When The Mission Is Unclear

Orders come down fast, but the emotions hit faster. We’re back with Retired 1st Sgt. Reginald Adams for an unfiltered talk about what service members and their families carry when a deployment is looming, and the purpose feels hazy. Reginald pulls from his time as a first sergeant to explain the headspace troops live in: anxiety, faith, responsibility, and the quiet mental math of “what if I don’t make it back.”

We also wrestle with a harder problem than gear or training: mindset. How do you prepare to face an adversary who doesn’t plan on returning home? That question takes us into Vietnam comparisons, the limits of winning hearts and minds, and why complacency is deadly even in moments that look calm. From there, we talk leadership and trust, including what happens to morale when soldiers feel like the people at the top won’t challenge bad orders.

Then the stories open up. We revisit Fort Benning and Gulf War era Saudi Arabia memories: unit culture, integration, code switching, the absurdities of customs and regulations, the “E4 Mafia” solutions, and the kind of chaos you only believe if you lived it. The most vivid moment is the Scud night, the Patriot intercept, the blast, the scramble for gas masks, and the uncomfortable truth that faith looks different when things start exploding.

If you care about military deployment, veteran experience, leadership under pressure, or how war reshapes people, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the question you can’t stop thinking about after listening.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Why Talk Now

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My man, Reginald Adams. Reginald. Hey. Good to see you. Good to see you. Welcome back, man. Welcome back. Uh appreciate you coming back to hang out with me.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Anytime.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

So, you know, I told you I wanted to chat with you about um some current events. Because there's a bunch of them right now. There's a bunch of, there's a bunch, there's a bunch going on right now. And you know, it's funny because I don't even know what you call current anymore, right? Because every day.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Every day is something new, right? So a few weeks ago, what was current was some files, right? Now you don't have nothing about them. Right. I don't that that was current a couple weeks ago, right? Now we uh we're talking about something different. And um, so but I think that's that's right up our alley,

Deployment Anxiety And Family Pressure

SPEAKER_00 0:46

right? So I want to I want to get your opinion on, you know, troops getting deployed. So think back, man. Think back to uh to the good old days and just tell me what you think uh are going through these these uh service members' minds right now as they prepare to deploy.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Well, fortunately for them, majority of vast majority of them, they probably have deployed before. We are still, you know, we still fresh from although it's been some years, but there are still gonna be some remnants of people who have deployed before, Iraq, Afghanistan, or whatever. They, but for somebody who haven't, uh little fear, a little trepidation, um, and and that would also depend on your faith level, you know, whoever, whoever they pray to, you know. But definitely anxiety, fear, you know, worry, and because there's no definite this particular incident, incident says there's no definite way forward. It's just go over there. You know, you don't know what you that's basically what was happening. They loaded up them folks, the Marines, put them on the boat, and they put 82nd in airplanes, and you know, they're like, you know, what's our objective? You know, they're not gonna tell everybody on TV too, but still, um, yeah, that's that's definitely what's going through their minds and the family, especially with new new families, or with brand new babies or pregnant wives or whatever, they definitely got a whole bunch of mixed emotions going on in their brain. But we we had, I think one thing would be I don't know how close knit they are in their units now, because it's all kind of crazy stuff happening with these in these units that never, never would have happened. Uh I'm I'm a first sergeant. Just had brag when the guy killed a girl, you know, put the girl in the case and put her in the car and drove her off. I was like, yeah, that would have never happened in my era. I'm considered a dinosaur, but as a first sergeant, yeah, that that would have never happened. So I'm seeing a lot of lacks going on and complacency. And we had a sign as we left the fob in Iraq, it said complacency kill. And so it reminded us every time you went outside the wire. And yeah, I'm thinking people getting complacent, but they about to get a groude awakening shortly. Because we don't know now, we really don't know the cut capability of who we're supposed to be going against. But those people have been fighting since biblical times.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Let me ask

Answering The Hard Why Question

SPEAKER_00 3:18

you this though. Like as a first sergeant, you know, what do you say in a situation like this when a young soldier asks you straight up, looks you right in the face, and says, Why are we here?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

We would normally have some better intel than what they're putting out on, well, all the intel than they're putting out on TV. You know, so we I have to tell them we're here to do our jobs. Plain and simple. We you the same job we did in garrison, same job we're gonna be doing uh wherever we're going, because I was combat support. So it did probably a different thing for the uh the fighters, but for us, it was like, hey, we're gonna be doing the same, we're gonna be offering the same top-notch support to the fighters, beans, bullets, and tires, you know, and I would try to refocus them on that aspect of it and reassure them that uh, hey, this is what we signed up for. This was the possibility that we signed up for. It wasn't all just to go to college, you know. It's a possibility that you're gonna have to go somewhere. Right. And up until this point, now this wasn't no surprise to the deployed units. You know, they get, you get all this stuff way out. So they've been training and practicing and and all of that. Say, hey, uh what they call the pet chart. You know, they're on the wall, and they're saying, hey, these are the this, these are the people that's going. Everybody get those warning orders, it trickles down. So yeah, they they knew they were about to do something. So they are gonna be prepared for whatever. It kind of, the media kind of makes it seem like they just told them yesterday, hey, pack your bags. Uh-oh. You know, yeah, but they they're fully prepared and have rehearsed and practiced and and and for whatever they're doing. But yeah, that's what I would tell my guys. We're gonna do the same top-notch job we in garrison, we do when we deploy.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Well, have you noticed that um here in in the United States, when we deploy, you see the images, right, of families hugging these, you know, these uh the service members and looking forward to things when they get back, praying that they come home safely and that sort

Fighting An Enemy Who Accepts Death

SPEAKER_00 5:18

of thing. But on the other side, they don't think about coming back, right? You're going against somebody who is like, there's no coming back. This is it. So it's a different mindset. Yes. And the question is, how do you prepare for that, right? How do you prepare for someone who we're getting ready to go against someone who they don't care nothing about getting back?

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yeah, that's that's the rub right there, because I've been talking about this to other people, and the closest we've ever come to this was Vietnam. And it's that's why we honestly pulled out because it's extremely difficult to defeat a an adversary who is not will who is willing to die for what they believe in. It's ex Excuse me, it's extremely difficult. Because now we, you know, we're all about winning hearts and minds and having the people turn on or be on our side. But when everybody, you know, that that's difficult. Difficult. I I don't even know how you could prepare for this because nobody's seen this since Vietnam. We we've always been the dominant. And um always we all we laughed at the Iraqis and and all of them, and they've throwing rocks at Titus. You know, like we got upper armored vehicles. He's like, they throwing rocks. I said, that's that's somebody who's convicted. Right. They believe in what they believe in. And it's difficult. And just like they they pulled out of Afghanistan, um, Russia pulled out of Afghanistan for the same reason. Because we know we had some help. But they was like, hey, this is dirt over here. We we can't grow nothing. Right. So we're we fighting for it. And they pulled out. So yeah. I think it's gonna be interesting. We probably won't, hang on, we shouldn't do the boobs on the ground thing for no long period of time. First of all, what they're trying to go to is an island. You don't can get so many people on there. So um, I don't know.

Leadership Changes And Unlawful Orders

SPEAKER_01 7:08

It's more of a um show of force to me with this administration, uh, a lot of bluffing. You know, uh, unfortunately, the leaders who would have opposed all of this, he got rid of them. Right. Every head of every organization, every every branch of the military, they've they've all been replaced. And there's no way our generals would have. Because his first term, I don't know if you remember, the chairman of the joint chief, he had all the other chiefs on a platform and they did a press conference, and he said, We will not follow unlawful orders, and we are, we have been sworn to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. He said, I promise you, we're not, and that's why he got rid of all of them. Because they made that statement. Now he got people up there, they saying, he say go, and they just send people. Yeah. So it's gonna be different.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Even at the lower ranks, man, when I think back, back in the day, 598, Fort Benning, not gonna mention any names, but there was some who I'll just say would have been with it and would have supported this all the way.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

It's always gonna be those. Um they were at in our time, they were lower ranking. Now all of them are at the top. So when you weed through the people who would oppose you and you bring your people up at the top, that that's where we are.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

That's where we are.

