Hillah, Iraq.
At one point, the captain remarked “This is the most cowboy mission we have ever been on.”
The day started slow, with even time for breakfast. We briefed an upcoming mission, and the captain received a message towards the end of the briefing that effectively ended it. He stood up, and told us that he had been told that they had a location of an insurgent they have been hunting for quite some time.
We were told to gear up and be ready to roll in 15 minutes. I grabbed my gear, and filled my Camelback. We rolled out to meet the Polish Special Forces at an agreed upon intersection. We went tear assing around the desert for a while, finally stopping in front of a mosque*. Two figures were fleeing out the back. The two houses next door produced an irritated husband and terrified wife. They insisted that they knew nothing about any insurgents, and, no, there weren’t any weapons around. A quick look in the back revealed a half buried box filled with ammo and some weapons. Then we found a weapon in a field bordered by a big berm. The army guys got out a metal detector that went ape on the berm. They probed around a bit, and found a boatload of grenades, a thousand or so feet of det cord, and some sort of rocket launcher, all buried in the berm. We discussed bringing in air to track down the booger eaters, and I was psyched because I had my call for CAS ready to go. Unfortunately, the radio was not channelized properly, and I couldn’t talk to the controlling air authority. I was embarrassed at first, as it is my job to call the air. But it is really the communications guys’ job to make sure the radio is set up properly. Then I got sort of angry because if we had really needed air, we could have been in a pinch. The master sergeant became aware of the problem, so it will not be a problem. We left the weapons cache with the Polish Special Forces to roll on another tip that proved to be not useful.
We decided to have chow at the embassy. The route requires driving up a ramp, and then over an overpass. I was in the lead vehicle. We turned the corner, and held position for the second humvee to turn. In the turn, the gunner in the turret got hit in the face with a bird, a freak accident. He ducked down into the vehicle. As he ducked, a van came hauling ass up the ramp. Our gunner saw it, and yelled to the other gunner. I turned to see the vehicle slam into the guard rail as the driver had just noticed the huge and highly armed humvees at the top of the ramp he was speeding up. He slid along the guard rail, and blew out both tires on the left side. I raised my rifle to engage him, which is very difficult in the tight confines of the car with all the gear on. As I brought my weapon to bear, all six occupants of the vehicle raised their hands and began yelling what I assume is Arabic for “Please don’t shoot me because I am a dumbass and nearly signed my own death warrant.” Our upgunner hollered to hold fire, and everyone got super frosty. The second vehicle upgunner was okay from the bird strike, and the van full of knucklehead Iraqis were very, very still. We drove away, and made it to the embassy without incident.
At the bottom of the overpass, two warning shots from the shotguns opened up a gap wide enough for the oh so nimble humvee to slip through at 40 mph. I looked to see the captain clenching the seat and gritting his teeth as we nearly rammed the two cars. He looked at me doing the same thing, and we laughed at each other.
On the return to the camp, we drove past the van again, which had now been pulled up to the overpass to change the tires. I thought to myself that it was very strange that they would have an ammo can to change a tire.
“Hey”, said the second vehicle’s upgunner, “those guys had an ammo can.”
“Are you shitting me?” asked the captain.
“No, sir.”
We turned around and hauled back up the ramp. One vehicle blocked the van from driving off, and my vehicle pulled in between the van and a couple of other cars that were stopped to help. I jumped out to provide security. No point in air in this case. This will be over before I could get the handset. I would do more with my rifle. I guarded down the ramp, while the driver herded all the locals into a group. The captain searched the car while both upgunners kept everybody calm with 50 caliber guarantees. The captain found nothing in the car or ammo can, but had trouble unlocking a door. One guy came forward with a set of keys, which the captain and the guy had some trouble with. One other guy rushed out of the crowd to help, and nearly got himself shot for making sudden moves at guys with machine guns. Finally, we were done, and rolled back to camp.
Upon clearing my weapon at the gate, I realized I had never chambered a round when we left that morning. My rifle would not have fired if I had needed it. I will never, never, never make that mistake again.
The Marines come back tomorrow, and they are bringing stuff, including (I assume) the package that my Beautiful Bride and I mailed to me about three weeks ago.
I noticed today as we were rolling that Iraq is a filthy country. Not filthy because it is desert. Iraq is a lot like Arizona. I mean filthy in that there is trash everywhere. I really didn’t notice all the trash because mostly it is in piles. But today we passed three or four trash fields that were over a mile long each. After that, I started noticing trash everywhere. Iraqis just seem to chuck whatever trash they have right out the door or window. I forgot my digital camera, but I am going to get some photos to demonstrate my point.
* A quick word on the subject of mosques. ‘Mosque’ generally makes one think of minarets topping large whitewashed buildings, with calls for the faithful to pray. In reality, most ‘mosques’ are single room buildings with no glass in the windows, plywood (if anything) for a door, and a dirt floor. Think Chatta Ortega’s. And there are zillions of mosques around. Whether they are actual mosques or whether ‘mosque’ is an Arabic word with multiple definitions, one of which is ‘delapitated building’, I am not sure. But don’t feel bad when you hear about a mosque being damaged. Bullet holes are the least of these building’s problems, and a bomb would probably improve it, and if it is destroyed, don’t worry as there are a dozen more within a block radius.