thedrifter
02-26-04, 11:51 AM
Issue Date: March 01, 2004
Tips and tricks to help you get a step ahead
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
So you’re deploying to Iraq. You’ve heard all the predeployment briefs and your commanders have run you through their best pregame locker-room rallies. But do you really know what you need to know?
Probably. But better safe than sorry, right? So we went to the experts — seasoned staff noncommissioned officers with an Iraq tour under their web belts — and pulled together a monster list of must-haves, need-to-knows and don’t-forgets that can mean the difference between miserable and miserable.
Whether it’s your first time out of the country or you’ve been there and done that, read on — you might pick up a trick or two.
Here’s what Iraq vets suggest:
1. Learn the language, culture
Knowing some basic phrases and how the Iraqis handle themselves on the street might help save your hide. Knowing “left” from “right” in Arabic, for example, could lower the tension at a crossroads checkpoint.
About 500 Marines with 1st Marine Division got a monthlong class on Arabic language and customs, and most plan to share their knowledge with other Marines. Also, the division has distributed a CD-ROM packet on “Basic Arabic.”
“That’s one of the keys to success over there,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Bennett Woods, division operations chief.
So is understanding Iraqi culture, said Sgt. Maj. Wayne Bell, the division’s senior enlisted Marine. Mosques are considered sacred ground, for example, so Marines must approach them with caution. Iraqis “are very, very sensitive when you go to their mosques,” he added.
Local bookstores offer a variety of texts that can help you get up to speed, including the popular “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Iraq.”
Knowing the culture also means downplaying the fact that you’re American. So don’t display the U.S. flag, Bell said.
“It shows you as a conqueror,” he said. Not quite the Pentagon’s intended message.
2. Don’t forget civilian clothes
Sounds odd, yes. But having a set of civvies in your seabag could save you some cash, time and trouble.
Last year, Bell said, some injured Marines ordered home had to scramble to find decent civilian clothing to travel from Kuwait.
“They ended up purchasing clothes in theater in order to get out,” Woods said. And the pickings were slim.
One other thing: You might end up traveling through foreign airports where threats of terrorism are a daily reality, so avoid the wild Hawaiian shirts and blue jeans that mark you as an American.
3. Invest in a solar shower
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that summer in Iraq is hotter than a Nelly concert. Sure, living conditions will be better this time around, since many Marines will be on built-up bases with showers. But you still can’t beat having a solar shower around.
You can find one at a local camping store or at Wal-Mart. They usually feature a bladder that holds several gallons of water and is heated by the sun. Some include plastic curtains for privacy.
“You can hang it anywhere. It heats up in the day time, and at night time you can have some warm water,” said Gunnery Sgt. Claudia Lamantia, a combat correspondent with I Marine Expeditionary Force. Solar showers retail for $15 to $20. Just don’t leave it out in the sun too long — in the 100-plus degree heat of Iraq, that water can get scalding hot.
4. Bring your ‘medicine cabinet’
Your first-aid kit is good to go if you get wounded, but that’s not quite enough. Staff Sgt. Mike Friedman has a medical-kit design that’s worth stealing.
Friedman, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War who also deployed for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, is packing “the little things that you just can’t get.”
For him, that means antacid tablets, cough drops, chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets, NoDoz alertness-aid pills, and Imodium anti-diarrhea medicine.
Corpsmen pack a lot of this stuff, but they sometimes run out, or “you might want some better stuff” than what they carry, Friedman explained.
So along with your first-aid kit, you should pack a personalized selection of supplies and over-the-counter medicines that you think you might need.
Friedman is returning to Iraq in August with I MEF and said he’ll definitely have Imodium in his kit this time.
“People were getting dysentery left and right,” Friedman said. “We didn’t take showers for, like, months. It was hard to wash your hands … so the virus spreads. We had people down for days.”
5. Know your first aid
Most Marines know some basic combat first aid. But it’s still not too late to grab a corpsman to learn new techniques or refresh your memory about some simple procedures that might prove useful.
