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Military Geocachers


mrcpu

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I sent 5 great years in the Canadian Armed Forces Primary Reserve. My Primary Trade was Infantry and My Secondary was 81mm mortar. I was with The Lorne Scots, 'C' Coy, Georgetown. Didn't get anywere too exotic except for Petawawa and Gagetown. Taught on the recruit course in Borden one summer.

 

Cheers!

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

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I never served in the military. It is one of my few regrets in life. When I graduated from high school in the mid 70's, there was still a lot of post Vietnam, anti-military sentiment around. Joining the military was only socially acceptable for students who were unable to get into college.

 

I went directly to college, spent 3 years partying and finally got thrown out (a .68 GPA will do that).

 

Had I joined the military first, I'd probably have been more mature and focused when I decided to go to college. I'd also have the pride that one gains knowing that they've served their country.

 

"Life is a daring adventure, or it is nothing" - Helen Keller

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was in the marines 0311(grunt)and 8152(Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team)

got into orienteering when i was stationed in spain and refined my map skills at LRPS (long range recon school) just got back into geocaching, less stress and more fun..

dont have a GPS yet i use topos and compass

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Will retire in March '03

 

This page shows the patch I wore a few years ago, and a few of them littered the caches in WA.

 

More pics on this page too.

 

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

Throw your jelly out the window; let the dog-gone shack burn down.

**Huddie Ledbetter**

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But at that time I didn't think it was something women did and I took a long time to grow up. Still working on it as a matter of fact. I much more responsible now.

But I thank God all the time for the men and women who have served for this country and fought for my freedom. This is the reason I put my Some Gave All cache on top of MT Greylock. All gave some, Some gave all. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=26672 . It is also for my friend Fred who has horrible memories fomr Viet Nam he shared with us shortly before I placed the cache.

 

My dad was in the United States Air Force, he trained pilots. He had duel citizenship with France and the French Army tried to draft him too but he could only serve one country at a time.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

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Active duty Army, 20 years, 20 days, 9.5 hours, but who was counting? Viet Nam to Somalia. 4 years doing neat counter-narcotics work... it's not just a job, its an adventure.

 

I will ask one thing of you who have not served. And not for myself... but remember your veterans. They have seen and done things that have changed their lives forever... and usually not for the better. Yes. they volunteered. No, you didn't ask them to. Yes, thet would have done it anyway. But a nice thank-you on veterans day sure feels good, and is little enough in return for sacrificed years, limbs, and lives.

 

There is not much difference in soldiers anywhere around the world. They live, they fight, they love their country right or wrong, and they die. I respect them all, allied and enemy alike.

 

My son is now a CAV SCOUT. It is his turn now, so I will shut up.

 

Mike. KD9KC.

El Paso, Texas.

 

Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom.

 

They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS!

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Here's a great video that the Marines have explaining what it's all about:

 

http://www.usmc.mil/videos/ef.asf

 

Here's the lower bandwidth version:

http://www.usmc.mil/videos/ef_lo.asf

 

Way back in the days when the grass was still green

and the pond was still wet

and the clouds were still clean,

and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space...

one morning, I came to this glorious place.

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Nope, but there's at least a few in this neck of the woods that are, as evidenced by a recent log at this cache:

 

quote:
October 5 by drur (drur) (5 found)

This was drill weekend for me so I decided to use finding this cache as a training opportunity for some of my soldiers to review land navigation. Off I went into the woods with 13 soldiers. Found the cache after thirty minutes of looking. Took Picachu, left Army matches and some change. Nice find!!

 

Thanks for the opportunity....

SSG Dru C Reeves and Crew

drur


 

I wonder what it says about our armed forces that it took 13 soldiers armed with military-grade GPSrs half an hour to find a cache container that's approximately the size of a bathtub... icon_wink.gif (Seriously, the cache was probably close to the size of a 5-gallon jug. It was by far the biggest one I'd ever seen.)

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21 years in the Air Force as an enlisted Electronics Technician working on some Gee-Whiz stuff: Infra-red video and laser targeting systems (LANTIRN). Worked the MH-53J PAVE Low III Special Ops helicopters for a few years. Spent 7 months working 12 hour days, living in tents and eating MREs over in the good ol' UAE during the Gulf War. god Bless our troops! Keep them in your prayers!

