As I sit here at 0113hrs, spending my last few minutes on the glorious Fort Hunter-Liggett, I can’t help but reminisce. I’m thinking of all the good and bad times I’ve had here. I’ve come to this base for training missions at least twice a year for the past three years. Some missions have been for as little as 3 days, and one was a whole month once. I can remember going through a full range of emotions while being on this base, from the very first time to these last few minutes.
The very first time I stayed here, it was for a 3 day Qualification Range back in early 2006. I had just gotten to the unit, and I didn’t know everyone very well. I hadn’t brought a sleeping bag because it wasn’t on the packing list I was given. I froze my ass off, but everything seemed ok because I had just started dating a girl I had met about a month earlier and I could still call her every night before I tried to go to sleep. I had those early relationship butterflies and felt great, and nothing could make me feel different. I made my first impression on my NCOs that weekend, by qualifying Expert, or shooting 40 out of 40 targets on the Qual Range.
The next time I would come to FHL was later that year, and I had moved up the ranks a bit. This time I drove a truck full of supplies up instead of riding on the bus. I was trusted with equipment, given less orders and asked to do more things, and I felt like I belonged. The girl I was dating was on vacation in a warmer place than I, so I didn’t exactly enjoy hearing about sunny skies and sandy beaches when I was freezing outside on the phone, but I got through it.
The next couple of years were a blur here, aided by too many memories and too many beers. For one whole month my platoon was staying in a tent on a live tank range here, dealing with the ammunition for one of the nation’s largest war games, Pacific Warrior. The war game didn’t so much pertain to us, so we had our working hours and our beer hours. I did a lot of thinking on that mission, and I went through a full spectrum of emotions that month too. That girl I had been dating had left just before the mission, my grandmother had died, and I had lost a close friend in combat, both while I was away. I had also been promoted and praised by my command, and I was even awarded a medal during this mission, so there were plenty of happy times. During our stay that month, me and some of my close buddies went on ‘nature walks’ on the tank range, picking up Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and elk antlers. The elk antlers were ok for us to grab, but as you can imagine the UXO wasn’t too bright of an idea. I got a few things I’ve never even seen, including a mortar round from 1956, but I was sure to be careful of how I transported it. We chased wild boar in huge Paletized Loading System (PLS) trucks, drove up impossible tanks trails in HUMVEES, and made beer runs in Light/Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTV) with our uniform tops on and civilian shirts and jeans on underneath. We were our own element, and the only unit controlling the ammo, so we handled everything our way. Don’t get me wrong, we sure as hell got work done, but we had our fun time too. It really reminds me of Vietnam, at least what I get from the movies and books I’ve read. I mean we walked around in nothing but our running shorts, or in a IBA with no shirt on underneath. I even went “hunting” with a .177 pellet gun! All I shot was a deer in the ass and a rabbit. We skinned the rabbit on guard duty the next night, but maggots had already gotten to it. There are so many stories I can’t remember now, but I’ll be sure to jot them down when I remember them while in Iraq. I’m sure they will come back up.
This last mission here has been an overall positive one. The group as a whole has learned a lot, and we’ve come together a little bit closer. We’re not all ready yet, and we’re definitely not a full functioning family, but we will be there soon.
See you later good ‘ol Fort Hunter-Liggett, I hope to run through your fields and wreak havoc again someday.
-Mac
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