*Updated* Ruin's Deployment Photos

[Ruin]

Alright guys, I'm overdue for some photos for you all from Iraq. I've got hundreds, here are a select few for your entertainment. I'll probably come along and add more in the next day or two...

My M4:

One of our HMMWVs M1151:

My Truck Commander and Daisy at a nearby Joint Security Station. Alpha Co. ended up bringing her back to the FOB:

One of our Snipers on the Barrett 50cal. Yes, he's little, but a damn good shot and Sniper qualified (kinda rare for the Guard):

Some down-time on the FOB. We were also cooking out at the same time this was taken.

Platoon Sergeant in the foreground. One of our TCs, a Scout, and an Interpreter in the background:

Shhh, don't tell the CoC!

A couple Scouts. Guy on the left was my second gunner. But crews got moved around before we ever made it in country:

My friend's promotion to E-5/SGT. He and I both started the deployment as E-3/PFCs.

One of my dismounts:

Getting warm? Or warming up the Hookah?

A terrible photo of me during a village raid. We were searching houses for weapons, IEDs, etc. I had to toss this house soon after this pic was taken:

Bomb Dog in the same room as above. That's an interpreter in the foreground:

The Iraqis burn everything. So we got to clear burn pits for weapons etc. also. This is my gunner:

I tended to end up with the SAW a lot. This is on a roof at the local Ag Center - pulling security.

Trucks moving up to drop off a 4 man team for dismounted observation throughout the night.

My TC and my other dismount:

My friend - same guy who got promoted:

My cat Kate:

You can see she really wanted to come home with me:

[Ruin]

My gunner wrapped my TC up in a duffel bag:

All the guys on my truck, minus me of course:

This one has me in it:

And finally, some Blackhawks through NODs:

*The NODs are much higher quality. The photo looks bad because of my camera, so don't let it deceive you!

That's all for now. Enjoy, and I'll get some more up later!

[Halli~SPARTA~]

Really great to see bud.... Yours in Debt Halli.

[Rocky]

Great photos thanks for sharing. Love to see more.

[wombat50]

Great stuff Ruin.

[Ruin]

Thanks guys. I didn't get too many outside on missions because, well, we were working. But I do have some videos that need to go up and some pics from other guys in my platoon. These are just some of mine.

[Whisper_44]

[Cpl Ledanek]

thx for sharing

[Ruin]

Glad you're all enjoying them. I'm going to try and get some more up today, but the family is hounding me for pics from my Indonesia trip too. The videos I have are great.

[NightCrawler]

Thanks Ruin.

Be looking forward to more when you have the time to post them.

[Ruin]

More:

Me on the left, a friend who got promoted in the middle, my dismount with the crazy mask on the right:

My gunner just before a mission:

The Snipers out in the desert:

Our Section:

The next few pictures taken at night are from a QRF mission where we had to respond to an IED that had been located. I was lucky, I got to be "boots on ground" with my section Sergeant so only the two of us left the vehicles and got up close and personal. I helped EOD guide in the robot, place charges and blow the IED. Pretty cool stuff.

The power source:

Me guiding Humvees:

Awesome pic of me my Sec. Sgt. caught.

IED Crater after Detonation

[Ruin]

If you guys don't comment on this recent batch, I'm going to be a lot less likely to put up some great videos I have.

[JohnTC02]

Great photos Ruin, you guys do a fantastic job out there.

Thanks for sharing the pics with us, now how about those videos.

[Ruin]

Aha! I got one! Thanks John. We genuinely enjoyed what we did. We were always happier on a mission than we ever were stuck inside the FOB. I don't understand how fobbits can do it, but hey... someone has to. I'm just glad it's not me.

They'll come up today or this weekend. I want to get them up for friends and family too, so soon. I still have all those Indonesia trip pics to go through too! Ahhh!

[Cpl Ledanek]

attention whore

what I wanna know is what happened to kitty?

[Ruin]

I am not! Everyone demanded more pictures, so I posted, and they sat for days with no response. They were lonely.

Kate had to stay behind. I couldn't bring myself to pay $1000 to try and bring her home. Not to mention the headache that would have been trying to convince my chain of command to let me bring her home. To top it off, I find it cruel to leave a cat in quarantine with customs for 30 days - locked in a cage, it's sad. So I figured that the unit replacing us would take care of her and that she's used to fending for herself there. I didn't expect to miss her as much as I do, but my hands were pretty tied on the whole matter.

[Cpl Ledanek]

I understand.

When a deus came and said, get in we're leaving to CONUS, I dropped everything except my rifle and got on it.

