The SandGram

What can go wrong now?

You know it’s funny, it rains and it pours when the husband goes away. I mean, it has really been raining in Texas. We had over twenty inches before I left for El Centro California for our annual two week training for the Marines. We planned out a fun filled two week trip to the deserts in the southeast corner of Cali next to Arizona. It’s only a hundred and fifteen out here in the heat of the day, but they call it the “Dry Heat.” Actually when guys complain about it, I just tell them, no problem, we’ll go where it’s a bit cooler, like Iran or something.

I still laugh though because right before I left, Teresa had started to build an ARK, we developed a leak in the roof of our garage with all the rain that has poured down on Fort Worth. Then after I left, our dishwasher went out in the kitchen, followed by Megan who laid a big cow paddy of poop all over our white carpet and down the stairs (thank God she bought a steam cleaner instead of new shoes) then yesterday the water went out. One of the main water lines for the city exploded and shot water everywhere, so the girls went to her folk’s house for the evening bath.

I on the other hand, have a great couple of days. Once all two hundred and thirty Marines were settled in their bunks, things calmed down for me and we started to fly. I just had my first flight with N.V.G.’s, (Night Vision Goggles) which we call flying “aided.” Now for all those out there who do this all the time, go ahead and skip this post, for the rest of you newbie’s like me, sit back and let me tell you my thoughts on this. It is ASOULUTLY the COOLEST thing I have done in my flying career. NVG flying had just started coming around to the KC130 fleet back when I getting out, so I never had a chance to use them. The flight equipment guys set you up with a helmet and then you take a class on how to play with these six thousand dollar toys.

Depending on the amount of moonlight, stars, clouds etc, it turns night into a greenish glow, just like you see on T.V. from views of the war. It amazes me that you can see cars parked in a field, roads, cactus and trees from a thousand feet as you plod over the low level course. The major drawback is I sweat like a whore in church on Easter when I wear a helmet. Always did in flight school too, which by the way was the last time I wore a helmet. With the helmet on, you have streaks of sweat rolling down your neck and back. I forgot to bring a snug head bandana like I wore on my motorcycle ride, so went over to a hanger where these flight students from VT 21 (Jet Students) were hanging out. I walked in and asked if anyone had an extra “Skull Cap” which they all have because they wear helmets all the time. They all kind of half ass looked around their bags and then I offered the Squadron patch off of my flight suit. One of the foreign exchange pilots then pulled out a brand new skull cap and I gladly parted with my five dollars patch for the gift. The skull cap keeps the helmet snug on your head with the NVG’S on and it won’t slip around due to all the sweat pouring out of my pores. Even at night, the outside air temperature was 40 degrees Celsius or one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit at a thousand feet and the air conditioners weren’t working that well. It was HOT.
Man, I digress, flying around and landing with these things on are a blast. Here are a few pictures I took as I waited for my turn in the seat. Hope you guys are having a great weekend and talk to you soon. I’m pretty busy here, so it may be a couple more days before I post.
Semper Fi,
Taco

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

Lt. Killjoy

I told you guys about a site I love called “Together we served” where you can find old military buddies from your branch of service. Well, I found one of my old Instructors from The Basic School named LtCol Joe Jackson. Joe was a first Lieutenant when he arrived and picked up Captain about the second week we were there in 1988. He taught us tactics, the basic introduction for the boneheaded Second Louies there in Hotel Company. They called us “Honey Company” because we had a platoon of women where all the other companies were all male.

I had last seen Joe over in Iraq and it brought back many fond memories of “The Big Suck” or The Basic School, its proper name. Poor Joe had Tactics after lunch and had to fight the sleep monsters that caused your eyelids to shut tight as all the blood flooded to your stomach, digesting that fine Marine Corps Chow. His partner in crime was another hard charging Infantry Marine Named Chris Powderfoot (all names have been changed btw) who had had a knack for keeping us awake and motivated to be in his class. He would come in and get all the Lt’s to beat on their desk tops like wild animals worked up into a heated frenzy. Then, he would hold his arms up to bring the crowd under control. The Lieutenants all loved this guy because he would start out with a fast dirty joke to set the mood. The only problem was one of the female Second Lt’s took an extreme dislike to Capt. Powderfoot and started to complain to her Platoon Commander that she was offended by these dirty jokes and asked if he could stop. This went up the chain of command and back down to Captain Powderfoot. I guess this just kinda fueled him on more which provoked some really awesome jokes.

