Joshua James

I walk to the beat of my own drum, guided by my instincts. I enjoy the simple pleasures in life. I am comfortable with who I am. I'm a good listener; easy going & good to get along with. I'm a forgiving person. At first I may think of avenging one's that have tried to hurt me or my friends & family, but I never act on those thoughts.
It takes some time for me to trust you and let you in my life. Their are too many crooks out there tying to take advantage of good honest people. But sometimes I unfairly typecast people I don't care for because they associate with people I don't like. I try not to judge because we all have our skeletons or issues.
The way I think... I enjoy hearing everyones voice to gather my own feelings and thoughts. When I was younger I jumped to conclusion rather quickly, now I think logically and never too hastily. This way I tend to conceive the means and ends, the big picture.
I have a younger brother his name is Jake. Jake is two years younger then me. We used to fight a lot growing up. Jake went to school to be security for the U.S. forest service and decided he did not like it after his internship. Jake is going back to school and will probably be a teacher soon. He does not have a myspace account.
Hometown: I grew up in a small Pennsylvania Dutch town, Lititz. Lititz is centrally located around Hershey Park, the Amish community, Philadelphia and the state capitol Harrisburg. Lititz itself is a conservatively wealthy historical town. Many of the colonial buildings downtown are from the mid and late 18th century. It may seem funny to you when you visit, but the community passionately takes pride in our Sturgis Pretzel factory (the first in the U.S.), Wilbur Chocolate Candy Store & Museum, the Moravian Church Colonial Village, Linden Hall (the first girl school in the U.S.), the Lititz Springs Park and General Sutter's hotel and grave site. The house I grew up in was located about half a mile from the Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania, another attraction of Lititz. So instead of chickens, I woke up to wolves howling at 6:00am every morning. Maybe that's why I'm hungry like the wolf and partly DURANged.
Military Experience: After graduating from Warwick high school, I joined the Navy to travel the world and serve my country. I was in the Navy for 5 years as an Aegis Fire Controlman. I spent the first 2 years in Navy Aegis and electronic schools. During my five year commitment I was stationed in various locations, including Chicago, Illinois; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Manama, Bahrain & San Diego, California. Did most my overseas traveling in Southeast Asia, Australia and in the Middle East.
I was on the USS John Paul Jones, DDG 53 from 2001 to 2003. This crew was the best in fleet for about 4 years until we swapped commands with the USS Higgins, DDG 76. On the John Paul Jones we traveled full steam into heavy seas and bombed whomever. We were full of jinks and we knew how to party in ports. I'm surprised I'm still alive. They got me good one night, pulled me from my rack, duck taped me to a table shaved my eye brows and head, then stuck high volt battery clamps to my nipples. I still have emotional scars from that one. But, I definitely deserved it. I was also stationed on the USS Chosin, CG 65, not my favorite command. My most revered travels were in London, England, Fiji, Cairns, Australia and Vancouver B.C. Phuket, Thailand was certainly the most entertaining and pleasurable experiences. I got a chance to ride an elephant and ...(incremeting evidence), that highly intoxicating poisonous formaldehyde beer (not enough adjectives to describe it) made me lose my mind. Melboune, Australia was also entertaining and pleasurable. A piece of advice for all you bloaks out their, never let an Aussie girl buy you a drink (nine out of ten times it's Absinthe), next thing you know you will be in hand cuffs wearing a leash begging for forgiveness.
For the most part as you can see, I had a great time until we were asked to protect "our" national interest (Iraqi Oil & Natural Gas Reserves). While in the Persian Gulf I was involved in small boat policing and boardings. We arrested oil, drug and weapon trafficker's that were coming in and out of Middle East Countries. Our show of force included 9 team members with a Mossberg short barrel shotgun, 15 round 9mm Beretta's and a 50 cal with a Mk. 19 grenade launcher on the rib boat. Nobody screwed with us while Mother was their watching with a 5-inch 62 caliber gun pointing at them. It was also our job to protect Iraq's Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal and the al-Basra Oil Terminal. This was the inferno circle of treachery.

After graduating Aegis Spy 1-D School in June 2001, I was shipped into the Persian Gulf mess, there I dove right into the action with Mobile Security. Navy personal spend lots of hours working and standing watch while in Gulf, this is the last place you want to be. In Mobile Security we boarded ships and investigated inventory inside-out. We checked the crew made sure everything was square and we either released them or made them anchor out and wait for a very long time - months. Most likely when we make them anchor out they are transporting illegal goods over international waters. One time we found an Al-Qaida operative, he had hand written maps of Afghanistan with detailed trials of what looked like caves. We had to wait 18 hours for CIA interrogators to come via helicopter. People on board this vessel were getting restless angry and shouting at us, there were even people needing medical assistance. With over 1,000 angry individuals eyeing you up you never know what they might do. Luckily for us they stood down and didn't act up any worse then they were behaving. It didn't take long for our agents to figure him to be a terrorist so we hand cuffed him and shipped him back to our mother ship. Nobody talked to him and I don't think he wanted to talk to us anyways. He prayed and slept, didn't eat anything or drink anything for three days. On the third day we shipped him off when the helo duck came. Not sure where he ended up Guantanamo or Germany, but it caused a lot of attention back in Washington. The CNO and Rumsfield visited our ship a few weeks later to hand out medals. That was one of many memorable moments of my first deployment in the Gulf along with our Captain announcing the Sept. 11 attack.