Bell recalled the story of Capt. Jason Frei, an artillery battery commander who lost his right hand when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near him during an ambush March 25 near Nasiriyah. Frei used a radio cord to stop the blood flowing from a severed artery until corpsmen could treat him.
“We had taught that during the war, and it worked,” Bell said.
6. Pack for emergencies
Staff Sgt. Roger Williams, now a School of Infantry instructor at Camp Pendleton, Calif., never deploys without an emergency kit. In fact, he also helped pack one for his wife, Sgt. Michelle Williams, before the motor vehicle mechanic deployed last year with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Marines say a small backpack — the MOLLE daypack is a good example — can be used as an “emergency kit” that you carry at all times.
What to pack? “Socks, food, something to keep warm and extra ammo,” the staff sergeant said.
Lamantia swears by a CamelBak bag, where she stashes extra ammunition and snacks from Meals, Ready-to-Eat.
“That’s the one thing that I carry everywhere,” she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ‘nice-to-haves’
If you’ve got extra room in your pack or seabag, here are a few recommendations on gear you should bring, from Marine staff NCOs who have been to Iraq, and from soldiers who are there now:
•A “drop holster” for the M9 pistol
•“Tactical” rifle sling
•Waterproof bags
•Cushioned helmet inserts
•Duct tape
•550 cord
•Small binoculars
•Extra socks
•Condoms (to cover your rifle barrel)
•Earplugs
•Cans of compressed air
•A full-size hammock
•A mini-hammock (to store your gear while in garrison)
•Waterproof matches
•A lighter
•Signal mirror
•First-aid bandages
•Fleece neck “gaiter”
•Sunglasses and safety glasses
•A good pair of gloves
•Extra boot laces and insoles
•Sturdy shower shoes
•Spray or gel deodorant (other types melt in the heat)
•Moleskin and corn pads
•Fly bait, ant and mouse traps
•“Pinch” lights
•Insect repellent
•“Bounce” dryer sheets (keep them in your pockets to keep insects away)
•Baking soda (put it in your boots at night to dry them out, or mix it with water to make homemade toothpaste)
— By Gina Cavallaro and Gidget Fuentes
Gina Cavallaro covers the Army.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2658656.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Tips and tricks to help you get a step ahead
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
So you’re deploying to Iraq. You’ve heard all the predeployment briefs and your commanders have run you through their best pregame locker-room rallies. But do you really know what you need to know?
Probably. But better safe than sorry, right? So we went to the experts — seasoned staff noncommissioned officers with an Iraq tour under their web belts — and pulled together a monster list of must-haves, need-to-knows and don’t-forgets that can mean the difference between miserable and miserable.
Whether it’s your first time out of the country or you’ve been there and done that, read on — you might pick up a trick or two.
Here’s what Iraq vets suggest:
1. Learn the language, culture
Knowing some basic phrases and how the Iraqis handle themselves on the street might help save your hide. Knowing “left” from “right” in Arabic, for example, could lower the tension at a crossroads checkpoint.
About 500 Marines with 1st Marine Division got a monthlong class on Arabic language and customs, and most plan to share their knowledge with other Marines. Also, the division has distributed a CD-ROM packet on “Basic Arabic.”
“That’s one of the keys to success over there,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Bennett Woods, division operations chief.
So is understanding Iraqi culture, said Sgt. Maj. Wayne Bell, the division’s senior enlisted Marine. Mosques are considered sacred ground, for example, so Marines must approach them with caution. Iraqis “are very, very sensitive when you go to their mosques,” he added.
Local bookstores offer a variety of texts that can help you get up to speed, including the popular “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Iraq.”
Knowing the culture also means downplaying the fact that you’re American. So don’t display the U.S. flag, Bell said.
“It shows you as a conqueror,” he said. Not quite the Pentagon’s intended message.
2. Don’t forget civilian clothes
Sounds odd, yes. But having a set of civvies in your seabag could save you some cash, time and trouble.
Last year, Bell said, some injured Marines ordered home had to scramble to find decent civilian clothing to travel from Kuwait.
“They ended up purchasing clothes in theater in order to get out,” Woods said. And the pickings were slim.