Now the young lady in question was really pissed off and made it clear that if he uttered one more offense joke, she would walk out of class and go file a complaint against him. Now the squabble had most of the Lt’s upset and on the Capt’s side with maybe three quarter of the women who thought their fellow Lt. was a bit out of control. Everyone was aware of her threat, including Captain Powderfoot who walked out onto the stage that fateful afternoon. The beating of the desk was deafening as the Lt’s waited for the command of silence. Everyone had a smile on their face wondering if he would tell his joke and face the wrath of a sexual harassment charge.

Captain Powderfoot put his hands up and pumped them for the crowd to stop beating their palms to a pulp. He then said, “Hey, did I tell you about the boatload of whores going to China?” All eyes were on Lt. Killjoy to see what would happen next. The question lingered in the air for several seconds before she stood up and started to move across the chairs to the exit row. Without missing a beat, Captain Powderfoot said “Hey Lt., where are you going? Boat doesn’t cruise till three. O.K., Marines, and today we’re taking on Squad in the attack…”

Lieutenant Killjoy stopped, hesitated for a second, realized that he set her up, and with a very red face, went back to her seat. We never had anymore good jokes after that and Tactics was never the same either.

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

Wild Hogs Part Deux

Dear Gang,
There were three morale boosters while over in Iraq that made the world of difference for me. First was Anysoldier.com, an organization that I am a fevered believer in. Second was Boca Java Coffee. They sent over two hundred pounds of coffee to us over the course of our last couple of months there. Finally, having the internet available to email to home, family and friends made a world of difference for a solid piece of mind.

Well, I can tell you that being invited by Marty and Sue Horn from AnySoldier.com to participate in a fund raiser up in St. Louis was a no brainer this past weekend, I mean, you call, I haul. “Hey Marty, just give me the who, what, where and when.” All I had to do next was to get permission from my Commanding Officer which went like this if you were sitting next to my desk when I called. “Hey honey, do you mind if I fly up to Missouri for a fund raiser for Marty in June? What is it? Ohhhhh just a little ride to help raise money for the cause. Bike ride? Well, no not a bike. Yes, a motorcycle, guess I left that part out of it. Yes honey, you did tell me that I could buy another airplane before I ever bought a motorcycle. I promise I’ll be careful. Yes, I will only smoke a few cigars with Major Pain. You don’t mind? Great, thanks honey, I love you too!!”

The big hurdle was done with two phone calls, one to the wife and the other to jack up my life insurance and I was on the road to Missouri. Della Williams, a dispatcher for the Wentzville Police Department, put the whole thing together and man did she do a fantastic job. She arranged for T.V. coverage of the event with Channel five of St. Louis, two free Harley’s from Pat, a great supporter who owns “Doc’s Harley” of St. Louis, the ride route, the Army color guard, a band, picnic, poker run and hotels for us. I’m talking about months of planning to put something this big together.

Everything worked out great till Saturday morning when we found out that Maj Pain from One Marine’s View was stuck in Pittsburg and wouldn’t arrive till one pm that day. The ride started at 11am and we made the decision that we would not leave a Marine behind, so a small group of us would take off late and go get him. Taylor Batten, a live wire thirteen year old girl, who is an honorary Gunny in the Corps, drove all the way down from Michigan with her Family, Cathy and Kevin and brother Tanner for this event. If you go back to Major Pain’s site, you can read all about this wonderful little lady and what she has gone through. She surprised Major Pain at the gate as he was walking up the terminal.

