-
China or Kazakhstan? There is only one right answer to this question.
After securing my temporary visa for Russia in Seoul, I was given orders for a weeklong trip, part of which was to Moscow in order to get an in-brief and for familiarization. Then I would spend the rest of the time in Washington D.C. at a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) training course. I dutifully…
-
Korea is different but cool if one only pays attention
Korean food is magnificent, once you develop a taste for it. And like any culture, once you start to understand it, your appreciation is greatly enhanced. Koreans like to fix things that are broken. Not all fixes come from the manual – Koreans pride themselves on their ingenuity. The MARFORK offices were out of the…
-
A Russian Visa – just a little bureaucracy from the country that perfected it
Getting to Russia was not as easy as I would have thought, considering that I had U.S. Embassy sponsorship. I started coordinating with the ACIU in December of 1998 while still in Korea. My life took on new meaning and focus and I was determined to do well in my upcoming job. Chief of the…
-
An assignment to Russia
How did I get my assignment to Russia? If I said “Because I didn’t ask for it?” would that make sense? I had been in my job as the G-2, the senior Intelligence Officer, for Marine Forces Korea for only a few months, but it was time to start asking about a new job because…
-
Eat ‘til your tired. Sleep ‘til your hungry.
The old adage of a Marine aboard ship… There we were, forward deployed, ready to meet Saddam’s forces. OK – the year was 1993 and we were there to demonstrate U.S. and coalition resolve that Kuwait would not be vulnerable again. This meant military exercises, running around the desert, and mostly for me, providing…
-
The ritual of sharing coffee or, know the host culture before you step on your crank – more from my unpublished memoirs
On the same trip to Abu Dhabi, we met with the senior leadership from the UAE’s military. We were briefed in the van on the trip through the city to the military headquarters. Everyone in line from most senior to most junior. It was cool. I was the second most junior.We filed off the van…
-
Shawarma for lunch
I went on a trip to the UAE for an intelligence exchange conference. Per diem was a cool $105 a day. There was no way I was going to spend that amount unless I ate in high-end restaurants. That wasn’t me – food could be had on the cheap. The first day, I strolled down…
-
Dinsmere (name changed to protect the innocent)
Dinsmere was a Lance Corporal, having been promoted back after getting busted to PFC. He was a great Intelligence Marine, but not a Marine’s Marine. We were on an exercise and had the opportunity to find and explore a MAZ-543 with a Scud missile. The MAZ was a massive eight-wheeled missile transporter with a small…
-
A dog named Notso
The XO of Marine Aircraft Group 11 had a bulldog named Notso. His last name was Bright. One year for the Marine Corps Ball, one of our august officers volunteered for duty the day of the Ball so that he would not have to attend. The Commanding Officer took exception to this and looked for…
-
Once More On Board (Bored) Ship
Ship life for officers is little better than that for enlisted folks, except for one major exception. Chow in the wardroom is unlimited and eating on the mess deck is an exercise in finding the right (any) nutrition and quantity. I was now a lofty First Lieutenant and the S-2 of the Marine Aircraft Wing,…
