by Kimberly Wolf

Created on: March 29, 2010

Terror in the Ocean

      The most terrifying moment that I have experienced occurred when I was swimming in the ocean. Millions of creatures call the ocean home and whenever we enter their territory, we risk encountering some of them. One particular day, my friend and I came up against one of the ocean’s more ominous inhabitants after deciding to take a swim in the Persian Gulf following the fulfillment of our mandatory gear watch for the day.

       On May 11, 2003, my Military Police (MP) unit herded into the back of three “seven ton” trucks. Leaving our Kuwaiti desert base that was appropriately dubbed “tent city” at 8:00 a.m., the mood was light as Marines chatted amicably and guffawed at crude jokes, obviously not bothered by the fact that we were packed as tight as sardines. Today’s trip was not another mission into Iraq; our destination was the Kuwaiti Naval Base in the Persian Gulf for some relaxation time. It was a day that promised food that did not come in brown plastic bags and some fun at the ocean that broke up the monotony of our little cluster of beige tents erected in the middle of the desert.  We couldn’t wait for some “free time”, as we just returned from front line warfare and we were ready for a break before going back into Iraq.

       Several hours later, we were assembled in front of our trucks at the naval base waiting to hear the gear watch roster announced.  Even vacation wasn’t free of some minor duties. Sixteen Marines were to be paired up into two man teams to watch over the trucks and everyone’s belongings in two hour increments. I felt a nudge to my left as I turned to see Rodgers roll her eyes towards the five Marines convened at the head of the group. Rodgers and I stuck together for the most part; we were two of the three women MPs that were in our unit.  I was cautious about getting to know her at first but we soon became fast friends.  With a tall, rangy, athletic build, Rodgers stood at 5’9 and had shoulder length blonde hair and light green eyes. She possessed a no nonsense attitude paired with an goofy sense of humor and infused both of these prominent traits liberally into her personality when it came to dealing with others.

       The Marines that were huddled in front of our formation were currently determining

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