As it turned out, just six bikes for the ride was a lot nicer than in the pack with the other two hundred. We had Harry as the lead, who is a Lieutenant for the Wentzville PD, Leon and Kriss who are Sgt’s with Wentzville as dash three and six, Gary, Marty and myself. The ride started off easy enough as we headed West on highway 70, the only problem was a line of thunderstorms moving our way. As we cruised along the highway, the skies became darker, then you noticed all the cars heading east bound with their headlights on and covered in water. Then it hit, a few drops at first, followed by a complete deluge of water. The Bikes handled great as we slowed up and took shelter under an overpass. The thunder boomed, visibility dropped to a half mile and it poured for a good 40 minutes as we waited. Harry was able to pull up Accu-weather on his phone so we could get a good peek at the storms. “Hey Taco, you’re a pilot, what does this mean as he showed me the radar picture. It wasn’t good; the line of thunderstorms was over our entire route for the ride. We figured out that we needed to head West, through this, go about twenty miles west or so and then head south to come in behind the line of storms.

With a solid plan and a break in the rain, we took off again. The only problem was the next wall of water we hit about ten minutes later. Our speed dropped down to a crawl as we were pelted with water. Your glasses fog up, you can’t see worth crap and the worst part is the water running down your soaked Levi’s legs into your boots. (that sucked) No stopping this time, we pressed on through the rain and busted out onto the other side of the front into sunshine. Back up to seventy miles an hour in the heat of the sun, we dried us off pretty fast. Except, for the wet boots.

The next couple of hours, once we got off the highway and headed South on route 19, was some of the most beautiful countryside you have ever seen. Sweeping valleys with some good size little mountains and lots of green trees covering many small rivers. Our plan worked great as we watched the storm front off to the east and traveled behind it. The end of the ride was down near Fort Lenoard Wood where Della had a band playing and a cookout by the VFW. It was an outstanding ride and all for a great organization. If you have the chance next year, come on out for it! You won’t be disappointed. I’d like to thank Della, Terry, all the Officer’s of the Wentzville Police Department, The Batten family, Pat from Doc’s and of course Marty and Sue for a great time. I think Major Pain and I lost our butt’s somewhere after two hundred miles out of five hundred, but I would do it again in a heartbeat and twice on Sunday. Until then,
Semper Fi,
Taco

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

I kid you not!!

Hey Guys,
I just wanted to wish you all a wonderful Fathers day for the guys out there who are Fathers and thanks to all the wonderful women who helped us be Fathers. So here is a toast to all of you, yes Dad especially you, thanks for everything you did to help me get to where I am now and to Ron, my father in law, for taking care of our family too.

Tonight, I thought I would pass on a nice story from an Outstanding Marine, 1stLt Zech and his Dad Ed. As you know… all good Military stories always start out, “I shit you not” or “No Shit man, this really happened.” This piece deals with some Navy guys with a lot of time on their hands to make the ultimate “Whistling Death.”
I hope you all have a great week and I’ll talk to you soon.
Semper Fi, Taco

Subject: Dixie Station Strike

Yes, this really happened Once again history is stranger then fiction, and alot funnier:USS Midway VA-25’s Toilet Bomb.In October 1965, CDR Clarence J. Stoddard,Executive Officer of VA-25 “Fist of the Fleet”,flying an A-1H Skyraider, NE/572 “Paper Tiger II”from Carrier Air Wing Two aboard USS Midway carried a special bomb to the North Vietnamese in commemoration of the 6-millionth pound of ordnance dropped. This bomb was unique because of the type… it was a toilet!

The following is an account of this event, courtesy of Clint Johnson, Captain, USNR Ret. Captain Johnson was one of the two VA-25 A-1 Skyraider pilots credited with shooting down a MiG-17 on June 20, 1965.”I was a pilot in VA-25 on the 1965 Vietnam cruise.572 was flown by CDR C. W. “Bill” Stoddard. His wingman in 577 (which was my assigned airplane) was LCDR Robin Bacon, who had a wing station mounted movie camera (the only one remaining in the fleetfrom WWII).

