Christmas Leave

As I type, Lisa is on her way home driving over the mountain pass between Oregon and California. It was be nice to have her home for the holidays since that didn't happen last year.

Veterans Day

(Below is the full version of what I wanted to write about Veterans Day. I also wrote a short version that was published in the Statesman Journal that can be found here.)

By Ted Werth

As I approached my office on a sunny morning in September, I caught the movement of falling leaves. As I turned to look across the street I paused mid-step and felt sadness. The handful of small, bright yellow leaves floating through the air framed, all too perfectly, the statue of the kneeling soldier. Behind the soldier is a wall. A wall with the 113 names of those Oregon soldiers, Marines, airman and sailors who made the ultimate sacrifice for their county in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was as if each of the small, gently falling leaves represented a name on that wall. I was sad for the lost lives and the potential they represented; sad for the families who live with a personal loss the rest of us can never fully understand. Later, I felt sadness for the many that seem to forget all too soon the sacrifices made daily on behalf of this great country.

You see, it is easy to get motivated in the middle of a crisis like 9/11. But less so once things have calmed down and the threats seem to have gone away. For us, life goes on, but the threats never really go away. We are tempted to pretend they do. There are still those that would like nothing better than to harm us. Politicians debate the war and the appropriate war strategies. Those who volunteer live day to day. Not knowing when they will be called on to step into harms way. Not knowing when violence might strike. Veterans Day is a day to remember those who have, and are, protecting us.

I grew up in the Vietnam War era. Aside from my original 1964 GI Joe Action Figure, my first recollection of soldiers came from a letter I received from a soldier in Vietnam. Our 3rd grade class had written letters of encouragement to random names of those serving. I have no recollection of what I wrote, but for whatever reason, I was the only one to receive a letter. At that point the war, although I didn't really understand it, became personal. It would soon become even more so as my older brother sailed up and down the rivers of Vietnam delivering Marines to the front lines.

Radio was big back in the 1960's. We didn't have iPods, CD's or even cassettes. Record players were not so portable so we mostly listened to the radio. It was somewhere along here that I heard the song "Green Berets" by Barry Sadler. I was alone in the room I shared with my younger brother. It was a sunny day, probably a Saturday. Before this I had shared a room with my older brother who was now overseas. We used to listen to the radio as we relaxed in our beds before going to sleep. A few years later, I listened as the words came from that same radio:

"Back at home a young wife waits, her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed, leaving her this last request
Put silver wings on my son's chest, make him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day, have him win the Green Beret"

It left me thinking about the soldier who wrote to me; how was he doing? I wondered about my brother. We waited patiently for his letters;. There were no cell phones or email back then. Near my home was a war memorial at a city park. It listed the names of local men and women serving in Vietnam. I knew right where my brother’s name was; I wondered about the others.

It wasn't long after this that Tim Ownbey, a friend of our family, gave the ultimate sacrifice. I vaguely remember the funeral. Mostly I remember the sadness and hurt that his Mom carried. His name too is on a wall. The wall in Washington DC.


Near my home was a war memorial at a city park. It listed the names of local men and women serving in Vietnam. I knew right where my brother’s name was and I wondered about the others.

In January 1991 my family watched, like millions across America, as explosions captured by night-vision cameras appeared on our TV screen. It was the start of the first war in Iraq. Most of America under age fifty had never seen a war like this. It turned out to be a short conflict that ended with the Iraqi Army hightailing it out of Kuwait. But beforehand there was a level of anxiety about how well we would do. There were many unknowns. As we continued to watch the TV that evening, my almost 4 year old daughter asked me "why are we fighting?" Attempting to put war in context for a four year old requires a certain simplicity. I told her that there was a group of people who lived next door to Saddam Hussain's country and that one day Saddam decided he wanted what they had. So he sent his army in and took everything for himself. A slight scowl came across her face as she contemplated this. A few moments later she declared "Saddam is a bad man." I think it made it personal for my daughter that day. She now serves in the U.S. Marine Corps at Twentynine Palms, CA. As you can understand, Veterans Day is once again very personal for me.



Recently I read about the death of another Oregon soldier. I found myself thinking of the wall across the street. Thinking that one day soon, workers will arrive to inscribe another name in the granite memorial. Several times a month I take a walk through the various memorials to wars current and past. I always pause at "the wall" and read several of the names; then I say a prayer for those families. I don't know their circumstances or history. I do know that their life is less complete, and that we owe them a debt of gratitude, along with the assurance that we will not forget.

