Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Happy Sunday

I'm sorry, but, I don't have any pithy comments to make tonight.  As a matter of fact, I am in quite the zone at the moment, with a belly-full of tasty home-made soup and Mrs Gunfighter's dulcet tones ringing in my ears from downstairs as she talks to her monster mother on the phone.

I am also teetering on the edge of sleep and wakefullness, as I seriously need some extra shuteye right now..

Do you know what I did last night?  I went to the annual chili cook-off at my church and won third place.

I'll tell you something cool tomorow.

"Sweeeet Caroline!  (bum bum buuuuum!) The good times never seemed so goood.

I've been inclined to believe they never would!"

Oh, sorry... I was listening to the Glee soundtrack.

Yes, I know this doesn't make any sense, and no, I'm not drunk, I'm just not really with it tonight. 

Happy Birthday, Marines!

On November 10th, 1775, the Continental Congress of the fledgling nation that would become the United States, authorized two battalions of Marines to serve our fleet during the American Revolution.  We Marines consider this date the "birthday" of our Corps.

Beginning with a recruitment drive at Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Captain Samuel Nicholas, our first commandant began filling our ranks with most dedicated men (and later, women) this country has produced, from his time to ours.

Today is a day that Marines old and new, young and old, greet each other with handshakes and a hearty "Happy Birthday, Marine!"... it is a day where we tell old stories from places that we served, and people that we served with.  It is a day of joy, as much as it is a day of sadness.

Whenever Marines get together and tell their stories, we remember our whole history and our record of combat service to our nation, from Providence, The Bahamas to Chapultepec castle; from Tripoli to Haiti; From  Iwo Jima to Khe Sahn; and from Grenada to Fallujah.  In our stories we remember our heroes... famous men like John Basilone, Chesty Puller, Dan Daly, and Smedley Butler, as well as men most of you have never heard of, like Nicholas Manoukian, who is pictured here, and remembered here.  Those fallen Marines are our brothers, every bit as much as all Marines are brothers (and sisters).

So, today, while I go about my business, and greet the many old Marines that I work with, and those I meet in the course of the day, I will remember our history, take pride in our accomplishments and dedication to service... and I will remember, solemnly, the sacrifices made by so many that have gone before.

Semper Fidelis

Gunfighter (USMC 1981-1989)

Inspiration from Facebook

A friend of mine who is also a fellow parishioner at our church, posted something on Facebook today that was so fitting and so right, I decided that I wanted to post it myself.  I won't credit her by name, because I am not sure she would appreciate it.  Anyway, this lady said that she...

"thinks that people that throw cigarette butts out the window are tools.  That's right.  Tools."

Man, talk about brevity!  Talk about getting right to the heart of the matter!  She hit the ball completely out of the park with this short statement.  I am in complete agreement with her, of course... people who throw cigarette butts out of their car windows are some of the biggest polluters around.

Go ahead, fill your lungs with that crap... I'm not going to lecture you about it.  Go on, knock yourself out, but do you have to pollute the streets while you are polluting your lungs?

What a bunch of tools.

 

Thanks, M!

Camouflage Barbie

It is hard toimpossible to live where I live and not see and extraordinary number of military personnel.  Living in such close proximity to the Pentagon, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Fort Belvoir (among many others), you can't help but see folks of all of the armed forces, all of the time.

Seeing as many military people as I do, and being a veteran myself,  it is easy to spot the differences in military dress uniforms or service uniforms at a glance.  The military branches being so different one from the other, you didn't have to think twice about the guy in the white uniform,... he was clearly in the Navy.  The woman in blue was either Air Force or Coast Guard (and you only needed an extra half-second to figure out which it was).  The Marines and the army, despite the fact that they both wear green, are as different as night and day (the army uses a different shade of green than The Corps), the army wearing light green shirts, The Corps' shirts being khaki.  Simple, right?  Well, maybe not so much.