The flight was a Dixie Station strike (South Vietnam) going to the Delta. When they arrived in the target area and CDR Stoddard was reading the ordnance list to the FAC, he ended with “and onecode name Sani-flush”. The FAC couldn’t believe it and joined up to see it. It was dropped in a dive with LCDR Bacon flying tight wing position to film the drop. When it cameoff, it turned hole to the wind and almost struck his airplane. It made a great ready room movie. The FAC said that it whistled all the way down. The toilet was a damaged toilet, which was going to be thrown overboard. One of our plane captains rescued it and the ordnance crew made a rack, tailfins and nose fuse for it. Our checkers maintained a position to block the view of the air boss and the Captain while the aircraft was taxiing forward. Just as it was being shot off we got a 1MC message from the bridge, “What the hell was on 572’s rightwing?” There were a lot of jokes with air intelligence about germ warfare. I wish that we had saved the movie film.”

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

COMBAT DEATHS ARE PART OF VICTORY

Guys,
This is a letter from my Dad. It could be a two part letter to the people, but I told him it was fine as stated. There are so many things in this piece that ring true and need to be said. I truly believe that we are on the brink of something very big here in the world between our cultures and people.
Anyway, I asked him to write something for you, so here he goes.

Combat Deaths are part of victory,

In the 18th, 19th century, WWI and WWII, Americans believed in their military leaders and believed in a military VICTORY. They understood that only victory ends a war. We did not achieve victory in either Korea or Viet Nam. Those “wars” never ended. What has happened to our nation? Why do we not allow the military leaders to do their jobs? Why are the politicians now running the wars, retreating at every possible turn?

My uncle served with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy during WW II. My grandfather’s younger brother served in WW I in France. My great-great grandfather served and died in Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg. One great-great-great grandfather served in the War of 1812 and my other great-great-great grandfather in the Revolutionary War. My father-in-law served as a Naval Surgeon during WW II and Korea.

My brother-in-law served as an NFO (Naval Flight Officer known as a “back-seater”) in the F-14 during the Cold War with Communist Russia in the 1970s. My first cousin served in the Korean Conflict. I served in Viet Nam 1967-1968 in I Corps during the Tet Offensive. I am the first in my extended family to have made the military my career. Did we, the living, and our ancestors go to war just so this country could go down in defeat?

I lost a daughter in an accidental fall so I know the loss of a child and the pain it brings. I feel for every parent who lost a child in combat, or brother or sister who lost a sibling or wife/child that lost her husband/their father due to war. But do combat deaths mean we retreat and wait for an enemy that has a stated purpose of killing or subjugating our country and the world we know? It appears that the sole purpose of almost all news broadcasts is to daily report on, drone on and dwell upon on the number of our troops killed and wounded in our current conflict daily followed by the accumulated total since 2003. Nothing positive is reported about what our troops are doing in Iraq and around the world.

According to DOD numbers, we suffered 4,435 deaths during the American Revolution, 2,260 deaths during the War of 1812. Let us skip over the numbers during the Indian, Mexican, Civil and Spanish American Wars. During WW I, we had 53,402 deaths, 63,114 other deaths in service not in theater. WW II we suffered 291,557 battle deaths, and 113,842 other deaths in service not in theater. What would our lives be like if we had surrendered and withdrawn from any of these wars/conflicts? Would we be speaking German or Japanese?

In the Korean Police Action, we had 33,741 battle deaths, and 2,835 other deaths in theater. In Viet Nam we had 47,415 battle deaths, and 10,785 other deaths in theater. In neither war was the outcome a clear VICTORY for the USA. The politicians, the anti-war movement and the “being tired of war” populous movement won out over victory.

Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991) we lost 147 battle deaths, and 235 other deaths in theater. We achieved the goal of kicking the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, but stopped short of removing Saddam Hussein so as not to destabilize the region politically or militarily. We know the results of this failure to achieve total VICTORY. In 2001, nineteen dedicated, fanatical men killed over 3,000 innocent people in the attacks of 9-11.