It is fitting that we honor our Veterans at least once a year. It helps us to remember their personal sacrifice; it keeps things personal for us. On this day it is also appropriate for us to put aside our differences to say thanks to all that have served; each and every individual.

I went out during lunch that September day and picked up one of those leaves. I have it pinned to my wall. It helps to remind me to say a prayer, not only for my daughter, but also for all the other brave men and women that keep us safe.

Having some fun

Lisa sent along this picture. Seems they were having a little fun in the shop.

Halloween

I had a great time October 31st. I spent the evening in Eugene watching the Oregon Ducks soundly defeat the USC Trojans. The defeat was of such a magnitude that you have to go back to 1946 to find a game where an opponent gained more yards against a USC team. For a Duck fan, it just doesn't get any better.

On Monday we received an email forwarded by a Marine mother we know.

"Hey mom, just got on long enough to send you a quick message, and hopefully I'll be able to call you soon! We lost one of our own on Halloween. Sad story, don't want to talk about it.. good Marine."

I'm often struck by how easy it is to surround ourselves in our activities and comfort while our soldiers fight. Even as you read this, there is a battle going on somewhere.

A week from now Veterans Day will be upon us. But there is no need to wait until then to say a prayer for our troops. They need our support every day, as do their parents, spouses and children.

Lisa earns her Gray Belt

Part of being a Marine is participation in the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). The initial Tan Belt belt is earned during boot camp. The second belt is the Gray Belt which is what Lisa was awarded today. She is "modeling" it in the picture. I believe the Gray Belt requires 40-50 hours of instruction. Lisa has been arriving to classes at 5 am for most of this month. She hurt her ankle on the second day but toughed it out. I think she went to get it checked out after her final exam this morning. Hopefully it is only a bad sprain.

Sand and Scorpions

Lisa went riding quads out in the desert Saturday evening. Said it was a pain trying to get all the sand off afterward. As I glanced through the readers digest I saw this and it gave me a laugh.

"When asked to describe what it's like to serve in the desert at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California, my son replied 'It's one big ashtray, and our butts are sitting in it.'"

It is amazingly dusty there.

Below is a picture that lisa sent of one of the large scorpions that are around there. One day one of the guys slid under the truck he was working on and came fact-to-face with one. Gave everyone a good laugh.

1998 Mustang

Lisa's new car.

Road Trip

OK, I guess I'm a little late with an update. After getting Lisa's car all serviced I headed south over the Labor Day weekend. Stopped in Sunday and caught a Dodger's game.



Then it was a quick trip inland to pick up Lisa Monday.



We spent the day and night in Palm Springs at a nice Marriott Courtyard (Thanks Kerry!) and then took care of some business and headed west to Ontario where I would be flying out early the next morning. Via FaceBook we discovered that our former pastor's and friends, Don and Jodi Detrick, were also in Ontario for a few days to we got together for dinner at a really cool restaurant that is part of a huge Bass Pro store. It was great to catch up with them. Lisa of course had salmon and I had noodles and shrimp in a white sauce. For appetizers we had fried alligator.




Lisa and Jodi

After much repetition and training on the GPS (I'm sure considered much redundancy by Lisa), she headed on the 110 mile trip back to her base. Always sad to send her off but it was great to have a couple days to hang out.

Road Trip

I'll be heading down to visit Lisa over this Labor Day weekend and delivering her car in the process. I've put together a small emergency kit for her trunk from Dad. I was also thinking of getting her a GPS unit too. She is afraid of getting lost when away from the base.

So anyway, if any one wants to contribute to that let me know and I'll add you to the card I'll include. No obligation but I know some of you have said you don't know what to get her. I know she would be thrilled.

Corporal

Lisa mentioned tonight that she was told that she is on pace to pick
up Corporal rank around March of next year based on her physical
fitness test scores, monthly reviews and MCI training progress.

Iphone email sent courtsey of Zeke

School

Lisa mentioned that the course work she has been doing is equivalent of 40 credit hours. While they won't accept them as credit at Oregon or Oregon State they do accept them at several of the Californian state colleges. The school she is currently looking at is San Diego State which will accept the credits and also has online courses that she can take in working towards a degree.