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It's because of the military that I got into GPS and Geocaching. Not long after my Security Forces Sq got our 1st plugger (mil-talk for GPS) we took it to NV for desert warfare training. Got to do some mil-geocaching during land nav. For practice we'd hunt for ammo cans hidden in the desert. In the can was the coord for the next can for your team. They'd be placed 2 to 7 km apart and each team would hike to their next point. Spent all day and all night going from point to point. Then when we were playing war games it required land nav, map and compass or the plugger to get resupply of food and ammo. Resupply would be hidden at various points and we'd have to send out patrols to pick it up. No find - no water, food and ammo. Great fun. Several of us at the time said it would be fun to get our own GPS and set something up like that at home. Hide something, give the others the coord, and the others would hunt for it. This was a number of years prior to geocaching.com. We never got it off the ground but I ended up buying my personal GPS and using it for traveling. After I found geocaching.com I contacted some of the guys in my old unit and told them about it. A couple of them are now Geo-ers.

I'm glad I did my time in the military. Got to do things and see places most people never do. Also made some very close friends who will be friends for life. It wasn't all roses and ice cream but overall it was good for me personally. I'm glad I did it.

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I was never in the forces but was in Air Cadets ( Canadian, eh!) as a youngster. I do have two brothers who were in the CAF (now retired) so I have a great deal of respect for those who have served.

 

[This message was edited by PDOP's on October 18, 2002 at 08:05 PM.]

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4 yrs in the Corps as an Avionics Technician.

I remember back in 87 was when I saw my first GPSr.

It was about 2ft long, 1 1/2ft wide, and about 10" high. Weighed about 45lbs. And that did not even include the antenna!

Had an ancient wire-filament LED display. They were used in the Marine KC-130 refuelers.

I thought it was one of the neatest pieces of equipment I got to work on.

 

Art

 

www.yankeetoys.org

www.BudBuilt.com

http://www.ttora-ne.mainpage.net/

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I dropped out of college and inlisted in the infantry at the tail end of the Vietnam war. They signed a peace treaty while I was in basic training, so I went to Germany as a mortar man and graduated from Forward observer to Fire Direction Computer. I loved the combat training, but hated being in a demoralized army that lost a war. I got to see military race riots, my Commander in Chief impeached and the fall of Saigon. I also worked in a VA Hospital and saw a lot of the heroes they don't want to talk about. War is not a video game, ordinary GI's pay a terrible price for our leader's folly. Going into war over confident and half cocked has had bloddy consequences we seem to have forgotten. I wouldn't want to see that happen to my country again.

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Did four years in the USAF as a Desk Pilot (aka secretary aka "a 702"). Didn't like the superiors but loved the barracks life. The thing I like the most about it is the memories.

 

----------

 

A man said to the Universe, "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the Universe, "that fact creates in me no sense of obligation." -- Stephen Crane

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Spent four years as an SP (410 SPS) guarding our nukes in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at K.I. Sawyer AFB. Cross-trained to aircraft mechanic and worked another year and a half in the KC-135 Phase Dock performing inspections/repairs on the tankers at Wurtsmith AFB in Oscoda, MI. Both bases are now closed. Developed a medical condition which made me unfit for worldwide duty so I was given a medical retirement, that was in 1983. I have many great memories of the time I spent in the military service.

 

migo_sig_logo.jpg

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I spent a 'few'(?) years in the Canadian Army before departing its ranks as a Warrant Officer about 6 years ago ...not long after this picture was taken. I did a couple of UN tours of military peacekeeping duty (Lebanon and Cyprus), assorted trips to Europe and Norway at the behest of NATO and the AMF/L (when 'Ivan' was still in our sights), some time under canvas in the Canadian arctic (vodka *can* freeze), as well as a 3 year stint in the Canadian Special Service Force ('the pointy end').

 

57962_3500.jpg

 

(...did someone say 'Got the t-shirt'? Damned if they didn't make me turn mine back in!)

