The Newberg Graphic
| Marine earns a brief respite from the war | ||||
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| Lance Cpl. Jeremiah Carlisle is home on leave after a seven-month deployment to Iraq | ||||
Lance Cpl. Jeremiah Carlisle, arrived home the Sunday before last, after a seven month tour of duty in Iraq. The Marine's job while in the Middle East was akin to that of a retriever. Carlisle is what the Marines call a "3533," or what civilians call a truck driver. He drives an LVS (an acronym for logistics vehicle system); a large flatbed truck whose cabin protrudes in front of the wheels. His job behind the wheel of that truck was to be ready to go "outside the wire" (off base) "in case any bird went down," and by bird he means a helicopter. He's attached to MWSS 272, or a Marine wing support squadron. Helicopters are a key element in support of United States tactical operations in the Iraqi theater. "If a truck goes down and they can't salvage it, they just blow it up," he said. Helicopters have so many different and more valuable parts, he said, and so they have to be salvaged. Thankfully, he said, none went down in his area of operation. That doesn't mean he sat idle while in Iraq. "Personally, I did 23 convoys outside the wire, (for a total of) 1,300 miles off base," he said. For people unfamiliar with military operations, that may not sound like much over the course of a seven-month period. Yet, a single convoy can last as much as a week, or more. Even short convoys outside the wire can turn into lengthy trips. His closest call with danger came on a short round-trip convoy. He had unloaded his truck at a small outpost and was ready to head back to base when his convoy was given the order to hang tight for a while, he said. Eventually he heard two explosions, looking in the direction from which the noise came he saw two mushroom clouds. In a second he knew what those were: IEDs (improvised explosive devices or homemade mines). Carlisle said that on the way to deliver the convoy's load the trucks had gone over two "speedbump" IEDs. The only thing they were missing was a detonator and someone to trigger them. "One more stage (in their construction) and it could have been us," he said. Thankfully one of the drivers noticed the IEDs and an explosive ordinance disposal unit detonated the homemade mines. Carlisle often transported heavy equipment used to create landing pads for helicopters. "That was our main focus when we were out there: to better the air support," he said. On a slow day things weren't so bad. The routine was for him to show up for work at 8 a.m., have lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and get off work around 5:30 p.m. "(We were) free to do whatever we wanted after that," he said. For Carlisle that included calling home, sending e-mails and playing on the X-box 360 he bought with one of his buddies. His living conditions were so good, he said, because "those air bases, they kinda get hooked up." They never had weekends off or anything of that sort. "The whole time we were out there we got one whole day off," he said. That was half a day for the Marine Corps 233rd birthday (Nov. 10, 1775) and a half a day for Christmas. Getting Christmas off wasn't for sure until close to the date, he added. Carlisle said one of the most stressful experiences for him was a convoy to Fallujah where his buddy Dundee Marine Cpl. Garrett Jones was ambushed the previous summer. As a result of the attack, Jones' leg was amputated above the knee. "When we were rolling through it was still a black route, which means you could only travel it between 2300 and 0500 (11 p.m. and 5 a.m.)," he said. "All I could think the whole time is `What happened to Garrett was in this city.'" The simple fact that the route was classified as black was reason enough for all the drivers to be on edge. The deployment had its playful highlights, too. He remembers a sleepless night on top a cargo container during a convoy. There was a herd of goats near where the vehicles were parked, and it was pitch black. The drivers all had NVGs (night vision goggles) and they would tease the goats and look at their reactions through the NVGs. "They were inches from us," he said, "they'd look right at us and not know we were there." Carlisle's been back in the United States for about two weeks now and it took him a few days to get reacclimated. Two of the hardest things for him to get used to again were driving and not be allowed to carry a loaded weapon at all times. (Marines are not allowed to carry weapons while on base). "I noticed myself hugging the median pretty much the whole time," he said of his driving habits, the same way he drove trucks in the middle of Iraqi roads for safety. Based in North Carolina, he said he was a little confused when he heard helicopters fire weapons at a nearby range. The sounds of the weapons being discharged were unsettling in an environment different than Iraq. Interacting with family without reverting to anger has been difficult as well, he said. "It was hard. I was pretty aggressive for the first week or so," Carlisle said. "(I've) been back for two and half weeks now and I am good. Since it was pretty quiet over there it wasn't too bad jumping back into the swing of things. For me at least." The best part about his deployment? "We didn't loose anybody and we never got blown up," he said. | ||||