She also has Advanced Spanish materials on the way. After that she would like to take German. She was looking forward to going to church again tonight and having dinner with friends there afterward.

Another Video

You might remember the video I made for Lisa a couple months ago and posted here. Well I told Tim that he was next. I spend quite a bit of time writing these blog entries about Lisa so everyone can stay up to date. I also am really proud of Tim; he is just a great kid and any Dad would be proud to have him as a son.

I tried to catch some of what makes Tim, Tim. He is a pretty laid back guy. Not lazy by any means but just doesn't the world get him down to much. So I tried to catch some of that in this video. Hope you like it!

Sand Storm

Life has been pretty uneventful aside from temperatures as high as 112. They all drink a lot of fluids. Recently they have also gone through some times of high humidity to compound the misery while the air conditioning in their room is broken.

Lisa said that last night Thursday night it rained followed by a huge sand storm Friday evening. Below is a picture of the storm from her room. You can see the sand starting to build up on the driveways below as well as darken the whole sky.

Lisa has been continuing to work on her "MCI's" which are required to advance. She recently finished the math course which she dreaded. I took a look at the math book while she was home recently and was impressed with the systematic and practical teachings. Made a lot more sense then any of the book I've had in high school or college. Lisa will soon start working on her Grey Belt, a part of the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program. She said she learned how to throw someone across the room using her hip. She made it sound like fun.

Salmon fishing

Lisa is home for a few days and we are on a charter boat this morning.



Iphone email sent courtsey of Zeke

Promotion

Lisa received a promotion to Lance Corpral today (forgive my spelling).

Iphone email sent courtsey of Zeke

Car

Lisa is trying to decide which car she wants to get:


Dodge Charger




Jeep Liberty Sport

MRAP School

I mentioned previously that Lisa was going to have to learn on the fly how to work on the MRAP vehicles. But it turns out that she may get to go back to Camp Johnson, NC for a couple weeks of school to come up to speed on the MRAPS. Lisa spent several months at Camp Johnson after Combat Training School last fall and winter. She likes NC and wouldn't mind being stationed there someday. She likes that the people are more laid back.

MRAPs

Mine Resistant, Assault Protected vehicles. Lisa started working in a new shop today. The shop specializes in working on the new MRAP class of vehicles. This class of vehicles was developed to allow combat patrols a higher level of safety from Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's). The armor underneath angles out and is designed to divert the energy from the bomb away from the vehicle.

Lisa told me she helped change a windshield today. A 400 lb. windshield with 6 layers to it. They have a process to seal it so that the troops inside are protected from chemical weapons. She said they have Cougar and Buffalo MRAPS in the shop and that some of them they are working on are destined for Afghanistan.

This is the Cougar. Below is a Cougar hit by an IED. The engine wound up 100 yards away from the vehicle. Amazingly only minor injuries were suffered by those inside.



Next up is the Buffalo. Appropriately named. This vehicle can also clear mines.





Lisa didn't work on these in school so she is going to be learning on the fly. She is working on a team of three with another Marine and a civilian. She said the civilian is like a mexican version of John who was so helpful to her in her last shop. "Someone who takes you in and gives you old people advice." I think she likes it though. Her and the other marine went to his house where Pablo's wife cooked up menudo. Lisa describes this as "amazing, beef intestines and vegetables with hominy in it. It is good and I get it wherever I can." It was only after she developed a taste for it that someone told her what it was.

Rifle Qualification Wrap Up

Lisa didn't seem to take much consolation in the fact she scored Expert on her second qualification. The Marines rules say that when failing the first time you are only eligible to wear the lowest rank badge which is Marksman until you qualify again in another year. But I was proud of her for coming back and posting a score at the highest qualification level even though she can't wear the badge, at least for this year.

And unknown to almost everyone, she did come back strong under a lot of pressure. You see, if she had not qualified this time she would not have been able to take her leave in July to visit family and be a bridesmaid in her friends wedding.

Ooops.

Thursday was practice day for table two rifle qualification which is FRIDAY, not yesterday as I posted previously. Lisa said she had a good day today and I think just wants to finish up.

Successful Rifle Qualification Day!

First off, the video that disappeared for a couple of days is back up. Hopefully for good this time.

