Combat Ready

By David Wolstenholm

Combat Ready was written by and for veterans and active-duty personnel. It takes you on the journey from beginning to end of the military life paralleled by the life of a Christian. Personal and combat stories are interwoven into the book to bring it to life.

Unfortunately, some people have gone through live-action combat. But few people know that everyone is in the middle of the largest war ever fought. There is a battle being waged between good and evil. Combat Ready will show you how to be properly equipped for this battle, to come out on top. Combat Ready shows how you are uniquely qualified to be a soldier for Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449771775

David Wolstenholm

David served in the US Marine Corps from September 1998 to November 2002. He was in the infantry as a TOW gunner in Second Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment. David turned his life over to God and was baptized in January 2005. He has a passion to reach those who are suffering through life. Veterans have been through many hard times, and he wants to show them they can have a better life and there is hope for the future. He has learned that veterans and active-duty service members are uniquely qualified to be Christians. Without his military experience, David may not be a Christian today. David now lives in southwest Michigan, with his wife and two dogs, getting his master's degree in divinity at Andrews University. He has been a youth pastor in the past and now works in a local Seventh-day Adventist church.

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Copyright © 2012 David Wolstenholm

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All Bible quotes are from the NET Bible

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7177-5 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7178-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7179-9 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012919309

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/24/2012

CONTENTS

Are You Combat Ready?

CHAPTER 1:Making The Connection

CHAPTER 2:It’s Your Decision

CHAPTER 3:A New Life

CHAPTER 4:Specialized Training School

CHAPTER 5:Trained To Kill

CHAPTER 6:Into The Battle

CHAPTER 7:The Storm Has Passed

CHAPTER 8:The Long Road Ahead

CHAPTER 9:Now What?

Dedicated to all veterans,

active duty personnel,

and those who lost their lives in combat.

Are You Combat Ready?

Combat Ready

David Pinion woke up on the morning of January 7, 2006, with the radio watch in the command post yelling, QRF! QRF! This meant for the quick reaction force to get ready. There was always a platoon of marines on standby with gear staged, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. As David was putting his gear on, the radio watch stuck his head into David’s room and said that one of the patrols was ambushed and had taken two killed and one wounded. David rushed into the command post as the QRF assembled. He tried to make radio contact with the patrol to pinpoint its location and let the higher headquarters know what was happening, but he was unable to reach the patrol. He could hear the firefight growing in intensity outside. The QRF was ready in minutes and zoomed out of the gates and through the narrow, winding city streets toward the sound of gunfire. It was about 6:30 in the morning, it had just rained, and there were hardly any civilians on the street.

The patrol in the firefight was made up of two squads on foot with ten men in each. They moved along independent routes a few blocks from each other, using a technique called satellite patrolling. If one squad got into trouble, the other would always be in a nearby position to assist. In this case, one squad had been ambushed by a group of insurgents using sniper fire and automatic weapons, putting the squad in a very difficult position. The squad caught in the ambush was able to quickly maneuver behind the insurgents and returned fire on them, forcing them to withdraw. The whole ambush lasted about five minutes.

As the enemy withdrew from the fight, the marines caught in the ambush had moved into nearby houses to treat the wounded as best they could. When the QRF rolled up on the scene, the streets looked as though they’d been hosed down with blood. The squad caught in the ambush was clearly distraught, trying in vain to save the lives of their best friends. The squad leader, Corporal Gagliano, quickly communicated the circumstances to David. A sniper shot one of his marines, Corporal Brett Lundstrom, who immediately collapsed unconscious in the street. Without hesitating, the platoon corpsman, Doc Engles, rushed into the open to get him, where he too was hit. The bullet went into the side of Doc’s upper chest, through his side, and hit his arm on the way out. He ran for cover on the side of the street opposite his squad and rested behind a parked car. When Doc saw marines about to rush across the street to come to his aid, he motioned for them to stop; he would run back across the street to them to prevent them from needlessly exposing themselves. He made it about halfway before he collapsed from his own wounds. The squad then threw smoke grenades and returned fire to cover the rescue of Corporal Lundstrom and Doc Engles. The enemy opened up a heavy volume of fire into the smoke, which struck and killed PFC Jeriad Jacobs instantly. At this point the insurgents were forced to withdraw by the platoon’s maneuvering squad.