Flags In The Ranks And Unit Culture

SPEAKER_00 8:36

I think, you know, I I think back to um like when I first got to Benning and I met you guys. When I got there, I'll never forget, man, I still had a duffel bag and I'm walking from the parking lot to the CQ desk, and this cat had a flag hanging out his window. You know, I'm talking about. Oh yeah. So now, here's the thing. He definitely would have been one who would have been in support of, right? I didn't know him, I didn't know anybody else, or what have you. Saw the flag, and here's what's crazy, right? I'm from up north, right? DC. That flag didn't really impact me. Right, yeah. Right? I was I looked at it, first thing I thought was Dukes of Hazard. I used to watch that, you know. I used to watch that. I like that show on Luke Duke and them, you know, all of that. But then when we got over in the desert, because you remember, well, soon after I got there, we was out. And we got over to the desert, things went left, and they they dealt with it. Calmed down. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

They calmed down or, yeah, they got got serious.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Yeah, they dealt with them. And and I'm talking lower, lower enlisted, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Our peers at the time. Right. Our peers at the time dealt with dude. And what was funny was I was questioning why. Why y'all tripping about him? Like, why y'all, you know, and it took for brother Spike, remember Spike pulled me to the side, and he was like, here's what the problem is. Now, he explained it to me. It made sense. You know, Spike from Jersey. So I'm thinking, I'm thinking, what, you know, you even tell you telling me secondhand stuff because you didn't experience certain things. But he broke it down and helped me to understand. So my point is this, like you said, they're all have been promoted now, but you still have those who are at the lower enlisted, the lower ranks that are probably not with this right now, or are like those that you mentioned earlier. I was trying to go to school, you know, college, whatever. And, you know, again, my concern for them is there doesn't seem to be an umbrella of protection for individuals who may not or may oppose.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Well, I mean, they have op they got options now. They can they got options. I do think from our time to more time now been out nine years now. So from our time to to now, when I became a senior enlisted, the lower enlisted were getting closer. Only one of the reasons was because you stayed lower enlisted longer. People weren't popping up the ranks and stuff like that, and and switching MOS's and and stuff like that. And now, even now, these kids coming in, they are um, you would stick out if you were a uh rebel flag waiver. Really? Now. Yeah, these kids now, uh, a white and a black kid now, it's just my friend. And and I've seen that transition, especially when they switched to the don't ask, don't tell. I had a kid in my in my shop. I'm a battalion motor sergeant. And it was a Hispanic kid. And who ain't cut, I mean, it's good looking cat. Funny, we we laughing, joking. And towards the end, before I right before I got promoted, the other soldiers came to me and was like, Well, you didn't know he was, you know, he was gay. And I was like, no, I had not at all. I mean, and it was like, oh yeah, those soldiers, they love that boy. And they would hurt somebody if you said something disparaging about him. Okay. And I when I saw that change, I was like, well, okay, they different. They wasn't idle, they wasn't isolating or none of that. It was, they were embracing. And it was, it became, and I I fostered a family environment to hey, this is our, you know, this is our family. Don't let nobody come here and mess with our family. But uh, yeah, they've they've changed, and all of those flag waves, like them, yeah, they they they stick out. And what ha what had happened was they have all been crowded into specific MOSs. Okay. So that's what I started looking at and said, oh, okay. It was the infantry. Okay. Because it was no people, it wasn't a lot of people of color in the infantry when we when we first came in. Then that changed. Then it was Rangers. See a black guy, a black ranger was like seeing Santa Claus. You know, like, oh, he he a bad dude. If you saw a black ranger back in the day, that boy was mad. Because he he went through it. Right. And and that all changed, and and it became still artillery. Uh, that's because it's a very tight-knit. They only got several, only uh one or two bases that they go to. So they see each other their entire career. And those, those type of, that's what it has happened. Because uh integration, more of people of color was coming in, at least for the army's sake, um, they we kind of pushed all of them away or to the side or whatever, and they were really for themselves. We all you only saw how somebody truly was at were as company function. For family day, we had kids walking up, golf, but the black makeup and the black me high booth with all them buckles, you would have never known. The buckles, buckles and spectrum. All the buckles. Oh man, all the buckles and four-inch heat, I was like, wow, okay. And and all the cowboys, and and you would have never known because they don't, every time I went to a duty station, it the demographics change. It either changed, it was it was all one way when I got there, and it slowly changed, or the other way. And kind of like public schools. Well, it's not a lot of, there's not a lot of public school shootings, because they took all the monsters and put them in the suburbs and see public schools, we kept them at bay. So you would have never known this kid was thinking this kind of way. But when they when they went out to the suburbs, they corraled all them monsters together, and they have no, they ain't have nobody that to calm them down, and you you get what you get. But they was like, oh, I want metal detectors at my school and blah, blah. Now those people, them kids say, hey, I want to go to the black school. Yeah, they're safer.

Ranger Stories And Code Switching

SPEAKER_00 14:34

You know what, man, you you mentioned black rangers, and it and it reminded me of when I went through PLDC, there was uh in my squad, there was a black ranger. Matter of fact, my squad was wild, man. I had a there was a black ranger, a bunch of white guys, rangers, and then there was a uh Hispanic dude, infantry, U.S. Army pistol team, as a matter of fact. So I went through with some dudes that, I mean, they had me, you know, I I had to keep up, right? And so, but but what you what you mentioned about the integration, this is, you know, what, 30 years ago, right? Mm-hmm. Here's the thing. Um he's in PLDC and he was part of the Rangers, that Ranger Battalion that was out there.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

I don't know if I don't know if he had completed the entire you know, course, you know, all the different uh phases they have to go through. I don't know how that went. Here's what I noticed though. That brother, he was well integrated with them, and he had to code switch. He was my roommate. So, you know, two to a room, we would talk. But as soon as his ranger buddies came around, I was like, you know, he he got real different.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

And that that has been our existence since they brought us here. Right. And these kids today, with this gentle parenting, they don't have to do that. You know, and they don't have to do that. You have to go to specific places, like million places to find kids that talk like us. Now, these kids, you would think they was born in a suburb.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Well, here's the thing, man. They don't have that struggle. He got put out. He flunked out, right? He didn't make it. And I feel like just the interactions, I feel like his Ranger buddies did it to him.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

Ooh, really?

