|
|
|
Subject:
News for the Foxhole, Mosul, Iraq
1/9/2005 10:21:26 PM
|
News from the Foxhole?.#5
Location: Forward Operating Base (FOB) FREEDOM; Mosul, Iraq
Started: 23 December 2004
Finished: 4 January 2005
Hello everyone. I would like to start off with love and to say ?happy holidays? to my family and friends from around the world. Also?GO CHARGERS! Also, in the interest of speed, I am not going to proof this? some of it was typed when I was tired and late, but I want to get this out.
This edition of the newsletter, I am going to loosely follow the good old operations order format. By doing this method, I hope to provide you with a little more structure in my communications while trying to provide you information and opinions (my opinion, not necessarily the Army?s or anyone else?s). I acknowledge that to some this format may seem odd while to others, it should look familiar. This format is an experiment and at the time of the start of this newsletter, I honestly am not sure how it is going to conclude. Feel free to provide me feedback on the format of the newsletter (no ?thin skins?).
0. Terrain and Weather.
It is now getting cold here in Mosul. The weather reminds me a lot of Sacramento in the winter. The day time highs reach in the low 70?s which is actually pleasant, and the night time lows reach into the 30?s. The days are also shorter in reference to daylight hours. There is often a light frost in the morning. The sky tends to remain clear, air pollution is low, and it does rain, but very little. Under normal circumstances, it would be excellent weather for a nice long run or bike ride. But currently, Iraq is not normal.
To protect against the cold and the clear skies, the Army (under the ?rapid fielding initiative?) has issued us the following items: a black outwear fleece jacket, a three layer glove system, a desert brown scarf, a black Polartec beanie cap, Polarmax dry weave long underwear, Gore-Tex winter desert combat boots, and Wiley-X and Oakley sunglasses. Overall, I would have to say that the Army has recently done a very good job at equipping the soldiers with equipment to protect against the weather. For new soldiers deploying to the theater, I strongly recommend that you hold off on buying expensive equipment in preparation of deployment. This is just a small list of equipment that is issued when you deploy.
The terrain has changed very little since I have been here. But basically, it is a large city of about 1 million people. The city is again similar to Sacramento in size and the fact that it has a large river running through the middle of it. The Tigris is one of the most famous rivers in history. The city is both very old and new; most of the new projects are a result of the coalition forces rebuilding the city.
For those looking at the map, Mosul is located in the Nineveh Province, north Iraq. A province is similar to a state. This town was known as a Kurdish city at one point (some old maps list an area called ?Kurdistan?) and is the key strategic city for controlling the entire north. Saddam pushed many of the Kurds to the north by allowing, encouraging, and forcing Arabs into this area and stealing the land from the Kurds (especially the oil region around Kirkuk). Kurds have a long standing hatred to the Arab, even though they both are predominately Muslim in religion. The area known as ?Kurdistan?, or the ?Green Line?, is north of Mosul about 50 miles. We call it the Green Line because it is the southern line that would be the boundary if there was a country called Kurdistan. (if the Kurds had their way (or the arms and money), the northern boundary would be in the middle of Turkey and to the east, in Iran) The area is radically different than that of Mosul and is also part of my battle space. The Kurds provide their own security. Any vehicle with an ?Iraqi? license plate is stopped and fully inspected. The small city to the north where we have a small contingency of troops is called Dahuk. To the east, the small city and capitol of Kurdistan is Irbil, sometimes spelled Erbil. Here to, we have a small element from the battalion working side by side with the Korean Forces stationed there. The Kurds also have their own governmental system and is about 10 to 15 years ahead of the Arabs in respect of their cities and technology. If there are any Non-governmental Organizations (NGO), UN, or other non-military and non-local Arab/Turk/Persian personnel living and working in Iraq, they are most likely living in or above the Green Line area.
