THIS HUMBLE G-SHOCK

roadwarrior

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BY COMMANDO SUNDIALS 28TH MAY 2020

I am not a watch journalist; nevertheless, in this article I will talk about the modern military watch myth (as I see it) and the journey of one watch and its owner. Watch collecting for some is more than the watch and often the story that surrounds the watch can be just as alluring as the piece itself. Something we can all agree on.

When you ask people in the hobby about military watches you will often be hit with a barrage of questions/discussion pieces about the Grails; the Dirty Dozen, Blancpain 50 Fathoms, Rolex Milsub, Omega Seamaster 300 – moreover the brands which followed the legacy of these iconic mil pieces. Specifically in UK from the late 60s onwards brands like Smiths, Hamilton, Precista, Newmark, CWC, Seiko-Pulsar have each held Ministry of Defence contracts to provide ‘wristwatch time’ – as it is listed in various military stories.

These watches were the most robust time keeping tools of their day and were very rightly used in demanding conditions, whether that was military diving, field soldiering or worn on the wrist of a fast jet pilot keeping our air space safe during the Cold War of the eighties. Over the next few paragraphs I will take you on a different military watch journey that heads in a different direction to the perceived halcyon image of 70s UK Special Forces soldiers signing for their MilSubs from a cigarette stained store reeking of tent canvas and coffee akin to an image of a young Arthur drawing Excalibur from the stone – with reverence, sanctity and a golden light coming down from the saviour. NO, it would have been tossed across a counter in a polythene bag full of kit next to an A4 chit with a list of serial numbers that required a signature in blood.

The reality: in modern times, a military issue watch is as rare as a rocking horse poop. More about who you know in the military system rather than what you know. I did not see a military issue timepiece until 7 years into my 10-year career, the military watch is almost a myth in this context, like a rare umpopo bird only seen by yet a handful of brave explorers.

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The truth, you must buy your own, that being said, which watch do you buy? There is no horological insight at this stage, no concept of tool, dive, field, chrono, dress, bi-compax, sub-dial, wabi-lume, patina and movement type/servicing.

You look to those who have gone before you and ask the pertinent question? Which watch? The answer always comes back the same. Buy Casio! 2 Foxtrot nine one whiskeys (F91W) and/or a suitably coloured G-Shock preferably black.

Let me take this story back to 2005. A young man begins his quest to become a Royal Marines Commando. The Royal Marines, part of the Royal Navy, has served the Crown for 356 years. Eighty years ago, they formed part of the UK’s newly formed Commando force in response to the Nazi/Axis threat and in 2020 they continue to be the subject matter experts for Commando and Amphibious Warfare in the British Military Arsenal.

Royal Marines Commando training is a long and arduous course and it takes 32 weeks (if the candidate is successful) to complete. It is still one of the longest basic training programmes in the world.

The decision to join is not taken lightly and to be successful it is prudent to prepare effectively. Time is a component of that, everything in the Royal Marines has a timing. A time to start and time before a time as so not to be adrift (late) for the first timing you were given. Lateness is met with physically restorative evolutions that will change behaviours to positively enhance team cohesion.

Why? Because mission success depends on numerous factors and timing is an essential component. Miss your helicopter RV for extraction and you are walking.

Calling in joint fire (artillery, attack helicopter, fast jet, mortars) support on time, if you get it wrong? The fire support or you may be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Getting to the mission start line on time for H-Hour, to begin a raid or advance to contact with the enemy. Synchronisation of watches is not just for the movies it is very real.

At the start of my journey to become a Royal Marine my watch of choice would be a Casio G-Shock G-100 and two F91Ws. The current G-Shock reference is the G-100BV.

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G-Shock G-100-1BVMUR

How can I describe the punishment this watch took, not easy to sum up in a few words? Safe to say it went through 32 weeks of arduous military training, with injury I was in training for nearly a year. During a first light attack on the cinder block training village in Wales the watch was ripped off my arm, due to the adrenaline and exhaustion it would be some hours later that I would realise the watch was no longer with me. I remember feeling a palpable sense of loss, this watch had been my companion through so much at this stage, it was the constant on my wrist. My go to, something I seriously relied upon. Now gone.

After a 20Km extraction yomp and a reorg in an old barn we cleaned our weapons ate some hot food and slept. I had to break out my spare F91W from my Bergen (remember one is none and two is one, there are no shops on Ops) The following day End Ex (The completion of exercise/mission) was called. The Troop boarded the bus back to the Commando Training Centre. The lads were asleep before the bus even reached the main road. At this point a lad from my section Geordie, came over, he whispered, “mate is this your watch?” “I looked down and picked it out of the stream bed before that assault kicked off”. He had found my G-100! Minus a strap, nevertheless it was still ticking. Warm fuzzy feelings all round.

