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cavtruper

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Us Army '87-'91. Desert Shield/Storm.

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Brave Rifles-Veterans!
Blood and Steel- Ai-ee-yah!

"Brave rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel!" General Winfield Scott

19D
Ironhawk Troop, Thunder Squadron, 3d Cav
OIF 3-6

Glad to see others that wore the "Squashed Bug"! And thank you to ALL fellow Veterans regardless of branch!

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cage

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Brave Rifles-Veterans!
Blood and Steel- Ai-ee-yah!

"Brave rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel!" General Winfield Scott

19D
I Trp Thunder Squadron
OIF 3-6

Glad to see others that wore the "Squashed Bug"! And thank you to ALL fellow Veterans regardless of branch!

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I have a friend that was 19D and served during that time over there. I've heard some stories....rough go....

A big thank you to you as well!
 

Time

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Brave Rifles-Veterans!
Blood and Steel- Ai-ee-yah!

"Brave rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel!" General Winfield Scott

19D
Ironhawk Troop, Thunder Squadron, 3d Cav
OIF 3-6

Glad to see others that wore the "Squashed Bug"! And thank you to ALL fellow Veterans regardless of branch!

View attachment 28019

Brave Rifles!

Thank you for your service.
 
hey everyone. new around these parts. nice to see a place for vets.

Air Force 13 years so far. 10 years 2A571L, 3 years 1C371.
AD: DET2 412AMXS Big Crow (KAFB 02-06).
DSG/CIVTECH: 161ARW MXS (06-12). AGR: 161ARW CP (Sky Harbor ANGB 12-??).
 

gopher_byrd

Cranky Old Fart
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75-81 USAF 380th AMS P'burgh AFB NY SAC
Avionics tech
 

USMC8497

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Semper Fi, Do or Die!

Hello everyone, I am a Marine and actively served from 1984 to 1997. I am medically retired, have all the "been there, done that" crap in a box in my back closet. Anyways, Nov 10th and 11th are right around the corner, so I thought I would drop into the Vaping Veterans forum and say (a few days early) Happy Birthday Marines and Happy Veterans Day. Thank You to everyone who has served.
 

rickycal78

Member For 4 Years
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Active army, 25L E4 2010-???
Currently sitting in Afghanistan....

Ouch, being a cable dog on deployment must suck. I know the ones in my unit back in OIF 2004-5 were basically turned into orderly room bitches, drivers and were the detail bitches any time division wanted bodies for something.
 
Ouch, being a cable dog on deployment must suck. I know the ones in my unit back in OIF 2004-5 were basically turned into orderly room bitches, drivers and were the detail bitches any time division wanted bodies for something.

Nope. I actually splice fiber, run cables, even manage the AFN for our fob here. It's a lot better than my first one, that one I basically only worked on a JNN and STT
 

rickycal78

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Nope. I actually splice fiber, run cables, even manage the AFN for our fob here. It's a lot better than my first one, that one I basically only worked on a JNN and STT

Huh, I had to look up JNN and STT. Those must be what took the place of the old MSRT node centers, LENs, SENs and RAU's from back in my day. The cable dawgs back then used to do the wiring for those in the field and downrange. When we went we took over 4th ID's equipment in place so they didn't have a whole lot to do.
 

pwheeler

My dad is Mr. Wheeler, I am Paul
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1975-1978 US Army INSCOM, formerly USASA
76-77 TUSLOG Det 4 in Sinop, Turkey (listening post near then Soviet Union)
77-78 Vint Hill Farms Station, Virginia
 

Mikhail Naumov

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3rd Battalion, 9th Regiment Infantry USMC, 2009-2012, Hauling my foreign Serbian ass around Afghanistan before coming back to civy life on a medical. Corporal Naumov, Designated Marksman. God I miss the feel of that M39 EMR in my hands, that's definitely something that's on my bucket list of future purchases. The M14 EBR is nice too.
 
