post by Walkinghairball »

I was Leg Infantry in Hawaii for 3 years. Got out prior to the first Gulf War. M60 machine gunner. 5th/14th 25th Inf. Tropic Lightning. "Right of the line sir."
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CygnusX1
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Post by CygnusX1 »

Walkinghairball wrote:I was Leg Infantry in Hawaii for 3 years. Got out prior to the first Gulf War. M60 machine gunner. 5th/14th 25th Inf. Tropic Lightning. "Right of the line sir."
Oh Bro, praise the Lord and pass the ammo - that had to have been some
barrel-melting goodness. :headbang:

I loved going crazy when we had our .50cal "Barrel shoot"

We'd heave 55-gallon barrels over the side and unleash fiery hell on 'em.

Tracer rounds take all the guesswork out. hahahaha
Last edited by CygnusX1 on Mon May 11, 2009 5:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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CygnusX1
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Post by CygnusX1 »

EJLUVSRUSH wrote:That's funny, my Brother was in the Navy also! He served on the Constellation. According to him, he saw a LOT of shit the public in general never even KNEW about.

Oh sure. That's a given, Bro.

Speaking of constellations - One thing that always freaked me out about
being underway in the middle of the ocean was, it creates an optical
illusion - and makes the moon and planets appear closer.

Dude, we could see the rings of Saturn with the naked eye . . .

And no, it wasn't from the chronic. hahahaha

We got pretty stoked on a float when we saw seagulls. Not only did they
signal to us that we were close to land - they taste just like chicken!

(Just kidding folks, but they did call chicken "seagull" in the galley.) :lol:
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Walkinghairball
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Post by Walkinghairball »

(Just kidding folks, but they did call chicken "seagull" in the galley.)

Oh now I want to vomit. :-D :razz:
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Post by CygnusX1 »

Bamberg-based soldier charged in
shooting deaths at Camp Liberty


By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes online edition, Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Bamberg, Germany-based soldier has been charged with murder in the
shooting deaths of five fellow servicemembers Monday at a combat
stress control center at Camp Liberty, Iraq.

Sgt. J. M. Russell of the 54th Engineer Battalion has been charged with
five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in the
Baghdad shootings, The Associated Press reported. The dead included
two officers from the 55th Medical Company, a reserve unit from
Indianapolis. The other three dead were enlisted personnel seeking
treatment at the facility, AP reported.

Russell, 44, of Sherman, Texas, was on his third deployment to Iraq,
according to Lt. Col Brian Tribus, Multi National Corps?Iraq spokesman.

He had also deployed twice before ? to Kosovo and Bosnia.

Russell?s unit had deployed to Iraq in May 2008 for a 15-month tour,
though the AP reported Tuesday that he was three weeks away from
leaving Iraq when the attack occurred.

The alleged shooter fits the Army?s profile of troops who are more
vulnerable to mental health problems while deployed.

Noncommissioned officers on their third and fourth deployments are more
than twice as likely to have mental health problems than NCOs serving
on their first deployment, according to the latest Army report on the
mental health of deployed soldiers.

The findings are detailed in the Army?s Mental Health Advisory Team V
report on the Iraq war, dated Feb. 14, 2008.

While there is no firm data publicly available to capture the current mental
health status of deployed soldiers, a doctor at Landstuhl Regional Medical
Center talked recently about troops suffering mental health issues. Three
days before the shooting, Stars and Stripes interviewed Dr. Daphne
Brown, chief of the behavioral health division at Landstuhl, about the
effects of multiple deployments on troops.

?When I?ve talked to some folks, for instance, who are super-sharp E-6s ?
they?re just the backbone of the Army ? they?ll come in, and they?ll look
at me. They?ll say, ?I just can?t do it anymore. I?ve been having
nightmares since my second deployment. I thought I could go back and I
could do it again and it?s just worn me down. I just can?t take it
anymore,?? Brown said. ?So they never fully healed from the damage
done early on, and then they?re asked to go back. Then, you?re much
more vulnerable to developing increased symptoms at that point.?

The Army hospital in Landstuhl is the stopover treatment facility for
injured troops coming from Iraq or Afghanistan on their way to the
States.

According to the AP, which quoted an anonymous Pentagon source,
Russell got into an altercation between with the clinic staff and was
escorted from the area by an armed guard. Later, Russell took his
escort?s weapon, returned to the clinic and allegedly began shooting,
killing five, the wire service reported. He was then taken into custody.

Few details were available Tuesday afternoon about a motive in the
shootings. Brown declined to comment Tuesday on the incident.

In general, however, exposure to combat is not the sole factor driving
mental health issues among troops, she said in the earlier interview.

Being separated from families, family-related issues and a lack of a
lengthy break between deployments play roles, Brown said. Many
psychological disorders have a typical ?life cycle,? with depression lasting
about six months, Brown said. Depression is probably the most common
acute stress reaction, she said.

