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My first spotter was a psychotic. He nearly got me killed a few times.
Thursday, 23-Jan-14 02:06:08 UTC from web-
@awlditzy You mean spotter like a gym spotter right? 'Cause I know a few other definitions where I would definitely not want them to be psychotic.
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@awlditzy I almost got someone killed because I let them take a picture of a controlled debt and he took a thing of shrapnel the size of my fist to his neck. In short, lesson learned, in still short but slightly longer I feel like an idiot and a failure and need to be smarter about allowing people to do stupid things and take more firm responsibility
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@mrmattimation spotter as in the other of my team, the one who'd spot my targets and confirm my kills.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual There's always stories like this with people who are in. And always regret at one point.
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@awlditzy :( *hugs you*
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@mrmattimation he didn't succeed in taking me with him, so it's not really bad. Just a very bad way to shove a green sharpshooter into things. (I'm trying the baby steps being open thing is it working?)
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@awlditzy Yes. Yes it is.
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@rarity oh he got what was coming. He wasn't the last person to be completely messed in the head by the field either.
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@awlditzy I was lucky it didn't hit the jugular... if it had I don't know what I would have done and I probably wouldn't be willing to talk much now. However this is one thing I'd like to take in stride seeing as he will be fine and won't have any permanent injury.
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@awlditzy Hey man, I can't tell you if it's working. Say what you feel comfortable saying. If you think you're better off as a whole by diverging some details of your life, which I honestly would not have the courage to do in your situation, then share. But only what you're comfortable with.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual That definitely makes it easier. Being able to help your friends helps too. Immensely.
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@mrmattimation my tongue is hanging by a thread, surely.
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@awlditzy I felt like superman at the time though. That guy felt like he weighed 10 pounds when I carried him to the bird. This happened 4 days ago now?
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@rarity i'd rather not have had to go out like that. If it were to have happened it would have to be my mistake, not someone else's.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual Adrenaline is a hell of a thing! Keeps you up, keeps you in helping condition.
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@awlditzy well, I meant about myself. You're allowed to think about it all you want, and talk as well
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@awlditzy To be honest it's a bit of a harrowing experience when a simple control det of an ied turns into a critical casualty that needed medevac. It was also the first time I personally witnessed someone hit in the field.
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@rarity i think about it now because in field there wasn't time. Thinking of everything else. Your friends. Your job. Well the former should be a distant second.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual Things are never as controlled as they seem to be.
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@awlditzy Anyone who does what you do is not a coward.
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@awlditzy after 13 other controlled dets you'd think you'd have it down. Nothing is predictable. Fortunately I hear that he will be rejoining us in another week once his wound is fully healed. Flesh wounds like that make good stories.
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@awlditzy @mylittlesistercantbethisincestual You two. The two of you. From what I've gathered, both of you have, at some point, fought for your lives or your people. Whatever the reason, for whatever reason, you two ended up in a situation nobody should be in. That nobody should HAVE to be in. And you're here talking about it today. That, to me, measures true courage.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual Hell yes and when you rotate you get to tell them.
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@mrmattimation I'm not out of the thick yet.
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@awlditzy 1 1/2 months to go
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual That's why I said "at some point". In your case, you're still serving. But you're still talking about it and you're talking about your mistakes in the field.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual Shore leave or end of tour?
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@awlditzy I keep thinking about the one kia though no matter how hard I try not to I remember every aspect of that radio call.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual You guys get psych visits on leave? Don't blow them off if you do.
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@awlditzy the latter thankfully. I was only being deployed for 3 months to support the 3rd Marines Combat Engineers because of the increased need for CE's to combat the IED threat. When they rotate out so do I. Out of the whole 9th ESB they only deployed part of it... quality.
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@mrmattimation you make it seem like it's worth mentioning when in reality it's not
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual That's the story of our logistics through and through. Not even half of what'd we need got shipped out due to constraints from promezhicy and half of that would actually make it. Not enough manpower and too treacherous.
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@awlditzy one platoon. Command decided they were short one platoon. Not to mention my kit started off with 3 mags, no optics, and a broken metal detector.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual 3 mags? It'd be a Godsend not to have had that depleted.
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@awlditzy it was not easy to secure a sidearm either. Let's just say that no matter hard you think you had it with logistics, Marines are infamously worse.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual Singles. I was given 100 singles for my SVD and the mag that was in it. I had to bum more because loading singles in a semiauto sucks.
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@awlditzy I would have given you mine. Half the time we're told "you don't need your rifle for this" when we go to control det. "don't worry we have a rifle platoon escort". Improper operational practice is a common operational hazard
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual That's the truth with labeled engineers. I wasn't given a sidearm as told "it will do you no good outside your landing zone". She was right; helped not to have only 1 type of cartridge swimming in my jacket pockets.
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@awlditzy I bring my sidearm anyways but lets be honest if you're in contact you're not going to hit anything with a sidearm. Most of it has been 250-400m range and a sidearm won't do much there.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual I was not that ranged at first; hard to tell range in a dense forest. However once my group made to base and we were getting handed out assignments i rarely did anything smaller than 350m. Until i became on point that is.
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@awlditzy most of the contact we get is either indirect mortar fire that you can't do much about or direct small arms fire from a compound down the road. The ironic thing is they do it while we're trying to blow up ordinance to protect their neighbors and make the road useable for civilians.
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@mylittlesistercantbethisincestual We were thrown in to nigh everything. Never saw much land mines. No IED.
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