In the early 1980's, most of our armed forces began to adopt camouflage uniforms for use in the field, or in combat.  The army started the ball rolling, with the Marine Corps right alongside... then followed the Navy, and God help us, the Air Force.

In an effort to keep costs down, the services were all using the same "woodland" pattern material... indeed, all of the services we wearing the same camouflage  uniform, the only distinction being the insignia.  Well, times have changed a bit.

In the early part of the Iraq war (I refuse to call it Operation Iraqi Freedom, because Iraq isn't free, it just has new masters), the Marine Corps adopted a new camouflage pattern.  It is a sort of digital print that is very similar to the then-new Canadian armed forces pattern (called Cadpat), the Marine Corps, not to be outdone, calls their pattern (Marpat).  The United States Army, trying to keep up with the Marine Corps, got rid of the old woodland pattern, and the "chocolate chip" pattern desert uniform, as well as the more recent desert pattern, and came up with their own pattern called "ACU" (Army combat uniform).

OK, you know something?  I get the whole "let's have a uniform distinctive to our own service" thing.  I do.  Having different uniforms certainly goes a long way to establishing military identity... being a veteran with the best looking uniforms AND best combat record has taught me that, but I digress.

Where was I?

Oh, right.  Distinctive uniforms.  Anyway, the US Air Force, not wanting to be left behind(not a reference to that Tim LaHaye crap), decided the it, too, needed a distinctive camouflage pattern. So, what they did was....  What?  What did you say?  Did you say "Why in the world does that Air Force need a camouflage uniform?"  Is that what you said?  Well, fair enough... you know that I like to answer questions when my readers have them.  I'll take a whack at it, ok?

Some (albeit very few) members of the Air Force have very good reasons to wear camouflage.  For instance, Combat Air Control teams, and Tactical Air Controllers have every reason in the world to wear such uniforms, as they usually operate with army units and spend their time directing forward air strikes and managing air traffic around the battlefield.  These men operate wherever the fighting is.  They need whatever protection camouflage can provide.  Make sense?, good, here are two more great examples:  Air Force Para-rescue operators (also known as PJ's):  These men are combat rescue operators.  They are inserted by helicopter, sometimes by parachute, often in enemy territory to recuse downed aircrew.  it is a hard but honorable job.  Camouflage is also needed by Air Force Security Forces:  These men and women protect air bases.  Most importantly, they protect forward-deployed airbases that are still subject to ground attack, they too need the extra protection (not as much, maybe, but there you are).

OK, so the Air Force has some reasons that some of it's personnel should wear camouflage, but this is where it gets sticky and brings me to the point of this post:  Most people in the Air Force have no bloody reason to wear camouflage uniforms.  I mean, really, I have a neighbor, a lovely young woman, who is a budget analyst for the air national guard, and every time I see her in her freshly starched camouflage uniform (with desert-tan boots) I want to scream.  Not that she isn't impeccably turned out (she is), but this is a person who, through her whole career hasn't held a gun, much less gone anywhere near anyone who has fired a shot in anger.

I'm not writing this to rag on my neighbor, but do you have any idea how much it costs you and me to pay for this knee-jerk reaction to what appears to be a shift in military fashion?

There are even MATERNITY camouflage uniforms for the army and air force.  Now, I ask you:  What kind of sense does that make?, because try as I might, I can't come up with a good answer.

My Vacation: "Official Music"

You know how it goes, right?  A song gets in your head, and the next thing you know, it represents a place or a time that will always be identified with just that tune.  What do you mean that doesn't happen to you?  You people are strange... it happens to me all the time.

I'll give you an example:  Every summer, before we go on vacation, some particular song winds up becoming our official" vacation song.  In years past it has been "I'm Gonna Be" by The Proclaimers, in 2008, it was the song "What Time Is It?" from the soundtrack of High School Musical 2 (go ahead, make a wiseass remark), and this year it was "Waking Up In Vegas", by Katy Perry... you know who she is, right?  I think that she is the chick who kissed a girl and liked it.