In Mosul, there are four major areas where US personnel live and work. There are no NGO or UN personnel in Mosul. Three are three FOBs (Forward Operating Base) on the east side of the Tigris. The largest FOB is FOB FREEDOM where I am stationed. It is a former palace complex of Saddam and his Ba?athist party (former headquarters to the 101st Division?question for CPT Meyer: what is this thing about not having a history but instead a rendezvous with destiny?). Freedom is about one square mile in size. There are two other FOBs on the east side of Mosul. FOB Patriot is a small FOB south of my location and there is an OGA (other government agency) FOB nearby. Across the river in the south, there is FOB Marez (the one in the news lately) co-located with the huge Logistical Support Area (LSA) Diamondback. The LSA is the former Mosul International Airfield. (side note: one of my co-workers, Major Kenna, is in charge of remodeling the airfield. We joked about having the airfield named after him?.but decided against it because of the acronym?.Kenna International Airfield)
There is one other small town of personal interest, Tall Kayf. Just north of Mosul, there exist a series of small towns that are predominately Christian, Chaldean (also referred to as Catholic Arabs), Assyrian, and other minor religious groups. Many of these non-Muslim people live here because it is the land where the Muslim control ends and the Kurdish control starts. One of my oldest friends happens to be Chaldean, good old Jimmy. Jim?s dad comes from this small town of Tall Kayf. I have been in this town many times. It has been neglected under the Saddam Government due to religious intolerance and was unfortunately too far south to be protected by the Kurds. When given the chance, I help the people here. Recently, I started a $10,000 kindergarten repair project and $150,000 medical facility repair.
A side-bar note for the cadets?. It is still very important to know how to read maps. It was discussed that in today?s modern Army with global positioning systems that map-reading was becoming obsolete. Yes, we all, to include myself, have ?Garmins? and the Stryker Combat Vehicles (SCV) have a very sophisticated C2 system. But now add the radio frequency jammer and the fact that Garmins can not receive satellite signals through the ?uparmored? HMMWV (Hummers) leave you blind electronically. We use satellite photo maps of the city with the grid lines superimposed. One has to be able to read a map in the HMMWV traveling at high rates of speed. Knowing how to perform a good ?map recon? can save you from turning down a nice wide open smooth clear route, or turning down a street that narrows and dead ends with nasty looking guys hanging around!!! So try now on how to read an urban satellite 1:50 and 1:25 scale map while driving around town.
1. Situation.
a. The Enemy. The enemy, referred to as the ?Anti-Iraqi Forces? (AIF), is broken down into three main general groups: 1) The Former Regime Elements (FRE), 2) the Terrorist Groups, and 3) the Fundamentalists and Extremists Religious Groups. While all three groups hate the US, they have various motives. Mosul was always known as a deadly city. When compared to Baghdad, we have fewer attacks here in numeric quantity. But, as recently shown, when the AIF attacks here, it tends to be more deadly with horrific results. The average AIF does not have the quality training that the average coalition force. When faced with a head on and conventional fight, the fail and usually break contact, or as we say, ?run away?. Yet, we take their ?gorilla or terror? tactics serious. Combine this method with the blind fanatic faith or fatalistic attitude that is very common in the Arab culture and very foreign in thought to a western person with the ability move freely as indigenous people, makes the AIF very elusive.
The AIF are armed with your typical former soviet equipment or recently stolen Iraqi police equipment! While it is not as ?sexy? or sophisticated as our equipment, it still kills you. The typical small arms they have are AK-47 type of rifles (7.62mm), PKM machine guns, and the common rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. In reality, these weapons do not generate great fear in us by themselves. The uparmored HMMWV and SCV can handle these small arms and it takes a really good shot with the RPG to hurt us. This is a classic study of the Dynamics of Combat Power; Protection and Maneuver versus Firepower. They AIF also have indirect mortar rounds, but once again, unskilled gunners and poor equipment. They tend to take a random shot and hope it hits something. Also, with our counter fire radar, we can track the location within minutes. That is why sometimes the AIF freeze mortar rounds hanging above the tube and leave. When the ice melts, the round drops into the tube, then launches.
The AIF have also a long history of using improvised explosive devices (IED). They use the IED as stand alone devices using old artillery rounds, plastic explosives, fugas (soap with gasoline, mixing to a sticky flame bomb), and recently with magnesium metal (this is bad?a very hot burning metal that can not be extinguished with typical fire extinguishers and burns hotter and through almost all metal.) The downside to the IED fight is that stand alone IED have to small to avoid easy detection. Also, the AIF has very poor timing and activation devices. Often, these IED fail to explodes, explodes on its own (sometimes hurting the AIF while placing it), explodes without really doing any damage to a convoy (very common event here, it just ruins you?re hearing!!) and has to be emplaced without anyone seeing or reporting it being placed. Last Monday, I was out with a SCV escort visiting some Iraqis. When leaving, some locals came up to us and informed us of an AIF placing an IED. We checked it out and behold, we found a fugas IED!!! (How about this concept for a ROTC lane: A brand new Infantry Stryker 2LT is patrolling an area, when told about an IED. Now, he has less than 15 minutes to come up with a plan to do a MTC to locate, secure, and report the IED. At least this time, we did not have the small arms fire to deal with in addition to the IED, but this is really happening here.) After EOD detonated the IED (really cool robot, but it flip over and this poor sergeant had to go out in a bomb suit to recover it and pull apart the IED ? no one has the right to complain about your job when compared to that guy!) Afterwards, the LT and the civil affairs (CA) team (CA has a translator assigned) went on dismounted patrol to talk to all the shop keepers nearby to ask them if they saw anyone.