We serve/served in the military for various reasons, we try to do our best and we try to win! According to DOD and VA figures, over 42 million men and women have served during our wars, over 650,000 died in our countries’ defense, 524,000 died in other deaths in service (non-theater) and 1,431,290 non-mortal wounds were recorded. I repeat. Political figures need to lead this nation to VICTORY not to defeat. This is done by supporting the troops and not using their funding bills for political advantage, retaining office or adding earmarks for their home states. We are no longer isolated by the two large oceans east and west from missile attack or the suicide bombers who desire to bring in and detonate a nuclear/biological or chemical weapon. Sadly, victory comes with losses in our military ranks.

As a child, I remember the dark air raid window shades, the troop convoys constantly going by our house, and being taken to the railroad bridge to count the 150-200 long flatbed trains hauling planes, trucks, jeeps, trailers, tanks and artillery to Norfolk, Virginia, to be shipped to Europe for the invasion. I will not forget the joy and celebration when VE day was announced, and we all went downtown to Lynchburg’s main street to cheer and dance for joy.

We gave up a lot of things so the troops would have the best of everything; no one really complained. The only dessert we had occasionally was Eagle Brand pie with vanilla wafers as a crust so we could save the rationed sugar. I later learned this was only a lime squeeze away from being the Key Lime pie everyone knows it as today. Gasoline was rationed and the Sunday afternoon drives in the mountains of Virginia stopped.

Ask yourself; are you ready to stop getting your Starbucks latte or stop driving your gas hogs even with today’s gasoline prices? What, then, are you doing for the war effort today?

AMERICA, WAKE UP !

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

Together we served

Hey Guys,
No story today, just some Admin notes of interest. First of all, I am flying up to St. Louis MO on the 22nd of June to join Marty Horn and Maj Pain for a Harley Bike ride in support of Any Soldier. If anyone is close to St Louis, check out the latest news on http://www.anysoldier.com/ and you will see where the ride starts etc and we hope to see you there.

Second, Yes, I pinned on LtCol the other day with my folks who made it down from DC, my wife, In-laws and another Marine buddy named Reb.
The CO did a great job and I’m very proud that I have made O5.

Third, we are expecting a boy this Oct, so we’ve been throwing names out there and right now “Jesus Mohammad Bell” I think it would reflect the dichotomy of our world today and the future of his classes and race. He would fit in well with all his Hispanic, Islamic classmates the way America is moving and ensure that no college would dare turn him down…
What do you guys think???

Fourth item. “Together we served” this is an incredible website devoted just for each service branch. You have to be a Marine/spouse/dependent to join (and it’s free) I have spent hours playing around on the site, adding ribbons/medals, duty stations, and looking up old friends. There must be over 100,000 Marines on the rolls now, so there are a few guys you might know. If you are former Military, find your branch and join up. I think you will really like this site. The address is http://www.togetherweserved.com/

Semper Fi,
Taco

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

"T" Model

Let’s talk about my plane today. The mighty KC-130 has been around for almost fifty years or so and they are still pumping the latest version, the “J” model, out of the Lockheed plant in Georgia. Rumor has it that the reserves will start getting the “J” model in the next few years so that we can be compatible with our active duty folks, less of a parts nightmare when we deploy to the gulf. Right now we fly the “T” model in the reserves, a great plane but getting a bit worn out.

The old planes that I flew in the fleet in the early nineties were the “F” and “R” models, which were built, in the early sixties and early eighties. Believe it or not I liked them better than our newer planes in a couple of ways. One reason I liked them better was because they had a “Pisser”. When you had to go to the bathroom you tapped your partner on the arm, gave him the hand sign that you were going to the back and if you were nice, you asked if he wanted a cup of coffee so he would have to go next. Then you sat on the flight deck platform, hopped off into the cargo bay and worked your way back to the ramp of the plane. There you opened a little green covered swing door, dropped the floor plate and stepped up to the urinal drain. All that was required of you was to lift up the small lid to the drain and suction would begin. As you evacuated your bladder the urine would vaporize out of the tail of the plane in to the atmosphere.