Well, all of these songs are still on my iPod, and they immediately remind me of driving around certain places in either Orlando, Florida, or St. Simons Island, Georgia (or places in-between).

I wonder what it will be next year?

A Charmed Life

I'm going to tell you a secret:  Up to this point, I have led a charmed life.  I mean, seriously charmed

Despite my rather dodgy upbringing, hovering on the edges of poverty, I landed on my feet, in a pretty good place in life.  You see, I was supposed to be one of those disadvantaged kids that the news always talks about.  I was supposed to wind up in the prison system or dead at an early age.

I left home in 1981, at age 17, and despite the volatility of the times (always wondering about war with Iran or in El Salvador... the disatstrous mission in Beirut, Grenada, the invasion of Panama, the raiding of Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf), I left the Marine Corps after eight years of service through the 1980's without a scratch.  During my military service, I excelled.  I learned things, got strong, and had great times.

When I came out of the service, I had a job waiting for me.  It was a job that I enjoyed, and still sometimes miss.  I was exposed to many things while I had that job.  I got to travel to some cool places, I saw and met Kings, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Cabinet Members, Senators, news personalites, Astronauts, and the odd Hollywood celebrity, and many other people who are quite famous.  I wouldn't trade that experience for the world.  The best part about that first post-military job, was that it was where I met Mrs. Gunfighter.

I have worked for a few different government agencies, now, and I can tell you that all of them heve been rewarding on many levels, and I feel very strongly, that I have made a real, tangible, lasting contribution to my country because of what I have done and continue to do.

In my lifetime, I have married disastrously, recovered, and married spectacularly well.  Despite my promise to myslef that I would never marry a second time, I found someone that loves me for who and what I am (which is to say, someone who doesn't mind my manifold quirks and oddities). 

I am the father of two wonderful children who are healthy, smart, athletic, accomplished, and gifted with good judgement.  Both of my girls will have better educations than me (one is already in college), and will have opportunities that I didn't have.

Despite my lack of formal education (I am well-read.  I consider myself self-educated), my skills have led me to a career in which I am well-compensated...  compensated well-enough that we are able to take nice vacations, and buy (almost) as many books as we want.

So here I am, living the dream...  I don't know what I have done to deserve my rather happy life.  Maybe I haven't done it yet.  I don't know what's in the plan for me.  I do know that I have been blessed beyond measure with all of the things that I have, and I am heartily grateful for all of it.

All Are Welcome... Finally!

You know me, right? You know that I am a Christian. You also probably know that along with my family I practice and worship in the Lutheran tradition. I am almost certain that most of you know what that means...

You remember Martin Luther, right? Sure you do. That great reformer that paved the way for all modern Protestant denominations... that awesome fellow who entreated people to live and worship by Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone, scripture alone, and the glory of God alone. Heck of a guy, wasn't he?

Recently, the Evangelical Church in America, the national church body to which I belong, voted to on a policy that would, among other things, allow for the ordination of homosexual clergy, and allow pastors to bless committed same-sex unions (I'm not going to semanticize about "Unions" v. "Marriage" today). I applaud the decision of the more than two thirds of the voting members who approved this policy at our Synod Assembly.

I'm not writing this note today to be a cheerleader for the assembly as much as I want to talk about why I think that the success of this vote is good for us. Good for us as a church... good for us as the body of Christ.

Since the adaptation of this policy, there have been some people who have left our congregation because they disagree with it, based on their own discernment of scripture. As much as I will miss most of them, I understand their feelings and wish them well. They will always be my brothers and sisters in Christ. Unfortunately, some of those folks chose to leave in bitterness, and I am truly sorry about that.

In departing, some folks (well, two people, anyway) decided that they had to take parting shots at the Pastor as they took their leave. Now, I don't need to defend the Pastor, who is his own man and can take care of himself, but I am rather irritated by this kind of behavior. When I decided to write this post, I was really angry, which is why I decided not to post this until I had cooled off, lest I say anything as insensitive as some others already have.