Because of these issues, the AIF have tried to increase their effectiveness. They use vehicles to hide the IED?s. Now with a vehicle, you can increase the amount of firepower, but once again, the timing devices are very poor. But now you have a very large explosion. The real danger here is to the poor machine gunners riding in turrets and that are exposed to shrapnel. I do put faith in the Army?s body armor, especially the ?small arms protective insert? or SAPI plate that goes inside the vest. While this gear weights 35 to 50 lbs and makes it impossible to get in the prone, it will stop a 7.62mm round. I held in my hands a SAPI plate that stopped a round. Hit the poor gunner in the chest, but he is alive. What really is scary is the magnesium metal IED in this case. Now when you add in the AIF that are fundamentalists and terrorist suicide bombers you have a cause for a real concern. He AIF can overcome their poor timing devices by getting someone willing to drive a vehicle into a SCV or HMMWV. That is the real fear. It is very hard to stop someone willing to give up their life for a cause. This is what happened at the Mess Hall at FOB Marez. A suicide bomber, who worked for a long time with the coalition force, pulled a Palestine technique and strapped a bomb on under his jacket inside the ammo case for his AK-47.
The AIF, in their best attempt, try to combine all the tools they have at hand. They try to find someone willing to take a suicide drive in a vehicle borne IED, with a vehicle radio controlled IED in the kill zone, and ambush us with small arms and RPG. This synchronized type of attack takes skill and they often fail to fully employ their combat power. But the objective of killing US personnel is not the real goal of the AIF. The true objective of the AIF is to drive the American?s out of Iraq, proving that Allah is on their side, or their might and power is greater than the Americans, thus the rightful leaders of a new Iraq. They attack in attempts to erode public support for us. The media carries their success in sound bites and repeated spin off stories, showing how effective they are. Already, ask yourself how many times have you heard the news on the attack at the Marez mess hall? Albeit, losing the 20 plus soldiers and the injured in my opinion is a tragedy, and the warrior in my heart wants revenge. But what is not reported in the media?s sound bites is the day to day actions of US forces killing and capturing AIF personnel. We capture or kill 10 AIF weekly! (yes prisons are a concern because we are running out of room) So in the big picture, the suicide bomber attack that took the AIF months to plan, and will happen rarely, will take forces here a month to equal the odds. The question one has to ask is the death of an American soldier worth a free democratic Iraq? Do we as America benefit and preserve our way of life with an Iraq that is free, or under the rule of a dictator to totalitarian regime?
This presents the second war that is happing here - the information war and the AIF are winning. The AIF through the use of Imams (Muslim priests), the media and internet, intimation and the spread of terror by word of mouth are effectively turning the hearts and minds of the local indigenous population against the coalition forces. This war will only be won once the Iraqi people decide to stop the AIF. Only they can truly stop the bomb makers and those that place the IEDs on the roadways. They know who are stock piling RPGs in their living rooms and who are making an honest living. The price of freedom is not free. Can the Iraqi?s have freedom without shedding their blood? Democracy and freedom does not come in a nice red, white, and blue wrapped package. Democracy and freedom requires responsibility on behalf of its people. The real question is here: Are the Iraqi?s ready for that responsibility? This responsibility requires courage and the bottom line is they have to want democracy and accept the sacrifice that comes with freedom.
