.Live Blogging an Embed: The Traveling PX
FORWARD OPERATING BASE TASH, Iraq (3:47 p.m. Iraq time) — The PX truck comes to this small base outside Ramadi once every two weeks loaded with goodies that make Marines willing to line up in the rain.
Cigarettes, chewing tobacco and energy drinks are the most popular items, according to Sgt. Jose Bugarin, who took cash from the troops of E Company, Fifth Regimental Combat Team, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines. Cpl. Greg Morlock helped them arrange to pay for supplies out of their next paycheck.
Marines carried small shopping baskets as they walked through the narrow aisle inside truck picking through a selection of muscle growth powders, iPods and magazines.
Outside it started to drizzle on another line of Marines waiting to pay for their purchases. Temperatures are dropping into the 60’s here two months after regularly reaching twice that this summer.
“I don’t like this weather,” said Lance Cpl. Joey Depoyster “I’m getting cold. I’m from Texas and I’m Mexican.”
The PX truck travels around to all of the forward operating bases along with a mail truck.
Sergeant Bugarin said that the Marines on this forward operating base in Iraq’s western Anbar province spend at least 70 percent of their purchases on cigarettes. Some of them started smoking while standing in line to pay. And they passed the time joking with each other.
“Buy me something good up there,” Sgt. Jeff Benson yelled to a Marine inside the PX truck. Sergeant Benson was carrying a case of Coke and can of Copenhagen.
“They don’t have Playgirl,” Lance Cpl. Andrew Beets responded.
I’m often asked about what the Marines think about X, Y or Z. It’s a questions I have a hard time answering. I’ve met a number of Marines since I first came to Iraq in January. They do not speak with a unanimous voice. Some are on their first tour in a much quieter Iraq and have yet to fire their weapons. Others have rotated through here numerous since the invasion and also served in Afghanistan. A few
years in combat can change a person’s outlook.
A group of Iraqi police gathered by themselves at the side of the PX truck. While some Marines joked about the Iraqis’ obsession with American clothing designs, Lance Cpl. Matthew Griff walked up and started a conversation. Or as much as a conversation as you can have between people who don’t share a common language.
Lance Corporal Griff looks younger than his 22 years.
“Sometimes I prefer to hang out with the Iraqis,” he said. They joked back and forth speaking the few words they both knew. When that fails they just say M.O.I., M.O.I. back and forth. M.O.I. is the ministry of interior which runs the Iraqi police and appears on their uniforms.
Lance Corporal Griff and the Iraqi police pulled some dollar bills out of their wallets to exchange. He said Iraqis spend U.S. dollars in the small towns outside Ramadi, but that merchants and banks don’t give a favorable exchange rate for anything less than $1. The Iraqis wanted to swap all of their $1 bills for larger denominations.
After a few minutes more Marines walked over to join the conversation.
Sgt. Neal Zumbro, 25, is currently on his fourth deployment in a war zone.
“A lot of these guys, it’s their first time over here. I was fighting the Iraqis and now we’re working with them,” Sergeant Zumbro said.
Behind us Iraqi police and Lance Corporal Griff were laughing, taking turns pointing at each other’s chests and flicking their noses when they looked down.
A month after 9/11, Sergeant Zumbro signed up for four years of active duty and another four years of inactive duty. As a 19-year-old he took part in the invasion of Iraq, serving as a machine gunner in the region where former Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch was captured and rescued. Sergeant Zumbro then served six months in Afghanistan before coming back to Iraq in 2005 to patrol an area west of Najaf along the border with Saudi Arabia. “Looking for gun runners,” he said.
“I was out of the military for three years, doing a bartending job, going to college, living the dream,” Sergeant Zumbro said. Then he was recalled.
“This company would be hurting without him,” said Capt. Brian O’Shea, the commanding officer of E Company. “He’s our machine gun section leader which is usually a staff sergeant in rank in charge of 21 other Marines and six medium machine guns.”
Sergeant Zumbro said that some of the Marines who were recalled with him claimed medical issues, but he decided he had to return once more. He said it has been difficult making the adjustments between military, civilian and military life. “I never really got back into the military mindset.” He talked about the difficulties he may face going back to college next year as a 26-year-old sophomore.
I asked the sergeant about what he felt was the difference between serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The difference is those guys are fighting us over there and they’re good at it. Everything’s harder over there. I went nearly two months without a shower in the winter over there,” he said.
And in Iraq?
“I’ve got guys that seem almost depressed that they’re not going to see any combat.”
The sergeant was speaking frankly so I asked what he honestly thought about Iraq’s prospects.
He paused before saying, “Saddam may have been the best leader who could have had over here.” He talked about the different tribes in Iraq fighting each other for control.
“I wonder if it was worth it. Everything we’ve done. Everything we got out of it,” he said. I scribbled his answer down in my notebook and looked up at him again. He said he wasn’t concerned about saying anything controversial.
“I feel like I deserve to say what I want,” he said. “In Afghanistan there is a legitimate threat. Here it’s a civil war.”
Note: I spent a few hours last night inside one of the guard towers overlooking Forward Operating Base Tash with two lance corporals. For some of the Marines here, this is the closest to action they get on a regular basis. Captain O’Shea changed the naming convention of the guard towers to “fighting positions.” He said the new name will reinforce the mentality that Marines need to be on alert even in area
where the level of violence has dropped. Check back later today for my blog post on the fighting positions, a Q&A with the Marines and a meeting with the Iraqi Security Forces.
Baghdad Bureau
Cigarettes, chewing tobacco and energy drinks are the most popular items, according to Sgt. Jose Bugarin, who took cash from the troops of E Company, Fifth Regimental Combat Team, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines. Cpl. Greg Morlock helped them arrange to pay for supplies out of their next paycheck.
Marines carried small shopping baskets as they walked through the narrow aisle inside truck picking through a selection of muscle growth powders, iPods and magazines.
Outside it started to drizzle on another line of Marines waiting to pay for their purchases. Temperatures are dropping into the 60’s here two months after regularly reaching twice that this summer.
“I don’t like this weather,” said Lance Cpl. Joey Depoyster “I’m getting cold. I’m from Texas and I’m Mexican.”
The PX truck travels around to all of the forward operating bases along with a mail truck.
Sergeant Bugarin said that the Marines on this forward operating base in Iraq’s western Anbar province spend at least 70 percent of their purchases on cigarettes. Some of them started smoking while standing in line to pay. And they passed the time joking with each other.
“Buy me something good up there,” Sgt. Jeff Benson yelled to a Marine inside the PX truck. Sergeant Benson was carrying a case of Coke and can of Copenhagen.
“They don’t have Playgirl,” Lance Cpl. Andrew Beets responded.
I’m often asked about what the Marines think about X, Y or Z. It’s a questions I have a hard time answering. I’ve met a number of Marines since I first came to Iraq in January. They do not speak with a unanimous voice. Some are on their first tour in a much quieter Iraq and have yet to fire their weapons. Others have rotated through here numerous since the invasion and also served in Afghanistan. A few
years in combat can change a person’s outlook.
A group of Iraqi police gathered by themselves at the side of the PX truck. While some Marines joked about the Iraqis’ obsession with American clothing designs, Lance Cpl. Matthew Griff walked up and started a conversation. Or as much as a conversation as you can have between people who don’t share a common language.
Lance Corporal Griff looks younger than his 22 years.
“Sometimes I prefer to hang out with the Iraqis,” he said. They joked back and forth speaking the few words they both knew. When that fails they just say M.O.I., M.O.I. back and forth. M.O.I. is the ministry of interior which runs the Iraqi police and appears on their uniforms.
Lance Corporal Griff and the Iraqi police pulled some dollar bills out of their wallets to exchange. He said Iraqis spend U.S. dollars in the small towns outside Ramadi, but that merchants and banks don’t give a favorable exchange rate for anything less than $1. The Iraqis wanted to swap all of their $1 bills for larger denominations.
After a few minutes more Marines walked over to join the conversation.
Sgt. Neal Zumbro, 25, is currently on his fourth deployment in a war zone.
“A lot of these guys, it’s their first time over here. I was fighting the Iraqis and now we’re working with them,” Sergeant Zumbro said.
Behind us Iraqi police and Lance Corporal Griff were laughing, taking turns pointing at each other’s chests and flicking their noses when they looked down.
A month after 9/11, Sergeant Zumbro signed up for four years of active duty and another four years of inactive duty. As a 19-year-old he took part in the invasion of Iraq, serving as a machine gunner in the region where former Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch was captured and rescued. Sergeant Zumbro then served six months in Afghanistan before coming back to Iraq in 2005 to patrol an area west of Najaf along the border with Saudi Arabia. “Looking for gun runners,” he said.
“I was out of the military for three years, doing a bartending job, going to college, living the dream,” Sergeant Zumbro said. Then he was recalled.
“This company would be hurting without him,” said Capt. Brian O’Shea, the commanding officer of E Company. “He’s our machine gun section leader which is usually a staff sergeant in rank in charge of 21 other Marines and six medium machine guns.”
Sergeant Zumbro said that some of the Marines who were recalled with him claimed medical issues, but he decided he had to return once more. He said it has been difficult making the adjustments between military, civilian and military life. “I never really got back into the military mindset.” He talked about the difficulties he may face going back to college next year as a 26-year-old sophomore.
I asked the sergeant about what he felt was the difference between serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The difference is those guys are fighting us over there and they’re good at it. Everything’s harder over there. I went nearly two months without a shower in the winter over there,” he said.
And in Iraq?
“I’ve got guys that seem almost depressed that they’re not going to see any combat.”
The sergeant was speaking frankly so I asked what he honestly thought about Iraq’s prospects.
He paused before saying, “Saddam may have been the best leader who could have had over here.” He talked about the different tribes in Iraq fighting each other for control.
“I wonder if it was worth it. Everything we’ve done. Everything we got out of it,” he said. I scribbled his answer down in my notebook and looked up at him again. He said he wasn’t concerned about saying anything controversial.
“I feel like I deserve to say what I want,” he said. “In Afghanistan there is a legitimate threat. Here it’s a civil war.”
Note: I spent a few hours last night inside one of the guard towers overlooking Forward Operating Base Tash with two lance corporals. For some of the Marines here, this is the closest to action they get on a regular basis. Captain O’Shea changed the naming convention of the guard towers to “fighting positions.” He said the new name will reinforce the mentality that Marines need to be on alert even in area
where the level of violence has dropped. Check back later today for my blog post on the fighting positions, a Q&A with the Marines and a meeting with the Iraqi Security Forces.
Baghdad Bureau
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