But the real news is that Lisa bounced back strong and scored really well on the Rifle Range. She is fully qualified now and would have a great chance at scoring the top level of Expert if not for failing the first time around. As painful as that was I know that she is stronger for having to go through that. Tomorrow is the second table where they shoot on the move and at moving targets. This score will get added on to her score from today. In case you missed it you can read about the whole process of rifle qualification in the Marines in my previous blog post.

I asked her what she found the easiest and most difficult. She said the easiest was by far the 200 meter stationary targets. The most difficult position is standing. In Lisa's words when "standing, you have no support and have to muscle the rifle." The other difficult exercise is rapid-fire shooting where the Marine is required to stand up, THEN jump back down, acquire the target and fire in a short amount of time. It is important though as it represents a typical combat situation where you have to quickly hit the deck and acquire your target. I think the heat at Twentynine Palms affects her later in the day. It is very exposed and they have to wear their sleeves down in temperatures that have been running over 100 degrees lately.

Far From Home

Saving Jane is an musical group that Lisa likes. I thought the lyrics from their song "Far From Home" would make a great video. I like to learn new things and this seemed like an opportunity to learn a new computer program.

Cheryl said I need to issue a Kleenex alert with this video so watch at your own risk. Actually I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. In addition to pictures from here in Oregon there are pictures from the Parris Island Recruit Depot, Camp Johnson (mechanics school) and Twentynine Palms Marine Corp Air Ground Combat Center (permanent duty station.)

Enjoy and feel free to share.

First Day of Shooting

Friday was the first day of actual shooting.  Lisa had a good day.  Seems that she has her confidence back.  She felt bad for her former Drill Instructor who was really struggling.  I think Lisa has a lot more empathy about that situation now.  

As for her weekend Lisa said she is assigned roving patrol duty on Saturday; not her favorite way to spend a Saturday.  It is getting hot down there and they are now required to have a water bottle with them at all times.

What is going on in Texas?

I have always thought of Texas as a reliably conservative and patriotic state so when I saw these two stories in the span of 24 hours I was left scratching my head.


Marine told to remove his Marine Bumper stickers or be towed




Woman told to take down her American Flag.
Returns to her cubicle to find it on the floor. (Wait for the 15 second commercial)
Click Here


After further thought it actually made some sense. Because of their patriotism both these people were not willing to stand by and let it go. Really, I don't find that surprising in Texas. But it leaves me wondering how many other areas of the country that people are generally too intimidated to call the bluff of the small minority that pulls this kind of thing. Maybe that is why we don't hear about these kind of stories coming out of the NE or west coast. If that is true, it is a sad day for America.

Back to the Rifle Range

Lisa headed back to the rifle range to qualify yesterday. Turns out one of her drill instructors from basic training was there. Not only on the range but next to Lisa all day. She wasn't real crazy about that. I don't think that qualification day happens until next Wednesday and Thursday. Sounds like they had to paint targets all morning and then sit through classes in the afternoon.

I've been working on a video and hope to have that pasted on here next. I have to figure out how to convert it and upload it to a format that will work.

Memorial Day Tribute

I thought the following video was an appropriate tribute to the fallen men and women that we remember on Memorial Day.

Taking Chance

Cheryl and I watched the 75 minute movie called Taking Chance this evening. It is the short story, based on a true story, of a Marine Colonel who escorts the body of a young Marine back to his hometown in Wyoming. Kevin Bacon does an amazing job as the Marine Colonel. Surprisingly this was produced and shown on HBO. Free of any bias. They let the story tell itself. I would recommend viewing this is you get the chance.

Memorial Day

It is hard to believe that it was Memorial Day of last year that we drove Lisa down to Albany to turn her over to the Marine Corps. From there she rode up to Portland to the MEPS intake. We visited her the next morning before she was taken in with several others to take her oath. She didn't fly out that day so we had a couple of hours before we had to drop her off at her hotel. Time enough for a stop for another pair of socks, underwear and Swedish meatballs at IKEA. We gave hugs and left her with the clothes on her back, extra socks and underwear, her bible and $20. This is all they are allowed to take to recruit training.

I've mentioned before that recruit training in the Marines is different then the other services. Aside from a 10 second call verifying they have arrived at Parris Island, there is no contact allowed aside from snail-mail letters for the 13 weeks until graduation. Below is the video of Lisa's swearing in ceremony.