b. Friendly Forces. There are a lot of good guys here. Just in my short time, I have worked with soldiers, sailors, marines, contractors, and non-governmental personnel from all over the world. The current headquarters and majority of combat forces here are from Fort Lewis. This Stryker Brigade (1/25th ID) is the second one to be deployed and so far, I am very impressed with their performance. The SCV is very suited to urban warfare and what is even more impressive is the ability of the soldier to adapt their training to this environment. Strykers are armed with a various weapons systems: .50 cal M2 Machine guns, MK-19 Grenade Launchers, and TOW missiles. They added on an external cage to deflect RPG rounds and added sandbags to the top for protection from indirect mortar rounds (Only once have I experienced air burst rounds while out in the town. I could go the rest of my tour without having to mess with that again!). In addition to the Stryker Brigade, there are several other key players. The overall task force is comprised of a staff from 1st Corps Headquarters from Fort Lewis commanded by Brigadier General Ham. The name of the task force is ?Task Force Olympia? or TFO. Also in TFO, we have several other units working. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)and other engineer units are here, Military Police, several signal and communications units, medical units, Apache Longbow and Blackhawk aviation units, and other support units from all over the US. There is Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserves here. There are also Marines, Naval, and Air Force folks here in smaller quantities. As for foreign troops, there is a battalion of Koreans working in the Irbil area, troops from Albania, Ukraine, Turkey, and Britain. There are civilian contractors working as primarily as personal security and support. A company called ?Global Security? shares the living areas that I live in. Global is ran and operated by British Ex-Patriots and muscle provided by Fijians and Nepalese troops (I think many are on ?leave without pay from their Army). There is also some other ?Personal Security Detachments? (PSD) comprised mainly from British, Scottish, Irish, and Aussies personnel. There are civilians from the USACE, State Department, and various defense and intelligent agencies. Besides the USACE and the PSD, the rest of the civilians are here for comic relief. (the other exception is the KBR support civilians?I?ll talk about them later) They claim that they are searching for weapons of mass destruction. It is easy looking for them; wearing new clothes from an LL Bean catalog and wearing an issued 9mm Glock in a nice clean tactical holster.
The ?other? friendly forces are the Iraqis. We have basically three types: The Iraqi National Guard (ING), the Iraqi Police Service (IPS), and the Iraqi Commando?s. The ING units that are from the Kurdish areas are great to work with. All they want to do is ?Kill Arabs?. Pretty simple group of soldiers and if the US was not here, these guys would own the east side of Mosul using the Tigris River as the boundary. These ING are also very seasoned. They have been at war with Saddam for over a decade. The ING and the IPS that are Arab personnel really leave much to wonder. The Arabs talk a lot of trash on how tough they are, but when it comes to action, they run away. They were the first to run when the AIF attacked here in Mosul. They abandoned their posts which was looted by the AIF and burnt to the ground. One of the Battalion?s Functional Teams is in the process of re-building these stations. Meanwhile, the brand new AK-47?s that we issued, in fact, some that I personally held in my hands, are most likely in the hands of the AIF. The Commando?s are another group of thugs one-step above the AIF. They were hired by the Ministry of the Interior to provide special services for the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). I think many were former high ranking officers for Saddam. They were not high enough to get on the ?wanted? list, but high enough to be thugs. We already had a run in with one who assaulted one of our female soldiers (he tried to kiss her and grab her inappropriately). If this Iraqi major was brazen enough to do that to one of our soldiers just imagine what he does in the lawless streets of Mosul! However, when it comes any real security work here in Mosul, the Arab Iraqis generally walk away. (End of newsletter for the night?.)
Newsletter continues?30 December 2004?..
2. The Mission. Generally speaking, we all know that the mission of the Multi National Force (MNF). We as a country has defeated the former Iraqi Government ran by Saddam Hussein. We are also introducing a brand new concept to the Arab mind?.Democracy and self-governing. Freedom in concept is not new. For years, select individuals had freedom?Saddam?s sons, high ranking individuals...and others. This is how it has been for centuries. Those in power had the freedom to do what every they wanted. Democracy is the new concept here. In our history, we had to fight for and make sacrifices to protect it. There is no history for democracy. Words that mean so much to us mean nothing here. Words like Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Lewis and Clark, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, the 13th amendment, Wounded Knee, Crazy Horse, Sergeant York, D-Day, 38th Parallel, the Draft, and Roe v. Wade all have important meanings to us. These words mean nothing here. No American, regardless of political party, religion, or otherwise wish to give up what so many before us sacrificed. We can not imagine living in a world where freedom is only for a select few. To Americans, the mission to liberate an oppressed society and create democracy seems perfectly normal and sane, even reasonable. To use our military support to create an environment that is secure and stable should only stand to reason and appears to be a law of nature?for Americans.
