Far East Deployment and the end of Active Duty

Riding in an Amphibious Assault Vehicle in Okinawa

Dear Friends,

My active duty commission expired on the 31st of July.  In all I served 4 years, 9 months and 30 days.  Thank you for your help, advice and encouragement over the last few, and best, years of my life.  I am now living in San Francisco and beginning my MBA at UC Berkeley.  I also checked into a local reserve infantry unit in the Bay Area. I will be the XO for Echo Company 2d Battalion, 23d Marines (continuing in the reserves by choice). 

Since I last wrote I completed a tour of duty in the Far East and experienced a great homecoming. I would like to share a few of these stories with you.

Opportunity

The final chapter of my Marine Corps story began in the office of my Battalion Executive Officer in September of 2014. I was a transplant to 2d Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4) on temporary orders, handling some administrative and logistical work. At the time I was preparing for an imminent departure from active duty. The unit was scheduled to deploy to the Far East for six months and I was not on the go-roster.  At the last moment a senior Lt received transfer orders, leaving an important gap in the organization. The open position was Platoon Commander in the coveted Maritime Raid Force.  It was the most desirable assignment for an infantry Lieutenant. 

Late one evening I walked into Major Shea's office, the Battalion Executive Officer. I told him I wanted to sign a contract extension to deploy with 2/4 and that I would be willing to fill any position. It was a gamble. The battalion had two open positions: Maritime Raid Force (great) and a staff job in the operations section (terrible).  I was not, however, in a position to make a contingent offer.  Junior officers do not negotiate their contracts in the Marines.  After volunteering  I went on to explain why I was best qualified to be in the Maritime Raid Force. The battalion was in a tough spot losing this key leader so close to deployment. As a senior Lt with previous experience in maritime ops I actually was a good fit. The Major laughed me out of his office while cheerily accusing me of simply pursuing an awesome job (to which I gladly plead guilty).The next day he called me into his office and said to get him the signed paperwork.  I was going overseas. 

I am reminded of one of my father's stories.  His graduation speaker at Stanford in 1954 was Herbert Hoover who told the new graduates: "If you make yourself useful, you'll always have a job."

Guam - Realistic Urban Training

The opportunity to lead a platoon in the Maritime Raid Force (MRF) was incredible. The MRF does what the name implies - launches 50 to 125 man raids on targets from naval shipping. It is designed to give the higher headquarters commander (who has air and conventional forces as well) a special operations option for sensitive targets (disclaimer: this does not make me special forces). The unit consists of Reconnaissance Marines and Infantry Marines. For reference our mission and organization is similar to that of the Rangers in the movie Blackhawk Down. My men performed the role of the Rangers and the Force Reconnaissance Marines performed the role of Delta Force as seen in the movie. The basic concept was that my Marines would surround a target building and the Reconnaissance Marines would make entry and destroy the target.

The list of amazing training events we completed as the MRF is long, but I would like to pick out one that deserves special attention. Our culminating event was something called Realistic Urban Training Exercise (RUTEX) in Guam. The exercise tested our core capability, an expeditionary raid on an urban target in a coastal region. We chose Guam as our site because we could conduct the exercise in a real urban area. No military installation can ever mimic an urban area to a sufficient degree, so we try to go out in the real world. For this exercise the Guam PD established a loose cordon around a plaza in downtown Guam and allowed us to conduct a training exercise on the Federal Building there.   Our basic form of maneuver was to surround the target with vehicular forces and to drop the assault element on the roof via helicopter.

We conducted the exercise with as much realism as possible. We flew from Okinawa to Guam in a C-130. We took unmarked vans, with our weapons (unloaded) in hand to a warehouse is a fairly grimy part of town. We established a safe house and started planning our raid. For the better part of a week we labored over maps, terrain models and intelligence reports in the stifling heat of a tin warehouse in the tropics. There was no air conditioning for the 125 men in the unpartitioned structure. They didn't promise me a rose garden and it sure didn't smell like one. 