Rifle Qualification followup

I received a text from Lisa on the day she was qualifying. I immediately had flash backs to the month of softball in the past where I could not hit a ball other then to pop up to third base and another time where I absolutely could not hit the golf ball with my driver. Both things, that for the most part, had always come easy to me. So I shared her frustration when she texted that she had failed and couldn't shoot anymore. I sent her back a text that said, "you can shoot; just not right now."

Just a couple days earlier she had commented on how easy it was and she couldn't understand why so many had trouble hitting targets. From the start, many months ago in recruit training, Lisa seemed to be a natural. She finished second in her class and except for a rifle jam during the moving target testing she may well have finished first. She is doing ok with it and I'm confident that she will bounce back in a few weeks when she has to return to the range to qualify again.

It does beg the question though. How does something that seems so easy suddenly become so difficult. I've both experienced this and also seen this many times in golf. You are cruising along and suddenly miss an easy putt. You tell yourself to just relax, etc. But then you miss again and suddenly nothing seems right. It is one of the most helpless feelings in the world. Irritation becomes frustration and frustration becomes anger. After many years of examining this I've concluded that it is mostly mental. We have a tendency to over think things. Our brains will run on auto pilot when we have trained ourselves with proper technique. It is when we start overriding the "auto pilot" that we get in trouble. When I was in HS my golf coach gave me a book called Inner Tennis. It was written by a psychologist that worked with athletes. He theorized that there were "two" minds. The inner mind (auto pilot) and the outer mind (analytical/emotional.) The outer mind being the one that that we use when we worry or let other emotions get involved. His solution was to keep the outer-mind occupied by distracting it with other things. For example, in hitting a softball you just count to three. The pitcher releases the ball (one), the ball reached the top of the arc (two), you swing at the ball (three). It seems overly simple but is really quite effective.

So later on we talked a little and I sent Lisa an email explaining the various things that might have gone wrong and how she could learn from experience, both good and bad. I'm sure Lisa will do well again, just as I eventually broke out of my softball slump. Failures like this are painful to watch; especially as a parent. Among other things I shared with her this quote which I think is helpful when our confidence is low.

"Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward." ~Henry Ford

Rifle Qualification day

Today is the day Lisa requalifies with her rifle. The testing consists of two "Tables" which basically is two sessions. The first-table consists of fixed targets at 200, 300 and 500 yards. Of all the military branches, only Marines qualify at 500 yards. Shooting is generally done with open sights. As I understand it, they are moving to a new system using optic sights to match what they will begin using in the field. But this time around Lisa is using open sights, or what they refer to as "iron sights". The second table consists of 25 to 100-yard moving targets and also requires the shooter to move, set up, and fire a series of shots before moving again. It is designed to simulate combat conditions. The first table is worth 250 points and the second table is worth 100 points, totaling 350 points max.

There are three possible results, four if you count "unked" When someone unks it means they failed to qualify. This is something you definitely don't want to happen. The three qualifying levels are Marksman (250-279), Sharpshooter (280-304), and Expert (305-350).

Basic Marksman badge, known as the "Pizza Box".


Table one scores are taken in a variety of positions for each distance. Standing and kneeling for 200 yards; standing, kneeling and prone at 300 yards and prone at 500 yards. It just occurred to me that the measurement is meters and not yards. 500 meters is 547 yards, about 1/3 of a mile. Lisa said her biggest concern is the wind. The winds have been blowing at +/-30 mph and she said they can move the bullet two target widths. In other words you have to fire your shot 10' left of your true target and let the bullet blow back to your target. This would be easy to compensate for if the wind was always steady but it ebbs and flows enough that it is hard to predict with any precision.

Sharpshooter badge. Lisa's current rating.

Table-two requires that the shooter hit targets at various distances from 25 to 100 yards. Some targets are moving. Some shots require that they move, set up, fire, move, etc. There are time limits imposed in order to simulate a combat situation.

Rifle Expert badge. The goal.

There are also qualifications for pistol shooting. Lisa was disappointed that the unit she is in does not get to qualify on pistol.

After qualifying tomorrow I suspect Lisa will continue to work on the range on Thursday and Friday because she said she does not go back to working on vehicles until Monday. At the range, when you are not shooting, you are helping by working in the pits moving and replacing targets and helping score other Marines who are shooting. The targets are heavy and extra-hard to move in the wind. Lisa said she was not going to work out last night because her arms were dead from lifting targets for a good part of the day.