One other thing: You might end up traveling through foreign airports where threats of terrorism are a daily reality, so avoid the wild Hawaiian shirts and blue jeans that mark you as an American.
3. Invest in a solar shower
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that summer in Iraq is hotter than a Nelly concert. Sure, living conditions will be better this time around, since many Marines will be on built-up bases with showers. But you still can’t beat having a solar shower around.
You can find one at a local camping store or at Wal-Mart. They usually feature a bladder that holds several gallons of water and is heated by the sun. Some include plastic curtains for privacy.
“You can hang it anywhere. It heats up in the day time, and at night time you can have some warm water,” said Gunnery Sgt. Claudia Lamantia, a combat correspondent with I Marine Expeditionary Force. Solar showers retail for $15 to $20. Just don’t leave it out in the sun too long — in the 100-plus degree heat of Iraq, that water can get scalding hot.
4. Bring your ‘medicine cabinet’
Your first-aid kit is good to go if you get wounded, but that’s not quite enough. Staff Sgt. Mike Friedman has a medical-kit design that’s worth stealing.
Friedman, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War who also deployed for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, is packing “the little things that you just can’t get.”
For him, that means antacid tablets, cough drops, chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets, NoDoz alertness-aid pills, and Imodium anti-diarrhea medicine.
Corpsmen pack a lot of this stuff, but they sometimes run out, or “you might want some better stuff” than what they carry, Friedman explained.
So along with your first-aid kit, you should pack a personalized selection of supplies and over-the-counter medicines that you think you might need.
Friedman is returning to Iraq in August with I MEF and said he’ll definitely have Imodium in his kit this time.
“People were getting dysentery left and right,” Friedman said. “We didn’t take showers for, like, months. It was hard to wash your hands … so the virus spreads. We had people down for days.”
5. Know your first aid
Most Marines know some basic combat first aid. But it’s still not too late to grab a corpsman to learn new techniques or refresh your memory about some simple procedures that might prove useful.
Bell recalled the story of Capt. Jason Frei, an artillery battery commander who lost his right hand when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near him during an ambush March 25 near Nasiriyah. Frei used a radio cord to stop the blood flowing from a severed artery until corpsmen could treat him.
“We had taught that during the war, and it worked,” Bell said.
6. Pack for emergencies
Staff Sgt. Roger Williams, now a School of Infantry instructor at Camp Pendleton, Calif., never deploys without an emergency kit. In fact, he also helped pack one for his wife, Sgt. Michelle Williams, before the motor vehicle mechanic deployed last year with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Marines say a small backpack — the MOLLE daypack is a good example — can be used as an “emergency kit” that you carry at all times.
What to pack? “Socks, food, something to keep warm and extra ammo,” the staff sergeant said.
Lamantia swears by a CamelBak bag, where she stashes extra ammunition and snacks from Meals, Ready-to-Eat.
“That’s the one thing that I carry everywhere,” she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ‘nice-to-haves’
If you’ve got extra room in your pack or seabag, here are a few recommendations on gear you should bring, from Marine staff NCOs who have been to Iraq, and from soldiers who are there now:
•A “drop holster” for the M9 pistol
•“Tactical” rifle sling
•Waterproof bags
•Cushioned helmet inserts
•Duct tape
•550 cord
•Small binoculars
•Extra socks
•Condoms (to cover your rifle barrel)
•Earplugs
•Cans of compressed air
•A full-size hammock
•A mini-hammock (to store your gear while in garrison)
•Waterproof matches
•A lighter
•Signal mirror
•First-aid bandages
•Fleece neck “gaiter”
•Sunglasses and safety glasses
•A good pair of gloves
•Extra boot laces and insoles
•Sturdy shower shoes
•Spray or gel deodorant (other types melt in the heat)
•Moleskin and corn pads
•Fly bait, ant and mouse traps
•“Pinch” lights
•Insect repellent
•“Bounce” dryer sheets (keep them in your pockets to keep insects away)
•Baking soda (put it in your boots at night to dry them out, or mix it with water to make homemade toothpaste)
— By Gina Cavallaro and Gidget Fuentes
Gina Cavallaro covers the Army.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2658656.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: