Been a pleasant surprise to receive birthday cards and gifts from many of you.  Just don’t understand why some of you goofs say I cannot open them until the 3rd.   Cruel cruel so called friends!

Thanks!

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 33% [?]

Funny how things evolve.  Just two days ago I started to develop a training program for the Navy Chaplains in the Al Anbar province when next thing I know I am having breakfast with the top Chaplain in the entire CENTCOM theater.    Captain James Danner is the CENTCOM command Chaplain personally recommended by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.

A few hours later I was able to spend even more time with Father Danner.  We talked about collecting information on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and working together to develop reports to bring more visibility to the issue.

PTSD can have such wide reaching effects so as to affect their personal and professional relationships.  PTSD is still being understood and with more understanding for families, co-workers, and Marines those with PTSD should be able to more quickly adapt and overcome.

Father Danner is genuinely concerned about PTSD and with the ear of Admiral Mullen we should expect more help for the troops and families in the future.

If you know of any Marines or other military members who are suffering from PTSD or suspect they are please be sure to stay in contact.

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jenkins

Popularity: 33% [?]

Today one of my nephews turns, Eric, turns 15 years old.

With being called back to active duty the last 5+ years I have barely seen my nephews.  Wow, I just thought about this – over a third of his life been away. 

Happy Birthday Eric.  You’re a tool but I love ya.  haha

Semper Fi,
GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 31% [?]

Today I spent a couple hours talking to the Navy Chaplains responsible for religious services as well as counseling not only in TQ but many of the smaller forward operating bases (FOBs) around the Al Anbar province. 

It’s been my experience that Marines are loyal and protective of their Chaplains.   I am sure there are many factors but off the top of my head I can name a few that most Marines would acknowledge.

First, they go where Marines go.  Training, convoys, or battles spaces they are with us.  More easy to respect someone slugging along with you then those who cannot or will not.

Second, is how they deploy without weapons yet have no problem being with us in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, etc…  For years now they have even traveled with us on each of the MEUs (Marine Expeditionary Units).  The Chaplains are comfort to a good many and while they are expected to travel us whenever we deploy it’s never seen as an obligation but instead a desire.

Lastly I must comment on how selfless the Chaplains are.  They listen to other people’s problems and do so ever so often without even be heard themselves.  I have heard from more then a few Chaplains how their fellow brethren would start to breakdown when others ask them how they are doing after deployments. 

Great bunch of guys and I look forward to working with them on my deployment.  If you ever come across a Chaplain be sure to ask for a story or two and thank them for all they do for us Marines.

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jenkins

Popularity: 31% [?]

Sorry I was very busy for awhile and unable to write.  Nothing eventful just busy with jarhead stuff. 

However, in the last week I got lots of care packages from CA to FL to around eastern PA.   When on TQ, I share a workspace with 5 other Marines so if you send any packages please know I will share everything except jellybeans.  Those are mine!

Good stuff:  Socks, beef jerky, healthy snacks, energy bars, personalized cards, and of course the jellybeans.

Not so good stuff:  things that melt in 100 degree heat, Girl Scout cookies (they all melt believe it or not), cans that easily puncture (lost a whole package due to beef stew), and please please please no more salsa or hot sauce.

Oh and for the goofball that sent me lip balm with sparkles I know who you are!

The best gifts are of course the handmade cards and letters from school children.  If you have any schools or church groups that wish to write please feel free to send them to me so I can pass them around.  The Marines really do read them and we find many rather humorous.

Thanks again for all your gracious donations.

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jenkins

Popularity: 28% [?]

Helen is my baby sister and today she turns 29 again.  Weird how all 3 of my sisters don’t age past there.

I am not that bright so it’s a wonder I can remember anything but I honestly do remember the first day I ever saw her.

I don’t remember much of the day but I do know it was nice weather, very sunny, and grandma babysitting us.  And most of all and I remember my dad walking into the house holding her, placing her in a crib, and looking down at her. 

I don’t recall anything else but all in all a great memory.

Happy Birthday Helen!

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 34% [?]

I am glad to be out here so there is no problem waking up and getting ready to rock and roll.  However, when you look out and it’s already orange all I think about is ‘Who would ever want to live in this place?’

The other day we had a storm pop up and it swooped in with 51 knot winds (that’s just shy of 60 miles per hour) and very heavy rain for about 15 minutes.  It was so strong that I was being pushed across an open lot as I ran for cover.  Again crazy weather.  I went to chow and less then 30 minutes later visibility was barely at 20 feet and everything is being tossed.

Anyway… back to my distain of orange days.  Here is my typical first hour when I awaken to a sandstorm:

