About a year or so into my enlistment, I was attending a three week course, to be certified as a Marine Combat Instructor of Water Survival. The course was at Coronado Amphib Base, about ten minutes from where I was stationed. My family and friends lived in L.A., so I spent a lot of weekends up there. Heading back to base one Sunday night, before the second week of the course, I stopped to visit my girlfriend, on the way back to San Diego. Because I had run myself ragged over the weekend and then stayed at her place way too late, I fell asleep while driving on the freeway. It was about 0230 and as the freeway curved, I woke up just as my car entered the dirt no man's land between the pavement and the center divider. I did not have any time to react, so at 70 MPH, my car went airborne when I collided with the curved concrete wall. The impact threw me back towards the freeway and there was a brief moment of silence as I peacefully sailed through the air. Since the car had tilted sideways, it slammed back onto the road with the right front tire first. It then violently rebounded back towards the left side and finally bounced left and right a few times before the chaos calmed. Apparently I had the presence of mind to clutch, because I found the car was still idling, once I regained my composure. With no one else on the road, I limped over to the side, finding three blown tires, smashed rims and a completely destroyed suspension. Roadside assistance was able to tow me back to base, where I was dropped off just before 0600. Missing even one day of the course would have gotten me kicked out, so I had barely enough time to change into uniform and catch a ride to the swim school. The only sleep I got was on the freeway.
The Monday morning session was CPR instructor training and I had to stand in the back for most of the class, so I did not fall asleep. The afternoon session was USMC Aquatic Confidence Skills. This is just a fancy way of saying we had to tie our hands and feet together, jump into the water from a 10 foot platform, perform a number of sophisticated, underwater trials and then finally swim 50 meters, while remaining tied. With less than 30 seconds of sleep, surviving the car accident, making it back to base in time for the course, I then pushed my way to the front of the line, so that I could be the first tied up jarhead to hit the water.
By the end of the day, after I made it back to the barracks, I was too tired to even remove my boots. I lay down on my rack, propping my feet in a chair, so as not to commit a cardinal USMC sin. While I thought I was just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes, instead I awoke right before 0600 the next morning. Fully dressed, with my boots still on the chair, again I had barely enough time to catch my ride to the amphib base. The funniest part was that after all that, my girlfriend was PISSED when I was finally able to sneak away during class that morning to call her, because we had not spoken since Sunday. Of course she understood, once I told her the whole story.
read comments (2)
July 25, 2012 at 10:20 am by DevilDog in - Leave/Liberty [+]
The Monday morning session was CPR instructor training and I had to stand in the back for most of the class, so I did not fall asleep. The afternoon session was USMC Aquatic Confidence Skills. This is just a fancy way of saying we had to tie our hands and feet together, jump into the water from a 10 foot platform, perform a number of sophisticated, underwater trials and then finally swim 50 meters, while remaining tied. With less than 30 seconds of sleep, surviving the car accident, making it back to base in time for the course, I then pushed my way to the front of the line, so that I could be the first tied up jarhead to hit the water.
By the end of the day, after I made it back to the barracks, I was too tired to even remove my boots. I lay down on my rack, propping my feet in a chair, so as not to commit a cardinal USMC sin. While I thought I was just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes, instead I awoke right before 0600 the next morning. Fully dressed, with my boots still on the chair, again I had barely enough time to catch my ride to the amphib base. The funniest part was that after all that, my girlfriend was PISSED when I was finally able to sneak away during class that morning to call her, because we had not spoken since Sunday. Of course she understood, once I told her the whole story.
read comments (2)
July 25, 2012 at 10:20 am by DevilDog in - Leave/Liberty [+]
Back in 2006 or so I was in charge of watching this Marine that became a Deserter. I didn't know him but he went UA like a year or so from the Unit I was with and then turned himself in. For some reason I was picked to "watch him" which as you all know is babysitting him. All I had to do was watch him out side the COs office. I felt sorry for this guy, I knew he was about to get in a world of shit. I asked him if he was hungry, he said yes so I went to a vending machine not to far away. OF COURSE he decides to run. To make a long story short he ran away and I was gonna be charged with Dereliction of Duty. However this Staff Sergeant that just got off the Drill field we all know the kind I'm talking about, stood up for me since I never got into trouble. As punishment instead I had to babysit another Marine during the weekend that said he was gonna kill himself. YAAA Marine Corps
read comments (0)
June 17, 2011 at 11:33 pm by Anonymous in - Esprit de Corps [+]
read comments (0)
June 17, 2011 at 11:33 pm by Anonymous in - Esprit de Corps [+]
I'm a retired Royal Marine and during my last three years in Singapore (1967 - 1970) I helped train the U.S. Marines in Mine warfare and Booby Traps before they were deployed to Vietnam. I'd like to think that I helped save U.S. Marines lives and gave them enough information to do their job even better.
(Corporal Ian Spencer, Assault Engineers, Retired)
If you want to reply to this my e-mail address is as follows:
isted2@yahoo.com
read comments (0)
January 18, 2011 at 8:28 am by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
read comments (0)
January 18, 2011 at 8:28 am by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
Tell us a story, hard charger!
read comments (0)
May 22, 2010 at 10:32 pm by Anonymous in - Leave/Liberty [+]
read comments (0)
May 22, 2010 at 10:32 pm by Anonymous in - Leave/Liberty [+]
A buddy of mine had a misaligned spine not too long ago. Keep in mind we're about a month from terminal leave and our First Sergeant is making us go on battalion hikes. So my buddy goes to the smart clinic to get a light duty chit because the battalion commander told the M.O. not to give out light duty chits. Anyway, my buddy brings First Sergeant the light duty chit and First Sergeants response? "Well it says here you can hike for 3 miles. Guess you didn't get the part where this is a 9 mile hike. Hike 3 miles and get in the truck." Wow.
read comments (0)
December 7, 2009 at 2:48 am by Anonymous in - Esprit de Corps [+]
read comments (0)
December 7, 2009 at 2:48 am by Anonymous in - Esprit de Corps [+]
Hotel Company Parris Island 1999 We
had this recruit ... He was a bit strange, had stuttered, and wore them ugly bcgs ... But he would be the loudest of all of the recruits...
I can recall him always would responding Recr...uit... Ni.. Chols... re........questttt ... per....mis....SION he sounded like a squealings like a pig in his response... I was his squad leader and it use to crack me the hell up, needless to say sometimes I lost my bearing... anyway the drill instructors would pass him to other drill instructors and we would watch and see if they would lose their bearing too... It was awesome... Poor kid ...
read comments (0)
October 9, 2009 at 7:09 am by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
read comments (0)
October 9, 2009 at 7:09 am by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
Till this very day I can remember my recruit barracks always smelling like Dove Bar soap, or Duraglit
read comments (1)
September 10, 2009 at 12:18 am by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
read comments (1)
September 10, 2009 at 12:18 am by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
During phase 3 of boot camp a few guys decided one night after lights out to lay in the rack and tell stories. During one particular story from a guy about his girlfriend a voice from the last rack in the barracks said, "Oh really, what happened next?" It was then we found out that the firewatch had fallen asleep and our DI had snuck in from the back door and layed down in the last rack and was listening to us. It was not a fun evening or next day for us to say the least.
read comments (0)
September 1, 2009 at 6:55 pm by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
read comments (0)
September 1, 2009 at 6:55 pm by Anonymous in - Boot Camp [+]
One day while on the USS Blue Ridge me and a few buddies were playing spades to pass the time, My partner just gave up smoking in favor of dipping, and used the same brand bottle as a spitter as his water bottle was, with the game getting heated he puts a dip and spits in the bottle next to him after some time he gose to take a drink and spits his spitter all over my face, being pissed off I just jumped over the table and we began to rool around on the floor giving each other head locks. Needless to say we were never spades partners again.
read comments (1)
July 24, 2009 at 7:08 am by Tapes in - Deployed [+]
read comments (1)
July 24, 2009 at 7:08 am by Tapes in - Deployed [+]
On a late night before liberty ended, one of my buddies still needed a haircut before heading back to base. We'd been drinking all day and I told him I could do it, even though I'd never been the one to give barracks cuts. We broke out the clippers, he sat down and since I was disgusted by his abuse of the 3" inch rule, I went straight for the top of his unsat head. My first run took a huge chunk out and I had to stop because I was laughing so hard, while he was whining about, "WHAT'D YOU JUST DO??!" It was too late though and by the time he made it back to his unit, he had no more than half an inch left.
read comments (0)
July 21, 2009 at 2:09 pm by Anonymous in - Leave/Liberty [+]
read comments (0)
July 21, 2009 at 2:09 pm by Anonymous in - Leave/Liberty [+]