Once you were done you reached up and took a handful of water from the emergency water supply (they looked like large coffee pots and were stored along the sides) to wash your hands. This was a great system in my mind because you were able to stretch your legs for a minute and the pee was gone. Now days they have these two big stainless steel vats up front at the bulkhead behind the cockpit. Someone decided when the new planes were built that the urine vapor caused too much corrosion so it should be self-contained. So, you stare at the wall with twenty guys (and sometimes girls) trying not to look at you. What they didn’t count on was volume. See, if you have over twenty guys flying for eight hours or more, you fill up these vats pretty fast. It then becomes a big rush to collect all the plastic bottles out of the trash for waste container duty…

We haven’t even touched on how you drop a flight suit for the ole number two. Maybe, another day, I will share this story though. I always carry a hammock on the long trips and string it up over the ramp area. When it’s my break from flying (three or more pilots) I go back, jump in my sleeping bag, put my eyeshade on and crash. One day when I went back to take a pee and my sleep break I saw this jet guy we were hauling to Norway asleep in my bag, in my hammock with my eyeshade cover on, drooling. I thought that was kind of ballsy to just use my stuff and not ask so I took a small handful of water from the emergency tank and flicked it at his head a couple of feet away. As the water hit his face and woke him up he looked for the source of those drops. Turning his head, he saw me standing on the platform next to the urinal; my flight suit unzipped and “Mr. Johnson” shaking in his direction. Have you ever seen someone try to get out of a small hammock fast? They become very unbalanced and sort of get dumped out. That’s what happened to our F-18 pilot as he fell a few feet to the hard metal ramp. Of course he thought I had sprayed him, but when I showed him that he was hit with water not pee he calmed down a bit. I told him to find another spot for this one was mine.

See, now that we don’t have that pisser anymore, you can’t play those good old fun and games like you use to. Oh well, I’ll have to think of some more.
Semper Fi,
Taco

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

Memorial Day

Guys,
I just want to say thanks for all that you have done for the US and her service men/women. As I sit and watch “Patton” on AMC, I am reminded that we can win all wars with the right attitude.
Semper Fi,
Taco

Tags: The SandGram v1.0

Last Leg home

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Dark Days Ahead

Until today, I believed that we were winning the war and that it was in fact winnable, but I came across official correspondence today that offers irrefutable proof this is no longer the case. The situation here is obviously untenable -some might say hopeless, as evidenced by the desperate measures that have been taken at the highest levels in Washington – measures I never believe our leadership would ever enact, at least not in my lifetime. This situation has been brewing for some time now and it involves officers at the highest levels, including elected officials and even the Commander in Chief. They were able to keep the incident secret up until now but it is only a matter of time until the press gets a hold of it. It will be impossible for me to deny that I actively participated in what transpired. When the time comes, I will accept responsibility for my actions. I am confident, however, that nothing will happen to me for several months. Numerous lawyers from more than one Service component have examined the situation and there is nothing any of them can do to change it. It’s a very simple matter of law. I must admit that I never thought I would ever be put in this position. In so many ways it seems like a dream. Please do not let this incident cause you to lose faith in the leadership of this country. You must understand that the chain of command did what they could given the information they had. Please do not blame President Bush or anyone in the Marine Corps. If you must blame anyone, blame me. And blame this damned war. I am convinced that none of this would have happened had it not been for this damned war. So far the situation has gone as high as Rumsfeld and although he did not address me personally, I received word from one of his subordinates who stated in a very terse message: “.the following named officers on the Reserve status list of the Marine Corps have been selected for promotion to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel.”
My name is on that list…
Semper Fi,
Taco
Thanks to my good friend Tom, for this great piece

Tags: The SandGram v1.0