thedrifter
02-23-03, 08:41 AM
02/23/2003
Just best Marines in Kuwait
By PETER WILLIAMS
FREEDOM ENC
CAMP FOX, Kuwait — She’s a wife, a mother and a sergeant major in the United States Marine Corps.
It’s been a long and winding trip to Camp Fox for Sgt. Maj. Nancy Ainsworth, who grew up in Iowa.
Twenty-one years later, she’s now the top enlisted person in Headquarters and Support Battalion and in the process of preparing Marines for war.
“My mission here is the same as it was when we were back at Camp Lejeune,” she said. “I am the senior enlisted representative to the battalion commander. In a lot of ways, it’s easier here because we are all together and it’s easier because we didn’t bring the 10 percent (of the people) that we spend all our time on back there. If they had legal problems, they stayed back there, so we really have our best Marines out here.”
Ainsworth said she was reserved in high school, and the military was something of an unknown in her hometown of Newton, population 17,000.
“My family didn’t know anything about the military,” she said. “When I joined the Marine Corps, I don’t even think I knew what I was getting into. I didn’t know the difference between the branches of service to tell the truth.
“I was working at a department store out of high school and one of my fellow high school students joined the Marine Corps, and when he came back from boot camp I saw what he looked like, both before and after, and I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’
“In high school I was shy, not outgoing at all, and I was interested in my art. I didn’t apply myself to my studies. Joining the military was something different in that small town in Iowa; it was something that made you unique.”
For now, the big issue at Camp Fox is getting equipment off the ships in port. It’s been arriving around the clock for days, but more is needed.
“Some of the Marines are kind of marking their time until their gear comes in,” Ainsworth said. “They are just waiting for the equipment they need to do their jobs. Waiting is just one of the things you get used to after a while.”
Ainsworth’s husband, a former Marine, is building a new home for the family in Swansboro. Her sons, ages 10 and 12, didn’t want her to go, but she said they understood why she had to leave.
“I’ve been to Okinawa unaccompanied on tours before, but this is the first time I’ve actually deployed. Really the only difference is we are living out of tents, but we were expecting conditions here to be far worse.”
Ainsworth said she has weighed retirement from the Marine Corps. It’s something her kids would like her to do. So far, however, she can’t find a job she might like more.
“My kids are old enough now to understand that in the Marine Corps I have obligations,” she said. “They don’t like it, but they understand it a bit better. They understand the threat a bit better. They understand the threat that’s facing the United States right now. They understand that when the two planes crashed into the twin towers in New York that it was a terrorist attack and that the military is going to do something about it.”
Understanding the threat is something Marines here need to remember, too, Ainsworth said. Because Camp Fox has amenities such as hot showers and tents with floors, some Marines may forget that they are within range of Scud missile attacks.
“We told these Marines, when they arrived, that the threat condition wasn’t such, right now, that we needed to wear flak (vests) and helmets, but they needed to be prepared for that fact, the fact that they might have to wear all their gear all the time.”
What makes deployment at Camp Fox different is the Marines have no idea when they will return to their home base.
“I know it’s an issue with me,” the sergeant major said. “I hate not knowing, not having a date to look forward to. But these Marines have not made that an issue. They haven’t said anything to me about not knowing.
”Their concerns so far have been minor, very minor things like the showers didn’t get cleaned last night and they asked if they could have a designated female head. They were very minor things, and nothing I needed to go to the battalion commander about.
“Right now, my wedding anniversary and my kids’ birthdays are in the fall, and I am kind of hoping I will be home for those, but there are no guarantees here.”
Peter Williams is on assignment in Kuwait for The Daily News and Freedom ENC. He is editor of The Liberty, a Jacksonville-based weekly newspaper that covers military life in the area. Readers who have a question about life in Kuwait can post it to editor@jdnews.com
Sempers,
Roger
Just best Marines in Kuwait
By PETER WILLIAMS
FREEDOM ENC
CAMP FOX, Kuwait — She’s a wife, a mother and a sergeant major in the United States Marine Corps.
It’s been a long and winding trip to Camp Fox for Sgt. Maj. Nancy Ainsworth, who grew up in Iowa.
Twenty-one years later, she’s now the top enlisted person in Headquarters and Support Battalion and in the process of preparing Marines for war.
“My mission here is the same as it was when we were back at Camp Lejeune,” she said. “I am the senior enlisted representative to the battalion commander. In a lot of ways, it’s easier here because we are all together and it’s easier because we didn’t bring the 10 percent (of the people) that we spend all our time on back there. If they had legal problems, they stayed back there, so we really have our best Marines out here.”
Ainsworth said she was reserved in high school, and the military was something of an unknown in her hometown of Newton, population 17,000.
“My family didn’t know anything about the military,” she said. “When I joined the Marine Corps, I don’t even think I knew what I was getting into. I didn’t know the difference between the branches of service to tell the truth.
“I was working at a department store out of high school and one of my fellow high school students joined the Marine Corps, and when he came back from boot camp I saw what he looked like, both before and after, and I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’
“In high school I was shy, not outgoing at all, and I was interested in my art. I didn’t apply myself to my studies. Joining the military was something different in that small town in Iowa; it was something that made you unique.”
For now, the big issue at Camp Fox is getting equipment off the ships in port. It’s been arriving around the clock for days, but more is needed.
“Some of the Marines are kind of marking their time until their gear comes in,” Ainsworth said. “They are just waiting for the equipment they need to do their jobs. Waiting is just one of the things you get used to after a while.”
Ainsworth’s husband, a former Marine, is building a new home for the family in Swansboro. Her sons, ages 10 and 12, didn’t want her to go, but she said they understood why she had to leave.
“I’ve been to Okinawa unaccompanied on tours before, but this is the first time I’ve actually deployed. Really the only difference is we are living out of tents, but we were expecting conditions here to be far worse.”
Ainsworth said she has weighed retirement from the Marine Corps. It’s something her kids would like her to do. So far, however, she can’t find a job she might like more.
“My kids are old enough now to understand that in the Marine Corps I have obligations,” she said. “They don’t like it, but they understand it a bit better. They understand the threat a bit better. They understand the threat that’s facing the United States right now. They understand that when the two planes crashed into the twin towers in New York that it was a terrorist attack and that the military is going to do something about it.”
Understanding the threat is something Marines here need to remember, too, Ainsworth said. Because Camp Fox has amenities such as hot showers and tents with floors, some Marines may forget that they are within range of Scud missile attacks.
“We told these Marines, when they arrived, that the threat condition wasn’t such, right now, that we needed to wear flak (vests) and helmets, but they needed to be prepared for that fact, the fact that they might have to wear all their gear all the time.”
What makes deployment at Camp Fox different is the Marines have no idea when they will return to their home base.
“I know it’s an issue with me,” the sergeant major said. “I hate not knowing, not having a date to look forward to. But these Marines have not made that an issue. They haven’t said anything to me about not knowing.
”Their concerns so far have been minor, very minor things like the showers didn’t get cleaned last night and they asked if they could have a designated female head. They were very minor things, and nothing I needed to go to the battalion commander about.
“Right now, my wedding anniversary and my kids’ birthdays are in the fall, and I am kind of hoping I will be home for those, but there are no guarantees here.”
Peter Williams is on assignment in Kuwait for The Daily News and Freedom ENC. He is editor of The Liberty, a Jacksonville-based weekly newspaper that covers military life in the area. Readers who have a question about life in Kuwait can post it to editor@jdnews.com
Sempers,
Roger