Scotty.

[NotoriousM4^]

How was your service while you were in the Marines?

[Scotty]

That's a pretty vague and open-ended question that would take months to answer, can you add some specificity to the question?  A lot happened in five and a half years.

[EpicPhailure]

did u dye

[Mr Pwnage]

How many people did you kill?

[Scotty]

I'm not even going to oblige the raging immaturity.

[Matty_Richo]

I've heard some people say that the condition of the places that some people stayed were horrible. What was it like for you?

[Scotty]

I've heard some people say that the condition of the places that some people stayed were horrible. What was it like for you?

In the initial push into Iraq and Afghanistan, there were no establishments, so a lot of people had to stay in tents with no air conditioning in the middle of a desert where temperatures exceeding 130 degrees Fahrenheit is not uncommon, so in that regard, absolutely.  When I first deployed to Iraq in 2006, it was a year and a half after the invasion of Fallujah occurred, and they had already established a base outside the city limits where we had sort of cheap mobile homes with air conditioning in them, so it wasn't so bad in that respect. 

I was on a team that would regularly go outside of the gates of the base on patrols in that deployment (I spent just about as much time outside the base and air conditioned rooms as I did in them), and when you are out and about, you don't have the luxury of an insulated room with air conditioning.  A lot of times we would come up to houses and bribe the owners of the house with money to vacate the house so that we can stay in it for a night or two (or sometimes more, depending on the length of the mission).  They usually always agreed, as the American dollar over there is gold to them, and for the most part, wanted us to be there, and clean up the neighborhood so to speak, so they were more than willing to cooperate with a bunch of heavily armed Americans. 

These houses didn't have plush leather couches, most of the time is was straight cement or tile that we slept on, maybe a carpet, and rarely a small amount of cushioning equivalent in thickness to a pillow, but comfort is the last thing you are interested in since a lot of the times we were so exhausted from hauling 50-100lbs of gear around in 120+ temperatures.  We just wanted to sleep, and the padding of a protective vest made of Kevlar and ceramic plates was enough for comfort.

The biggest annoyances with sleeping in houses was the fact that they often times don't have windows, rather just holes in the walls, so all sorts of stuff can come through the windows, including horse flies that will circle and bite you when you try to sleep.  After a while though, you just sort of get used to the fact that bugs will land on you and circle your head when you sleep, there isn't anything you can do, so you just adapt to it over time.

I think one of the more nerve-racking places we stayed was actually in an established base in the middle of a town, where they had cordoned off a block or two of buildings in the middle of a city, fortified it with hesco sand barriers, Constantina wire, and various turrets for security.  The problem is that we were in a two story building surrounded by other 2-5 story buildings, and you just have to accept the fact that every time you walk by a hole in the wall, there is potential for someone to see you and take pop-shots at you as you walk by.  There isn't a whole lot you can do about it, so you just accept it and move quickly around the windows.  That, and the fact that the houses are bare wall to wall, and we were right next to a mosque, so every time they would broadcast their prayer over the loud speakers, it would echo throughout the house and rattle your ears something fierce.  That and there was the time that the local Iraqi Police nabbed one of their most wanted in the city, and all the police force started firing off their rifles into the air as a sort of celebration.  Not only does that get your attention in an "Oh shit!" kind of way, but it also shatters your ear drums from the echoing in the building.

It's definitely a different world over there, there is no doubt about that, but you get used to it over time, not like you have much of a choice.

[Turkey]

Interesting, I got a couple questions.

Why did you join?
Did you meet any cool or helpful friends out there?

[Scotty]

Why did you join?

I wanted to be the cool kid with all the bad-ass stories.

Did you meet any cool or helpful friends out there?

More than you can imagine.  It takes all types.  I had friends who were more than willing to help me replace brake drums on my old truck, I had others who helped teach me guitar, I had some who taught me how to drink, others with hot chick friends, and those who would take one for the team and pick up the fat chick at the bar so we didn't have to worry about her cock-blocking us, and then there's just the great all around guys who you can stop by their place, any day, any time with a 6-pack, throw some steaks on the grill, and just happily sit around and commiserate with.

[Forum]

Were you ever wounded/injured?

[DarkTrinity]

Were you frequently shot at?

[EpicPhailure]

What was your 'official' position? Like, were you just regular infantry, or had some sort of specific role in your squad or something?

[Scotty]

I was never wounded/injured, at least in combat, thank the sweet succulent sexy baby Jesus for that.  Humorous to say that?  Sure, but I promise you, the purple heart comes at a very terrible and painful price.

I have been shot at more times than I care to have.  I recall the first time very vividly.  The whole thing you see in the movies where one guy shoots at another's feet, and the dirt kicks around the person, that's truly how it looks.  We were on our first mission, my first time ever out in hostile territory, and we had to cross over the Euphrates (sp?) river, going north to south.  The bridge was seemingly made out of milk cartons and crates, we actually watched an iraqi rock this make shift bridge enough to the point where he rolled off the side, but luckily got his car door open quickly enough to get out as the river carried him and his car down river.  After we crossed, we stayed overnight in a temporary military base consisting of wooden sheds, hesco sand barriers and Constantina wire (nothing out of the ordinary).  

The next day we woke up and immediate started doing the intended mission.  We started out at the top of the berm, alongside this base we just stayed in, on top of a hill, where we could see for miles, including the north side of the river.  I was inside of the vehicle when I started to hearing that unmistakable cracking sound.  I looked out the window (I was in the driver seat, on the left side, looking towards the north), and saw dust clouds getting kicked up directly the to left of the vehicle, the shooter was aiming too low and hitting the dirt to the left of our vehicle.  As soon as I saw that, I immediately ducked down, and crawled towards the passenger seat towards my right.  After the shots subsided, I crawled out, yelled at my Assistant team leader, Gene, not to start the vehicle as I crawled underneath the truck and tried to see if I could spot him across the river.  

I only had a 2x zoom ACOG on my rifle, which wasn't enough to easily spot anything as small as a shooter half a mile away, likely lying down in a house or underneath something, so I wasn't able to spot him, but I'll tell you, that whole game of "Get him before he gets me" is enough to make your heart jump out of your chest in a way no first kiss could ever do.  Being able to crawl out from underneath the vehicle after that, my heart was still racing for hours afterwards, I think it took us getting back to base and me sitting down and playing a game of cribbage to calm down.

As for my position, I had many.  My first deployment, I was an operator and driver for a SIGINT Support Team (Wikipedia search SIGINT).  That involved us supplementing infantry platoons while on patrols, we were essentially their eyes and ears while on missions, telling them where to go, who to bag, etc...  They gave me a break the other two deployments and let me work "Inside the wire" after the accomplishments and amount of Hell we went through in 2006, although the third deployment last year was by choice, so I could choose to do whatever I wanted, since I extended my contract.

[T-Rok]

I wanted to be the cool kid with all the bad-ass stories.

After reading all of this, you got what you wanted. All your future grandchildren+cousins+nephews ect will all crowd around after dinner to hear them. At least I would.

[Jackabomb]

I wanted to be the cool kid with all the bad-ass stories.

After reading all of this, you got what you wanted. All your future grandchildren+cousins+nephews ect will all crowd around after dinner to hear them. At least I would.

Would??? We already are.