Beautiful!!

Thought I would share a few pictures of a sunset that Marcus saw one night. I thought they were beautiful and I wish that I had been there with him. I think that sunset are romantic!!

I'm posting a picture and letter that Marcus sent out in a mass email yesterday. I hear from him several times a day and I have talked to him on the phone three times!! It helps so much that we are able to email back and forth and that he is able to call me. It is different talking on the phone on the boat because he has to hold down a little button to talk and there is a delay, but I don't care because at least I'm talking to him!!! Hope you enjoy and I will post more when he sends more out. When he sent out the email yesterday morning he was five hours ahead and then when I talked to him last night on the phone he said they are now six hours ahead.
Well, we are well out to sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Obviously, for the sake of operational security (which, as you might imagine, is constantly stressed), I cannot say exactly where, but it is safe to say that America is not the closest land or even the closest continent at the moment. We are five hours ahead of Eastern Time, and have been crossing a time zone every few days, so my biological clock is getting a work out and everyone’s body is a bit confused. For pilots, and all aircrew for that matter, regulations outline a very strict crew day/crew rest cycle to ensure that we get the appropriate amount of rest before we launch a multi-million dollar hunk of metal equipped with machine guns and a squad or motivated killers into the air and careen around the skies of foreign territory in search of our nation’s enemies (probably a good idea). However, when you’re crossing time zones at the rapid rate, trying to adjust your body’s clock and normalize your circadian rhythm becomes challenging.

Sleep becomes even more precarious due to the mode of transportation. There are several ships in our ESG (Expeditionary Strike Group), and I am stationed aboard the largest one. However, even on a ship as large as this there is good deal of rocking and rolling. We have experienced some fairly heavy seas over the last few days with some large swells. It is nice being rocked to sleep at night, however there are disadvantages as well. As the ship rolls to starboard, every unsecured door on the decks above and below the birthing area can be heard as they bang open, and then as the ship rolls hard to port all of those doors slam shut. I have been on several forays in an attempt to find all of these doors and secure them, but I can never seem to find them all. The best remedy is a set of ear plugs and a mental ability to block out the noise.

There has been only minimal flight operations so far during the trans-Atlantic. Obviously, the main goal right now is to get into the theater of operations, everything else is secondary. This presents some conflicting interests between the Marines and our chauffeurs (the U.S. Navy). They want to make a bee-line for our destination, and we want to fly. The problem is that all aircraft that fly on and off of ships have strict wind limitations or envelopes for take-off and landing. Since the runway is a ship, it can be maneuvered to give you any winds you want, but the Navy doesn’t always want to play. It is always preferable, and sometimes essential, for aircraft to take off into the wind (headwind) for purpose aerodynamics and increased lift capability. So, for example, if the winds are out of the west and the boat is heading east, we have a direct tailwind and so are out of our wind limits. If they Navy won’t turn the ship to give us proper winds, we can’t take off. So we have to work out drug deals with the Navy to get our flight time, but sometimes they just say no. That is probably more than any of you wanted to know about flight operations aboard ship.

So, in the spare time we do a lot of drills (i.e. man overboard, abandon ship, general quarters, etc.). Not very exciting. Once we get where we’re going things will become more interesting. We won’t be staying any one place for more than a few weeks unless something breaks out that requires our unique skills and abilities. We can be used in a variety of missions ranging from long range raids, prisoner snatches, humanitarian assistance, non-combatant extraction operations, casualty evacuation, etc. We will be going ashore in several locations to conduct operations from expeditionary land bases for short periods of time. As we are cleared to release information I will pass along whatever I can about where we have been and what we have done. I will send pictures from time as well. The picture attached to this email was taken a few days ago at sunset at the stern of the ship. No, it wasn’t photo-shopped. I didn’t superimpose my picture on a brochure from Carnival Cruise lines. It really is that beautiful out here.

Thanks for taking time to stop by and chat. I look forward to hearing from anyone that chooses to reply. Ya’ll take care.


Marcus

A Marine Corps Wifes Prayer

I found this today when I was reading Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul. The original title was A Navy Wifes Prayer but I changed it to fit me. It brought tears to my eyes and I decided to share it with you. We are now on day 5 of this deployment and I'm not going to lie it has been very very rough. This being our first deployment you kinda go into it not knowing what to really expect, but God has been helping me. I have cried many a tear and I miss him so much but I know that God is going to give me the strength to make it through this time. Marcus is doing good...I have gotten quite a few emails from him since he has been gone. He is taking some classes right now and getting some night qualifications done in the helicopter. I'm not sure when his first port call is or where they are going because it has changed so much and he can't really tell me where they are or where they are going until after they have already been there. But God is keeping him strong and safe. Thank you all for your prayers we really appreciate them.
Ok here is that poem/prayer:
A Marine Corps Wife's Prayer
How often we've stood on the dark flight lines and piers....
"I love you," "I'll miss you," whispered through tears.
During long seperations, in peacetime, at war
my night filled with dreams of this man I adore.
With only my memories to hold close at night
I live for the day God returns my sunlight.
Yes, life goes on when your loved one's at sea
but the ache never leaves, the fear stays with me.

Dear Lord, I need your guidance, your love

help me be brave, keep your watch from above.
Hold my dear one so safe in your heart and your hand
bring him home to his family...this hero...my man.
Of us, Lord, I pray he'll be filled with such pride
of how we carried on without him by our side.
Please, help time to fly quickly and soon I will hold
the hand of the man whose eyes chase the cold.
Whose voice brings delight, whose touch eases the pain.
How will I ever say "Farewell" again?
With your help, dear God, I'll try to stay strong
and pray that his time here at home will be long.
Still, "I know that the Marine Corps will need him," I sigh
but we'll face it together, Dear Lord, you and I.
Sue Ellen Groseclose-Combs

This weekend we had some friends from FL come to see Marcus before he left and we had a great time!!! Thanks Jason and Marci for making that long trip. While they were here we drove to VA to drop a bunch of Marcus' things off at the boat and he gave us a tour of the boat while we were there. It is pretty interesting but I'm SO glad that I don't have to live on that thing for 7 months!! :) We also enjoyed a great meal at the Cheesecake Factory and it was so YUMMY!!! I think that I gained 10 pounds this weekend! :)
Marcus is leaving in a couple of days so we are trying to spend alot of time together now. I have been an emotional wreck so far but I know that God is going to help me be strong and get through this. Thank you all for you prayers....Marcus said that he appreciates them all.
Hope that you all had a great weekend!

~Here~

Just letting you know that I'm still here......just busy getting Marcus ready for his deployment. We are trying to spend as much time together as we can before he leaves. He is supposed to be leaving sometime next week..we don't have an exact date yet. Please pray for us as it is going to be a LONG seven months for both of us. Hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and that this is a good week for everyone.

~So Cute!!~

We had a great oppotunity to feed and pet a 14 week old baby tiger!!! I was so excited....I love cats and this was awesome for me. He was a little vocal about things until I put the bottle in his mouth and then he was content. He was so adorable and I'm glad that we got this chance to do it.

~Our Cabin~

Here are a few pictures of the cabin that we stayed in while we were on vacation. It was so pretty and peaceful up there in the mountains. We really enjoyed our vacation and just being with each other.