Winter Wonderland February 2002

Our cold weather mountain training in California focused on two key areas, survival and misery. Misery is a Marine's very existence. Misery is not endured but embraced by Marines.  It defines who we are, especially in a cold weather environment.

In early February 2002, we flew into Trondheim Norway and began the month long extension of our cold weather mountain warfare training. This time our artillery battery would not just be surviving but using our primary weapon in some of the most challenging conditions we had faced to date. As a forward observer, we spent one of our weeks in the field on a mountain top looking down into a snow covered valley and calling for fire.  We enjoyed sub freezing temperatures and blizzard conditions while in the field.

We slept in ten man tents on the side of the mountain. The ten man tents were nicer than the four man tents that we primarily used in California because they came with a large stove. We had a snow vehicle bring "hot chow" to us; however, the back door broke off of the vehicle. So, every time we received "hot chow" it was frozen by the time we received it. Meanwhile, other NATO forces slept comfortably down at the bottom of the mountain in warm cabins with hot showers and hot food.

Me, standing next to our tent in the middle of our week long blizzard.

An Italian 105mm battery prepares to shoot.

"in every clime and place” 2002

 In January 2002 we head back to California, except this time into the mountains for cold weather mountain warfare training.  It is a harsh and unforgiving environment that challenges everyone regardless of rank. "That which does not kill you makes you stronger" is reality here. Yet, this was only a proofing ground for more challenging events that lied ahead. In February, we shipped out to just below the arctic circle in Norway for a month long exercise.

CAX 2001

Frank Kancir Scout Observer and Robert Batchelor Radio Operator

On the hill at CAX 2001

 155mm HE rounds land in the distance

Here we are waiting for a chopper to give us a ride. We spent the heat of the summer from late July to September training in the desert. As a forward observer I was a part of a small team of artillery Marines attached to an infantry unit. We "called for fire" and sweated our butts of in the desert heat. 

The day we were to leave California, we were lined up outside of a plane getting ready to board but that day was Sept 11, 2001. Everyone was ordered to gather back in the hanger that we had staged in. Then, we sat and listened to our battalion commander as he explained the morning's events.  We shacked up in an abandoned barracks at the airfield for the next few days. We did what Marines do all the time "hurry up and wait". I believe that we were probably one of the first planes back in the sky, when finally went back to Camp Lejeune. 

Into the furnace. Butter Bars. 2000-2001

These are a few photos from The Basic School.   In the first photo, I just got out of the gas chamber. The next picture was a little chow time in the middle of a field exercise.  I attended TBS from June to December 2000.  I stayed over a few weeks more and attended the new Marine Martial Art Instructor Training program until it was time to go to Artillery School in Fort Sill Oklahoma.  I was at Fort Sill from January to June 2001. Then I checked in to 1st Battalion 10th Marines a few days before July 4th 2001. The battalion was preparing to go to California two weeks later for desert training (CAX).

Commissioned May 12, 2000

Many men on both sides of my family have honorably served our country. I followed in their footsteps when I graduated from Texas A&M University and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.

Philomath Polemistis

These are currently a combination of my thoughts, opinions and creations. I do use some outside resources to help recall certain events.  These events, thoughts, and images may be presented in any order that I see fit.

These are the definitions of the words that I have combined to name my blog.

Philomath is a lover of learning, from Greek philos ("beloved," "loving," as in philosophy or philanthropy) + Greek manthanein, math- ("to learn,") = /ˈfɪlɵmæθ/)

Polemistis is a warrior = πολεμιστής 


Semper Fidelis.