 

[This message was edited by Cache Canucks on October 18, 2002 at 08:41 PM.]

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Spent 20 years in the U.S.C.G. (hence subject). Been to the North Pole, Iceland, Greenland...a woman behind every tree and a fag behind every rock...Ha!

Great service, great people, small job, big rewards...saw too many dead people though...Now living in the middle of no-where in da west end of da U.P. icon_cool.gif

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4 years in the US Coast Guard doing mostly search and rescue in Alaska and the Washington coast during the Vietnam era. I loved the duty but did not care for military life at the time. I wish I had had more respect for it back then. Lots of adventure! I won't trade the experience for anything now. Spent the next 4 years in college. Another fine experience.

 

4497_300.jpg

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US Coast Guard!

I spent 3 1/2 years at the US Coast Guards National Motor Lifeboat School at Washington's Cape Dissappoint, near the mouth of the Columbia River. I spent my time doing boat maintenance and qualified as a crewman on a 44 ft rescue boat. Our unit was a training command, and we taught students how to handle rescue boats out in the surf. Even in 1993, our boats were all still equipped with Loran C. Don't know what they are using now, but I should hope that they would have upgraded to GPS by now. My only regrets are that I waited too long to decide on my primary speciality, and eventually lost my chance, and ended up spending the entire time in the service as an E3, cleaning and painting boats. By the time I got out in 1993, I had finally matured enough to decide what I wanted to do with my life, and immediatly enrolled in a civilian Avionics school. I used my GI Bill to go to tech school, and ended up graduating with honors. I am enjoying a career as a civ avionics tech, doing what I should have done to begin with in the military. Although I did not enjoy the particular job and people that I was around at the time, I will say that I am proud that I served, and stand 100% behind are military today!

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As an avionic comm/nav technician. 1st SOS, 353rd SOMS 1989-1991 Clark AB, Republic of the Philippines. Worked MH-53J Pave-Low, MC-130E Combat Talon special ops aircraft. 89th AGS 1991-1994 Andrews AFB, Maryland. Worked C-137, C-9, C-20 special air missions aircraft.

 

"There's no need to be afraid of strange noises in the night. Anything that intends you harm will stalk you silently."

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Short but amusing story.

While in the Army, they tried to get me to go to Airborne school and learn to jump out of airplanes. Somehow I managed to tell them to stick their parachutes where the sun dont' shine, .. and got away with it. icon_razz.gif

Then, I got out, got talked into jumping for fun ... and the rest is history. icon_biggrin.gif

 

---------------------------------------

"We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things."

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

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Originally posted by Wadcutter:

It's because of the military that I got into GPS and Geocaching. Not long after my Security Forces Sq got our 1st plugger (mil-talk for GPS) icon_smile.gificon_smile.gif

 

Not just the military....I have been using the Rockwell PLGR (Precision Lightweight(Haw! weighs a ton!) GPS Receiver) For about 5 years now. I do my Federal service flying via helicopter into the remote wilderness of Alaska as a research forester with the Forest Service. When I saw you say plugger though, I had to grin...They gave us military pluggers to get accurate fixes on our data plots.

I came real close to signing up out of high school (Always wanted to be a pilot) but instead was lured to forests and mountains. In a way I kind of think I am still serving a good cause for our country.

But still, nothing compared to those in the armed services...My grandfather served on a destroyer escort in the Pacific, I have union discharge papers from a grandfather of my great-grandmother, my uncle served during Vietnam in communications (In Korea). I think about and honor all those that have, currently, and will step up to the plate for me and the freedom I enjoy. And rest assured if it ever gets bad enough, I'll be the first to stand up and take my swings for liberty as well.

 

Enough Said.

Thanks to all

-UA

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I am still curently in the US Navy. I have spent 7 years of active duty and now am on my 5th year of reserve duty. All of which as a Seabee (We build, we fight). After 12 years I wouln't change it for the world. Hell, some of the land navigation skills I have learned over the years helped me to find my first couple of caches without a GPS (Map & Compass Only). That is quite the challenge. For those who don't know what a Seabee is we are the construction force for the Navy. We were designed for Marine support and there is nothing we can't build. Not to mention we're pretty darn good combatins icon_mad.gif. If you would like to know more about the Seabees check out this site. icon_cool.gif

 

Iron Wolf

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Retired... shew I made it!icon_smile.gif Flat feet and all.

