Photos From my last deployment out to sea

[Davidson Deac II]

Yes, seriously. Maybe we have different definitions of combat. The combat I've been involved in is far, far, far away from sailors not called SeaLS. Just being in the area and collecting combat pay isn't "in combat."

If there is an exchange of fire between military personnel, and a significant chance of people dying, then its combat

[Chimera]

If there is an exchange of fire between military personnel, and a significant chance of people dying, then its combat

Yes, but the percentage of people claiming to have been "in combat" while they sat in air conditioned offices somewhere in close proximity to the Indian Ocean is pretty high.

Its so high that I scoff and start questioning whenever someone brings it up.

[N1kkadeemuz]

If there is an exchange of fire between military personnel, and a significant chance of people dying, then its combat

Or being shot at, three times I've been shot at while on approach or takeoff...and don't get started about Balad aka mortaritaville.

[Chimera]

Or being shot at, three times I've been shot at while on approach or takeoff...and don't get started about Balad aka mortaritaville.

Balad gets a rep for being cushy, but my second deployment, from Feb 05-Feb 06 - was the most action out of all four of my tours in Iraq by a long shot. I think out of the year I spent there, I spent something like 11 days in my own bed. I remember I didn't have a mission outside the wire the day before I went on R&R and the last 3 days of our tour. It was something ridiculous like 313 missions completed in 320 days in Balad. Not the unit. That was me.

There was no telling what would happen on route dover between balad and baquba. There was one outpost outside a pretty big town to the north (can't remember the name in 2005 - it was called pacesetter in 2003/2004) where we couldn't go without bradley and apache support. We still got in firefights every time we went through that town. There were a few bridges over the rivers going into town. There were so many IED holes, it was like playing frogger going over the bridges.

I wasn't at Balad enough to get the full brunt of the constant mortar attacks. I remember there was a unit in the transient area getting ready to leave when a mortar hit one of their (full) tents. Somehow, by miracle I guess, only one person got injured. Luckily for that one person, my room mate and I were both EMT qualified, going to get our aid bags refilled nearby when it happened.

[N1kkadeemuz]

When the Alarm Red didn't go off for a whole day it was weird, that's how much we would get attacked. The cool thing was the CRAM's, watching those at night was badass.

[Hairless Cat]

I was smart enough to join the navy just so I wouldnt have as many chances to get my ass shot off as a grunt.

Besides that theres a/c, showers, hot grub, and porn aboard a well run ship of the line. :D

[Chimera]

My apologies to Gipetto for hijacking.