Where is the Horse and the Rider?

My Friends I apologize for my extended absences. I have been trying to get my head on straight with this whole fatherhood / new job / Lack of Marine Corps thing that I'm attempting to muddle through. I find myself hurting a little bit each day I go without classroom full of Machine Gunners to mentor and its starting to manifest itself noticeably in my new job. Sure, this government security management crew says they want an attack dog........But do they really understand how much comes with the package of a Marine Combat Machine Gunner. I have written at length about the feeling of being a Machine Gunner. I've spoken of the throwback to every warrior that has existed and how that focuses into every burst lay down and every track of enemy land that becomes our beaten zone. I also spoke briefly once on the Five Truths of a Combat Machine Gunner that I drafted and taught and I feel the need tonight to elaborate a little to that end.

First, The Five Truths of a Combat Machine Gunner are;

HE DOES NOT KNOW FEAR

HE DOES NOT KNOW PAIN

HE DOES NOT SUFFER FROM THE FOG OF WAR, BUT CREATES IT

HE SEEKS POSITION TO DESTROY EVIL

HE IS NOT HUMAN

Please don't ever feel that I am being sexist with my constant use of "HE". I know all too well and have met a few women in my day who could trade her fair share of fire with the enemy. As of right know however, indoctrination into the disciple, if done properly by leadership, is only open to our young men. So let's dissect the truth of the matter.

HE DOES NOT KNOW FEAR-

We will be given the heavier weapon, which instantly marks as us a hated and priority target. We, and our position, will be peppered with rockets, grenades, and bullets and when the cinder block chips are in our eyes and the taste of blood is in our mouths we must stay focused on the mission and manipulate the gun to cut down those would do our brothers harm.

HE DOES NOT PAIN-

One more Hour on patrol, Ten more minutes freezing in the turret. One more 'Brain Rattling" IED, One More broken rib. Burned and sliced hands from having to reset the timing wheel on a hot M2 50cal. None of it matters, because BY GOD IN HEAVEN we will NOT leave the fight until every last enemy is vanquished.

HE DOES NOT SUFFER FROM THE FOG OF WAR, BUT CREATES IT-

The enemy that is not killed in our first few withering bursts gets smarter. Attempting to maneuver onto us or mass fires on our position. This is where our discipline must be the most worthy. Their first volley, Their second volley, then they get up thinking us all dead. They begin to mill about believing themselves the victors. What they don't realize is that A) our positions were too well dug in and/or B) we've moved to supplementary or alternate positions. Now.........Come my prey,.....a little more.......they're so arrogant..... and then the command and the staccato of four M240G's sing out and turn asphalt and concrete into killing fields. One manages to get away....but he'll tell the story and think long and hard about putting on a mask and taking up arms again.

HE SEEKS POSITION TO DESTROY EVIL-

In training, especially stateside training, safety often guides gunner to line up on a flat range and hit the conventional items that have been set up as established targets. Combat is never so simple. If you want to own a street, neighborhood or village, you must find the position that gives you that advantage. It is never simply where you turn and lay. Occasionally you might find yourself crawling though the village sewer trench or traversing a shaky wooden ladder from roof top to another. At the end of the day, we shape the battlefield by where we're willing to go to set in the gun.

HE IS NOT HUMAN-

In our job you must be willing to check your humanity at the gate and breathe it back in after the patrol, convoy, or deployment. Don't lose your humanity but simply be able to shed it and perform your duty for the good of the collective. I'm not saying that we're better or worse.....we simply must become something different. My example of this point comes in the action of Marine Colonel Mitchell Paige. The night which brought the action that earned Mitch is Medal of Honor came like a firestorm. Platoon Sergeant Paige's men had the choice real estate. He had 33 men on that hill all trained by his hand to machine gun monsters. That might Mitch and his boys would destroy or route 2500 to 3000 Japanese trying to come over his hill. With those numbers, that strikes me as the work of something more than a mere mortal. It sounds more like a comic book superhero. That's all we ask of our Machine Gunners. Know your legacy. Know what you can be capable of.

As you have all found out. I'm a little passionate about the students I have trained and my method for doing it. That's why I'm taking a stab at getting back into teaching Marines. Soon I'll be unveiling a small business I'll be piecing together called "Final Fires, Progressive Machine Gun Instruction" if all goes well and it takes off with the gusto I envision soon many of my former instructors might find themselves helping me out in travels across the states to teach and train Marine and Army reserve units. My instruction was built on the backs and written in the blood of good men. It would be damn shame to let it go to waste. Thanks for listening and hope you enjoyed.

-Billy