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah. I felt like, because it was like this. They were comfortable with slinging the N-word around, but would do it and say things like, I grew up in the hood. You know, like, I grew up, you know, and that's what it would make make a difference. He would accept it. And me and him talking, I'm like, yo, I'm a man. You know, like, what's that about? No, no, they're cool, you know, whatever. But it seemed like he's bouncing around with them, you know, PLDC. We we we we trying to all make it. But he always seemed to be the one. They were treating him like a pet.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

And then trying to hold him to certain standards. And I think they were the ones who felt like he wasn't up to.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Traditionally, Rangers flunk out of PLDC because of land nav. Because they already have their, they already come in with their run and pace count. You know, they already have all this little cheat stuff, and PLDC talks, the basics. And traditionally, that's what get them out of there. That's why they always say, hey, I know y'all got y'all stuff, but do it our way and you'll pass. When you get out of here, you can go back to doing it how you did it.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Right. Yeah. Well, you know, and I probably knew that guy too. Well, you know, he he uh only a handful when we were there. So we knew we knew most of them. That's the thing. He he he didn't flunk land nav. That was a crazy thing. He flunked some clerk some classroom stuff. And and because when it came to land nav, and my buddy is Perez, the the the Hispanic dude. They taught me the little run and pace count thing while we was out there. I couldn't do it. Right, you know, because you know when they when they hit the go, them jokers would take off and got them beads, the range of beads. I'm with my little comfort, like, hold up, you know, and them cats would take off, hit all their points, and then come back for me. You know, like I'm like, y'all, man, y'all are crazy. But but the point is he had to that that integration thing, he it was like he was the one who was being, you know, there's always give and take. It felt like he was giving, nothing but giving.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Back then they were, they were very, it was, it was not a lot of people, not a lot of them. So they would get like really, they could they'll get messed up over there behind the fence because, you know, you had to punch in the cold to get over there where they was at. So I I definitely feel them, but it changed over time. Now they got women, you know. Right, right. Ranger. Right. But uh, yeah, it definitely changed. But back then, yeah, cold switching.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Yeah, and and it was crazy because, well, Perez, he was uh he was infantry, you know, he wasn't with them. So Perez was like, I'll knock all y'all out, you know, like it was a they had a rivalry, infantry and ranger, yeah. Yeah, he was a different dude. But um, you know, and I and it PLDC gave me a a an added level of respect for them because you got to see how they got down, you know, especially when we were out there doing stuff at night. You know, Perez was like, all right, remember the cat eyes on the back of the watch my cat eyes, stay with me. And I'm right behind him. All I see is pitch black. I see nothing cat eyes, and then my man's cat eyes dip and disappeared. I'm like, yo, and he had gone down a ditch. I didn't know that. You know, I couldn't see the ditch. I'm like, man, I can't see that. But he he was he was moving at night. So I I guess my point is, you know, that that stuff that the the skill level that they had had transcended race, you know, you had black, white, Hispanic, and they were getting it. And me, with my little sophisticated stuff, with my little compass trying to just keep up with these jokers, reading the map. I think this is my point. Should I should I click it? Because if I if I hit the wrong one, I'm out, you know, like and these jokers, man, you know, so but when you mentioned, you know, the whole integration thing and things changing, you know, I I I've got no problem with that. Um, to the extent that one side of things is not being subservient to the other, right? And what I witnessed with this brother, it broke my heart, man. I mean, because you know, 30 years ago, look, look how young we were, right? What what can you do? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

You know, it's just like, ah man, that's really uh and um I did a little stint with the special forces, and they are are way better at the integration thing. They are called quiet professionals, and they are. Uh and and we have been taught, if you ever see black anything, that that's a bad boy. Because he's not only had he had to do what they had to do, he had we always, anything we do, we gotta be ten times better than others. So them bad boys. But uh yeah, those special forces guys and Delta, Delta guy, special forces guy, you see a black one? Well, you ain't gonna know he delta unless you in the in the community, but yeah. Them cat guys, ooh, it's something else. Yeah, but it was I felt that what you felt too back then. I think that's probably why we were so tight-knit. Um, I know you came right before we bounced, but you know, for those of had got there, we had a little camaraderie and Saudi just brought us all

Reunion Nostalgia And Benning Chaos

SPEAKER_01 21:12

together. Yeah, definitely. Because we still uh we got a uh chat group that we still we just had a reunion, you know, at Benin.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Yeah, yeah, I remember.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

We just had that re we just had that reunion, man. They're talking about doing it again in um 27, so be on the lookout. I gotta be on the I gotta I gotta come to that one, man. Yeah, man. It was great. Man, it was great seeing those guys, man. Bringing back them stories and people mind man, I can't remember what I did two minutes ago.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

I gotta remember stuff way back then. Look, man, and you know what's funny is, you know, I vividly remember when I f again, when I first got there, it was an advanced party that had already left, I guess litting them on the boat, right? Then there was another advanced party. SSA.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Yeah, SSA flew up first.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Well, so all I know is I got there, I still got, you know, I got, I got, I don't even have TA 50 yet. Right. Wow. I don't have nothing. And it was about a week after I got there. Next thing I know, I'm on a plane. I never forget I'm with with uh the guys from um a few of the guys from uh from uh tech supply I meant tech supply yeah you know um I'm on the plane sitting next to these dudes and somebody I don't even know who it was somebody had to come get me they were like why are you on like I I don't know I I just went where y'all told me to go you know I'll never forget man I'm sitting next to the Willow Brown and you know and all of them and I'm sitting and they snatched me off the plane because I didn't have I had nothing. And my goodness I didn't know that I was about I'm you know I'm I'm looking at all these cats carrying rucksacks and duffel bags and I don't have none of this stuff. Gas mask, you need that I don't have like I ain't have nothing. And so I got off the plane they took off and I think we went what like 30 days later or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Yeah or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

And but while they were there for that week you know them boys was wild. There was I forget the name of that club that was on post not the NCO but the other one. There was another one Hidden Door Hidden Door, okay and this brother you remember Courtney tall guy light skinned dude um anyway he wasn't in our platoon he was one of you know one of the other platoon I just remember Courtney like I just knew his last name didn't know his first name and some stuff jumped off in there vividly remembered this cat Courtney wilding. I mean he was swinging because it was you know I I started seeing faces that's how I began to learn y'all's faces. I'm like you in my unit here my unit yeah and this cat Courtney you know I don't know if I should have said his name but he he was in there just throwing hands and you know once I started to see okay that's us well you gotta throw hands too you know like like it will and I got keys. Yeah yeah so anyway you know I just came from Korea and that was the rule. Yeah we down we in the same we in the same unit okay and you know whatever and that probably um that probably put you in the group right now I was like oh we okay you know and I think I might have caught one that night you know like okay you know but but you know back then though it was you throw hands you you get all a little dusty and then you go home right it everything was cool and but I just remember him because he was throwing hands to the extent that I think he got locked up.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

He he did a little too much like you you know come on bro you did a little too much but and and back then especially back then a lot of that was the anxiety from about the deploy.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yeah that was coming out in every swing. Yeah yeah and and it was crazy because what I wasn't used to was we on post there's this club I'm not a club dude right I don't drink so I'm real sober when looking at all this and there were civilians in there. And so it was civilian cats that they were you know and so you know when you say vividly remember I had no choice but to remember because I just got there. Right. You know and somebody took me to this spot. Yeah which is gone now it's totally they tore it off yeah it's grass that you you can't even tell the building was there. Hidden door is that what it's called yes hidden door okay that sounds familiar I don't know man but Yeah that was the so yeah you you know it wasn't the NCO club it was definitely the hidden door then it's the enlisted club the it was the hidden door okay okay that was the stuff and then and I would I would hear y'all talking about it all the time like y'all would run it.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

Bro we was there every weekend we was we was we was club whores we were there every weekend praise and then because my my she wasn't at the time but my wife's best friend worked there. Her name was Didi big Mick girl okay Didi called Beasel so that she ended up becoming uh when we got married she ended up becoming my kid's godmother okay you know and uh coincidentally I left spinning went to Bragg and then went to Hawaii and then from Hawaii I got sent back to 598 yeah it was crazy uh they tore all the buildings down gutted them new buildings and and all all the leadership wanted to know was how was it when you were here before you know it was weird they was looking at me like I'm a kind of superstar or something. Well is is anything was it wasn't something and then I was uh E5 and they had NCO barracks. I had never heard of that. So I said no man I I ain't living in no barracks. You know I'm thinking barracks how we did it. And the barracks are so nice like a little apartment. I said yeah I think I I think I can do this. Yeah yeah yeah yeah so I stayed in the barracks we had a uh on the hangar um inspection by the colonel he came through he wanted nothing about the that he wanted to know how was five down back in the day. Wow there are so many stories and that's how they they they was such nostalgia but it was we it was crazy going back and you know seeing all the new and then old uh stuff like that but uh like the motor pool they stopped using that and everybody was at third shop you know third shop was over there by the jump I mean Airborne school so all of it all the sections was over there and um that that that was the biggest difference. The motor pool was everything was over in the in the third shop area. Tech supply was still where uh they had they was still over there but all the other shops was in one area so but the purse was all new everything.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