• Inner Voice
  • Grrr. its orange already
  • Yuck, I hate the taste of sand.  Where is my water and chapstick?
  • Double grrrr as my cammies are going be trashed after today
  • Ughhhh sand all over the floor of my can
  • Hope my gator is clean (a gator is a clothing item I pull over my head and it covers from the just below my eyes to my shoulders).
  • Sweet…. my gator clean
  • God, I hope they have lids for the coffee today
• Iraqi coffee shop
  • “1 medium coffee please”  “Shakur” (thank you)
  • Inner Voice: Where are the friggin lids?  Grrrr
  • Mumbling under my breath: “I bet if Saddam wanted a lid you find one”
• Inner voice:
  • (10 feet outside of coffee shop)  Sand in my morning coffee?  Already?  grrrrr
  • After coffee and walking to the chow hall: Please no dust cloud in the chow hall this morning
• Ugandan security guard “watching” the chow hall
  • “Jambo” pronounced (jam bo) Swahili for “hello”
  • Watching to make sure his finger is not on the trigger
  • “Asante” (pronounced ahh san tea) – Swahili for “Thank you”
• Inner voice
  • Asante for not shooting me in the back as I walk past you
  • (While clearing my weapon) Grrr, now I have to clean it again
  • That’s just great….. a dust cloud in the chow hall
  • After chow and walking to the dark tower :  I hope my computers and desk are not laying under sand
  • Cool, that’s not too bad.
  • Where is the can of compressed air to clean everything?
  • Well things could be much worse
  • Now, let’s hope no knucklehead emails came in last night…

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 55% [?]

A number of people have been asking what I meant by the infamous Iraqi crack house.  I won’t say where this place is until after we leave here but know it’s a tower with a very horrid past.  As for the name, the Marines have been calling it the crack house because it is falling apart.

Personally, I think after the Marines leave this dust bowl the building should be destroyed as it symbolizes the murder and maiming of hundreds of thousands of people.  While serving as a staging point for crimes against humanity, its legacy also extends to the torture and murder of Saddam rivals within these very walls.

One dark take that especially stands out is from the 1990s.  A pilot lifted off with bombs to drop on Saddam Hussein but his plot to kill him failed.  When the pilot was captured they took him in the tower with his staff.  Saddam tortured then burned the pilot alive before beheading his entire staff.  

And yes to all the idiots who say Saddam didn’t have weapons of mass destruction (WMD); this is one of the main hubs he used to kill and disfigure Kurds and Iranians with WMD.  And yes too it’s all fully documented by the United Nations and every intelligence agency in the Middle East.

Well since we are on the subject or crack-houses and crazies…

One of my favorite films of all time is Train Spotting.  It’s a tale of Scottish heroine addicts.  Their daily life with ups and downs and stealing and dealing.  Thinking of themselves first and not caring about anyone or anything.  Looking in, it’s a fascinating and yet unbelievable story.  However, for those on the inside everything is normal. 

Some nights I leave my place of duty, walk back to my can, and ponder about the craziness of this storyboard.  I know we are two completely different cultures but honestly we shouldn’t be 1,000 years apart either.  But then again, what I assume is irrational is often just their norm and vice-versa.

Until we leave here I guess my personal opinion of who is normal or mal-adjusted doesn’t matter.  Just wake up again and do what it takes to prevent the next infamous crack house.

Semper Fi,

GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 64% [?]

I guess 30 some years of knowing how to walk stairs left me today.  My ego won’t allow me to assume full responsibility for my swan dive to the second floor though.  Iraqis are horrid at anything dealing with construction so I would like to credit them for my tumble too. 

Those knuckleheads “built” steps going up in this tower that literally are more tight and of more varying heights and widths then any castle in Europe I have ever climbed.  At one point the ceiling just drops a foot or so out of nowhere so when I went duck I ended up diving. 

Here’s to adding every Iraqi masonry workerr to our high target value list.

Semper Fi,
GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 49% [?]

As of today I have now been in theater one month.  For me, it’s easy to be unfamiliar with the day of the week much less the date.  Honestly, these first 30 days went flying by.

I didn’t know what to expect when I came here but I knew I wanted to get over here and help out however the Marine Corps wanted me to.

As for daily life, the positives are many.  Good food, have a pillow almost every night, time to work out most days, time to read a lot when waiting to fly or convoy, and an blatantly obvious commitment by the leaders of 1st MLG to the Corps and Iraq.

Daily life negatives?  Besides missing Family Guy and the Simpson’s I don’t really have anything negative to say.  I do miss being to just pick up the phone and call friends and family and missed a funeral of one of my dear friends and true patriot Ali Jacobson but again there is nothing negative about where I am.

The Marine Corps has offered me many great opportunities in life and are without a doubt one of the keys to my successes in professional and public life.  They say you get out what you put into something and I guess they are right and sometimes you must take chances in order to be richly rewarded.

Being a Marine was certainly a risk worth taking and coming to Iraq is another.  I cannot imagine a life where you say ‘I wonder what would have happened if I did this’ or ‘What if I had…’

In such a short time I have met many new friends, speaking a little Arabic and Swahili almost every day, traveled to new cities, caught up on some of my reading, played with many of the new toys the Marine Corps has purchased, and all while helping the Marine Corps.

If one can properly take into perspective of how well the US military is now fed, protected, and given communication access we our undoubtedly very lucky.  The veterans who passed before us are the real tough-guys.  All but one fallen soldier has been found.  No POWs.  Limited engagements that are almost always on our time-table and in the situation we want. 

Don’t get me wrong Iraq is a dangerous place and we have IEDs going off every day as well bullets or mortars randomly fired towards us but it’s certainly an asymmetric low intensity war for sure.  The generations that went before us fought hard, fought often, and all the while with little to no correspondence home.

I sometimes think if I can even be half a warrior as those who might have eaten one hot meal a month, rarely had a pillow under the head, fought while be stricken with diseases or injured, went to battle with no body armor and inefficient weapons systems, etc… you get the point. 

It’s all relative.

Semper Fi,
GySgt Jonathan Jenkins

Popularity: 50% [?]