I remember our squadron was celebrating from exceeding our sortie goal. Our commander walked over and pulled the tap from a keg, and announced Iraq just invaded Kuwait -- all leaves cancelled and get ready to mobilize.

Unfortunately, I was not on the first group to deploy but did finally leave Altus AFB on Christmas Eve.

We were based in UAE. I can honestly say that was an amazing experience. All the bureaucracy out the window -- everyone worked together, everything we had trained for came together. The American military was a machine and it was wonderful to be a part of that.

I was stationed at Ft Hood, in the 1st Cavalry Division, as a Tank Company XO.

When we finally got the notification we were deploying and could tell our troops, the CO called the company into the Orderly Room and announced to everyone that we were deploying. I'd say this was 2-3 weeks after the Kuwait invasion by Saddam. For the most part everybody had been watching CNN 24/7. EVERYBODY "knew" we were going to deploy. The 82nd and XVIII Airborne Corps were already there.

One of our young troopers looks up, with a shocked look on his face..."...but Sir, I just got in for the college money." CO says, "Well. You're about to earn it."

I still laugh about that exchange.

Had a baby that day. When it was getting later on in labor...we shut off TV in the room. Doc came in to deliver and said "we have just started bombing Iraq."

Fast forward 25 years and that baby gets his wings from USMC in three weeks.....flies helos.

I was with 1st Radio Bn out of MCAS Kaneohe Bay Hawaii but at the time of the invasion I was sitting in the Pacific with 13th MEU(SOC). When word came down that we were heading to the Persian Gulf we had 2300 Marines who were ready to earn our pay. We were the first amphibious force to arrive in theater and we also conducted the first Marine offensive actions of the war. During that time, I spent time both on ship and on the ground. One of the best memories I have is of my first combat action and being in the unit ready room pacing back and forth at 0100 nervous as hell that I was going mess up and get one of my Marines killed. The MEU Commander walked up to me and told me that I knew my job and how to lead my men and that I would be good to go. As soon as the deck crew came down and said it was time to board the helo with that first step I took all butterflies were gone and training took over.

Looking back it is hard to believe that it has been 25 years for at times it seems like it was just yesterday and other times it seems like a lifetime ago. I lost a couple of friends over there and they are on my mind all the time. I can honestly say that if I could do it all over again I would and I would not change a thing.

Semper fi

Couple of stories.

Was in 2AD (FWD) in November '90. On Friday our BC held a BN formation and told us that we were not scheduled to deploy. That night, while getting everyone together in the day room to go out, CNN was telling the units who were to deploy. And of course, 2AD was on the list. CNN knew it before my chain of command. We laughed and went out and got drunk.

Being a new private, CIF ran out of nomex coveralls, so I was only issued one set. Once deployed, I had to wash them every couple of days, and was mad that I only had on set. My company was task organized to our sister infantry battalion. We were out on a screen line, and LTC Hillman, the infantry battalion commander was driving to each tank to talk to them before crossing the border. At my tank he asked if we needed anything. Well, being the mouthy private I was, I said I needed another set of nomex. This enraged my tank commander, who along with my CPL gunner, took me behind the tank once he left for a class on keeping my private mouth shut. About 20 minutes later LTC Hillmans hummer pulls up to the tank and tosses out a set of nomex. No name tags were sewn on them, but on the tag inside the collar was the name........Hillman. He gave one of his two sets of nomex to a lippy ass private on a tank that he met only 20 minutes earlier. Awesome.

Last one. After the fighting was over, we were out setting on a screen line again. This was in February, and it was actually very cold. The tank heater had quit working several weeks earlier, and we only had a field jacket for cold weather gear. The driver and I had dug a small hole in the ground next to the rear of the tank, and we were pouring diesel into it and trash and burning it to stay warm. Once we ran out of trash on the tank to burn and the fuel was to low in the tanks to dip it out, we started walking to all the trash piles and getting anything that would burn and taking it back to the tank for our fire. One of the things we grabbed was an old iraqi field telephone (like a TA-312). We figured the canvas and plastic would burn. We took it back and tossed it in our little fire, and huddled around it for heat. It never dawned on us to check for batteries in it. Well, the batteries blew up and covered us in burning plastic and fuel. We looked like a couple of dumbasses out there rolling on the ground trying to put ourselves out. That earned me another trip behind the tank with the TC and gunner for an ass whipping. Then we all laughed about it. No more fires were allowed after that.