I think um 598 had a had a reputation that spanned continents because when people found out where I would just come from I get to Germany and Caps was like you know like you you was with them you know you was with them. Oh yeah they was off the head and then then us we just went right on in you know especially after we got back from Saudi oh man that wasn't tell us nothing that wasn't even cool what y'all did the Columbus man that was that wasn't even that wasn't even cool. No you you know what was what was wild is too boys was wild but respectful I'll say it that way right there were a few who you know because once you become too stupid then you don't even want to be dealing with no cats

Saudi Life Prayer Time And Hustles

SPEAKER_00 28:31

like that. I could you know I can only I could say that I only ran into one or two that was like I'm not fooling with him but but I don't know if you remember when we got to Saudi and we would once we found our way around town and found the malls and and the chicken places and the, you know, and they would go for prayer time. I'll just say this well gave us what maybe a month or two them jokers started buying padlocks. They would just take off and leave everything unlocked for prayer time and then I heard Masterlock made a killing over there because we I couldn't believe they've even three or six thousand dollar Persian rugs outside. Just out just leave outside just leave.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

They said yeah man you ain't gonna mess with them I said but y'all don't know who we man you know and I'm not saying that we we alone did that but I'm just saying Oh yeah it was some stuff going it was some stuff that went down yeah yeah yeah um for y'all drinkers oh I wasn't a drink I don't drink either so I never had so I was the designated driver because when I found out that was hard for me too being a non-drinker non-smoker uh because they always thought I was CID and uh when I found out that at the club the designated driver get free soda oh I was in there. Wow all you had to do is take care of the bartender and I was drinking Sprite all night.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Well you know I uh they had that Will Amina over there that that's what I was gonna say I wasn't no drinker um but I was uh I was somewhat of an entrepreneur let me just say it that way most definitely you know I didn't I didn't partake right but I don't know who it was man who hit me to the hole because since it looked like water you might as well water it down you know and And and it wasn't no watering that down too that was some Right. So you you can you can water it down and stretch it still make you make your little you know because remember they they gave us the little camouflage bags to well anyway.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

So yeah I guess we can talk about that stuff now man because um you know they We had to pass the time some kind of way bro we had to pass the time yeah you know and having them having them females there didn't hurt either. Didn't hurt.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Well didn't hurt at all. Here's the thing you know um it wasn't y'all who was it that uh when our truck got tore up coming through the fence who fixed y'all did do you know who who would who had they had to fix the truck and fix the fence up and what uh platoon would have done that? Third shop.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Yeah it'd have been third shop uh uh them guys over there with what um Jomo Daniels light skinned guy with the with the the crazy eyes yeah yeah his shop yeah okay his shop would have had to do all that and uh S and R probably with the because they welded if they had to do any welding SNR was them guys doing all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Well you know um we had some guys get extra duty because of that incident and um it was funny it was uh they was in extra duty I'm talking about top had them out there sweeping sand they were sweeping sweeping sand yeah that that frustrating me sweeping that sweeping that concrete pad off the sweaty would blow on we would we would uh they're on extra duty you know they in uniform for hours after you know they ought to have been I'm in there eating and I'm sitting next to like because guys I hang with they all on extra duty so I ain't got you know so I'm sitting with other folks and I'm listening to them speculate as to who was in the truck who was in it who came through that fence who was driving and all that I'm sitting right next to him like you know because then nobody think I was you know Rose he don't do nothing because you're not on extra duty yeah so I'm sitting there looking at him man and you know I'm I'm thinking this is quite cool like to just be able to you know it's like camouflage like um yeah for for you know we tore the truck up and you know and and had to climb out the windows because the doors wouldn't open my God the doors wouldn't open what happened I guess that's the statute of limitations is done.

The Truck Drift That Hit The Fence

SPEAKER_00 32:38

So what happened was me You don't want to get no names I just talking about the actual Yeah yeah right so me me and two other guys were in the in the um in the truck right cut V and I don't know if you remember how the compound was situated but so you had the front gate but then down the fence line I don't know if that's where the hole ended up being by that other gate guard there's a guard post elevated right on the tower yeah yeah on the tower so coming to the to the camp to the compound there was a road that went straight to that to that elevated guard post and then you had to turn left to get to the front to the main gate yeah there you go so we all would make a joke of it every time we would be coming back to the compound we're on this dirt you know it was dirt dirt road and that was crazy yeah and it right so whoever would be driving you know it was it was like the whole point was we would try to hit that corner and dip it we would all holler out dip it right dip it so you would turn the wheel and try to you know I guess drift around they call it drifting we could call it hook slide and right there you go so that's what happened we were so you know look here I never had a license right but I would you know yeah anyway I learned I learned how to drive a stick ship over there there you go right so so I think earlier in the day we had driven two other times one of those earlier times I was driving dip it hit my little slide you know going in well we I had to stop get out let somebody else get up front because I couldn't drive wasn't supposed to be driving second time somebody else was driving did it okay third time I guess my man wanted to get some extra because when he came around he didn't slide so he gunned it trying to get some extra and then so the the wheel went one way and then he tried to overcompensate and come back over because we was about to go into the ditch to the left so we had to come back right and that's when we went straight through the fence right right below the guardpost right so we're right below the guardpost and here's what's funny we came through the fence and there were two trailers sitting there and we ended up in between the two trailers. That's why y'all couldn't open the door that's why we couldn't we had to climb out we had to climb out because we was between the two trailers which was a God send because had we hit one we'd have a we wouldn't have we wouldn't have been here right because that thing I know y'all ain't had no seatbelt songs but yeah well but that thing would have taken off the top of the truck and you know what I mean so we we went between the two and we were stuck and one of us had a bag of tapes. You know we used to go get tapes from music and whatever have all that Arabic writing on it but a picture of Rocky M or something you know right so anyway so we all got out dipped and the guards never even knew it. That's just how bad they were like they they was up there sleeping we had to make a run back to the truck to get them my man was like yo I left my tapes so we like all right get on back got got the stuff made it back to the room and then everybody changed up like put on you know pajamas and like we was there all time and then it was a big to-do and they knew it was our truck and then they saw who signed the dispatch last but here's the other part the dispatch was signed like the day before like we nobody had nobody had signed it nothing that day. So that changed a whole bunch of stuff in terms of rules you know because of us. Well that was why that happened yeah we we drive because I ain't gonna lie man with us it was like who got the keys? All right let me get done after that we started to have to have an SEO in the truck so it was like we would just throw the keys around like who got the keys and I got the we had to have an SEO. Well because I didn't have a license I had to wait until we got down the road before I could get behind the wheel and uh probably only reason why you didn't go on extra duty too because you didn't have no license.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