 

I was Ammo but also did some staff jobs, quality assurance, quality improvement, command munitions manager in the sand box around the time that southern watch kicked off then got quickly replaced by an orificer. Also been in the UAE in Abu-dhabi in the post tent city days, staying in the gulf beach resort... tough field conditions. icon_wink.gif

Inactive reserve at the moment and keeping a close watch on the situation in the sand box.

 

George

 

dust-storm-coming.jpg

 

me.jpg

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Just joined the US ARMY Reserve split option program. Passed the ASFAB with a 67 and chose a job as a supply spec. He is only 17 and will be off to basic this june and then come back home to finish 12th grade and go full time US ARMY. In which he wants to change his job and be an ARMY RANGER.

 

I am very very proud of him.

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Started as a tank crewman in the Tennessee Army National Guard in Jan. 1975. After Boot and AIT at Fort Knox I went back to my Guard unit and got really bored. It was not too long after the end of Viet Nam and NO ONE wanted to do a darn thing. My dad was still on active duty at Fort Campbell and the Navy came a hunting for me, seems they had found out that I'd made the highest scores in my entire senior class on the ASVABS. So, I went to the active duty U. S. Navy in Jan. 1976, for four years as an Electronics Tech, spending three of those years in Puerto Rico. The only weird part was the Navy made me go through boot camp again.... but in Florida, how could I complain.Got out in 1980 and became a civilian police officer but stayed in the reserves, the Texas Air Force National Guard as a Security Police, law enforcement branch. Did that for three years till they formed a new Texas Army National Guard unit in the town where I worked, and it was a TANK unit, so, back to tanks. Stayed in the TXARNG for three more years before putting in for OCS and gaining my commission in June of 1988. I served as an Armor officer, Military Intelligence officer, and Quartermaster officer over the next eight years, then switched to an Army Reserve unit in Houston when I moved here. I just retired from the military after twenty seven and a half years in July of 2002. I miss it, but, I'm done. It does feel good though, to have done all I did, and to have the experience I've gained. My dad retired from the Army in 1982 after 22 years of active duty, serving as a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam, a missle radar technician in Greenland, MP Dog handler in Korea, and an air traffic controller in Germany (couldn't make up his mind I guess, he started out as a hard hat diver in the Navy for six years first, sheesh) He passed away a year ago after then retiring from the Sheriff's Department where I currently work. My brother served in the Army in Germany as a tanker, my sister served in the Navy as a Radioman, my two oldest sons are currently in the Navy, one serving in Iceland, and one on a sub out of Guam. My family has served, and continues to serve, and will continue to serve. And we are all glad to do it.

 

"Trade up, trade even, or don't trade!!!" My philosophy of life.

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No military activity, but really appreciate you guys!!

 

Turned 18 and enrolled for the service, and failed the physical due to being blind in my right eye(birth defect).

 

My dad, retired from the Air Force after 20+ years E-8 SMSGT, taught me alot about discipline and character, that's why I wanted to go in the service. Too bad, I guess, that's why I'm in the coal mines, but that's a different story.

 

I have a brother that spent 9+years (I may be wrong on the year part, but he is still active in the Reserves). Military influence still grabs at me now and then, especially after 9/11, and I give great praise to those who served and who are in there now. God Bless America!!!

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I served 4 years active duty as a Communications Tech from 75 - 79 then a 4 year tour in the Reserves. Got out for a while then decided to go back in the Reserves for another 4 doing the same thing. Got called on for Desert Storm and I was never more proud to serve.

 

My dad was in the USAF for the Korean War, but my brother, cousin and I all enlisted in the Navy within about a year of each other!

 

When I first went in to active duty I was the only female in my unit. A lot has changed since then. Finally got out for good when I decided it was time to have some babies. icon_biggrin.gif

 

quote:
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers (1879-1935)
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