The trip from Pennsylvania to Norfolk, Virginia was uneventful save for the unexpected length of the bridges and tunnels over and under the Chesapeake Bay. Oh and plus the $12 toll fee. I turned up at the gates of the Navel base for the 1 hour bus trip but was redirected down the road to the Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek. So it looked as if I was to trade off a distant view of an aircraft carrier and submarine for something more in keeping with my army roots. I left the base at around 4 pm – so much for a 1 hour quick tour. I skipped the tour of the big ship on offer on the basis that like cities once inside they are much the same. Instead I poked my way around a Patrol Craft, visited the Seabees, Seals, river craft and played with their latest personal weapons. Then it was a spin around the harbour in the coolest 'speed' boat (a RIB) and finally a trip across the harbour in a LCU to a beach camp set up by the Marines. Here they had a couple of LARC's, a huge hovercraft and a couple of marine APC's plus misc other stuff. Everyone I spoke to had been to Iraq more then once and seemed to be having the time of their lives. They certainly had some cool toys to play with.
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