On DDG 53, John Paul Jones we launched the heaviest Tomahawk offense of any ship on October 8th, 2001. I think it was 35 Tomahawks altogether we launched while floating in the Indian Ocean and all targeted areas were successfully destroyed in Afghanistan. Even after the offense, we were still stuck in Persian Gulf for another month. We passed the 60 consecutive days out to see beer day and we were half way to the next. But we were out of their in November thanks to our relief's the USS Peterson.

On November 18, 2001, less then two weeks after we left the Persian Gulf an eight-man security team attached to the USS Peterson boarded an Iraqi freighter suspected of smuggling oil in the northern Persian Gulf. The Iraqi freighter sank and two of the eight men drowned, Benjamin Johnson and Vincent Parker. I gathered these guys were doing there job and the ships engineer on the Iraqi freighter decided to sink the evidence and swim to shore, thinking he would escape Iraqi prison time. His stupidity and irrational behavior cost the lives of two good men. I was the same age and went to school with Ben Parker. Ben was funny, charismatic and intelligent; we will miss you and honor you.

Our second and third deployments were much of the same with different characters and countries involved. The environment had changed; a year into the war brought on much more intensity in the Persian Gulf. As soldiers we were no longer seen as liberators, but as evil men that brought tyranny into these individual's lives. The Iraqis wanted us out of their and we were not welcomed.

Every time we left the Gulf something terrible would happen and the severity would worsen. A U.S. Navy vessel the USS Firebolt, teamed up with our men on this deployment. We got to know the small 24 man crew very well. Unfortunately a few weeks after we left the Persian Gulf theater for my third and final time, four Al-Qaeda fishing boats filled with explosives attempted to take out both the Khawr Al Amaya Terminal and the al-Basra Terminal. The first attack targeted the Khawr al-Amaya oil terminal. And an eight man boarding team from the USS Firebolt was sent out to stop the fishing boats, which were seen speeding toward the terminal. As the team approached the boat, it exploded, flipping the interception rib-boat and sending the team into the water. Three team members were killed and four wounded. About twenty minutes later, two more boats were spotted approaching the al-Basra terminal. They too exploded when our security forces intercepted them. No damage was reported to the oil terminals.
I extend my deepest sympathies and respect to these three individuals who gave up their lives on April 25th 2004, Nate Bruckenthal, Michael Pernaselli and Chris Watts. We mourn their loss and all others who gave their lives in a display of valor and courage that will be forever remembered.
Recent: Since being honorably discharged from the military, I moved back home where nothing had changed. Six months later, I decided it was time for a change of scenery. So I packed my bags, traveled on, and moved to Montrose, Colorado. I chose Montrose to spend time with my brother Jake, while he was working at the Black Canyon National Park. Great place to live if you enjoy the outdoors. In fact if you're near Ouray, take the road that drives past Box Canyon and take a hike up Mt. Sniffles, it's an easy climb with outstanding views. I spent only a summer in Montrose and drove 2 hours north to Redstone, Colorado, where my parents relocated while I was in the Navy. Coming down the McLure Pass on hwy 133 towards Marble-Redstone you will witness the most incredible scenery you will ever eye. Again another great place to live if you enjoy outdoor recreation. I highly suggest you take a trip down the old mining road behind Beaver Lake towards Led King Basin. Make sure you stop and take in the scenery, visit the Crystal Mill and hike up Geneva Lake. It was here in Redstone when I decided to attend Colorado Mountain College. CMC schools are located everywhere in the Western Slope; the school I'm attending is in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. Great school, excellent concerts and most of all helluva skiing location. At CMC I have been involved with various community projects while working towards my degree. Recently I started a non-profit, Students for Green School's. SGS's purpose is helping people live green. We help raise funds for carbon offsetting solutions and renewable energy education. My own personal educational goal is to eventually go to school in London and study Poly Sci & Economics at the LSE. Now I'm simply a big dreamer with creative visions that are transforming into extraordinary realities. Help change the world, one energy-saving step at a time. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/solarphot v/solarpv.html I could go on, but I think I'll stop boring you for now.
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