"Thank You!" to Bulkyker/Rhode Island/The Wookie

[HawkerDad]

I am posting this as a huge "Thank You!" to several Marines who were very supportive of my son's attempt at making it into Reconnaissance (MOS 0321).

Although several other Marines sent well-wishes to my son and our family, Bulkyker, Rhode Island and The Wookie were all very helpful and supportive of my son's efforts and desire. You may all remember me as "MotoDad" on this forum. I have a new Internet service provider and PC since the "MotoDad" days, so I figured I had to select a new name to re-register. Anyway, I will be "HawkerDad" now....

I am so proud to let all of you fine Marines know that I flew to Camp Pendleton 2 weeks ago to attend my son's graduation from the Basic Reconnaissance Course (BRC). It was a VERY emotional and humbling ceremony! He is now officially a Reconnaissance Marine!!
He is currently home for a few weeks of leave, then will ship-out to his PDS at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan with 3rd Recon Battalion. He was advised he will be attending SERE School shortly after his arrival....

You 3 gentlemen were always supportive and encouraging with your comments as my son traveled the path through Boot, SOI/ITB, MART and finally BRC....it meant alot to both my son and our family!

I know a lot of poolee's "talk" about "going Recon" and you all get tired of hearing about it.....but just know that every once in a while, a few young men actually have what it takes and GET IT DONE with the help and support of their fellow Marines like Bulkyker, Rhode Island and The Wookie!

Thanks again, Marines!!!!

[TinDragon]

Congratulations to him!

I'm going to take this opportunity to laugh at him for getting stationed in Okinawa though.

[HawkerDad]

Congratulations to him!

I'm going to take this opportunity to laugh at him for getting stationed in Okinawa though.

Yep, that was my next question, TinDragon!

What should he expect living on Okinawa?

He has been hearing everything from "the scenery is gorgeous!" all the way to "there ain't nothin' to do!"

Any feedback much appreciated from those Marines or family members who have "been there, done that!"!

[Rocky C]

Well it's about time " MotoDad " aka " HawkerDad "
I looked all over the Forum for Updates from You on Your Son's progress.

No thanks needed for me.
Glad to be helpful!!!
You are a Great Father and a Gentleman.

Congrats to You and our Brother Marine!!!
Give him a " Semper Fi " from me.

Please keep us Updated on this Thread.

You just made my Whole Week with this OUTSTANDING NEWS!!!

Semper Fi,
Rocky

[tdrt]

It was very nice of you to call out and recognize those who have helped your son on his journey to being a Marine!

[Lynn2]

"with 3rd Recon Battalion"

Its a great BN with a great and proud history.

I say this as a proud alumni of Camp Reasoner and the BN

Well done indeed

[HawkerDad]

Well it's about time " MotoDad " aka " HawkerDad "
I looked all over the Forum for Updates from You on Your Son's progress.

No thanks needed for me.
Glad to be helpful!!!
You are a Great Father and a Gentleman.

Congrats to You and our Brother Marine!!!
Give him a " Semper Fi " from me.

Please keep us Updated on this Thread.

You just made my Whole Week with this OUTSTANDING NEWS!!!

Semper Fi,
Rocky

Rocky! How are you doing? So glad you found this thread!

Every post I have ever read from you has been encouraging to young Marines and poolee's on here! You are clearly a man who takes the word "Brotherhood" seriously!


As you requested, I'll keep you posted on this thread as his adventures in Recon continue (as much as I can, at least, without violating OPSEC rules).

Have a great week, my friend!

Richard

[HawkerDad]

"with 3rd Recon Battalion"

Its a great BN with a great and proud history.

I say this as a proud alumni of Camp Reasoner and the BN

Well done indeed

Lynn2,

Thank you very much for your kind remarks, as well as your service in Vietnam.....I read your bio-page....55-60 long range recon patrols (LRRP's) in 'Nam!.....that is extremely impressive....

Hopefully, my son will uphold all the great contributions and sacrifices made by all Recon Marines that went before him!

[Lynn2]

".that is extremely impressive...."

Not really that just came with the job. Besides some of those missions only lasted a few minutes :-(

If you really want impressive then head to the book store or amazon.com and pick up a paperback copy of Larry Vetters "Never Without Heroes----The History of the 3rdReconBn in VN"

There you will find impressive.

It will give you a good idea of some of the history your son will be trying to live up to.

[TinDragon]

Yep, that was my next question, TinDragon!

What should he expect living on Okinawa?

He has been hearing everything from "the scenery is gorgeous!" all the way to "there ain't nothin' to do!"

Any feedback much appreciated from those Marines or family members who have "been there, done that!"!

There's stuff to do, but only if you can get a car and that'll probably be difficult for him to do. Schwab is also off in the boonies, so a taxi ride to almost anywhere is going to cost a lot of cash. He can always Green Line it over to other bases though, at least they might have something more to do. Really though, if you don't have access to transportation out here you're probably going to become either an alcoholic, a gym rat, or a video gamer. Lot of people actually find time for all three.

On the bright side, like I said, there's plenty of stuff to do if you can get the transportation part down! Tons of restaurants, some nice beaches, the second largest aquarium in the world, etc.

Also on the bright side, as part of 3rd Recon he'll probably be deployed for like half his time on island.

[HawkerDad]

There's stuff to do, but only if you can get a car and that'll probably be difficult for him to do. Schwab is also off in the boonies, so a taxi ride to almost anywhere is going to cost a lot of cash. He can always Green Line it over to other bases though, at least they might have something more to do. Really though, if you don't have access to transportation out here you're probably going to become either an alcoholic, a gym rat, or a video gamer. Lot of people actually find time for all three.

On the bright side, like I said, there's plenty of stuff to do if you can get the transportation part down! Tons of restaurants, some nice beaches, the second largest aquarium in the world, etc.

Also on the bright side, as part of 3rd Recon he'll probably be deployed for like half his time on island.

Thanks for that info.....yes, I was told by another "3rd Recon Dad" that his son has been training in Thailand, South Korea and other countries since his son's arrival at 3rd Recon....he said his son just got his Gold Wings in Thailand.....

So like you said, apparently much of 3rd Recon's actual training takes place somewhere other than Okinawa.....

[HawkerDad]

".that is extremely impressive...."

Not really that just came with the job. Besides some of those missions only lasted a few minutes :-(

If you really want impressive then head to the book store or amazon.com and pick up a paperback copy of Larry Vetters "Never Without Heroes----The History of the 3rdReconBn in VN"

There you will find impressive.

It will give you a good idea of some of the history your son will be trying to live up to.

I will be sure to make a priority of getting that book.....thanks again!

[Lynn2]

http://www.alphareconassociation.org/patrols67.htm

Dad, this might give you a little idea of that history. It only tracks one year in VN for the BN but it does give a flavor.

[HawkerDad]

http://www.alphareconassociation.org/patrols67.htm

Dad, this might give you a little idea of that history. It only tracks one year in VN for the BN but it does give a flavor.

Lynn2,

Thank you for that link....I just finished reading all of it.....

As a parent, I can only hope and pray that USMC Field Commanders have learned in the years since Vietnam how to APPROPRIATELY utilize Recon Teams in the current theatre in Iraq and particulary Afghanistan and will truly use them in a clandestine, intel-gathering capacity rather than as "light-infantry units".....

I have been told that the "insistence" of some Officers to utilize highly-trained Recon Teams as simply "humvee-mounted regular infantry" is not only poor utilization of a valuable asset, but is also the #1 reason for Recon Marines exiting the Corps after only 1 enlistment, or lat-moving to other MOS's.....

What makes me optimistic is the fact that my son said over 1/2 of the BRC class before his was made-up of Leiutenants and Captains.....so hopefully, more and more of these future Recon Officers will learn first-hand what Recon is all about and use them appropriately....

[Quinbo]

Did Thumper ever get back with you?