I believed I left a lot of personal items, nothing that I would miss.

Most of my gear was already packed in containers heading back stateside.

I feel good reading about some units being able to take back their "mascots"....forgot who posted one here.

I believe they were British Units.

At least she was in good hands when you guys where there.

btw, this was with your Nikon(???)

how did you maintain it?

were you able to bring extra lenses?

[Ruin]

I had two Nikons with me. Most of these photos came from my smaller 12MP Coolpix (I'm not even sure on the model). I paid $200 at the Ft. Irwin PX and it survived Iraq. Now it has to survive my lady friend.

I took my D80 also. I kept my 18-200mm lens on it whenever it was out and I was shooting. Otherwise it stayed locked up in a pelican case, wrapped up in protective lens cloth and stuffed in custom cut foam. It never went on a mission, it was only for use on the FOB. Honestly, I could have left it behind. I brought it in hopes of keeping my photography skills up, but I lacked such inspiration of things I wanted to take pictures of. The only good thing is by bringing it, one of my SGTs got hands on with it and ended up buying it so I could fund my D300s buy. Nice and easy.

The D300s didn't really get used until my Indo trip, so I'll get those photos up in the coming weeks too.

[Rocky]

If you guys don't comment on this recent batch, I'm going to be a lot less likely to put up some great videos I have.

If you don't put up those videos, I'm going to be a lot less likely to put that *cough* badge *cough* back

Great photos mate, very very cool.

[Ruin]

If you guys don't comment on this recent batch, I'm going to be a lot less likely to put up some great videos I have.

If you don't put up those videos, I'm going to be a lot less likely to put that *cough* badge *cough* back

Well hell, if that's all it takes I'll have them up within the hour!

Hopefully I can remote post FB videos too. I think I can...

[NightCrawler]

LMAO Ruin! I always look forward to your pics and stories, part of the reason I still come around after all these years. Looking forward to those vids.

btw: Love the new sig.

[AlienShogun]

Ah, national guard. NASTY GIRLS!

I notice you keep saying "your gunner" and "Your TC" I'm assuming you just mean the gunner/TC in the team/truck you are in. Since you are only an E-4 I would HOPE there is an NCO in your truck over you guys.

[Ruin]

NC,

Thanks. I rather love my sig too. Glad you enjoy the photos. ZJJ is checking in to a cool forum feature that I'm waiting on before I put up some videos. But I'm glad everyone likes seeing what regular Joes do.

Alien,

Nasty Girls we might be, but Jodie does have a name.

I call them "mine" because they're on my crew. I don't refer to them as "mine" as if they're my subordinates. We had an E-6 (SSG) as our Truck Commander. We each had "official" positions according to the books, but really, we rotated a lot. But, when someone asked "Who's the driver for Shadow 3?" I was the one who had to go do something (stupid usually).

To explain it to those of you who don't know how mounted crews work...

My truck has a 5 man crew: A Truck Commander (TC) who is the NCO in charge, my first line supervisor. He's an E-6/SSG and he controls the entire truck. We get his approval for everything, he makes sure we're doing the right thing etc. Next is me, the driver. I got cursed with this slot because I was a PFC when I joined, and I missed the "dismount" slot assignment. I'm okay with it though, I enjoyed driving (my Platoon Leader told me I was the best, so I grinned real big ), and my TC and I were very close. So I got offers for other positions but wouldn't take them because I liked my TC so much. There's of course the gunner, he's in charge of weapon maintenance and generally kicking ass if the time comes. He's considered 2nd in command of the truck on most crews, for us... we just did it. Explanation later. Then there are two dismounts. Whenever we stop they get out and look for IEDs in the vicinity (they don't go out and kick a suspected one... well, they're not supposed to... ), and if the time comes to kick in doors, they do that too. Thankfully for me, the door kicking we did was always dismounted, so I got to do that too.

My crew was very tight. I was fortunate to be matched up with guys who were like me. Somewhat educated, serious when we need to be, hilarious when we want to be. We were all of similar attitudes, we all did the right thing and rarely got in trouble. In 14 months though, you're going to get in trouble. We were called the "Think Tank" because between us, we had the majority of the College Ed in the whole platoon. It was kinda cool.

Anyway, hope that helps clear some things up and sheds some light. I'll get some pics and vids of our shenanigans up later.

[KRP 56]

Thanks for sharing some cool pics. Also cool cat. Was it better at sniffing out IED's or catfood???

[Cpl Ledanek]

was it a career decision not to apply for Warrant Officer? Reason I ask is, I thought you went to College and graduated.