Democracy as we all know it is relatively a new concept. Even in ancient Greek times there were slaves as well as America had slaves and oppressed people. Some still today in our country could be argued as an oppressed element. We are still fighting to improve freedom ourselves. And now, we give it freely to a society that has never experienced democracy and expect it to work in a matter of a year or two. How long did it take our country to achieve basic freedom? So, the Army?s mission: to support and stabilize a country so that it becomes a free democratic Iraq that is capable of self governing.
End of tonight?s work...30 December 2004?
Resume?1 January 2005?Happy New Year!!!
3. How do we execute this mission???? Actually, what do I do to help in the mission?
Well, I am now assigned to a Civil Affairs Battalion that directly supports the headquarters that controls the whole northern part of Iraq. The Army works like a giant wheel?.and every spoke plays a part in how the wheel works. In the area of civil affairs (CA), we are often called the Nation?s Builders. After a war or disaster, CA units deploy to repair or restore a country to some level of basic services. Generally speaking, we try to restore a country to conditions it was before the war started. However, in some cases and in the case of Iraq, we extend our services to help foster and win over the hearts and minds of a country.
In my little world, I focus on the Agriculture and Education part for northern Iraq. This includes veterinary issues, forestry, Public and Higher education, technical colleges, trade schools, and antiquities. Now this is really a lot of stuff. I replaced one Lieutenant Colonel and three Majors when we took over from the previous units. There is no shortage of work in this area so I focus on the big pay off projects. I really work more as a project manager than any other capacity. I am assisting the U.S. State Department on repairing public schools in Nineveh Government (about $10.3 million dollars worth). I coordinate with the not so friendly Directorate of Education and get all the players working together. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (I really should of branched Engineers in the Army!) is also working on about $10 million in schools, and then I have a pot of money (about $3 million) as well. There are over 1,500 public schools in Nineveh and they are really in bad shape. Most of the State Department and the USACE schools are reconstruction projects. My pot is remodeling and I focus on schools along the main roads and routes that the Army uses, to include the village of one my best friend?s father?s village called ?Tall Kayf?. In addition to this, I receive pallets and pallets of school supplies and push the supplies out. This is more of a logistical nightmare than anything else.
There also several colleges and universities in my area, the largest being the University of Mosul. It is here where I try to work both Agriculture and Education. Most of my work in this area is to improving the Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. I am restoring two Veterinary Laboratories (a.k.a. the Barns), building a Greenhouse, and general repairs to structures on campuses. Agriculture and Veterinary industries employ more people directly or indirectly than any other industry in the north. However, with the higher education, I have to deal with a lot more politics. The State Department has gone and created several partnerships with colleges in my area. University of Hawaii and Mississippi-Jacksonville State University have agriculture partnerships, SUNY-Brookings has Antiquities and Environmental partnership, Oklahoma State has a Legal Studies Partnership, and Texas A&M has grants for Agriculture and Veterinary Projects. Now normally, these partnerships are really great. You get several really smart professors traveling and working on improving their programs. But due to the fact that people are getting shot, killed, and otherwise injured, we find that the American Professors are not coming here to Mosul to work on their partnerships. There is no shortage of Iraqi professors beating down the doors to work in America. So these really smart professors send me e-mails and phone calls asking me to help them fund their projects. I really dread some of the phone calls I get in this area. Every professor feels that their project should be my number one priority!
The Antiquities is one area that I really enjoy, but has no real bearing on the security and stability mission here. I mean, the ruins have been here for several thousands of years, they can wait a few more. I only secure the sites to protect them from looting. I do have to keep a tab on them?the Task Force General has a passion for history, so he sometimes reaches directly into my area for projects or taskers. Most of the time, I can get NGO?s to work on them. It is also a sour note on my unit since we were returning from the Khorsbad Ruins when I was attacked and lost two good friends and had some others seriously injured.
When I do not work on the projects in my area, I do have a few other odd taskers. Recently, I have been helping fund and work a few medical projects. Our medical team chief is on leave, so I help here. I am working on getting medical supplies ($50K worth) sent down to a hospital (in fact, I pick up the medical supplies tomorrow from Dahuk) and I am also doing $148,000 worth of repairs and medical equipment purchases in my favorite town of Tall Kayf. I happen to have made friends with a really good contractor who is not afraid to work with US forces. But he only likes to work with me. I protect his identify and minimize his exposure by meeting him out in the city. By taking this risk, I can get things done. I earned his trust and that has been one of the main reasons I can actually get things done.