As for the picture at the top, if you look hard you can see the targets in the far background and in case you wonder, yes the sky really is that blue at Twentynine Palms.

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Today is Lisa's 22nd birthday. This is the first time we have not been together as a family for Lisa's Birthday. I received my first reminder of this last week when a free hamburger certificate from Red Robin arrived for Lisa in my email. Somewhere along the line it became a tradition for our family to go out to Red Robin for a birthday dinner. Well, life changes, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. I miss my girl.

Every Marine a Rifleman

It is one of the core tenets of the Marine Corp.

It is time for Lisa to requalify so as of last Wednesday she has been spending most of her day on the rifle range. She will be there this whole coming week as well. In general Marine's have to requalify every year.

There are three levels that can be earned. The lowest is Marksman, than Sharpshooter and finally Expert. Lisa qualified as Sharpshooter during her basic training even though her score suffered on one set of tests because her rifle jammed. Even with that she finished second in her platoon. She is hoping to move up to expert but said she is not sure as the wind has been very strong, making it hard to calculate the drift on the longer shots.

I will write more later.

Two new Swine Flu Cases

According to the San Bernardino Sun there are now 3 confirmed cases of the flu at Twenty Nine Palms. Lisa knows at least one friend that has been tested but no word on the results yet. It seems they are being very cautious when it comes to testing which is good. There typically are as many as 15,000 stationed at Twentynine Palms so these seem to be pretty isolated cases.

Lisa seems to be doing ok and working and training normally. She is studying to pass her requirements for her next promotion, which would be Lance Corporal. She currently is studying courses in counseling and math.

Swine Flu at Twentynine Palms

I had a good scare Wednesday as I was finishing up Dinner with friends at their house. Earlier while on the road I got a text from Cheryl saying that Lisa said "a unit had been quarantined." Since I was busy driving I glanced at it and for some reason thought that was the same term they used when punishing a whole unit for the mistakes of a few.

Arriving at my friends I learned that their oldest son is in Mexico on a mission trip. As we were eating dinner someone called saying they heard they were going to close the border. So as I was savoring the last bites of my carne asada dinner I was watching Debby, like your typical mom, working herself into a mild panic about whether she would ever see her son again. I pulled out my iPhone and confidently said, "if they are closing the borders it will be on the Drudge Report."

As the webpage loaded I was scanning for an appropriate head line and my eyes locked in on the following:



California Marine may have swine flu? Cheryl's text came rushing back to me. You see I had glanced at it while driving and thought it said "her unit had been quarantined." so getting a sick feeling I clicked the link to see:


So intellectually I was telling myself that when you filter out the media hysteria that the real experts are saying it appears to be less dangerous then the typical flu which kills 36,000 a year, just in America. But I still had a sick feeling. It was only after about 10 minutes that Cheryl pointed out to me that her text said "a unit" not "her unit" Rather embarrassing.

Lisa did say that after being lectured at the end of work about how important it was for everyone to wash their hands, etc. that she arrived at her room to see her roommate tossing on her bed mumbling about how she was sick with the "pig flu." Lisa decided she didn't feel so well either and laid down to share in the suffering. But they must have talked things out because within the hour they decided to go out for mexican and they have been feeling ok ever since.

The good news is that the affected Marine seems to be getting a lot better and no other cases have been identified as detailed in this article.

Physical Fitness Testing

Marines are expected to always be in shape and in that regard they are tested every few months. The general test consists of three parts; a 3-mile run, crunches (two minute limit), and a flex-arm hang. The flex arm hang requires them to hold themselves for up to 70 seconds in a pull-up position with chin above the bar but not touching it.

Despite the fact that she is supposed to be resting her hip 6-weeks, until the muscle can heal, Lisa apparently decided to participate in the 3-mile run portion of her Physical Fitness Test (PFT) today.

Scoring is based on a maximum of 100 points per each part, or 300 total points. As you can see below they are scored 1st, 2nd or 3rd class by their total points.

Marine Corps PFT Classification Scores - Male and Female
Class	Age 17-26	Age 27-39	Age 40-45	Age 46+
1st	225	200	175	150
2nd	175	150	125	100
3rd	135	110	88	65

With a score of 225 points needed for 1st class Lisa was pleased to qualify with a total of 239 points. It shouldn't be too much longer until it will be time for Lisa to requalify on the Rifle Range. That sounds a lot more fun to me.

