Its been awhile since i've been on here, i got back about 2 months ago and figured its about time to start putting my pics up.















IRAQ 2003







Enjoy..!!

Tony

Welcome back soldier! Thanks for the photos. They are like fortresses on wheels.

Thanks..! Check these out James..i noticed your pics and you have a few LAVs and figured you'd like these..

thanks for this pics!

Interesting shots. Welcome back.

Thanks for the pictures.

Thanks for sharing the pics Tony. Keep 'em coming...

Private Message Incoming.

I like the shots of the LAV..... Is that blood running down the back??
Thanks for your service!

Chris

Thanks for the pics and welcome back!

I think that I will build my next Stryker after this pic here, thanks!




cheers

Nice photos! Thanks a lot again! I can definitely use them for a new LAV kit I got.

Thanks everybody, i'll keep putting more up. and chris..yes it is.

Thank you for sharing your photos. Excellent reference

From an old sweat, glad you are back ok, and great pictures.
Any chance of some descriptions, general locations, and the stories behind them ? We don't need to know all the gory details

the top few pics are all from Afghanistan. i just wanted to get some pics and have them for a good reference when it comes to detail. the last few are all from Iraq. the first one is along route 7, the one that looks like a check point is south of Tikrit. the unit i was with rolled from Kuwait all the way to slightly north of Tikrit..long drive. that third pic is somwhere north of Baghdad.

that last set of pics was mostly near KV in Iraq. starting with the first pic of the destroyed LAV..that one was blasted with a IED near Abu Gharab. the next set of pics (with the blood down the back hatches)..that was VBIED that hit the rear right side; the engine block landed about 400 meters away. i have tons and i mean tons of pics. but for some reason the disks wont work in my laptop so i have to use my wifes cp. my laptop tells me the disks are blank..pisses me off..lol.


Tony

Thank you for serving the country, man, no joke....

Thanks Tony. I'm glad you made it home safely.

Loved the photo of he LAV bogged. Reminded me of my time in Iraq. Here's a photo of my ASLAV bogged just off of Tampa, west of Tallil AB in 2008.



Oh and bar armour is very useful as PSP to get you out when all else fails. Thats why the front sections of mine are a bit bent. Got bogged quite often I'm afraid.

In the back ground you can see my Echo PC getting bogged trying to help get me out. When a LAV goes down it goes down fast.

The khaki Gods smiled on me in Afghanistan. I had a Bushmaster for that trip and never got bogged.

Thanks for the photos.

John

dang john..how the heck did they get your vehicle out of that? seems like the bar armor would help in keeping you mired down.

Hey Tony. A lot of digging and pulling plus a smidgeon of luck got us out. On that particular one my Charlie Gun car was smart enough to stay on firm ground. Thankfully someone thought a winch on the LAV was a good idea.

Hi Tony. I thought I had a couple more photos so I had a hunt around and found these two. The first one is the rear of my car and the second is my Charlie car using the bar armour trick. Funnily enough when he was bogged I wasn't but silly me went back to help the other four cars and got bogged myself. Hope you enjoy.

Cheers, John

Wow, these are great pics! Thanks for sharing them and for your service! Glad you made it home safely.

Rob

Thanks Rob..!

John..I know an Aussie Maj who was with an LAV unit for awhile (Maj Passmore). I worked with him over the last year. he told me he did a few training events with the Marine LAV Bn in NC.

Hi Tony. I know Maj Passmore. Haven't had the pleasure of working with him but I have met him. Joys of a small Corps. You get to know pretty much everyone over time. Last time I saw him he was in Brisbane but I haven't heard where he's at now.

i last saw him in Kandahar Air Base in Nov. we both filling NATO billets over there. he's a good guy and was a great person to work for. he's also the one that has me seriously considering joining the Aussie Army..lol..

Hi Tony. Where you in Kandahar at the star of 2010? I did two convoys down there with the 4th Kandak before and after xmas 2009. Absoulutely flogged all the PX's down there especially the US and German ones. Gucci gear heaven.

Would you be a Gunnery Sergeant by any chance? If so you might want to look at doing the twelve month exchange. Unfortunately its in Puckapunyal at the School of Armour but it is only a 45 min drive to Melbourne now and the snow fields aren't that far. That would give you a chance to decide if you did want to come over. We are definately a strange Army. We get a lot of "Lateral Transfers" from the UK Forces and they seem to struggle with how we do things because we have a very relaxed style especially the Infantry Officers for some reason.

I did here of one Gunny who was definately looking into transfering over and the RAAC offered him a WO2 position but I'm not sure how far he got. I'm pretty certain you wouldn't know him cause the USMC is such a big and diverse organisation but he was over here back in 2005/06. Plus you have a good contact with MAJ Passmore to recommend you.

If you got the exchange and bring the family over they will literally see kangaroos and emu walking down the streets in Pucka. My two girls still remember them eating the grass on the front lawn. Unfortunately I'm getting out on a medical discharge after 20 years but if you have any q's then drop me a line. I'd love to swap warries one day especially if you decide to come over but it is a BIG decision.


Cheers, John [email protected]