I didn't I didn't I wasn't on extra duty matter of fact it was one time they was out there sweeping I grabbed the broom chop was like you know put it down all right my bad you know so yeah man that was that was that was wild times man that was wild times but that's the that is the that's what kind of wild these cats were you know and man it's that's that's a tip of the iceberg yeah yeah yeah that was I was I was like I can't believe certain individuals are doing what they're doing over here and and the wildest thing was when we got back they just spread all in scenars and and went and go get it converted you know look my uh the supply folks the supply folks are my heroes let me just put it that way who cats and supply of my heroes man not gonna mention no names 10% off the top that's what we call 10% off the top yeah they my heroes man yeah and I was telling people the first time I when I went to Iraq how they how it was so different because when we went to Saudi they were breaking people was bringing out cases of liquor in their vehicles but it had changed prior all my we had full

Customs Rules That Made No Sense

SPEAKER_01 37:55

customs. Full full customs you had to go through when we went to Saudi we got on the plane it took off you know when we got back we came out the plane on the runway uh and and see your family oh no right it is they come to your now they come to your unit you know you gotta bring all your stuff out and and they go through it in country and then when you get to the airport whatever you're carrying they searching that I was like wow the stupidest and weirdest craziest story and I I had to make the person admit that it was stupid. We then get ready to go through customs we're carrying our M16 M4s right you got a bolt block in it uh and everything we're carrying M4s and they say oh you can't have this fingernail clipper with the file you know how you got the the toenail clipper with the file on it? Yeah yeah oh you you can't take that I say excuse me you you can't take that oh it could be used as a weapon I said you're gonna let me on the plane with an actual weapon but you won't let me straighten my toenail clipper with the file on it so I can clean under my fingernails because you think it's it could be used as a weapon.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Does that make sense to you?

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Well and he was like no actual what you think could be a fingernail file. Yeah that was if they had got a little overboard yeah that was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Well you know again those those those cats from supply first of all the combination of the two like how they put them two together like how that you know but but uh but Spike Spike wasn't in Spike no he was a mechanic no no yeah he I think yeah he definitely wasn't no he was a third shot mechanic okay I can tell you it was it was it was uh biheas and games right how they put them two together um my god you know and and uh oh my god you know it it it's it's funny how eighty one and two the boldness of you know they they had help yeah there were some others but the boldness of some of these others man I'll never forget it was like um one of them had me to roll with him uh come on Rose I need I need I need you to ride a shotgun in a uh five ton pulling a trailer full of tires let's just say we came back with no tires no with no trailer dog the whole the whole trailer yeah yeah yeah yeah that was that's what they were doing yeah yeah I I was like you know I I didn't see no transaction I didn't you know but given given the time of night it was given what we was wearing boldness it didn't feel like this was you know it didn't feel like it was legit and no but but here's the funny thing so I didn't you know I'm in the truck I see the person that they're meeting driving a Peugeot right how about the next day one of our boys got the keys to a Peugeot parked right outside the gate you know what I mean like they let the wrong people come over there boy five and eight woo like how you can imagine what was going on at Cobar Towers but still good grace man cobar yeah I think I I went over there one time yeah cobart towers off the hedges yeah when over there went to that them girls was over there selling more than cookies it was tough that people was making the they'll take the ACU they make a short set you know they cut the pan make short embroider stuff and selling it I'm like yo serious well ACU short set uh I mean a we went over there to visit uh to hang out with uh the Silva and crew one time and um when we got there like I remember going up the stairs like what is this and going into this apartment like this how y'all living man what I was I was heated I was heated they sent me they sent me up north uh to a truck stop in the desert and they got to go to Cobar and selling clubs. Yeah

Cobart Towers And Seeing Real War

SPEAKER_00 42:03

they was they was in that apartment and I remember so that was an experience to see how how they were living and then I think it was called that thing up north point canni cannibal cannibalistic something something point. And um I went up there for some like I never stayed I went riding with somebody I think that's the first time I experienced a we're at war to see some of those damaged vehicles that they were pulling the parts off of and like uh yeah because nothing we're talking about right now would suggest we were at war. Oh yeah no that's what I'm saying man. It was like not until I went to the camp point and saw the damage and you could tell like I think it was a Hummer that had a a toe dragon on the back.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

But um yeah man that was that was my first experience of uh seeing that we were at a at where of course air raid sirens didn't help I mean y'all are y'all they sent me also to quote um to the um exp what is the place called oh my god we we we slept there one night when we first got there the um expo session expo yeah yeah they said I was over there on guard duty with the MPs and my shift was I had the night shift basically and I just basically had to drive around and check on the guard points. Make sure they had water, you know weight, you know and all that stuff they I thought they did that to us on purpose because they split it's basically they split I thought they split the troublemakers up, you know they said uh Bohanan went to UAE to drive trucks. They sent the silver to um Cobart Towers and they sent me over. It sent a bunch you know they were sending people I don't know it's great. But uh they I thought I say man this is messed up I was over there for like thirty days. If I'm over here it was all right but yeah I th I thought they did it they bring it up the troublemakers Yeah I think I remember being at the expo

SPEAKER_00 44:00

For a good little while before we moved to the compound.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

They didn't know what to do with us.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Um that was that was that was an experience in itself. Yeah, man. A little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

Well, you know, when um that night the uh scud hit, giving as close as we were to that spot.

Scud Night Panic And Pure Luck

SPEAKER_01 44:19

We used to send people over there to take showers.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

That that's what I'm that's what I'm saying. Like we were right there. And and uh I'll never forget, you know, me and the cats. You know, we just we just sitting around outside and watched the thing come in. Mm-hmm. Like looking up, looking up at it, just watching it come in. Just never forget somebody cussing me out because I was like, everybody was trying to figure out what it was. Is that a plane? Is that a you know, we we trying to figure it out. And um, I remember my goofy self saying something like, that's a flare. And man, man, I got cussed out, man. That ain't no flare, you know. I mean, because because of the angle that it was coming in, it was coming straight at us, so you just saw the flickering behind it. So I thought, flare. Well, when it got real close, it just it just well, I don't know. Where did you wherever, you know, where y'all's rooms were, were y'all outside watching it like we were? Or what was y'all?

SPEAKER_01 45:14

Yeah, yeah, I saw because we always track you when you saw the Patriot take off, then you was like, okay, let me look in front of the Patriot. We always would try to see where it hit.

SPEAKER_00 45:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

But this particular time, the Patriot hit the scud on the side instead of the nose. Well, and it broke the warhead off, and that's what hit that warehouse with those National Guards. It was the warhead.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

From from our angle, and and everybody I've told, I was like, no Patriot went off that night. Right?

SPEAKER_01 45:45

That's what happened. The Patriot hit it, but it hit it on the side, and it tore it broke the warhead off, and then the warhead fell and and hit the building. Well, and see, and again, from where we were, there was no, you know, the angle that we were at, you know, there was no and and you're right, because if you were on this side of your building, you wouldn't have saw the Patriot take off the opposite side. Right.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

There was no nothing. All we saw was the thing fall apart.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

So yeah, y'all wouldn't have where y'all were at, you wouldn't have saw the Patriot take off because y'all had buildings and trucks and all kinds of stuff blocking that.

