Cpl Ray Fernandez

Marine Corps | Ground Communications Organizational Repairer

Dates of Service: Dec 1996 - Dec 2001

VETERAN

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11 Endorsements

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753 out of 865,255 Veterans

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Bio

Spent 5 years serving as a Ground Radio Repairman 2841. Deployed around the world. Worked in a wide variety of fields and industries from online sales, technical, and commissioned sales. Returned to school to complete a degree in Information and Technology and am actively pursuing a career in that field while working on a book.

Military Experiences

Mar 1998 - Dec 2001

Comm

H&S Co, 1st Tanks, 1st MARDIV, I MEF | Twentynine Palms, CA

Troubleshooting of communications equipment problems, maintaining platoon's motor pool (We had a lot of radios that came with their own hummers. I spent most of the time being the main contact person and support person for field operations. At times driving out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night to find tanks and equipment that needed repair. Some in my platoon said that if there was a rock out of place in 29 Palms I would know.

Mar 1998 - Dec 2001

Mobile contact team leader/field maintenance chief, Corporal

1st Tanks, 1st MARDIV, I MEF | Twentynine Palms, CA

Roaming around the desert in support of units from 1st Tank Battalion training in the desert at all hours of the day and night and in all conditions. Supported operations that at times involved 400 to 700 Marines. Spent so much time in the field that I actually made friends with the coyotes, not the CAX training personnel, but the actual animals roaming around the base. Managed to drive to nearly any bivouac site even at night in complete darkness without damage to vehicle, self, passengers, or wild life (trust me it's important at 29 Palms).

Oct 1999 - Aug 2000

LCpl/Comm Chief

15th MEU, I MEF | Camp Pendleton, CA

Troubleshooting of communications problems, preventative maintenance to minimize equipment failures, provide operation communications support to Tank Platoon portion of Ground Combat Element. Making sure tanks could talk to each other and the rest of the MEU. It didn't help when we cross-trained with Kuwaiti tankers that decided to just open fired with combat rounds that nearly hit me and my platoon.

Oct 1998 - Jun 1999

Military Police Officer Fleet Assistance Program

A Co, HQ Bn, MAGTFTC, MCAGCC | Twentynine Palms, CA

Provided law enforcement to MCAGTFTC 29 Palms. Assisted in solving crimes and physical security of gates and secure facilities of the base. trained to fire various weapons from pistols, shotguns, to submachine guns.

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Deployments

(9 months)

Jan 2000 - Jul 2000

15th MEU

Comm Chief/maintenance/operator for tank platoon element of Ground Combat Element. Participated in various training exercises including Eager Mace, and Eastern Maverick. BST training in Hawaii. Training with Singapore Commandos in Singapore. Also received Humanitarian Medal for actions in/around East Timor.

May 1998 - Jun 1998

Kuwait

Supoort of training exercise Native Fury. Provided communications maintenance support in multi-unit exercise including support of FIST team. My first deployment, it was fairly uneventful aside from dealing with swarms of locusts and unbearable heat. The only thing that made it memorable were the Marines, and sailors that shared in that misery.