“War’s a &**&#, Wear a helmet.” – Sergeant Daniel Walsh 

In this city, we learned to love the mud and sand plastered to our bodies. We wake up to the blazing sun that constantly burns our skin to rough leather, as our body temperatures rest comfortably at one hundred n’ two. We waver on the edge of heat exhaustion. Our stomachs heave and our %@$!s come spastically. We are filthy inside and out and the local collection of bacteria doesn’t help with the bouts of dysentery. With what constitutes a toilet here would make any civilian cry.  Did I forget to mention, we get blown up, shot at, and crammed into places not fit for human occupation.

Welcome to life as a grunt. It’s our job; it’s rough, hard, it sucks, but most of all it’s the best job in the world. CNN may make us infamous, but the truth is civvies don’t know !^$@. We do this job for three reasons. First is we’re protecting Jody and Sue’s freedoms back home. The second is because we know that if we can live through the worst of times, we’ll thrive in the best of times. Lastly, we are America’s warriors, the special 911 service that is called when the country needs us. We are Marines, we don’t need ties or business suits, just our M16A4’s, our 40 mike-mike’s (M203 40mm grenade launcher), and the enemy’s backyard as our playground.  

2200 hrs, March 18, 2012

Combat Outpost (COP): Hotel

Ramadi, Iraq (66 miles west of Bagdad)

The cold night air stung against my face as I hurried through the dirt streets of the military base. I grumbled, desert camies were barely keeping me warm in the frigid desert night. My destination, my squads dull tan tent on the other side of the base, where a warm rack was ready to welcome me.

“Corporal!” I froze, knowing that the voice didn’t bode well. “Corporal!” The man yelled again. I spun on my heels and snapped to attention.

“Aye, Sergeant Major.” I replied looking past the imposing man and into the distance. He strutted up to me with his false air of authority. He towered over me, his hazel eyes burning into me as If I might disappear before him.

“What the hell are you doing out?” He questioned harshly. $!*#, if he finds out I'm dead! I didn’t dare to breathe as I replied.

“I was helping PFC Manitoba, sir. He wanted help at the Chow hall, sir.” The Sergeant Major’s steely eyes looked me up and down, suspicious. We both knew I was lying through my teeth but after tonight, it wouldn't matter. With a dismissive wave, the man let me go.

“Get to your rack and don't let me catch you out after watch. Might as well NJP your ass the next time!” He said gruffly, turning away. Without any courtesy he   skulked away into the entrails of the base. I stood for a moment glaring at the back of his head. 

“Thank you Sergeant Major Dick!” I snarled under my breath,  hurrying to my tent. The funny thing about the Sergeant Major was his last name, which was Dick, and he made a habit of living up to the often humorous moniker. 

When I finally reached the tent most of the squad was asleep, PFC Lakes was snoring in his rack. Corporal Thane fidgeted, he was the only one awake. As usual he was ingrained in some novel that he had ordered from the states. I quietly walked over to him and looked down at the book.

“What-cha reading this time Thane?” I asked inquisitively. Thane's glassy green eyes met mine. He must have been up reading the entire night. 

“About Mobsters from the twenty’s and thirty’s.”  He said slightly surprised. “Where have you been Micahart?” I kicked a tuft of sand that made up the floor and grinned sheepishly. He's not going to believe this.

“Up at eagle point, with Staff Sergeant Luttrel. ” Thane’s eyes widened, he instantly shut his book and directed all attention to me.

“The sniper’s perch? You spent a night with Luttrel's squad?” He blabbed. I put my hand over his mouth and looked around the large tent. My squad mates still lie sleeping and snoring. Last thing I needed was for unwanted ears to hear Thane's gawking.

“Half a night,” I corrected. “Staff Sergeant asked if I wanted to join for a bit of target practice.” I grinned as I saw Thanes jaw drop, I honestly thought his eyes couldn’t get any bigger. 

“ d’you shoot someone?” he asked, hanging on my every word. I turned and walked over to my rack. “Micahart?” he pleaded. Releasing a breath, I laid on my rack, my body ached from all the day's work.