At the warehouse my Company Commander informed me that we were clandestine - no uniforms.  Prior to our departure he told me "bring some civvies, we'll get a day of liberty." I packed exactly 1 set of my most awesome liberty attire - short men's shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.  While most guys were wearing synthetic golf polos with utility 5.11 tactical pants, I was putting on my best Tom Sellick.  It was a good thing too, because there were more colonels at that exercise than I had ever seen in one place before.  The assembly of senior officers got a real kick out of my duds, as did the FBI and Guam PD.  I noted that my floral patterns were far better Guamanian camouflage than the guys who look like they dressed out of a mail order gun catalogue.

Before

The Hawaiian shirt brought everybody a dose of humor, but the real story was the success of my men. Before deployment I inherited a group of highly experienced and skilled Marines. They were exceptional marksmen, physically fit, cohesive and dedicated. They (we) were a really good platoon before I showed up. However, there is no group that cannot improve in some way, and History is littered with the bones of good units.  However unlikely, the prospect of being caught unprepared is what "kept me up at night" and on more than one occasion it actually did.  That may seem a little overboard, but that is the attitude I took to work.  As I saw it that was my job to be most worried when everybody was least worried.

I knew we were good enough to reasonably accomplish any mission, but were we good enough that we could not fail?  Obviously the answer to this question should be no, because if you answer yes it means you will fail.... but you get the rhetorical point. I wanted them to be ready for a bad day - a really bad day.  I emphasized small unit tactics, physical fitness and, above all else, preparation.  I constantly challenged them with the question: "if you were in Mogadishu would your unit make it out?" I brought up the famous examples of faulty preparation seen in Blackhawk Down more than once. 

My men were beyond resourceful and they loved building things. This is our terrain model
for the exercise. Given some duct tape, imagination and aerial imagery they constructed a
 lifelike replica to discuss our operation. This is an indicator of a good unit if I ever saw one. 

Over the two months prior to the exercise we worked tirelessly (and not without some grudging annoyance) on inspections, combat orders, back-briefs, rehearsals etc.  This exercise tested everything we had worked on to this point.  The Marines performed well during execution.  In fact, they made it look easy.  The key to the story, and the really impressive part, was their excellent prep-for-combat. From warning order, to pre-combat checks, inspections and rehearsal, this was the best routine I ever saw in the Marine Corps. 

After

This process started with an order that I wrote and delivered (pictured above). What made this preparation amazing, however, was what my men did with it when I was done.  They talked about it. They studied the plan.  They developed their parts of the plan. They asked questions. I refined some things, but I put many questions back on them, as the executors, to decide.  The men studied and rehearsed with a real sense of purpose.  They knew everything  - primary routes, alternate routes, passwords, signals, key actions, casualty plans, resupply plans, link up plans etc.  When it came time for inspections they were thorough, detailed and methodical.  

I took this second picture during our final confirmation brief. What made me so happy with this exercise is that I played no part in the final review of the plan. My squad leaders conducted the brief flawlessly. That was awesome.

It was a complex operation.  We were to infiltrate the area in four separate vehicles, via different routes, at night during Guamanian rush hour to arrive secretively in an abandoned office building. From that office building we would simultaneously surround the target building so that the Recon Marines could helicopter in and clear the structure. We did encounter some challenges. We lost radio communications. One of the trucks had to take an alternate route. We improvised a few things. The impressive part was that the men knew the plan so well and were so confident in their abilities that they adapted quite well. As I reflect on the exercise I can safely say it was the best prep-for-combat routine I ever saw in the Marine Corps. 

The picture below is my platoon right before we departed for the raid. Since we were covert we had to wear our Guamanian Camoflauge en route to the objective if we were driving or riding shotgun. We rode in unmarked vans with our greens on bottom and our civvies on top. Our flak jackets, camo tops and weapons were staged next to us.

Security Platoon, RUTEX 15.1

There wasn't an article about my group, but you can read about a similar exercise here: http://www.31stmeu.marines.mil/News/NewsArticleView/tabid/7377/Article/533140/31st-meu-mrf-executes-long-range-raid-during-second-guam-rutex.aspx

Piracy Ops (and one hell of a 29th Birthday party)

Look Mom, I'm 29!

