SAN DIEGO, Texas -- “It was kind of eerie, patrolling the streets I used to run as a kid and a young adult,” said Sgt. Felix Arrendondo, a 21-year native of this small, South Texas town.
The 29 year old squad leader returned to his boyhood romping grounds with the rest of his unit, Detachment C, Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, to train in Military Operations in Urban Terrain.
“I lived just a few blocks from our FOB (Forward Operating Base),” Arrendondo said. “I never dreamed that I would be back here doing this type of training.”
Arrendondo still has family living in San Diego, though he’s moved on to Kingsville, Texas, about 50 miles away, but the distance doesn’t truly separate his family.
“My cousin (Lance Cpl. Ruben Valdez), who lived here, was killed in Iraq back in 2003,” said Arrendondo. “My aunt still lives here along with my other cousins. We’re a close family. I still come back quite often to visit, but I came here this weekend to train.”
And with one Iraq deployment under his belt he knows how important this urban warfare training can be.
Arrendondo has been a reservist for just over eight years, and he doesn’t plan on leaving the Marine Corps any time soon.