I am also an Article 32 Investigation Officer (similar to a grand jury hearing). I can not at this time, give a lot of details, but I now understand one of CPT Meyer?s strong briefs: ?Only someone who has been in Combat (and I add for clarity, one who has been exposed to direct enemy fire, not sitting in a safe green zone!) should only judge others in combat related charges?. Also on my plate is the common task stuff that we maintain. We do continue physical fitness and in fact, take an Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) for my upcoming evaluation report. We sustain key training on weapons (M9, M4, M249 ranges (soon I need to add the M240b and M2 to that list as soon as we get some shipped in); the ?two-way? weapons ranges do not count!) communications training (SINCGARS, Embittes, Jammers, 5 deltas, and soon the new system that tracks everything on the battlefield (something like FNTV)) and some other basic common task training.
So now you have an idea of how I and the Civil Affairs contribute to the big mission. Similar to my role as a project team chief, there are others working public health, safety, economics, works and utilities, and a few others. All the areas we work in deal primarily with security or essential services. Now matter how I describe the mission, bullets and money rule Iraq. That?s the bottom line.
End of tonight?s notes?.
2 January 2005?.
4. Service and Support?or better, what?s the basic living conditions like?
Each part of Iraq has a major logistical hub and my hub is called ?Logistical Support Area? (LSA) Diamondback located at the Mosul Airport. Everything from supplies and mail is pushed here unless it is directly trucked in from Turkey. Each LSA supplies several of the FOBs in its area. The FOB where I live and work is a former palace site for Saddam. There are several large palaces located here as well as temporary structure that has been built. Not all FOBs are this nice. There are FOB?s that are lucky to have a concrete floor down, and the buildings are falling down and windows are shot out. These are really remote and you only stay there for about a week at most, then move back to a more permanent location. But when you compare this to say, a rotation at JRTC or NTC, the living conditions are better here, with the exception of mortar rounds and folks trying to kill you; not MILES kill either.
Class 1: The Food. Well it is not MRE?s! Here at FOB Freedom, KBR runs a large mess hall manned mainly by Turks. The main KBR guy there is Gary and he is from Huston Texas. The food is basically the same thing over and over. They re-use everything. One night, there may be hot peas as a side dish and the next day at lunch, cold peas for salad toppings. Besides it being the same thing (no Mexican, Thai, Sushi, or anything ?non-mainstream?), they Turks have no clue about how to sever steaks. It is like living at a bad Denny?s restaurant all the time. Steaks, nice thick ones, were never meant to be fried on a cooking griddle. Now I am luck to know Gary and the fact that my mom sent in a care package, some spices and Russ and Sherry sent sauces, I can barbeque. But I always share with Gary...or else I lose my raw meat source. One other thing to note?.there is no such thing as real milk here. It is all 50 year shelf -life milk. This impacts coffee creamers and soups that are milk based.
We do occasionally eat MRE?s when we are out on missions and when we stay at some of our ?safe houses?, we eat T-rations with the teams there. Eating local food is bad. I have seen the slaughterhouse and trust me; you never want to eat any meat here. I am actually looking into building a new one! There is also the ?care package? food. Things like oatmeal and simple stuff you can add water to or microwave.
Class 2. Basic issue items. Lie any one deploying today; we get issued stuff that is only for deploying soldiers. I have already mentioned a few things that are issued, but here is the rest. I do wear body armor with the SAPI plates. On it is MOLLE gear. I have pouches for ammunition and grenades, a first aid kit (carries one IV bag and needles, tape, bandages etc), and a flashlight (SURE-FIRE is the best brand; when it is low light or evening, we can pull along side a car and blind them with a small SURE-FIRE light), and a small pouch to hold my GARMIN GPS. I have the Rhino 130 model with also has a Motorola radio. I do not wear the Camelbak that was issued. The up-armored HMMWV (humvee) is tight enough without the gear on! There is no shortage of water. There are cases of water and in this type of fight, it is fast and mobile. You do not find soldiers too far away from their vehicles or base. You also do not stop to use the bathroom when you are out on a mission.