That’s about the time the QRF rolled up on the scene…

Chapter 1:Making the Connection

We Deserve Better

In the summer of 2011 I heard a great sermon. The preacher talked about boot camp and how it relates to Christianity. It was a powerful sermon, and I got a lot out of it. However, there was one glaring problem: the preacher had never been to boot camp. He had never prepared for war or trained for weeks on end without rest. His illustration was meaningful, but it lacked the force of personal experience.

My mind started turning, and I heard a word from God. I am a US Marine Corps veteran, and I am now a Christian. I have experienced boot camp, training for endless nights and preparing for war. I can write a compelling book that will open the eyes of countless military members and veterans to God’s love. God urged me and gave me insight to write this book for you.

The Journey

Life is one long journey that will take you from place to place. Before I joined the Marines, I was doing nothing with my life. I dropped out of college. I spent most of my time hanging with my friends, drinking, doing drugs, and stealing. My actions came back to bite me most of the time. My life was going nowhere until I joined the Marine Corps. However, after I got out, I began to revert to my old habits.

I decided one day to start reading the Bible to see what life is really supposed to be about. I soon found the Lord. After I was baptized, I continued to grow as a Christian. Looking back now, my military training played a huge role in my decision to choose Christ. I have realized that my military training was more important than any training I got as a Christian. Actually, I should say, if I hadn’t been in the military, I probably wouldn’t have stayed a Christian. It was that tough military training that enabled me to grow as a Christian. Nobody really taught me how to be a disciple of Jesus. I thank God that I was in the military and that I had the toughness to stay a Christian through the good times and the bad. Now I want to share with you how the military makes you uniquely qualified to be a Christian.

Uniquely Qualified

I am fulfilling God’s will for my life. He put a passion in me to reach out to those who are suffering, have seen unimaginable things, and are searching for something greater than themselves. I want to reach out to those who are searching for God but are coming up short. I don’t consider myself to be a legalist, and this book isn’t here for you to take a step-by-step approach to being a Christian. Nor is the book a defense of Christianity. I want to show you, the active duty service member or veteran, that you are uniquely qualified to be a Christian.

As you read this book you will be able to identify with the stages of military life from boot camp, to training, to combat, to returning home. My own stories and those of other veterans bring to light the connection between military service and Christianity. Combat stories will help you understand the great controversy, the battle being waged between good and evil that is often ignored.

You will notice that God has placed something special inside of you: a desire to be in a relationship with Him. You will be able to apply everything you learn from this book to your own life to strengthen your relationship with God and with brothers and sisters. Knowing what the Bible teaches is not enough. We are called to do what the Bible teaches and to live out a godly life.

Our sins have been forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Holy Spirit dwells within us to give us strength, patience, and understanding. The Father gives us grace so that we can have boldness and power and live as a child of God. All we have to do is receive this free gift from God.

As you read the words in this book, I ask you to dwell on them. Reach for your Bible and read all the Scripture references. I pray you are filled with the Holy Spirit as you make the connection that your military experience will make you a better Christian. You are special and competent in the eyes of the Lord to do His will.

Chapter 2:It’s Your Decision

Draft Day

It seemed like it would be a typical day in steamy Vietnam. The army unit was on another patrol. Then the ambush happened. On this day lives would change. On this day morality would be revealed in two different people who were drafted into the US Army. To protect their identities I will call them Cain and Abel. This is a story that was told to me by a former coworker (Abel). I can’t verify the story, but we can learn from it and apply it to ourselves.

December 1, 1969, is the day the United States decided to implement the draft for the war effort in Vietnam. New York Republican representative Alexander Pirnie drew the first capsule in a lottery that would seal the fates of thousands of young men. Three years later, Cain and Abel were both drafted.

Neither