STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)868-8428
E-MAIL: mccaleb4thdist@aol.com
WEB SITE: WWW.MISSISSIPPIWEBSITE.COM
By BILL GLAUBER
BALTIMORE SUN
History: A SEABEE FAMILY
My father Billy Woodrow McCaleb joined the Seabees in 1941 thru 1945
My brother Billy Haywood McCaleb joined the Seabees as an Ensign
I joined the Seabees April 17, 1968, Retired November 30, 1988
My Father was deployed to the Pacific
Theater, and spent 27 straight months on Saipan and Tinian two islands located
off of Guam.
Country:
United States - Northern Mariana
Islands
My brother and I served in Vietnam, once we were both in country at the same time.
Both he and I, received the Purple Heart Medal during the conflict.
Billy lost his right eye do to shrapnel during a firefight.
I was a gun captain of a 81mm mortar, I was hit by an 82mm Russian mortar at very close range.
My brother was discharged because of losing his sight in his right eye.
I spent 20 years and 9 months of active duty and retired.
WITH THE U.S. MARINES IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN - How does a Marine make a sandbag in the desert?
Find an empty cardboard box of MRE's (Meal Ready-to-Eat), load it with bricks and an ever-abundant supply of sand, and, presto, there's a sandbag.
Postcard? Rip off the back of a cardboard meal packet, and write on the blank side.
Furniture? Bolt together rusty piping and throw a metal plate on top.
"I told my Marines, go through these buildings and scrounge whatever you can use," said Marine Capt. Patricia, who heads the engineering detachment for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
And the Marines complied, scrounging, inventing and creating a temporary home at their desert airstrip in this barren patch of Afghanistan. Since arriving Nov. 25, the Marines have added creature comforts and bolstered fortifications at their base, an airstrip with a walled compound, where inside are a few squat, single-story buildings and sparkling maintenance bays overlooking dusty courtyards.
There's no running water. But there is an Internet connection for computers and a satellite that brings down intelligence pictures and ensures that the commanders can watch CNN. The logistics experts also flew in a batch of fruit and cookies for the troops - three cookies, a pear, an orange and a can of pineapple juice per Marine.
"We are slowly adding to the austere environment," said Capt. David T. Romley, the spokesman for the 15th MEU. Because of concerns about a threat to families back home, only a few Marines here can now be identified by their last name.
This is hardly a desert paradise. On Monday, gusting winds kicked up a ferocious sandstorm that limited visibility so much that Marine pilots seemed to vanish as they walked across the runway.
It took three days to power up generators to get electricity, and they're still hauling in bottled water for drinking and washing. The other day, they managed to erect the first set of plywood latrines built over barrels.
Some Marines are bedding down in a hangar bay while others sleep in tents dug in the sand by their armored vehicles. The vast majority, though, are in front-line positions, sleeping and working in their fighting holes.
The Marines had a solid platform to work with. The base was nearly completed when the Marines seized it - the walls were freshly painted, there were electrical outlets and connections for lighting fixtures, paved roads, hangar bays and concrete loading platforms. It appeared to be a hastily abandoned military facility, a perfect target for the Marine brand of "sweat equity."
The Marines salvaged whatever supplies were on hand; pigeon coops were turned into firewood, metal slabs into helicopter landing pads. The Marines also got an enormous boost from Navy Seabees, who brought in heavy equipment and technical savvy to put their mark on the property.
One of the Seabees' primary tasks is to care for the desert airstrip, which provides a vital supply line for the forces on the ground. When they arrived Nov. 29, Tony recalled the runway was "usable but getting worse. It is desert. It had ruts in it."
Using heavy graders, they smoothed the runway, making it safe for the giant cargo planes to rumble in.
The Seabees and Marine engineers built security berms, mounds of dirt to protect the forces, and combined to fire up the electricity with generators.
"My biggest challenge is wiring in all the headquarters, all the intelligence equipment, satellite and coffee pots," said the engineering chief, Patricia, a 1997 Naval Academy graduate.
Yet amid whatever beauty might be created here is the sobering fact that the Marines are at the tip of a spear in a military campaign.
That is brought home most vividly at the base medical facility, spread across a concrete warehouse for triage and several tents, including one that could be used as an operating theater.
Even little things mean a lot when it comes to staying healthy in the field. Hygiene is an important part of camp life. Even though there is no running water, Marines are encouraged to wash and care for themselves in special areas of the base, where they can lay out their soap dishes and shaving kits and wipe away the daily grime in the harsh conditions.
The Marines want to avoid repeating mistakes made by the Soviets, whose Afghan experience in the 1980s wound up in disaster.
It turns out the mujahadeen didn't defeat the Soviets alone. The Soviets also were defeated by disease, poor sanitation and cooks who didn't wash their hands and, as a result, spread infection.
Of the 620,000 Soviet soldiers sent to Afghanistan,
14,453 were killed and 67 percent were hospitalized for serious illness,
including 115,308 cases of infectious hepatitis, according to a 1995 U.S. Army
Medical Department Journal article. "The Soviets received brutal lessons in
Afghanistan on the importance of diet, physical conditioning, pure water, field
sanitation . . . and adequate medical support," the article concluded.
Bill Glauber, a correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, is a member of the news pool covering U.S. Marine units in Afghanistan.