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Mythical_OD

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Much love and respect to all those that serve and have served.

My pops served 20 years in the US Army and retired in 03 out of Ft. Drum at the age of 39. Grabbed his pension and hasnt really worked since. Hes certainly "retired" lol. As bad a rap as the Armed Forces get as a "job", you do get great benefits and retirement plan. Wish I would have bucked up and joined myself when I was younger. I spent almost my entire childhood and teenage years living on military bases and around military families and its an awesome life. Theres just a certain atmosphere on a military base, where ever you go, I cant describe it, but its awesome and I miss it. Makes me wanna marry an enlisted broad just to go back lol.
 

Mikhail Naumov

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Much love and respect to all those that serve and have served.

My pops served 20 years in the US Army and retired in 03 out of Ft. Drum at the age of 39. Grabbed his pension and hasnt really worked since. Hes certainly "retired" lol. As bad a rap as the Armed Forces get as a "job", you do get great benefits and retirement plan. Wish I would have bucked up and joined myself when I was younger. I spent almost my entire childhood and teenage years living on military bases and around military families and its an awesome life. Theres just a certain atmosphere on a military base, where ever you go, I cant describe it, but its awesome and I miss it. Makes me wanna marry an enlisted broad just to go back lol.

I hear all these wonderful stories from Army and Navy families, but when I was in the Marines everything just zipped around. It wasn't long before I hit my first six month deployment, then just one year later I was on a seven month cut short when I took a 7.62 to the femur and came back to the much more comfortable life of a civilian. All I got to experience was fucking sand and scorpions, but I still wouldn't take it back. I will say, the Middle Eastern people DID NOT like me in Afghanistan, as my Serbian accent (which is somewhat close to a Russian one) and name evidently made them relate me to the Soviet Union which had their foot on the middle east for a good long while and is the entire reason certain people like Bin Laden were radicalized into doing what they did. Plus the culture over there is just, damn. It's different, and I've been a lot of places.

I knew what I was getting into though, I had it beaten into my jar head that the Marines were the elite, and were created to be quick to deploy and flexible in all forms of situations. Mission accomplished. I do wish I got more chances to travel though, but I guess that's not one thing you expect when in that branch.

The best part of it, is you make friends that are unlike any other friends you'll ever have. It becomes like a brotherhood sealed by blood for life and there's really no other way I know of to experience that feeling besides enlisting, and it's very much worth it.
 

MyMagicMist

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I debated posting here as I was not on a long chain. Made it through basic to the fleet for what seemed a day. That was back in 1996 they allow me to wear E-9 stripes for a day literally. Needed that rank to see the orders I would have had, had I not been processed out with a general discharge. Twenty years later I am still not sure why I could not have been left as damage control or a technician taking things apart or putting them back together.

Apparently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallmann_syndrome means you don't quite fit muster for whatever excuse is offered. Had a man I called dad who was finally retired after nearly thirty years and was sen. master chief who thought as much too. He said it should have been handled a lot better. Instead, "sign here, here, here, you go home, rush, hurry, run on dog! No don't bother reading it, it's all broiler plate and all on the board. just sign, son."

When I went it was with full understanding and I meant to honor every oath, and if I could have twenty years or more was in my heart. Navy it seems thought otherwise. On a positive note, met my wife. She says they won't be allowed to cluster fuck it with me again, they done had their chance to get her fine man and now they can piss off.

No disrespect intended, except a slight bit toward the bureaucracy machine. I and they are probably both better on that I did not stay.
 

Mikhail Naumov

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I debated posting here as I was not on a long chain. Made it through basic to the fleet for what seemed a day. That was back in 1996 they allow me to wear E-9 stripes for a day literally. Needed that rank to see the orders I would have had, had I not been processed out with a general discharge. Twenty years later I am still not sure why I could not have been left as damage control or a technician taking things apart or putting them back together.