“No,” I lied. I could see the anticipation on Thane's face replaced with disappointment. Reluctantly, he picked up his book and gave me one last glance. Almost hoping one begging look would change my mind. I shook my head and he returned to his book, grumbling under his breath.

“Liar,” a voice next to me whispered. It was my squad leader, Sergeant Walsh. I smiled slightly, propping my hands behind my head creating a makeshift pillow. 

“If I told him the truth, Sergeant Major would find out. He thinks I was helping with chow. Old dog almost NJP'd me tonight just for walking back here.” Walsh rolled his eyes and laid back down on his cot. A long silence returned to the air, only broken again by Walsh. 

“How many?” he asked in an emotionless tone. I thought back to the firefight. Bullets zinging past my head and the smell of cordite in the air. The bark of rifles mixed with the sharp staccato of sniper fire, shouts for ammo ringing loud. I shook the all too fresh memory from my head.

“Enough to keep everyone here safe.” I replied and rolled onto my side, pulling a thin blanket over me.

“Uh-Huh, need to talk about it?” Walsh asked. I gave him a glance, and looked back to the top of the tent. Sometimes you could find all the answers staring up at the top of the tent. This time I felt content. 

“I’ll be fine.” I shut my eyes and laid there, sleep overcoming my tired body.

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***Below are helpful insights into the story including; setting, characters, military jargon/ slang, and Arabic translations.***

Base of Operations
Ramadi, Iraq
*Callsign- Hotel

~Green District- The Base and a two mile radius surrounding it. Normally safe.
~Yellow District- Two miles outside of the base till four miles outside the base. Moderate Danger with chance of IED's and possibility of snipers.
~Red District- Four miles outside the base till ten miles outside the base. Severe Danger, Guaranteed IED's, and Snipers.

Roads (named after wives/girlfriends)
~Angel Rd. - Main road leading to the camp and out to the main highway
~Victoria St. one of many side streets that branch off of Angle Rd.

Nearby Bases
Fallujah (40 miles away) - Main Marine Base
*Callsign- Foxtrot

Characters

*Bravo Squad (Marines)
Corporal Micahart: (main character)Expert Rifleman on Second Deployment.
Corporal Thane: (Main character's best friend/squadmate) Heavy Machine gunner on first deployment, the squad's nerd and joker.
Sergeant Walsh:Squad Leader and is on his third deployment. Kind hearted with a great sense of humor. Has connections with the COC in Fallujah.
K.I.A - Private First Class Lakes:Was a new kid and self-declared know it all.
Lance Corporal Bishop:(As of Ch.7) Newest Soldier to join Bravo, stays silent and only speaks when needed. Very calm and collected. Can be sly and dangerous when put against enemies. Second Deployment.

*Alpha Squad (Marines)
Staff Sergeant Mick: Leader of Alpha squad. All around carefree guy.
Sergeant Perez: Second in command for Alpha squad. Tails Mick and is the more serious of the two in Alpha.
Lance Corporal Young: He's one of the greenest recruits on deployment and tends to push his commanding officer's / NCO's, buttons.

*List of Squads (main squads)
Alpha Squad:Infantry Squad; Mick, Perez, Young
Bravo Squad: Infantry Squad; Walsh, Micahart, Thane, Bishop
Charlie Squad:Infantry Squad
Delta Squad: Artillery Squad
Eagle Squad: Sniper Squad
Callsign Broadsword (1-4): Helicopter Squadron

*Other NCO's (Non-Commissioned Officers)
Staff Sergeant Luttrel : Leader of the resident sniper squad on base.

*Commanding Officers
Sergeant Major Dick: He oversees the squads and (in his freetime) finds the smallest problems so he can yell at someone for them. Sometimes though he does side with his soldiers and help them out.

Captain Kujo:Fresh from the states, Kujo is the newest officer to Ramadi. Likes to treat all enlisted soldiers like dogs. Arrrogant and selfish.

*Killed in Action
Private First Class Lakes:
Belonged to Bravo Squad, killed during a morning patrol in Yellow District.