A trip to Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center - Part 2

I was able to find the computer cord for my Nikon Camera and download more pictures off of it. You can enlarge the pictures to full size by clicking on them. Below is a picture of the Joshua Tree National Park that gives a better view of the piles of rock that I mentioned in the previous entry.


Below are some pictures of Lisa's living quarters.

That is Cheryl and Lisa standing on the sidewalk.


Lisa's room. Her bed is behind Cheryl.


Her bowling shirt. She made it clear, "I only wear this when sleeping!"


OK, room inspection was the day before. It is apparent that they have several days to forget the neat and clean look.


Lisa and her roommate Chrystal showing us their "Rock Band" video game skills. Their band is the Taxis; it's a long story that involves some red-hot junk food chips made in Mexico.

A trip to Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center - Part 1

"I had to replace one of those engines, it took forever!" ~Lisa

After a long flight and a short night, Cheryl and I got up at 5am to make the 280 mile drive from Phoenix to Twentynine Palms. The base is located out in the desert and all infantry-designated Marines as well as those deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan pass through here for training. Lisa's job as a Motor-T Mechanic is to repair the vehicles that are used in the live-fire training that takes place on the base.





On the way to the base we passed by the Joshua Tree National Park. It is very desolate and Cheryl best described it as looking like someone backed up a giant dump truck and emptied it across the desert. We saw a desert tortoise in the road at one point. I understand they are an endangered species which is easy to explain since they seem to like to playing on the highway.



After arriving at the base you have to go through the paperwork routine before you are allowed to gain access. Lisa guided us in by phone and after a couple of wrong turns we found her room. Below is the barracks where she lives. It consists of a fairly good sized room with a small bathroom and shower. Lisa has one roommate and they are good friends. More like sisters really. They fight one minute, then are best friends the next.



Besides seeing Lisa, the two things I enjoyed the most were meeting her friends and seeing her work site. One of her friends is a young guy named Tommy, pictured below. He is from Ohio, and Cheryl and Tommy's mom became online friends while Tommy and Lisa were going through recruit training in South Carolina. Lisa and Tommy wound up being stationed at the same base for school in NC and now both are at Twentynine Palms. Tommy went to lunch with us and is a really nice kid. One of the things that really hit home hanging around her barracks is just how young these Marines are. They clown around and play video games like other young people but they are not like other young people. They wouldn't hesitate to step into harm's way on a moment's notice. It has given me an even greater appreciation for their sacrifice.



I really enjoyed visiting Lisa's workshop. She worked it out ahead of time to get us into the shop. They said we could take some photos and I've posted several of those below. They are mostly working on Humvees at this time. The row of Humvees parked outside are what they will start working on this Monday. They are stepping up Marine deployments to Afghanistan and so that means they are stepping up training at Twentynine Palms. Lisa said they found out that they will have to work next weekend in order to make sure they get vehicles the maintenance and repairs that are needed to meet that training schedule.





The newest armor plated version


It takes a lot of power to run all the equipment. It also takes a lot of cooling to keep everything working in harsh conditions. Most cars have a single radiator to cool the engine. The armor plated Humvees have separate cooling systems for the engine, the transmission, the power steering and the rear differential. The 200 amp alternator in the picture above keeps all the electronics operating. These units have stealth technology that can make them "invisible" to the enemy. I didn't figure I should post to any pictures of that.


Lisa and another workmate had to pull the engine of one of these units a while back. I was surprised to see that only half of the engine is accessable under the hood. The rest of the engine extends into the cab area as shown above. I had to double check to confirm that they really took out the whole engine and install a replacement. I was impressed.



John is a retired Marine who has worked in the shop for the last 14 years. He has been a real encouragement to Lisa and she says she has learned more from him then anyone else.


Another Humvee getting suspension replacement parts installed.


A good picture of the whole shop. It is kept VERY clean.


Lisa in a smiley moment.


Lisa, while she will not admit it, is pretty proud of her work even though it is not what she wants to do long term. I thought that pride and determination showed up in this picture.

After some time hanging out in her barracks and meeting several more of her friends, it was time to say goodbye. We made it back to Phoenix about midnight.