Bill Ardolino accompanies a joint force of Iraqi Army and their US Marine advisors on a series of nighttime raids that go well: Bad guys wrapped up, intelligence gained, no blue losses. Keep in mind that the leader of the coalition team, Christopher Kim is a First Lieutenant, which means he’s been commissioned somewhere between two and four years. Which, when you think about it: Wow.
It’s a compelling tale, fascinating and immediate. Ardolino is on his own out there financially, and if anyone threw a fin or so in his tip jar, I’m certain it wouldn’t go amiss.
One question though, for anyone who knows: When did USMC grunt infantry start wearing flight suits in indian country? And why?
They use ramp jammies ‘Cause they’re the same color as the dirt in the picture.
What the good machinist’s mate said, Lex…and the fire retardance doesn’t hurt either. At least that’s what I was told when I asked about ‘em over there; EOD uses them, too, now and then, as well as convoy bubbas. Seems the tangoes sometimes add accelerants to their IEDs, and it’s a bitch to get out of burning CCUs.
Didn’t notice any body armor, or LBE, either.
“One question though, for anyone who knows: When did USMC grunt infantry start wearing flight suits in indian country? And why?”
They are employed mainly for their fire retardent qualities. That the Marines love the comfort is a bonus.
“Didn?
“One question though, for anyone who knows: When did USMC grunt infantry start wearing flight suits in indian country? And why?”
They are employed mainly for their fire retardent qualities. That the Marines love the comfort is a bonus.
“Didn’t notice any body armor, or LBE, either.”
Body armor was not worn during a briefing back at headquarters. It most certainly was on the mission.
Thanks for the link.
The accelerant in IED’s is becoming a significant issue, btw.
Been nice talking to you, Leyla….NOT.
Great write up. I really like the final picture of the post.
Young wariors, flushed with success, sharing a laugh and a smoke as they wind down from doing the hard work of securing a better future for their country. Those flasing eyes and proud smiles are the faces of true freedom fighters.
Good luck and godspeed, Juhndi.
Iraqi resistance???
Right out of Hogan’s Heroes! Glad to know Leyla is representin!
Speakin’ trooth to power!
Yep!
Hey Leyla,
When the “resistance bombs” killed 150 in a Baghdad marketplace this weekend, women and children, did you also cheer. Yeahhhhhhh! Go Iraqui bomb makers! We Fu*k the Iraqi’s just trying to buy food to put on the table…
You guys should really check this site out if you want to get an idea of the “resistance” to the Assads in Syria (sorry Leyla, they don’t use bombs to blow people up).
http://amarji.blogspot.com/index.html
Man, you put your head down for 20 minutes to try and do some work and look what crawls under the door.
Leyla tracks back to Amsterdam (or to Merzig, Germany depending on the lookup tool), so I suspect Byron’s right. Let me just do a little cleaning up, here.
I reckon this Leyla y’all discussing ain’t what Eric Clapton had in mind.
b2
HUH??!!
I think I must of blinked. And definitely missed something!
Lex, I think the same person (using a different name) decided to do the same at the CDRs blog…and with the same results. He tracked her down to approximately the same area as you tracked Layla. Which might make Layla and Iris (who has been seen at Eagle1) one and the same person.
Me too.
But ramp jammies? ohhhhh BABY. gotta love that nickname.
I’ve also heard that it’s due to the fire retardant qualities.
Ramp jammies started at the end of OIF3 Lex. As everyone said it’s due to the fire retardant qualities. One of the lovely little fun things the muj uses are wonderful little soda cans full of accelerant to pop a foot patrol. Doesn’t make a big bang but it sure will eat the skin alive. The goal, as with all the muj goals, is propaganda. A Marine Grunt burned all to hell makes great press for their propaganda outlets. Like the NYT, WaPo, et al. Oh wait a minute! That wasn’t very nice. I mean what’s a few layouts of body armor and humvees with detailed instructions on how to defeat them shared amongst friends eh? But I digress! Accelerant in a big IED would make guys like Arkin and Keller dance a virtual jig.
Ramp jammies are a heckova’ lot easier to get out of when they’ve been on your back for five weeks at a clip too. You can stand them in the corner and hose them down plus they won’t run away like cammies so I’m told!
P.S. I forgot to say that I thought only the track guys were wearing ramp jammies but I could be mistaken. I’ll ask Da Grunt when he gets in.
A few weeks ago, a fellow here in Denver put the word out on the Marine grapevine that he was looking for a flight suit for his son being deployed as part of an advisory team. The suits are not standard issue so the team had to scrounge for surplus. Evidently Sonny was a big boy, too big for the standard flight suit sizes. Anyway, he explained that that was the advisors’ uniform of choice these days specifically for the fire retardant qualities. As a nice ending to the story, a Chevron Oil company operation in Louisiana donated flight suits for the entire team.
Semper Fi
Lex,
A quick question from a SWO… why do Aviators (and others that have flown at one time or another) wear flight suits at shore commands where they don’t fly (and not in a flying status)? Obviously there is no issue with fire… just wondering what your thoughts are on the subject. I can understand the flight jacket, you earned it, yada yada yada… but I’ve never understood the rationale for that.
Sam, we tend to really, really love what we do, and mostly love the folks we do it with and the organization – naval aviation – that the flight suit represents. So even on a non-flying tour it helps us remember that while we may not be flying, we are still “flyers,” still a part of the tribe.
Plus they’re low maintenance and fairly comfortable. Your collar devices and nametags don’t get caught in the seatbelt, you’re not supposed to polish your boots (fire hazard, doncha know) and you can wear them until somebody mentions the smell.
Me? I’m almost always in khakis these days. Must be about time to go.
Lex,
Best answer I’ve heard yet. It obviously isn’t any requirement (and I’ve heard other pilots try to pull a requirement arguement out of a dark unpleasant place) but linking it to your organizational culture makes sense.