We have both types of helmets in the units, the newer light model, and (like mine) a heavier older model. I have a common head size and there is a shortage. I also wear Nomex gloves for protection, mostly from flames and hot brass. I owe the WileyX glasses for day and night as well as high end model eye goggles. I can not stress how important eye protection is out here. There are soldiers who would have lost eye sight had it not been for ballistic eye protection, especially the gunners who ride exposed in a turret. I also have Night Vision Goggles (NVGs), a combat lifesavers backpack kit, and knee pads. I do use the elbow pads, but when you wear body armor, there is no low crawling and long sprints involved. You move slower, but you square up you chest to the enemy and trust the SAPI plates. You take a knee for a weapons issue or to make a smaller profile. Speaking of weapons, I carry a M4 rifle, with an ACOG (advance combat optics gunner?s) sight, and the M9 Beretta. If you can not hit bad guys with the M4, you need not to join the Army. I think the M9 is just for show. It looks sexy, but when you go to a gunfight, bring a rifle!
There was a bunch of other stuff that was issued that you never need (or hope to need). The Army?s Chemical suit (MOPP) is here, but buried with my rucksack, the small E-tool (shovel), and a few other things not needed. We also have the issued three-color desert battle dress uniforms (BDUs) that was soaked in permethrin (a killed bug repellent; also known as a nerve agent!) I do like the Marine digital pattern better. I think the Marine Corps has a staff of ?Metrosexual? uniform designers that keeps them in fashion.
Overall, the Army does a good job of protecting its soldiers in the field. Yes I wish some of the equipment could be lighter, but I also wish there was no one out there trying to kill us. I have read in the paper about the mass equipment shortages. Keep in mind, the Army does not need to issue high tech equipment to everyone. In CA, we go out two to five times a week. The Infantry, MP?s, and transportation folks are out everyday. People like the intelligence folks (MI), a majority of signal folks, maintenance folks (except the recovery and EOD people), and a lot of others never go outside the ?wire?. Although their jobs are just as important, they just do not need the high tech equipment. Would we like to give them all that equipment?Yes. Is the Army perfect on identifying these needs and solving every problem? No. But we are working on getting everyone the gear they need.
Class 3. Fuel and oil products. As far as this class of supply goes, it is not all that important to me personally, but here are a few overall comments. For a country that number one export is oil, there are no refiners here! So crude oil gets pumped out, and the Turks drive in truck loads of fuel. Normally, this is not a bad way of doing business. That is until the Turkish truck drivers go on strike! Iraq suffers more than the Turks do. And since this country relies heavily on kerosene heaters and generators to back up their very weak electrical grids, a fuel shortage hits hard.
Also, the EPA would have a heart attack over here. This place, especially gas stations and mechanics shops really are a disaster. The typical Iraqi has no care for the environment. That is one main reason that this place smells like crap.
Class 4. Engineer and barrier material. Okay, first of all, there is no shortage of barb or concertina/razor wire. It is every where and if you never felt that you have practiced putting up a triple wire barrier or filling sand bags, come on over! We also use a lot of ?Hesco? barriers (huge boxes filled by dozers with dirt, they can stop cars) and ?T? barriers (concrete made barriers that look like an upside down T that blocks things such as mortars). During Ramadan, we had the pleasure of revamping and improving the static battle positions on our FOB. That meant a lot of wire and sand bags. There was not a lot of digging. Again, you are not getting up and down a lot in body armor.
Class 5. Ammunition. Yup, there is a lot of it here. What?s even better, is that you never have to pick up your brass here! The Iraqis collect up all the brass they find and use it for all kinds of stuff. My basic combat load is 300 rounds of 5.56mm for the M4 rifle (9X30 rounds magazines I carry on my body armor in a 3X3 pouch system, and one with the weapon) and 56 rounds 9mm (4x14 rounds magazines). I also carry two fragmentation grenades, and one smoke grenade. This is always near me; at my office or down at the ?hooch?. In addition to this, I have a thermal grenade kept with the radios in my HMMWV, more smoke and star clusters, drums of ammo for the SAW, and my own Class 5 ?Oh Shit Bag?. This bag is my LBE belt with ammo loaded in bags and pouches. I keep it with the Lifesaver?s Medical Kit.