SPEAKER_00 46:21

Yeah, that doggone um that motor pool with all that stuff out there. But that maintenance tent. Yeah, we had the big maintenance tent up. Yeah, we we saw no, like all I saw was, you know, the thing fall apart and then I saw impact. Well, I and was crazy because that other piece flew past us. It looked like it went um toward the water, and that other that one that came right down in front of us. But it was crazy because we're where our room was, we can't call it barracks. Well, our room was, I guess we would have been the closest to the impact. Okay. Yeah, you see, you know, we were like right there closest to it. And so, you know, I just remember I saw the flash, then I don't recall what happened after that. An instant later, I look up and I'm on the ground, dusty, and everybody's running in different directions. Well, and then I couldn't breathe. It was like I had the wind knocked out of me. But everybody's running, and you know, the the feeling of you can't move with everybody running, you feel like you need to be running too, but you can't. So I just never I remember uh I saw the back of um T-Bone, the back of his boot going into our room. And I'm like thinking to myself, these jokers left me. You know, but logically, you're thinking, man, that room ain't stopping nothing. You know, that them little cardboard rooms we was in. But they ran, everybody scattered because there was a whole bunch of people who weren't in us in our platoon out there just hanging out. Everybody scattered. So I got myself up, I get inside the room, and what was funny was everybody's putting on their mop gear.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 47:58

Right. And I had dirt on my face, so I couldn't get a good seal on my mask. And I was moving so fast that I didn't I didn't think. Right. Wipe the dirt off, you know, get like, you know, it was a panic situation. It was like, you know what I mean? Like so that was just like one of the wildest, um, one of the wildest nights, man.

SPEAKER_01 48:18

That the night before, they we they sent people over to take showers. Because I don't know if you remember the our hot water heaters, the compound we was on belonged to this Filipino.

SPEAKER_00 48:29

Filipinos, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

Right. So and there's they're little people. So the hot water heaters were small for our our side of the compound. So that that warehouse had full-size hot water heaters. That's why the cap the commander would let people go over, and they had more showers. So, you know, we had to mash joints. Right, right. They would let more people, more people could go. So the night before our people was had went, they only let so many go. And I was slated to go that night.

SPEAKER_02 48:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 49:00

Well, uh, I was saying, Yeah, I want to, you know, uh get a good shower too. And they said, okay, you the this they that's like, you know, when they count and count and count, they stopped right in front of me. They said, Oh, you gotta go tomorrow. I said, Okay. So the next night before that happened, the commander was like, nope, nobody's going. And I was like, oh man, I was pissed. I was like, man, y'all cut it off on me. Well, after everything happened, I went back to him and asked, I said, sir, what made you not let us go that to that yesterday? And he was like, I said, was it something? He said, I don't know. He said, honestly, he said, there was no reason. He said, I didn't get no intel or nothing like that. He said, I just was like, nah, we we're not going, we're not letting him go tonight. And he didn't let let him let us go, and that thing hit. I was like, ooh, that's divine intervention. Because those people had literally just got there that day, you know. And I said, that was the sad thing. They had just got there in country. And to get there and for that to happen, that was that was a tragedy.

SPEAKER_00 50:01

Well, you know, it it was crazy is some had just got there. Some were on the way out.

SPEAKER_02 50:07

I didn't know that part. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:08

There was there was some some on the way out. They were one week out from leaving.

SPEAKER_02 50:12

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 50:13

Yeah. Um, because uh there was a there was a dude that was actually in the building that had collapsed. And he did an interview a few years back. Yeah, the brothers um he's he's hurting. I think he lost, I don't know if he lost one or both legs. And you know, he told the story about uh how the uh civilian doctors that worked on him, he didn't lose his leg or legs, I'm not sure, immediately. It happened over time because the civilian doctors weren't used to combat trauma. Right. And so they evidently sewed him up without properly doing whatever they needed to do inside first. And over time, you know, things happened, and I don't know if he had developed something. Anyway, he was telling the story. Yeah, I don't know. Um but he was telling the story. I I watched it, uh, and it was this had to been several years ago I saw him on TV.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

Wow, I didn't know anybody. I didn't know nobody survived. It was like everybody didn't make it.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

Yeah. No, no, no. It's it's so he, you know, it hit one building, the barracks, uh the makeshift barracks, but from where he was, it still tore up, you know, right where he was. Yeah. And um, and he when he described it on TV, man, I'm gonna tell you, it was like as he was talking, I could see it, you know. Because he was inside the building, you know, we were outside watching everything. So he was talking about how he the things he heard. And when he was talking, I was like, bro, I I could see that. You know, I could see it all. That was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 51:49

Vivid.

SPEAKER_00 51:50

But I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 51:51

I remember seeing it, and I was like, watching it go down like a like a streamer. And like, boom. It's like woo.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

Yeah. That was great. That that you know and and you know, when we um not we, when I um filed, right, my claim, and you know, it was 20 something years later. They

Faith In Combat And Empty Chapels

SPEAKER_00 52:12

didn't even question. They were like, a man, like when that I was talking to, he pulled something up like a map. And it was like he knew exactly where it was, where we were. There was no question, nobody even questioned it.

SPEAKER_01 52:26

They were like, okay, you know, so there were some times there, but it I think it that was the time Lord I did not, that was the only time that I did not go to church. Because I was raised in the church.

SPEAKER_00 52:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 52:40

I hadn't been baptized or anything. I was raised in the church and I knew not to play with God. And and I don't know if you remember, but they had this slender chaplain assistant from the um 295th. That was a unit that was on the compound with us. He would be in there sweeping, because I just remember walking by on Sundays, and he'd be in there just sweeping the, sweeping the and he'll stop and look up. I wave to him. Nobody was in there, right? After them scuds was dropping, it was people standing outside. You couldn't, you couldn't see inside. It was so many people in that church, in the little chapel thing. And I was like, that's what I'm not doing. I'm not gonna just run in here just because now, you know, uh, because it we were there for a little hot minute before this first scud thing. But that Sunday after the first scud attacked, and I'm telling you, they were standing outside looking in. Yeah. It was like, man, it was so many people. People coming from other compounds to that chap, to our little chapel thing. And I was the only time I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm not playing with God like that. I I knew better. I I had that much sense. Thank God I had that much sense. Every every place else, oh yeah, I was I was in there.

SPEAKER_00 53:51

You know what's was funny? No, no, no, that's not not funny. I'll just say, um, I think I was 20, hadn't even hit 21 yet. I turned, I think I turned, I don't know what, right? I turned 20 over there. And I I didn't even know there was a church on the compound.

unknown 54:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 54:10

That's just how out there I was. I was a different dude.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

And it was over there by the motor pool, so if you didn't have to come that way, you wouldn't, you wouldn't have, nobody wouldn't have known. But yeah, that I I that's a story I tell often. And because people have asked, you know, how is your faith and and combat? You know, you got a kid, you gotta shoot somebody and all that. And uh I was like, hey, I didn't play with God. And there are no atheists in foxholes. I promise you. That is a true statement. Because when the stuff starts blowing up, everybody starts calling Jesus. Jesus, oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You you know, oh, now you believe. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:47

Man, listen, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna make a confession here. If I knew it was there, I probably wouldn't have went. I'm just I'm just being honest.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

Like Yes sir, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:58

I was, you know, when I tell you, man. We were doing what we were doing. I it is hard, you know. I can't even put into words when I try to explain to people. I was a different dude, man. I was so different, man. Like, like, and and I'm and and not proud of it at all. Like, like, there is nothing to be proud about when it comes to yeah, I but no, I wouldn't, I probably wouldn't have gone and I probably would have talked junk about people that was going in there.

SPEAKER_01 55:30

Yeah, and I definitely did because I saw what I saw what happened. Y'all I remember walking by, seeing this guy sweep an empty building, and then when it goes boom, now y'all uh climbing through the windows, trying to be lowered down from the from the top. Yeah. Y'all trying to get it by any means necessary. Right, right. And then when the when the um when the threat was over, empty building again.

SPEAKER_00 55:54

I say, see? So same people. Do you remember the night that uh we was out there and somebody said that a round went off and uh like they locked down the compound?

