I realized that not everyone knows how to contact me, so, for starters anyone is more than welcome to leave comments on blogposts here (leave your email address!), I read them all. If you want to send emails you can either send them to my band account Matt@YYRband.com or you can send them my official email address here in Iraq Matthew.Davis@aa.mnf-wiraq.usmc.mil obviously it's easier to get me by using the official address, but please refrain from sending anything that might be viewed as objectionable or obscene. However, feel free to send all the naked woman pics you want to the band email! I must specify that any pics should be of women, never know what CO might send!
If you want to mail me anything, again, you are more than welcome the address is as follows:
GySgt Davis, Matthew J.
3/23 H&S Co. Comm Plt.
Unit 73143
FPO AE 09509-3142
All mail shipments will be checked by customs, so please, no alcohol in the mail if caught in shipment it'll get us both in trouble.
We do have a small store here that provides for most of our essentials ie. hygiene gear, socks, etc. so i'm pretty well set on everything I "need" to get by, but feel free to send whatever you want.
Hope everyone is doing well, looking forward to hearing from you all, take care!
Matt
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
First Post From Iraq
What a long strange trip it's been. Not sure exactly how long i've been here, nine days I think. We flew out of March Air Force Base in California and stopped in Topeka, KS; Redford, IL; Keflavik, Iceland; Hahn, Germany; and Camp Virginia, Kuwait before flying into Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. Here's a few pics from the trip, I didn't take out my camera until Kuwait, so no pics of Iceland or Germany, not like it matters, we didn't leave the holding area at the airports.
This is one of the guys I work with, Tim (GySgt Blanchard) passed out on one of our stops on the way here. I just thought it was funny with him holding the two M4 Rifles passed out.
This is me, just kind of standing around in Kuwait. Can't really tell from the picture, but the sand in Camp Virginia is about the consistency of baby powder. Every time you step it poofs up around your boots, the sand gets everywhere, nothing you can do about it. To make matters even more fun around 10 am every morning the wind starts blowing, and doesn't stop until late at night, so it's a constant sandstorm that doesn't make for much fun. They do have a nice PX though.
This is the dam. I'll be your dam guide. What you see is when they open the damn dam. No idea how damn tall the dam is, but it's pretty dam high. In the background you can see one side of the dam buildings, that go up eleven floors and each floor is pretty dam tall, so it's pretty dam big. They've opened the dam twice since i've been here, pretty dam nice site. Stinks a little though! This pic was taken from right behind my tech shop.
This is a view from the top of the dam. In the distance you can see a few of the cities we're responsible for. Hard to make them out during the day though, everything here is the same color. The flag you see tells us the heat index, or Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, obviously I took the picture early morning because it doesn't take long for the black flag to come out.
That's where I work, down there at the bottom! You can see some of the Marines going about their business. and the 7 Ton truck parked in front of the shop. Towards the right of the pic you can see the ramp behind the building we use to walk up to the top, it's quicker than the stairs, but let me tell you, my legs are going to be huge when I get home. My desk is at the back of that "building" so I sit right next to the river.
For now i'll leave you with this picture of Chuck Norris and myself in our chow hall inside the dam. That stupid grin on my face? I asked Chuck if he wanted to wrestle and they snapped the picture while I was still laughing.
This is one of the guys I work with, Tim (GySgt Blanchard) passed out on one of our stops on the way here. I just thought it was funny with him holding the two M4 Rifles passed out.
This is me, just kind of standing around in Kuwait. Can't really tell from the picture, but the sand in Camp Virginia is about the consistency of baby powder. Every time you step it poofs up around your boots, the sand gets everywhere, nothing you can do about it. To make matters even more fun around 10 am every morning the wind starts blowing, and doesn't stop until late at night, so it's a constant sandstorm that doesn't make for much fun. They do have a nice PX though.
This is the dam. I'll be your dam guide. What you see is when they open the damn dam. No idea how damn tall the dam is, but it's pretty dam high. In the background you can see one side of the dam buildings, that go up eleven floors and each floor is pretty dam tall, so it's pretty dam big. They've opened the dam twice since i've been here, pretty dam nice site. Stinks a little though! This pic was taken from right behind my tech shop.
This is a view from the top of the dam. In the distance you can see a few of the cities we're responsible for. Hard to make them out during the day though, everything here is the same color. The flag you see tells us the heat index, or Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, obviously I took the picture early morning because it doesn't take long for the black flag to come out.
That's where I work, down there at the bottom! You can see some of the Marines going about their business. and the 7 Ton truck parked in front of the shop. Towards the right of the pic you can see the ramp behind the building we use to walk up to the top, it's quicker than the stairs, but let me tell you, my legs are going to be huge when I get home. My desk is at the back of that "building" so I sit right next to the river.
For now i'll leave you with this picture of Chuck Norris and myself in our chow hall inside the dam. That stupid grin on my face? I asked Chuck if he wanted to wrestle and they snapped the picture while I was still laughing.Just remember these two things.
1) There is no chin under Chuck Norris' beard, just another fist.
2) There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
As promised, the usual gear set...
Twentynine Palms actually does have some nice sunsets. One of the few things here, other than some damn good training, that is worthwhile. Anyhow, what you see me wearing here is the normal gear set minus my patrol pack which was in the HMMWV. I'll list most of what the gearset is here. MTV (New body armor) - 34 lbs
M4 Carbine rifle w/ 210 NATO 5.56 Ball rounds - 21.5 lbs
Beretta 9mm Handgun w/ 45 rounds - approx 10 lbs with holster and accesories
PAQ-2 Infrared spotting system (on rifle) - weight unknown
Surefire tactical flashligt (on rifle) - 1 lb
ACOG scope (on rifle) - weight unknown
Camelback with 1/2 gallon of water - 4.3 lbs
Kevlar (helmet) - 3.1 lbs
Then of course all of the other Personal Protective Equipment - (gloves, ballistic glasses and goggles, etc.)
Total weight - approx 75 lbs.
Yes, it was 107 degrees out when this picture was taken. Ahhh, the glamorous life of a United States Marine.
Doing really good out here in the Stumps. Training is going well, ready to roll so I can get back home to you all! Need some stage time too!
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