Class 6. Personal Items. Well, what can I say here? I have my own laptop here which is probably the smartest thing to have. I can watch movies on the DVD player, play music and games, and things like typing newsletters. We get plenty of books from each other or items sent to us. Speaking of that, I have received a few care packages! My Aunt Jan?s tasty stuff, the ?add water and watch her grow? girlfriend kit from BT/TS H3, an awesome Christmas care packages from CFR, SIW,RMB from San Diego H3, the ?License to swill? shirt from ETG (a new father too! Congrads!) and the spices and stuff from Russ and Sherry! Thank you all very much! I know I confused my mom and a few others when I asked to slow down. There is always a huge ship of stuff from church groups and stores during the holidays. I do not keep a lot of food products around. There are a lot of mice here and they would love to find their way into a food stash. Of course, snakes follow mice and other rodents. So as a rule of thumb, I watch how much is in on hand. But now?feel free and promise not to go overboard! I really enjoy the simple small things. (It keeps me upbeat knowing that you all care)
Class 7. Major End Items? Well, I do have one HMMWV in my section. It is a M1114 up-armored edition. I will be getting the extra add on armor for the turret and the external smoke grenades. I have the dual mount SINCGARS radio?s and a Jammer. The Jammer kills all radio frequencies within 50 meters of the vehicles to counter the radio signals used by the bad guys to set off IEDs. My team calls her the ?Aztec Princess? after our call signs. I almost fell out of my chair in a staff meeting when I heard the mechanics report that the ?Princess? was in the shop?she was not feeling well and they had to fix the flat tire I got that day!
Class 8. Medical Supplies. I do have a Combat Lifesavers (CLS) type backpack. It carries more than the standard CLS bag with more IV?s and other stuff used in trauma situations. The medics over here really take good care of you and the last two doctors that I have worked with were not medic school drop outs?both were from the Mayo Clinic! Everyone in my unit is combat lifesaver certified. With the good docs and medics here, it is very important that everyone can stabilize a patient and evacuate them to these guys. Chances of making it are very good from that point on.
Class 9. Miscellaneous. I guess the only thing I have not covered is my office stuff. I do have an office. It is always dirty in there. No matter how much you clean, this country has a way of getting dirty. I have the military issue laptop, a government beat up printer, and an unlimited amount of basic supplies. These supplies are from the huge stash of school supplies that I get to push out to schools. I don?t need much, but if anyone needs pens or pencils, markers, or notebooks, they see me. My stash rivals a small Office Depot. I also get the few bags of grain seeds for agriculture soils labs and the best item so far?. frozen bull semen for artificial insemination programs. There is no way I will ever hear the end of that topic in my career. I mean, how many of you ever had frozen bull semen sent to you???
Other services and support items.
Laundry. There is a great KBR (Kellogg, Brown, and Root) set up here. They have hired Turks that do a same day turn around on laundry. Now, they don?t separate colors, as I found out with some H3 running shirts that were white?now pink. And there is no such thing as softener. But hey, it?s free and fast! I can pay an Iraqi two bucks to iron my BDU?s. I only do that on special events, like the Article 32 hearing or when I leave on vacation for two weeks.
The Gym. The old gym was hit by some mortars. So they moved everything into one of Saddam?s small palaces. It is always crowded, but hey, it burns stress. I have already dropped about 15 Ibs!
PX. Well, we have a very small PX or Shoppette. I think the number one item that sells there is tobacco products. There are too many guys in the military who chew ?worm dirt? also called ?snuff? or ?dip? as well as the smokers. You also get the basics?soap etc. here. There is a larger PX at the LSA where they have DVD?s and music. It is more like a large 7/11 store. Well also have the ?Haji Shops? where you can get cheap carpets and stuff. It?s all most junk, but you would be amazed at what soldiers will buy. The most common thing you need from Haji is power converters. Iraq is a 220v system (I think America is the only one not on 220v, we are 110v).
That pretty much wraps up this section?.
5. Command and Signal.
I am not going to go into details here. There is a lot of stuff that we do and use and with respect to you all, we keep this stuff a little quite for security. We all have signals, passwords, and high tech equipment, but I will not provide the details. I think to the majority of reservists, it is a culture shock to be evaluated by an active duty senior rater that you do not really know. To the active duty guys and gals that read this, that?s probably already happened in your career. Other than that, I am waiting to see one my old cadets roll on in. Since I started this newsletter, the size in forces here in Mosul has grown. I guess this little northern town of Iraq is going to be in the news again?..Happy New Year?may it be peaceful and full of joy!
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Latest
News |
Most
Read |
Hot
Topics |
|
|
|