Acronyms and Terminology
(Alphabetically, farther below is Arabic words translated to english)

~0440- 4:40am
~0557 hours- 5:57am
~0600- 6:00am
~0615- 6:15am
~0800 - 8:00 am
~2100 hours - 9:00pm
~2200 hours - 10:00pm
~AK-47-
~ Area of Operations (AO)- The area where assigned squads or bases operate.
~Bag Nasties- normally given to Marines sitting a vehicle checkpoint. Usually looks like an elementary students sack lunch
~Battle Rattle- The combat gear worn by a solder
~Blue Falcon- A marine who screws over a friend or fellow marine for personal gain
~Bravo- Micahart's squad's name
~Bulkhead - wall
~Butterfly trigger- Needs both thumbs to depress the trigger to fire
~Charms- known as bringers of very bad luck, eating or even touching one could bring bad luck. Superstition in the USMC
~Civvie- Civilian (usually derogatory)
~COC- Chain of Command
~Contact-Either seeing or being engaged by a possible enemy combatant; making contact with the enemy
~COP- Combat Outpost, Military base
~Corpsmen- Naval medic assigned to Marine units to provide medical treatment
~Danger Close- Ordinance within 200 meters of friendly forces
~Ditty- short and simple or simple popular song
~Dropped the dime- to call out or challenge
~DZ- Drop Zone
~Eagle Point- Sniper Perch at the base
~Evac- Evacuation
~Exfil - Exfiltration, getting friendly units out of enemy occupied territory
~Fly-Boys- Air Force/Any other pilots
~Hadji-slang used by troops in Iraq to describe an Iraqi citizen
~Hotel - Call sign for Bravo Squad's base
~Humvee- Common land vehicle, not to be confused with the civilian Humvee
~I.E.D- Improvised Explosive Device (Bomb)
~In country- on deployment in a foreign country, in a war zone
~Insurgents - extremist (political) enemies that use terror to accomplish their goals
~K.I.A- Killed in Action
~M249 SAW- Light machine gun, SAW means Squad Automatic Weapon
~Ma Deuce - .50 caliber Machine gun
~Mark-19- Automatic Grenade launcher, shoots 40mm grenades
~MARPAT- Marine Pattern, Type of camouflage that Marine's use
~MEDEVAC- Medical Evacuation (normally by helicopter)
~M.I.A- Missing in Action
~Mike - Minutes (can also mean miles or meters)
~Motor T- Motor Transport, where (ground vehicles) are handled, has large garage
~Mujahadeen- Muslim extremest, Jihad
~NJP- Non Judicial Punishment, discipline without a court marshal
~N.V.G's- Night Vision Goggles
~O' Dark 30 - early hours before dawn
~OFP- Own $^@%ing Program
~Oorah- means yes, hell yeah, or is a standard shout of comradry
~Oscar Mike- On the Move
~Out of country - off deployment, out of war zone, sent home
~PFC- Private First Class
~POG- Person other than Grunt
~Racks- Beds
~ROE- Rules of Engagement
~Roger- Affirmative or Understood
~RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenade
~SAPI plates- Small arms protective insert, body armor against small arms fire/shrapnel
~!**! hot - overly arrogant person
~SITREP- Situation Report
~Skinny- news
~smokin' and jokin' - a marine being unproductive
~SM- abbreviation of Sergeant Major
~SNCOIC- Senior Non Commissioned Officers In Charge
~Strykers- Armored Personnel Carriers (Ground)
~Tango - Target or Enemy
~The Suck- The desert/middle of nowhere
~Tracers- Specially modified bullets that burn when shot allowing shooter to note point of aim
~UH-60 - Blackhawk helicopter (normally troop transport or medevac)

Arabic Words translated to English

~As-Salāmu`Alaykum-Arabic, meaning Peace be with you
~Shokran jazeelan-Arabic, means thank you

Note: I'm sorry if there are any discrepancies with my story and actual military life/deployment as I am not a soldier yet, I do not know it's intricacies. Let me know if I need to make corrections. Thanks, Devlin.

updated Apr 1 '11 by Anna_Devlin