I'm never going to condemn the way anyone else discerns scripture. Rather, I am going to talk about my own discernment. I believe that at the appropriate time, I am going to be judged by the Lord. My beliefs... my thoughts... what is in my heart... all of my actions will be laid bare before Him. Rather than pretend to any level of perfection, it is my fervent prayer that when I am judged, it will be seen that I tried to live a life filled with love... Love for God, family, friends, strangers, and for my enemies (not that I have any... I mean, really, who wouldn't love ME!?). I hope that in judgment, it will be found that when I erred, I erred on the side of love in trying to keep in step with Christ's ministry. I hope that in judgment, if I am found to be in error over my acceptance of all of God's people, not just the straight ones, that I will be forgiven for having loved too much, instead of not enough.

I take heart in the text of Romans 3:19-24

"19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

If I am guilty of sin in my failure to observe the law, I am still justified by faith. You know what? I'll take that all day long! So rather than fling barbs, and attempt to sow conflict, as some have, I will do as I always have, and continue to extend the hand of fellowship and welcome all of God's children. All of them.

So, I believe that our Synod Assembly was not in error concerning this policy. I believe that we are doing God's will and God's work by living up to what we profess in Lutheran churches across the breadth of our country, when we say that "All Are Welcome"... we finally, really, mean it

Good Friday (or Gunfighter's Week From Hell)

Most Fridays are good.

 

Some Fridays are better than others.

 

Last Friday was better than just about any Friday in recent memory.

 

The reason that Friday was so special is that I finally saw light at the end of my "firearms-instructor-week-from-hell" tunnel.  Seriously... you know I love my job, but this week has just been too much.  For the past two weeks, we have been conducting a post-academy class for 21 agents and officers.  During this class, each agent has to, among other things, qualify with their service weapons, which isn't a terribly onerous task, since everyone will have qualified at least once before getting to this stage in their training.

 

What happens here is that on the third and fourth training day, all of the trainees get a four hour block of instruction before being required to qualify on day 5.  On day 5, they have to fire a prescribed course of fire, at distances of 1.5, 3, 7, 15, & 25 yards.  Each sequence of the course of fire is timed.  The course consists of a total of 50 rounds fired and has a maximum potential score of 250 points, with 200 points (80%) being the minimum score for qualification. 

 

During the first week of training... just before qualification day, we knew that two shooters might not qualify with their weapons, which is about par for the course in a class that size.  Our expectations were met.  The two that we expected to fail, did exactly that.  One of them not only failed, but failed spectacularly, falling 75 points short of qualifying.  While disturbing, all was not lost because your friend and faithful correspondent, Gunfighter, was assigned to conduct their remedial training.  This is a good thing for poor shooters... do you know why?  Because your pal Gunfighter can teach like a MOFO!

 

So Last Monday (which should have been a day off for me), at 0600 (6 A.M. if you don't habla), I started their training... as you might surmise, I wasn't terribly easy on them.  You see, I have a training philosophy that says that gunfighting isn't for the soft, the weak, or the faint of heart.  I am not in the business of career training.  I teach warriors how to fight.  How to kill.  If you aren't able to steel your heart to that task, you should admit it to yourself, and find a different life path. 

 

So.  We trained.  They listened, they learned, they did the things that I asked them to do, and they dug deep.  Our first session was encouraging, and they went on with the rest of the training day, buoyed by their progress.

 

What really sucked for me, was the fact that on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I had to go straight from training them, to conducting regularly quarterly qualification for regular, journeyman-level, officers and agents who are in normal service.  This consists of teaching a class, giving a safety briefing, and giving a lecture on the quarterly advanced training exercise that we do after qualification.  We do this three days a week, at 0800 and 1300.  Anyway, my section was really short-handed for those two weeks with men at training, one on vacation, and one out sick.  It wasn't pretty.  It was a long and dangerous week, one that I was pleased to be closing in on the end of.

