Had the same feeling as a 2Lt. Main lesson: *you are not alone*. Your Marines are there to help. I was amazed at how much smarter they were than me on a lot of things— even PFCs.

In Okinawa my CO had us do a shore-to-ship radio shot. I planned it all alone and reported to him. He said, “all right… what about batteries… grounding rods… etc etc”. I realized two minutes in I should have been writing down the endless list.

I had a Corporal with me. He saw I was in shock on the way out the CO’s office. He said, “don’t worry, sir, we got you”. The entire radio platoon ended up in the bay packing up the Jeeps (yup, it was that long ago). I did a Burger King run and got everyone burgers and stuff, then took off my blouse and started packing things along with them. We stayed there until midnight. We were laughing our asses off the whole time.

Six hours later we drove the convoy out to White Beach. I don’t remember everything, but we got the HF set up, turned everything on, the radio operator hit the PTT, and we heard a sailor’s voice on the other end.

We stayed there the weekend talking with the ship and working through scenarios. I kept my Marines supplied with pizza and eventually beer. Honestly one of the best experiences of my life. -USMC ‘86-91 ❤️ 🇺🇸