Indian Island Chemical Training

Indian Island was home for the 201st MI BREs' 502nd MI Battalion, for a week while performing chemical protection training. I was part of the HQ Service Company as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic/Recovery Specialist. This was one of the hardest and fun missions I was on. I was station at Fort Lewis, Washington, and we had to convoy to Pudget Sound to meet up with our transports who would take us and our vehicles to Indian Island. Indian Island is located west of Marrowstone Island between the waters of Port Townsend and Kilisut Harbor. Indian Island is approximately 4.2 nmi long and oriented on a north-south axis between Marrowstone Island and the mainland of the Quimper Peninsula.

The day started out before the moon rose, hours before the sun even thought about slipping into darkness. We convoyed to a small area on the sound to catch our transport barge. When we arrived at our meeting location we hurriedly loaded Humvee trucks, 5-ton trucks, a Hemmit and my 5-ton wrecker onto the transport. Unfortunately someone did not estimate the time correctly and the tide had gone out and we were stuck. The barge with all of the extra weight was sitting on the ground and we had to wait for tide to come back in before we could leave.

Night had fallen by the time the shore released its grip on us. Most of my fellow soldiers had taken to sleep inside their vehicles. I on the other hand had to go explore. I did not sleep one wink that night, as I had a guided tour through the engine room and other areas of the barge. An experience I am more than happy I missed sleeping to have. Learning, seeing new things has always been important to me, and this was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to see everything I did that night. Morning came, and a few of my fellow mechanics began to stir and so we ventured around the barge together taking in the sites of the sound and really enjoying this part of our duty. Military life has its ups and downs, a lot of time of having the feeling of being alone and missing, yet, this simple slow ride up Pudget Sound was a natural high and really boosted moral for a lot of people. Which, I believe really helped us survive what was going to happen next.