The watch would see me through my final 10 day exercise, 2 weeks of field live firing and then straight into the Commando tests, the gruelling culmination of 31 weeks of training, right at the end when you are at your most physically and emotionally drained. The 4 Commando tests to earn your coveted Green Beret and your place as a Royal Marine.

I would leave Commando Training Centre and join 45 (Four-Five) Commando Royal Marines, to begin build up training for Afghanistan. We would deploy in October 2006. At this stage, the fighting in Helmand Province had been the most intense the British Military had encountered. I wrote a will and a death letter to my family in the event of the worst.

The greatest test for watch and wearer came at the end of 2006. Z-Coy’s (Zulu Company) mission was advance to contact (locate and stop the enemy) in order to allow the civilian population to return to the district and for them to live life free from violence and threat.

We set out in the early hours of the morning to get into our start positions. The fighting began in the morning after the sun had risen, the crack of close AK47 fire as we sought cover. The staccato hum of our general-purpose machine guns needed to rebalance the economy of lead in the air.

The Apache attack helicopter above us was being talked onto target by our air control team, the helicopter was actively locating and identifying the enemy that was waiting in ambush as we moved on our line of advance.

By lunch time we had been in contact with the enemy for 5 hours, the Troop had spread out and was taking cover in an irrigation ditch. The trees above our heads violently defoliating from the constant strike of incoming enemy rounds. A call was made for support by a coalition aircraft, it acknowledged having successfully supported us previously on the operation. The attack would be a cannon strafing run as the aircraft had depleted its other ordnance.

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The attack run began and as with previous uses of aircraft there is a moment between professional training, build up, technology etc where you are simply in the lap of the Gods. Roll the dice, close your eyes, open your mouth, and pray.

At this moment I remember being struck so violently it spun me and my 110 lbs of fighting order (kit) 180 degrees, I was confused and it took time to gather my thoughts, then almost instantaneously the scream of jet engines and what felt like an extreme wind, a Tornado on a calm day ripping through the tree line. The enemy are still shooting at us, in fact we are now encircled and fighting for our lives.

I had been shot by the Taliban. MEDIC! Is shouted. After making his way under fire to my location he begins assessing my injuries, and immediately breaks out dressings to stem the bleeding.

At this stage another high pitch and emotionally strained cry for a Medic comes from about 10 metres up the irrigation ditch. The casualty is unconscious, and the lads work hard to do all they can. Two light armoured vehicles drive up to our irrigation ditch one of them, a Scimitar (light tank), begins laying down 20mm cannon fire to allow myself and the other casualty time to safely extract.

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Rounds are striking the metal hull of the vehicle, the gaseous wooshing sound a Rocket Propelled Grenade makes when it is in flight, sounds overhead, the violent driving to reach the casualty aid point.

In the back of the vehicle we carried on working to save the life of my friend, I was using my one working arm. The vehicle lumbered to a halt the back doors swung open, we exited to board a waiting CH47 (Chinook helicopter) turning and burning for a quick extraction.

The noise, rotor wash, heat, and the diesel like smell of aviation fuel continuing to add to the sense overload. I was assisted to the front of aircraft and medics attended to me, the CH47 lifted immediately and lurched into its famous cab down flying position, to return to the field hospital at Camp Bastion.

During the flight I looked towards the back ramp of the CH47 Helo, there on a stretcher my friend had been covered head to toe in a blanket, my mind still struggling to make sense of all that had happened, whispered internally “he must be cold down there, so they are keeping him warm?”. The reality, which your brain does an extremely good job of protecting you from in times of peril, became clear like a shot. He was dead. I wept and sobbed. The other Royal Marines on board the CH47 tasked with protecting the airframe when landed, just looked on with shock and sombre grace.

My life would never be the same again as my injuries meant I had to leave the military on medical grounds. I started Commando Sundials on Instagram (@commandosundials) with a desire to engage in the creative, reconnect with the military and to become part of a new community of people from all walks of life connected though watches, kit, kindness and healing. Time is the eternal regulator, past, the present our memories. Watches are a great grounding tool.

So, I suppose what I am trying to say is, yes there is your classic military watch and that is awesome, nevertheless this humble G-Shock is worth more to me than any Milsub.
A postmodern combat survivor and witness.

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https://barkandjack.com/2020/05/28/this-humble-g-shock/
 
Thanks for the article. :thumb:

I always find it interesting how there are countless watch companies that design and sell fancy "military/tactical watches" but amongst the people that actually serve in the military, they almost always rely on the ho-hum Casio G-Shock. The G-Shock has not been widely promoted by Casio as a tactical watch but the people that are on the front lines always swear by them. That's the best kind of product "endorsement" in my opinion! :up:
 
Fantastic story. Glad you are still with us. Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself. For me, my military service watch (which I bought at the PX) was a Timex Expedition, very similar to the Casio G-Shock. This watch saw duty in the swamps of the US, the forests of Germany and the desert of Iraq. That watch never failed me. It took a beating from the elements/environment and kept on rolling. For that Timex will always have a place in my collection.
 
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