Ammo Can Cowards And Being Unready

SPEAKER_02 56:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:07

And so we had a connex next to our building. And our our, I guess what we were supposed to do was we were supposed to go out and get in between the connects and our building and just wait, wait for further instruction. Well, we had a couple of NCOs who decided they were gonna take the ammo can and run out and get up under a truck out in the motor pool while we we over here by the connects. And so we're waiting on the all clear. We got our weapons with no ammo. And I'm not gonna mention their names, but we're signing so-and-so. We're signing so-and-so. Come to find out both them jokers is out there under a truck with the whole ammo can. Now, here's the thing: they got the ammo. You know, the ammo can had uh rounds for the 60 as well. Right. They ain't got no 60. Like, what do y'all? Y'all just got this big, big ammo can, you know, and you know, remember the ammo can had magazines that were already filled, and then you had the belt for the 60. This is not a light can. Correct. So you y'all jokers had to run with this, or not even run, walk it over, get up under a truck, and which I was gonna hold out, thought we were getting overrun.

SPEAKER_01 57:17

Like, what throw the bullets, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:20

Right. Yeah, I'm like, yo, and and as I said, I'm not gonna mention his name, but one of the things we discovered quickly, I'm not even sure I should say this, but we're on the side of this building, and you know, by this context, finally I was like, man, I can't take it no more. I walk out because it smelled so bad because jokers would go around the side of the building and relieve themselves right there. Yeah. And so I'm like, y'all lazy jokers couldn't even make it to the to the to the bathroom. And so I'm not, I just couldn't do it, man. I just couldn't do it. You know, now I'm all out in the open.

SPEAKER_02 57:57

Bro, get back here.

SPEAKER_00 57:58

No, thanks. I'm not doing it. And that's kind of how we discovered that them cats was under the truck. Yeah, it was like, hold up. And I don't know how the how we got the word that it was all clear or whatever, but I think a round went off in one of the guard posts or something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:16

Yep. He probably hit the hit the 50 cal, or something. I mean, it hit the 60 or something.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

I don't know, I don't know what it was, but um, I mean, these are.

SPEAKER_01 58:23

Yeah, we we were not compared to my latter uh deployments, we were not ready for comeback. No. No. At all. No, man. At all. We weren't ready at all. My thing was too, is if if they get back here, it's already too late.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

Done. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:42

Yeah. We might as well start speaking Arabic. Farse too, whatever. We might as well start humdilajs and all that.

unknown 58:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:49

I was like, yeah, it's it's too late.

SPEAKER_00 58:51

So I that's don't get me wrong. I mean, you know, it wouldn't have been a lack of courage. It's just, just, we just wasn't, you know.

SPEAKER_01 59:01

We were, we was, man, I can't believe how we was we were some savages. Just,

Back Home Anger Cars And Legends

SPEAKER_01 59:07

I'm like, man, because when we got back, and I don't know, I forgot that cat, that kid's name, dark skinned brother. He lived on post, and some kids had vandalized his house. They broke in his house, his quarters. They didn't steal a thing the first time. They did it the second time and they spray painted suck on the walls. So we we heard about that before we got back. So we made up in our mind that, hey, we're gonna go buy some of them things. And uh, we was like, okay. So we back, we were back, we were the backpack kids. And we used to tell people, if you ever see us, and we all have backpacks, bro, we we got it, we got on us. Yeah. It was it was serious. We I I remember that. I was like, man, it was serious.

SPEAKER_00 59:54

You know what sticks out in my mind right now? Reggie Adams with the seven series beamer and the bag phone. Oh, he bawling. Oh, you know what I mean? Like, he is bawling. What is he doing? And he got them them glasses with the gold little.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:13

I was like, Oh, yeah. I was living up, I couldn't beat the allegations that they say. I couldn't beat the allegations. But uh, people don't know, boy, that car was a money pit. I know it was. I remember I I I don't think I had that car on the road two good months.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:26

I remember, I remember the the issues you were having with it. I remember um the the the fronting you had to do with the phone, because if you used it, what was it, $17 a minute or something stupid like that?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:40

I told the fellas, I say, listen, we'll let y'all, y'all can use it when y'all want to, because we know everybody had pagers. And I say, I'll let y'all use it. But when the bill comes, I'm gonna, we're gonna go down the list and y'all just take off, blah, blah, blah. And that first bill I got after telling them that was like, because they used to knock on the door and say, man, let me get the phone. Oh, here you go. Hey, man, let me get the phone. Let me take the phone, let me take it. $200 and something. I was like, man, that's like $500 in today's money. I was like, what? Who was y'all talking to? Yeah, get my money. Y'all ain't using this phone. I turned it off. Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:14

Man. It was crazy. Yeah, I think, I think you had the bag phone, and it was somebody else had the phone in the car joint. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:20

Somebody, who was that? They had the the gray one that looked like the old World War II, the big we call it the Miami Vice phone.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

They had a Yeah, y'all was bawling, man. Yeah, the brick phone. Y'all was bawling. I I just was like, that's that Saudi money, man. Cause uh, you know, I guess you must have done a couple of them trailers or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:43

No, no, no. That car was so cheap. I think I paid $1,200 for that car. And uh I had an opportunity, I it needed an engine and a transmission. But instead of doing that, I put band-aids and fixing little things here. And um uh I had the music I bought in Saudi, believe it or not. They had an alpine store over there. So I bought an alpine pull out, um, I bought a preamp, uh, uh, a passive EQ. No, I bought a passive EQ and an Alpine pull out. And when we got back, I went and bought some JL Audio 12s, six by nines, two 100, two 200 watt, no, yeah, two 200 watt amps and one 100 watt amp. And boy, I was beating the block down.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:34

What? Who do you know? I remember you in the parking lot. I'm in my room. I already knew who it was.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:43

It didn't dawn on me that you could hear it in the barracks like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:47

I'm in my room and I hear it. I knew who it was. And the crazy thing is, it's like, man, that car loud and sitting still because it can't go nowhere. Can't go nowhere. I always had the hood.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:59

I drove it home once and uh fronting with the bag phone because it was turned off by then. And it had my pager, it was turned off. The phone would turn on, and I was remarkably enough, miraculously enough, I I used it one time. And after that, I could never use it again. I don't know how it happened. I was in Gainesville. But anyway, I drove home once, fronted, phone, everything that car was supposed to do for a young entrepreneur Negro, it did. Everything. Man, the girls was on me. Listen. So it was like that's a beam off with a stick. Yeah, yeah, that's me. That's me.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

You had a seven series beamer with some nice rims on the joint. What was that? Like inkies or something, man. Like, man, you know, I think you had the honeycomb joint with the chrome lip, man. And I was like, yo, this dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:53

I never thought about what that looked like. I said, you know what? I couldn't do crimes and stuff like that. Because I'd be the one. They say, we just got robbed and we did not catch the criminal at the bank robbery for 10 million. I'd be the one pulling up in the bright red Ferrari.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:08

Boy.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:08

With the mute.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:09

Boy, no, I'm gonna tell you though, that car, man, that car was like legendary. It was like your car.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:16

And that drug dealer dude's car. He was the only other person with the seven series.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

Well, I was thinking in terms of 598, yours. And so there was yours. It was Litton had that uh pink impulse or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:31

Whatever that was the mauve, whatever it was.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

Yeah. Yeah. And then he then he got the the the Brom joint later, but he had some beats in there. But then Wise had that 190.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:43

I was like, y'all jokers, man. I here I am pushing the Ford escort. I'm pushing an escort. Look, at least I had the GT. You and Boo. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:54

Boo had the card down.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:56

Yeah, he had the he had the emerald joint. Yeah. Yeah, mine was white, but he, yeah, that joke, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:02

You did have a white one. I remember that.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:04

Yeah, I had the white one. And he had the emerald, but that's where it stops. We we was just, you know, I'm just a cat with a regular car note driving a Ford GT though. You know what I mean? So, man, that that that car was legendary, man. It was, it was like, you know, like, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:23

I can't even imagine what what the what the leadership was thinking of when we got back.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:26

Boy, bring the dogs. Go through his room. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:31

And then with me not drinking or smoking, everybody had to, I had to be vouched for when I first got there. It was like, hey, man, you don't drink. No, man, I'm good. I don't drink. You don't smoke. No, man, I don't smoke. They be like, hey, hey, hey, y'all need to watch what y'all saying around this cat.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:45

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:46

Because they was they was putting C I D in wall lockers, throwing him out the third floor window back then, too. People don't realize that. I was trying to say it was it was serious. They thought you were C I D. So yeah, I I always had to be vouched for. No, he's good, he good. Yeah, no, we were.