 

On Thursday, the last day of remedial training, we did a practice round on the qualification course of fire, and both of my shooters fired qualifying scores!  I wanted to hug them both, but I remained my calm, cool, aloof, self and told them to look forward to qualification the next day, and sent them on their way. 

 

Friday... a dark morning.  When my shooters arrived at the range, their ammunition was ready, their targets were set up, and we immediately got them briefed before beginning the next 45 minutes that would determine the course of their careers.  I would like to brag, at this point, about how great an instructor that I am, and tell you that both of my shooters were able to qualify, but I can't.  After two consecutive attempts to qualify, one of my shooters failed to come within 24 points of qualification.  She had failed, and I am the one that had to tell her that she wasn't going to make it.  There were excuses, displays of really bad attitude, and all of that stuff, but the bottom line is that ultimately, she isn't suited to the work, and has to go. 

 

I wish her success elsewhere.

 

Oh, did you think that I was done?  Oh heck no.

 

I had to teach my regular remedial shooters as soon as I was done... and when I was done with them, I had to take my turn as the receptionist for the training center because our receptionist was reassigned before we hired another, and then there was an ammunition delivery.

 

By Friday afternoon, I was well and truly beat.  Beat, I say!

 

It was an ugly, but productive week... and I am REALLY glad that it is over!

Playlist: 1970's Soul Playlist

Hi, it's me... the musical Gunfighter.  I enjoyed posting my 25 most-played songs from my Ipod last week, so I thought I would bore you beyond belief with another playlist from said Ipod.  This list is of the songs I have on my 1970's Soul playlist.

It's the bomb.  For realz.

Let's Stay Together - Al Green

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye

Oh Girl - The ChiLites

I'll Be There - The Jackson 5

If Loving You Is Wrong - Luther Ingraham

I'll Be Around - The Spinners

Kiss and Say Goodbye - The Manhattans

This Will Be (an everlasting love) - Natalie Cole

Turn back The Hands of Time - Tyrone Davis

She's Gone - Tavares

Betcha Bye-Golly Wow - The Stylistics

Break up To Make Up - The Stylistics

Do You Feel Me - Anthony Hamilton*

Have You Seen Her? - The ChiLites

I'm Stone In Love With You - The Stylistics

Toby - The ChiLites

Where Is The Love? - Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack

You Are Everything - The Stylistics

You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics

What Is Hip? - Tower of Power

It's A Family Affair - Sly & The Family Stone

Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays

This Time It's Real - Tower of Power

Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone**

Thank You (Falettinmebemicelf again) - Sly & The Family Stone

I Want To Take You Higher - Sly & The Family Stone***

You've Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears****

Notes:

*  Although this song is from the soundtracl of the 2007 film American Gangster, it fits so completely in the 1970's soul/R&B genre that I have in on my 1970's Soul playlist.  If you haven't heard of it, I suggest you find a way to do so.  Really.

**Released in 1968, but it still belongs here.

***Released in 1969, but it still belongs here.

****Released in 1969, and belongs here because it doesn't really work in any of my other playlists.

A Glimpse At My Day

Today:

Get out ammo (DONE)

Issue a shotgun to a new guy (DONE)

Activate Mrs Gunfighter's XM radio (DONE)

Conduct pistol and shotgun qualification (DONE)

Re-complete my security clearance questionnaire, and order new fingerprint cards.

Write notes for my meeting with the pastor about the upcoming Sunday school year (Done)

Put a hundred rounds through my M-4 (and adjust my cool new sling) (too many shooters to do this today)

Clean my M-4(didn't shoot it, no need to clean it)

Teach a class on methods of reloading a semiautomatic pistol (Done)

Conduct pistol and shotgun qualification(Done)

Put away ammo(Done)

Pick up soccergirl (Done)

Supervise homework (Done... well, done by Mrs GF)

Mow the lawn

Make Dinner (Done)

Clean up post dinner(Done)

Watch Project Runway while Tweeting and Facebooking.(Done... with an adult beverage)

Sleep.