BajaNomad shipping off to Iraq

USMC Staff Sgt. John Vera just sent this letter from his base in Hawaii. As you know, he was the recipient of books, money for dinner at Lobster Village and stickers from folks like Wayne of B&B Bait, David K, Renay Johnson, Baja Bernie, Mexitron, and lots others (from the 4WD run on the day of the event). John had this to say about his experiences in Baja:

How is it going everyone? Sorry I haven't been active on the forum
for sometime. I try to keep up with the goings on when I can, just
don't have the time I used to. My unit 1st Bn 12 Marines which is an
artillery unit is going to Iraq. Our primary mission will be convoy
security operations and detention center operation/security. Since my
unit is an arty unit we never practiced typical grunt stuff, now we
are playing catchup and beat the clock.

We are scheduled to take off in March sometime, up until that point we
are training non-stop! Ranges at the beginning of this month, then we
fly to the big island for training for an entire month, in Jan we will
go to Fort Polk LA. for training for an entire month. In between any
major training events we have class after class at base with minor
field time thrown into the mix whenever the command can fit it in.

I have been busy training and running the armory. Every real training
event we do is centered on the armory. Of course in keeping with
Marine Corps tradition nobody tells us until the last minute that we
have an obligation to support. Right now I have been focusing on
being a "Convoy Commander". Apparently the command is grooming myself
and a few other Staff NCO's for this job. I recieved a 95 page
powerpoint presentation on convoy operations and poof, I was then
qualified to teach Marines on this complex operation (rolleyes). It
is important to note the only convoys I had been in up until this
point were the ones with Justruns and BajaJeepin. None of those times
did our convoy come under fire

Well, I will keep in touch as time allows, hope everyone is doing well
and can't wait to return to Cali in 2 years and some change.

John

John Vera with wife Maam and dog Buster in Canyon Jaquegel, Baja, CA.

BajaNomad and JustRuns say, "Thank You" to John Vera for his service in the USMC on 5/06/06:

http://www.justruns.com/gallery2/v/Run+Photos/cantamar.jpg/

Parked outside the Costco in Tijuana:




Accepting gratitude and thanks is a grateful John Vera:




Spending quality time south of the border one last time:

Thanks to everyone's donations, John Vera's auto insurance, gasoline, and dinner was fully paid for and his son Paige saw how everyone jumped at the chance to thank his father:





Hanging on the beach - Cantamar: