thedrifter
07-16-08, 08:08 AM
Letters Home: Looking to future, remembering the past
By By Capt. Ted Vickers,
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Well, July is here and while everyone back home enjoys summer barbecues, trips to the park and heading out to the river to cool off in the summer heat, we will be marking our seventh month in combat operations. For me, this is a special month for two reasons. First it’s the anniversary month of me joining the Marine Corps that July day 14 long years ago. Secondly, I also received a promotion to the rank of captain this month, and while promotions are the regular course for military service, the location and timing of this one was particularly special.
I still remember vividly that day at Walker Field Airport 14 years ago, sitting in the waiting area with my family and friends waiting with eager anticipation for the flight that would carry me to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. My friends recovering from the celebratory activities the night before, my Mom still futilely attempting to talk me out of going, and there I was brimming with all the excitement and anticipation a young man setting out on his own could have. Boot camp was a blur, as weeks turned into months, the semi-delinquent party kid who I used to be was being shaped into a Marine. Soon it was over and I had been transformed into one of the few, the proud.
Following boot camp I became an infantryman and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. I spent a few years with the infantry traveling the globe, gradually excelling as a Marine and meritoriously rising through the ranks rather quickly. I was approached by a Marine senior to me, one I looked to for guidance; he was a highly decorated combat veteran and one of the best Marines I had ever worked with. He suggested that I apply to become an officer, telling me that the Corps needs good officers who have prior enlisted experience. Here was an outstanding Marine basically telling me that he wanted me to be his boss. I have to admit, I was quite reluctant at first, while I did not find school hard; I really had no desire to return to the scholastic forum. Furthermore, I did not do well in high school; I was too concerned with my social life than studying. I knew I was going into the Marine Corps; all I needed to do was graduate, so I took it upon myself to do the bare minimum, just enough to graduate, and nothing more. However, the chance to lead Marines was too strong of a draw for me not to at least try.
Luckily for me universities don’t just focus on your high school grades, especially if you have been away from studies for a while, and my military service on top of my test scores paved my way to enter college. Here I was, an active duty staff sergeant and full-time Marine as well as a full-time college student. Funny thing is, I actually excelled in college, earning two degrees and two minors and graduating with honors.
Not many people can say that they knew since their freshman year in high school what career they wanted to have, and then excel in it. I guess I just got lucky; I have always wanted to be a Marine, and it just seemed to come natural. And I have risen through the ranks from enlisted to officer. While in the Marine Corps I have traveled the world, met numerous great life-long friends, graduated college, and now I am a captain, leading Marines in combat. If you told that smartass kid at the airport 14 years ago that he would some day be a Marine Corps captain, leading Marines in combat, there is no way he would have believed you; heck, I barley believe it.
As we slowly creep through our seventh month here in al Anbar, Iraq, I have seen first hand the multitude of good things the soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines are doing here. I have also witnessed some of the horrors that come with that selfless service. Our unit has lost great men, great Marines. I can attest to the things we have done here and the fact that things are getting better. I have seen our presence in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi diminish as the local security forces step up and take on greater responsibility. Just a short year or so ago, there was an entire battalion of about 1,000 Marines operating in the city of Fallujah, now there is less than 100. Very soon the entire area our unit operates in will be handed back over to provincial Iraqi control, a huge step forward in the burgeoning role of the Iraqi Police and Army; pretty soon these guys will work us right out of a job.
As we start our second half of our deployment I look forward to serving alongside our nation’s finest warriors, I look forward to the opportunities that await me in the long months to come. I look forward to my future, and I will always remember my past. Some evenings in the warm summer air of Iraq a few of us prior enlisted officers gather behind our wooden buildings just outside of our sandbag bunkers. We smoke cigars and reminisce of days past. I still remember them as if they were yesterday. As I grow into my years, I hope to do the same about this experience, my days of leading those beautiful rough and tough warriors, my Marines.
Captain Esteban “Ted” Vickers is a Marine currently serving with Regimental Combat Team 1 in Fallujah, Iraq. He is a 1994 graduate of Fruita Monument High School and is a Fruita resident.
