Marine artillerymen name for effect
August 3rd, 2009 | ordnance Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
ABOARD THE DOCK LANDING SHIP FORT MCHENRY – I never get tired of meeting and talking to sailors, but as we all know from the PowerPoint presentations in the Pentagon, the world is joint now. On the Horn of Africa we met airmen, soldiers, Marines and even a few rare-gem Coast Guardsmen, which meant that each time I introduced myself I had to apologize for not knowing what their chevrons meant and only having a basic understanding about where they were coming from.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Ruby Zarzyczny, a spokeswoman for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. “I’m still learning how to speak Navy.”
Buoyed by this spirit of inter-service bonhomie, I asked a pair of Marine artillerymen in the Fort McHenry’s crew’s mess a question I’ve always wondered about: How do they think of the names for their guns?
When our CH-53 Sea Stallion landed aboard the Fort McHenry this morning, we walked past rows of 155mm howitzers parked with lots of other green-side gear on the ship’s flight deck. Each gun had a distinctive name stenciled midway through its barrel.
The answer, said Marine Sgt. Adam Hill, is that everyone on a gun crew – up to nine Marines – weighs in on what they like and then the gun’s chief makes the final decision. Hill, who is the chief of his gun crew, operates a gun named “Martyr Machine.”
Sitting next to him was Marine Pvt. Keith Burnett, whose gun, he explained, is named “B.O.H.I.C.A.” – or “Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.”
These are just two of the guns traveling at sea with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard this ship, the dock landing ship Ponce and the amphibious assault ship Bataan. Specifically, Hill and Burnett belonged to Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, Sierra Battery, whose other guns included: “Gang Bang;” “Ether;” “Durty Third;” and my personal favorite, “Steel Reserve.”
But for as much as Burnett and Hill said they were appreciating their float as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group – so they’ve been able to visit Croatia, Egypt and Greece – both said they’d rather be fighting in Afghanistan.