At the end of our Guam operation we conducted a two week package on "Visit, Board, Search and Seizure" operations, what some people might call Anti-Piracy Ops, and what I like to call simply Piracy Operations. We trained to take back ocean tankers from pirates. We practiced on US supply ships with both helicopter and small boat boarding techniques. We did everything from an 80 ft nighttime fast rope from a helicopter to a 40 foot ladder climb up the side of tanker from a small patrol boat.

This picture was taken on my 29th birthday. I am climbing up the side of a tanker, practicing boat-to-boat boarding techniques.  The basic idea for a surface boarding is to pull a small patrol (~20 ft long) boat up to a tanker, hook a small wire ladder to the lowest opening and climb aboard like its pirates of the Caribbean.  It is not a particularly advanced technological operation... but it was a lot of fun.

The Mighty Warship
After Guam we settled in for two months aboard The Mighty Warship, USS Bonhomie Richard. The BHR, as it is called, is a troop carrying ship with the ability to support fixed wing and rotary aircraft.

The months leading up to our time on ship were pretty busy. We prioritized "Recovery Operations". As you can see from this picture in my state room I took this mission seriously.

My time on ship was exciting for another reason though. I was applying to business school. While aboard ship I was invited to interview at UC Berkeley. Luckily I was ashore in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia at the time. I was able to Skype at 3AM in the morning.

   

While in Korea I was promoted to Captain

My last field operation ever - the MRF Recon Challenge. This was a race, conducted in buddy pairs, and consisted of 6 mile ruck run, swim, tire flip, an 400m bear crawl (evil), a 400m tire flip, with an 800m fireman's carry to finish. My buddy was Zach. It wasn't anything too extreme, but it was fun. This photo was snapped moments after finishing. I told Zach he has to work on his poker face.

Coming Home - What would you do if you won the lottery?

Coming home after 5 years away is a special experience. My family and friends have been super welcoming. I am enjoying the opportunity to spend quality time with the people that matter most.  You can see my dad and me at the ball game to the left. 

I am writing today from the same place where my mother served me a D-Day Breakfast (steak, eggs, bacon and ham) the day I joined the Marines. As I consider "the whole thing" I realize something I had not been expecting. All this time away - whether in a foreign country or in the cloistered world of the military - has given me a fresh perspective. As I come to grips with what it means to be a civilian again I am astounded by all the blessings that surround us. We live in safety, in a beautiful place, with unlimited opportunity. I am fortunate enough to attend a public university that offers excellent education. I have a beautiful family.  In the not so distant future I have to decide whether to work for a large corporation, or start my own.  There is no other coutnry where this could all be possible. Where am I? Is this real?

I saw a lot of the 3rd world over the last several years. While I respect and appreciate other cultures, I was strongly moved by the poverty and oppression I witnessed.  I saw, as well, how other "1st world" societies are stifled and stalled. There is no mobility or opportunity in Western Europe like there is in America.  Coming back to America - civilian America - is a grateful culture shock.  We really do have it better than anybody else.  There is a meme floating around the internet. I think a lot of people laugh at it, but it is a sobering truth:

What would I do if I won the lottery? I live in the best place, in the best age, in the best society in human history.  I already did. I'll count those blessings and thank God.

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In closing I want to say thank you to everybody who helped, encouraged and/or tolerated me over the last 5 years.  It was the experience of a lifetime and I am glad I joined. I could not have done it without you.

­

Semper Fi
Dom

The greatest honor was to pin a medal on the chest of a well-deserving Marine. The Marine receiving an award here was my outstanding armory custodian.

Last day at my Alma Mater

The Lieutenant Protection Association plays softball in Okinawa. We never worked out a perfect system for wearing a glove, drinking a beer and fielding a ground ball. I felt that was an irreconcilable problem between the numbers two and three.

Brothers-in-arms. Major Jones visited California and all the old Geronimo Lts got together.