Ellie
By By Capt. Ted Vickers,
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Well, July is here and while everyone back home enjoys summer barbecues, trips to the park and heading out to the river to cool off in the summer heat, we will be marking our seventh month in combat operations. For me, this is a special month for two reasons. First it’s the anniversary month of me joining the Marine Corps that July day 14 long years ago. Secondly, I also received a promotion to the rank of captain this month, and while promotions are the regular course for military service, the location and timing of this one was particularly special.
I still remember vividly that day at Walker Field Airport 14 years ago, sitting in the waiting area with my family and friends waiting with eager anticipation for the flight that would carry me to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. My friends recovering from the celebratory activities the night before, my Mom still futilely attempting to talk me out of going, and there I was brimming with all the excitement and anticipation a young man setting out on his own could have. Boot camp was a blur, as weeks turned into months, the semi-delinquent party kid who I used to be was being shaped into a Marine. Soon it was over and I had been transformed into one of the few, the proud.
Following boot camp I became an infantryman and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. I spent a few years with the infantry traveling the globe, gradually excelling as a Marine and meritoriously rising through the ranks rather quickly. I was approached by a Marine senior to me, one I looked to for guidance; he was a highly decorated combat veteran and one of the best Marines I had ever worked with. He suggested that I apply to become an officer, telling me that the Corps needs good officers who have prior enlisted experience. Here was an outstanding Marine basically telling me that he wanted me to be his boss. I have to admit, I was quite reluctant at first, while I did not find school hard; I really had no desire to return to the scholastic forum. Furthermore, I did not do well in high school; I was too concerned with my social life than studying. I knew I was going into the Marine Corps; all I needed to do was graduate, so I took it upon myself to do the bare minimum, just enough to graduate, and nothing more. However, the chance to lead Marines was too strong of a draw for me not to at least try.
Luckily for me universities don’t just focus on your high school grades, especially if you have been away from studies for a while, and my military service on top of my test scores paved my way to enter college. Here I was, an active duty staff sergeant and full-time Marine as well as a full-time college student. Funny thing is, I actually excelled in college, earning two degrees and two minors and graduating with honors.
Not many people can say that they knew since their freshman year in high school what career they wanted to have, and then excel in it. I guess I just got lucky; I have always wanted to be a Marine, and it just seemed to come natural. And I have risen through the ranks from enlisted to officer. While in the Marine Corps I have traveled the world, met numerous great life-long friends, graduated college, and now I am a captain, leading Marines in combat. If you told that smartass kid at the airport 14 years ago that he would some day be a Marine Corps captain, leading Marines in combat, there is no way he would have believed you; heck, I barley believe it.
As we slowly creep through our seventh month here in al Anbar, Iraq, I have seen first hand the multitude of good things the soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines are doing here. I have also witnessed some of the horrors that come with that selfless service. Our unit has lost great men, great Marines. I can attest to the things we have done here and the fact that things are getting better. I have seen our presence in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi diminish as the local security forces step up and take on greater responsibility. Just a short year or so ago, there was an entire battalion of about 1,000 Marines operating in the city of Fallujah, now there is less than 100. Very soon the entire area our unit operates in will be handed back over to provincial Iraqi control, a huge step forward in the burgeoning role of the Iraqi Police and Army; pretty soon these guys will work us right out of a job.
As we start our second half of our deployment I look forward to serving alongside our nation’s finest warriors, I look forward to the opportunities that await me in the long months to come. I look forward to my future, and I will always remember my past. Some evenings in the warm summer air of Iraq a few of us prior enlisted officers gather behind our wooden buildings just outside of our sandbag bunkers. We smoke cigars and reminisce of days past. I still remember them as if they were yesterday. As I grow into my years, I hope to do the same about this experience, my days of leading those beautiful rough and tough warriors, my Marines.
Captain Esteban “Ted” Vickers is a Marine currently serving with Regimental Combat Team 1 in Fallujah, Iraq. He is a 1994 graduate of Fruita Monument High School and is a Fruita resident.
Ellie