Marines Cram Comforts Into Life On The Road
(March 25, 2011) |
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| FORWARD OPERATING BASE PAYNE, Afghanistan (MCN - 3/21/2011) —
At first glance, the back of the light armored vehicle
designated as the casualty evacuation vehicle for C Company,
3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, is nothing more
than a mobile trauma bay on eight wheels. Stretchers sit
stacked to one side of the already cramped 6-foot by 7-foot
cargo area. Emergency medical supplies are crammed into bags
hanging from almost every surface. |
There is more here, though – a hot water heater
peeks out from behind a bag of combat gauze. A
weightlifting kettlebell sits in front of a set of
expeditionary tent poles. An assortment of
freeze-dried meals poke out of a pack next to rifle
cleaning gear. These and other comfort items are
here because this closet-sized space is a home of
sorts for Petty Officer 3rd Class Alex Averill and
the rest of the vehicle's four-man crew.
“It's small, but it's what we've got,” said Averill,
23, the senior medic for C Company, 3rd LAR Bn., and
a native of Citrus Heights, Calif.
Since
arriving in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province
in November, 3rd LAR Marines have been doing what
LAR Marines do best – rove the open landscape for
weeks or months at a time, living out of their
vehicles. |
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HELMAND PROVINCE,
Afghanistan-Lance Cpl. Mitchell Brady (left), a
scout with C Company, 3rd Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion and a native of Galesburg,
Ill., relaxes in the shade of his light armored
vehicle in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan,
March 18, 2011 after a four-day raid against an
insurgent stronghold on the Pakistan border. LAR
Marines typically spend weeks and months away from
bases, out in open country, making their vehicles a
sort of mobile home during deployments. |
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One of the few constant comforts in the deployed lives of
3rd LAR's companies is their vehicles, and the Marines take
advantage of any nooks and crannies not taken up by ammo,
radios and other gear to create a mix that is part mobile
firepower, part mobile home.
“People call us the
desert gypsies,” said 1st Sgt. Justin Owens, 37, C Company
first sergeant and a Garland, Texas, native.
The
LAVs' maneuverability and rugged suspension make them ideal
candidates for interdicting insurgent narcotics and weapons
smuggling in the rocky, rolling desert south of the Helmand
river valley. It's a mission the battalion has been pursuing
across its 5,500-square mile battle space throughout its
deployment.
LAR units are based around four to
seven vehicle platoons of LAVs, most of which are manned by
two-man crews and contain a section of four to six infantry
scouts. The vehicles themselves are stout, eight-wheeled and
most boast a 25mm cannon. To Marines they are affectionately
known as “pigs”.
“It's like that Black Sabbath song,
‘War Pigs',” said Owens. “They're dirty, they're nasty, but
they're capable of a lot of destruction.”
Staff Sgt.
Garrette Guidry, 29, C Company maintenance chief and a
native of Lake Arthur, La., has a different take on the
nickname.
“They call them pigs because they're always
dirty as a bunch of pigs,” he reasoned. “We come back (from
the field) looking like a bunch of little piggies.”
LAR companies are meant to be independent operators, with
the ability to self sustain for weeks, or with occasional
fuel and rations resupply, months. The wandering nature of
their mission means that the Marines of C Company and other
parts of the battalion have spent significant time away from
the relative comfort of a forward operating base. That means
weeks with no showers, no dining facility and very little
contact with home.
While the vehicles' range means
longer trips outside the wire, there is invariably a little
extra space for comfort items to make this rugged lifestyle
a little less so.
“It's your home, so you can arrange
it how you want,” said Averill, adding the caveat that
tactical considerations come first. “I've got a lot of
personal stuff in here, but obviously my medical supplies
are going to take precedence.”
Averill's most prized
possession in his LAV is a fast-heating camp stove, he said.
“There's nothing better at the end of a long day than a
hot meal,” he explained.
Guidry takes that line of
thinking to a different level. He makes use of the extra
space in his vehicle to carry pots, pans and his family's
secret blend of Cajun seasoning. His uncle owns and operates
a Cajun restaurant named “Guidry's” in Deerport, Texas, and
Guidry hopes to open an offshoot after the Marine Corps.
“It's definitely a morale booster and a camaraderie
builder,” he said of his cooking, which typically includes
dishes made of soup broth, summer sausage, rice, noodles and
other non-perishable, shelf stable items. “Everybody seems
to like it.” |
When the Marines of C Company aren't tucking in at
the end of a day of interdictions, they're usually
trying to find a way to work out. There are no
membership gyms in southern Afghanistan, and fitness
is important to the Marines, said Owens.
This
leads to some creative thinking. The Marines do
pull-ups on suspended tow bars or off the edge of
their vehicles. Some crews sacrifice personal space
for small sets of weights. Other exercises require
no extra equipment.
“In the last month of the
deployment you'll see a lot of people doing
sit-ups,” Owens said with a chuckle.
Ultimately, it's not the niceties that can be
squeezed into LAVs that make being with LAR an
enjoyable experience, but rather the other Marines
and sailors riding in them, said Averill. |
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1st Sgt. Justin Owens, company first sergeant and a Garland, Texas, native, and Sgt. Gabriel Schaller, company ramp chief and a Tucson, Ariz., native, get in a workout at the end of a day of interdictions in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 9,
2011 while Petty Officer 3rd Class Alex Averill, senior medic and a Citrus Heights, Calif., native, and Sgt. Bradley Ivey, company communications chief and a Pinson, Ala., native, wait for their turn. The men are all with C Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. |
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“I've become brothers with these guys,” he said of the
Marines he serves with. “I've lived with them, played with
them and deployed with them. Pretty much every aspect of my
life for the last couple of years has revolved around 3rd
LAR.
“I just hope all this doesn't spoil my love of
camping.”
C Company and other elements of 3rd LAR
have plenty more open-air lifestyle ahead of them; the
battalion raided the insurgent trafficking hub at Bahram
Chah on the Pakistan border, March 14-17, and is currently
poised to step up its interdiction campaign in the wake of
the attack. |
Article and photos by USMC Sgt. Jeremy Ross
3rd Light Armored Recon Bn
Copyright 2011 | |
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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