?If you get out of an adverse condition and you get back to a ?normal?
situation, your symptoms begin to resolve,? she said. ?And then as soon
as you?re feeling better, you begin to anticipate that you?re going back
into the same situation. So there?s never really breathing room. That
leaves people more tense. ... If you give someone three deployments
over a 20-year career, you?re not going to have the same kind of
stresses on them as you are with three deployments in a five-year
period.?

Many of the patients Landstuhl physicians currently treat for behavioral
health issues are coming in more for relationship issues or at-home
problems and less because of combat trauma, Brown said.

With the situation in Iraq much improved compared with two or three
years ago, some troops are finding themselves with more down time and
a slower operational tempo. The situation gives them more time to
communicate with family members or loved ones via computer or
telephone. When the combat situation was more tense, troops could
compartmentalize any family-related issues, putting such relatively minor
issues on the back burner while they dealt with the threat at hand.

?Now that they?re not in life-threatening situations on a regular basis and
the tempo?s calmer, the threat is lower, they do stay focused on those
[family] issues,? Brown said. ?And yet, the fact that they are so
powerless to do anything to influence them probably has a major impact
on folks.?

At the same time, the suicide rate in the Army has reached alarming
levels. Last year, the Army had 129 confirmed suicides, a record since
the service began tracking the statistic in 1980. Through April, the Army
reported 64 confirmed or potential active-duty suicides, compared with
39 confirmed suicides during the same period last year, the Associated
Press reported.

As the U.S. military draws down in Iraq and undergoes a relatively
smaller buildup in Afghanistan, troops should have more time off
between deployments. When that happens, mental health issues among
troops will occur occasionally but not as often as now, Brown said.

?People will have a chance to heal,? she said. ?They don?t have that now.?
Don't start none...won't be none.
CygnusX1
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Post by CygnusX1 »

Senior Defense Department and military leaders are calling for re-
doubling efforts to deal with stress on the force.

http://dod.feedroom.com/?fr_story=FRdamp355399&rf=rss
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Soup4Rush
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Post by Soup4Rush »

CygnusX1 wrote:
Soup4Rush wrote:I was going to join the Corps but could not pass the physical, I just could not get my head to fit in that jar...so I joined the Navy. seriously though, the closet I ever came to being in the Marines was the wife of some Marine officer... Hey, if you can't beat em up, just have sex with their wives!!! :-D
You horndog! hahahaha

Dude, Marines are totally barbaric when together, but will say ma'am and
tip their hats when a lady walks by....go figure that shit!

I was in the old Enlisted Club at Little Creek, The Crocodillo or whatever
they called it, and there were plenty of "Cruise Widows" there, to be sure.

These Marines came in, and the first thing they did was lay $50 side bet
down to see who could pick up the UGLIEST girl.

The catch, you ask?

To collect, you had to tell the girl why she was at the table with you - in
front of the other guys.


They're cruel and heartless killing machines I tell ya!

Cruise Widows... Thats some funny shit!! :-D Sigs, you make me laugh.. Them jarheads would not know what to do with a woman even if they got lucky enough to go home with one.. :-D
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Post by Soup4Rush »

Aircraft in the Persian Gulf area of operations are required to give the Iranian Air Defense Radar (military) a ten minute 'heads up' if they will be transiting Iranian airspace. A pilot overheard this conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai . Read below....






The conversation...

Iranian Air Defense Radar: 'Unknown aircraft you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.'

U.S. Aircraft: 'This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.'
Iranian Air Defense Radar: 'You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!'
U.S. Aircraft: 'This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send 'em up. I'll wait!'
Iranian Air Defense Radar: (no response ... total silence)
CygnusX1
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Post by CygnusX1 »

Looks like Pakistan finally had enough and gave us the keys to the
back door!

It's ON. Time to go get some.
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Me
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Post by Me »

Thank you to all our nations soldiers for there ultimate sacrifice and all our service men and woman....you are all my heros!
When evil is allowed to compete with good, evil has an emotional populist appeal that wins out unless good men & women stand as a vanguard against abuse.
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Walkinghairball
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Post by Walkinghairball »

Me wrote:Thank you to all our nations soldiers for there ultimate sacrifice and all our service men and woman....you are all my heros!

Agreed..............*Salutes*
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CygnusX1
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Post by CygnusX1 »

***salutes belatedly upon return***

I thought the NASCAR gesture was classy as well.

They stopped all the cars on the track at 1500 (3pm) EST for a moment of
silence (as President Obama requested us all do).

The wife and I stood with our hands over our hearts and reflected about
how much more Memorial Day means then just the day that the
swimming pools open...
Don't start none...won't be none.
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