E4 Mafia Logistics And Found Equipment

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

We were goons. We were goons. And these kids today, I was like, man, I told my son one time, I say, boy, I'm more gangster than you will ever be. And I don't even do it no more.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:10

Well, you know, that and that's the thing, man. It's like, you know, I I try not to, you know, dwell because for one, I can't explain, you know, and it takes for somebody to have known us and and and witnessed certain things for anybody to even believe half this stuff. You know, and it wasn't like I was I was wilding. Right, right. I wasn't, but just by, you know, proximity to the environment, you just end up. I was guilty by association a lot. End up in the situation. Like you just in it. Just, you know, like where we going? To do what? Oh man, I gotta drive. You know, like so it was like that, man. And and Cass would just do some wild stuff. And um, but different times, man, different times. And I I just think about it. We've definitely come a long way. Uh yeah, yeah. Um goodness. And I I am not uh so far, I think I've been able to not uh divulge. Nah, man, it's it's it's crazy because like I could be around somebody who might have, you know, might be talking to somebody or you know, like uh during our time. Like I can I can chit chat with you.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:26

But there's some other cats that be like, Rose, when you I'm like, nope, stop. Nah, bro, for real. And as they try to remember stuff, I'm trying to change the subject, you know. Nah, man. I you know, that was a long time ago. Yeah, you know, but people people wouldn't believe.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:43

I mean, we we literally could write books just about that without saying no names. People would not believe, because I was part of the E4 Mafia strong. I know, I I can tell it myself. I remember we got there and the the XO had forgot a whole generator. They left it in Fort Bennett. And the commander was already under scrutiny, Hawkins, because he was fat and the higher-ups was on him. I don't know if you noticed or not, but he he didn't redeploy with us. The colonel was like, I am not sending a fat captain back. So he had been on this weight loss June. He was out there running with the with the black vest and and all kinds of stuff. So he was like, hey, we need a generator. And the E4 Mafia looked at each other, what size? Okay, because I was a generator mechanic. You know, they took me and somebody else. We went to the port and we were driving, he was driving, I was looking. They got one right there. Hook it up. Backed up, we backed up to it. I hooked that fat boy up. And the next day, the uh captain came out there and he was like, we uh hey sir. Don't ask no questions.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

Handle your business.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:53

We had already re-stilled the bumper number and everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:56

I I get it. I get it. As a matter of fact, um, I know I know of uh a similar tale when it came to a five-ton forklift that I won't won't get into, which I had the pleasure of learning how to drive in that big open field by the warehouse. You know, I get it. We did what we had to do. Yeah, and and and what's crazy is uh when it came time to leave, that stuff stayed right there. I don't know who it is. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:24

On the side of the road, hey, drive this out there. Because that's what shocked me too. Units was doing that. Hence what what um sparked the uh excess equipment sales, I think we're gonna call that. Right, right. Of equipment sales.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:40

Right on.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:41

Because I was like, hey y'all. He said, Oh, maybe we just find them on the side of the road.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:45

Yeah. No, but you know, like um, I was telling you the the Peugeots and the, you know, I mean, I guess everybody was donating to the to the cause. And so these, you know, just fields and fields worth of just stuff was coming to the war effort. And um there was no, I guess it overwhelmed, you know, the system.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:05

Yeah, the supply system, yeah. They just they put it over there. Put the keys under the mat.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:10

Yeah, let me get them keys real quick. You know, and you would snatch it up. And if you as long as you was in uniform, Saudi police wasn't bothering you, you know, whatever. Because uh, told you, man, when when them keys was getting passed around for that for that one, my boy uh Bryce, he grabbed hold of the keys one day. Rose, what you doing? Uh no, what you want to do? Come on, let's ride. All right, turn the AC on. You know, like let's roll. And and it's crazy to be in uniform. Just, you know, once you got outside the compound, you got your uniform on, flip your hat backwards, and you just, you know, like, just wrong. Just anyway, anyway. Yeah.

Present Day Doubts And Supporting Troops

SPEAKER_00 1:10:50

Um, look, I know we've been going almost an hour and a half. Let me uh I don't want to, I know I talked you to death, but I think we need to do it again because my intention was to get into some to some some current events.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:02

But we end up Yeah, anytime, man. Anytime.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:05

So let's let's look to um look up again, man. Like real soon. Maybe, maybe, you know, within the next, you know, at least next two weeks, we'll uh we'll get back together. Yeah, no problem. And um, you know, I appreciate the conversation, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:17

Yeah, anytime, anytime, bro. Anytime.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

Yeah, because I need to get your thoughts on, you know, the the current state of what's happening right now. Having been a first sergeant, I know, I know there's some um, there's some some things going on amongst the ranks.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:33

Oh yeah. I'm shocked. I'm shocked that there aren't any, and we can talk about this next time too, but I'm shocked that there aren't any like people like just dipping.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:43

You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:45

No, I ain't doing it. I'm going to Canada, you know, something. They're just not reporting it. But I pr I I know there's some folks out there thinking, like, man, I'm not finna go over that.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:54

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:54

For what? You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:56

And then, and, you know, on top of that, it's not like, you know, if it back in the day, if anyone had those types of thoughts, you couldn't say it out loud because you would be called unpatriotic and all this other stuff. But right now, people's like, I understand, you know, I get it because I think what it's hard to explain.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:15

I got a cousin that is uh a Republican, and I used to play with him, mess with him all the time. I was like, yeah, it's getting hard to defend now, huh? Hard to defend.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:29

Because now everybody paying high gas prices. And that that particular party is understanding now that y'all are part of us too. It ain't just, it's us against them. You know, if you ain't a billionaire, yeah, you you out here struggling too. It's $4 cash down here, $4 in change. Like, Lord have mercy. I got a a RAM $1,500.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:48

Well, and it it puts the country in a weird situation because you, especially if you have you have friends, family who might be getting deployed or what have you, you got to get behind them and feel make them feel we support you. At the same time, it's like, I support you, but I don't know why you're going, and neither do you. You know, I mean, it's it's crazy because uh as a young man who's being deployed from our church, and uh you should be you'll be boots on the ground any day in in Kuwait. And you know, we're praying hard for the brother man. We just we want him to to be safe. We want God to protect him. And dealing with the fact that nobody knows why. You know, like my can't even explain it.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:34

Yeah, they can't, they can't articulate it at all. Because if you say what we speculate is for, that's what the conversations are turning into, that denial. Okay, then what it is, what is it then? And they always say crazy stuff like, well, the president, he's gonna reveal it. When a second, here we go. He don't know either. That's what I'm saying, he don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:56

Yeah. We know. No, man. Well, you know, um, we we we need to get into that the next time. And as I said, within the next couple weeks, man, let's let's get back together.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:06

Hey, man, just let me know and uh set it up.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:09

All right. Well, again, brother, thank you so much. No problem. Well, for sitting down with me and um definitely appreciate your time. And again, we'll do it again real soon. All right, brother.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:20

Yep.