Apparently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallmann_syndrome means you don't quite fit muster for whatever excuse is offered. Had a man I called dad who was finally retired after nearly thirty years and was sen. master chief who thought as much too. He said it should have been handled a lot better. Instead, "sign here, here, here, you go home, rush, hurry, run on dog! No don't bother reading it, it's all broiler plate and all on the board. just sign, son."

When I went it was with full understanding and I meant to honor every oath, and if I could have twenty years or more was in my heart. Navy it seems thought otherwise. On a positive note, met my wife. She says they won't be allowed to cluster fuck it with me again, they done had their chance to get her fine man and now they can piss off.

No disrespect intended, except a slight bit toward the bureaucracy machine. I and they are probably both better on that I did not stay.

It's not always a good ride, sometimes you just get thrown out for no reason, sometimes you come back from the frying pan with full blown PTSD and get written off by the VA because they say you have a 'personality disorder' which disqualifies you from any assistance. Not every ride is a good one, Uncle Sam has FUCKED a lot of vets over the years.
 

kevin littell

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USS Dewey DDG-45 "first and finest". She was the first US Navy ship laid from the keel designed to carry guided missiles. It was my pleasure to serve on her from 1981 to 1985.

We were off the coast of Beirut when the IDF marched North into Lebenon....went back to escort the 22 MAU in after the bombs went off and spent the rest of our time blowing the Carriers fuel budget and getting sent to port.Our HF transmitter room was above Engine room number 1....The Snipes used to get really pissed off at us because those transmitter rooms were HIGHLY air conditioned and the engine rooms definitely were not.

Then it was off to NAVCAMSLANT for 18 months for shore rotation.( Norfolk STILL sux.)


When I went to reenlist the selector only offered me a choice of 5 bird farms. I hit the beach thinking the only use I would ever have for water again was to mix with bourbon.


Selected but wouldn't extend for 2 years to be advanced to ET1. (Radios and any radar that did not guide a munition)
 

Mythical_OD

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
It's not always a good ride, sometimes you just get thrown out for no reason, sometimes you come back from the frying pan with full blown PTSD and get written off by the VA because they say you have a 'personality disorder' which disqualifies you from any assistance. Not every ride is a good one, Uncle Sam has FUCKED a lot of vets over the years.

Yea man, its brutal the way they treat the men and women who give their whole lives to the military, and I dont mean being killed. I was never enlisted but I lived around it for 20 years and when you join the military, the military is your life, you give everything else up.

My dad was lucky in his career. He made it the full tick (20 years) which is no easy feat. He gets his meager pension each month but does well with it. Fortunately he never had to be deployed to a combat area, I dont think. I cant remember if he went during Desert Storm, but I dont think he did. He served from 83 to 03 and missed every conflict. Just barely missed Iraq. He retired early 2003 and not a month or so after he got out his whole unit went to Iraq. Scary shit. He did do a 1 year stint in Korea, said the whole country smells like a wet dog.

But anyways, I have a friend and cousin who both werent so lucky. My friend got hit by a roadside IED was was given a medical discharge and 90% disability pension or whatever it is. And my cousin was deployed, but was only deployed for about 5 or 6 months and was sent home and given a less than honorable discharge. He came back with some PTSD though not nearly as bad as Ive seen other people have, and wont talk a word about what happened. But obviously being sent home early from a combat deployment with the Marines and then given a less than honorable discharge, something serious happened.
 

MyMagicMist

Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
It's not always a good ride, sometimes you just get thrown out for no reason, sometimes you come back from the frying pan with full blown PTSD and get written off by the VA because they say you have a 'personality disorder' which disqualifies you from any assistance. Not every ride is a good one, Uncle Sam has FUCKED a lot of vets over the years.

Quite understanding of that. More I possibly could say but from my perspective, military does not deserve such satisfaction. If that offends 'brethren' soldiers, apologies but I doubt it does.

My hesitation in posting here was out of respect for those who who brought honor to service. I quite understand that too.
 

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