News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.
In their own words:
never as funny the second time...: last post - 46 posts in 15 months - actually, that’s more than i thought i would have to say. more accurately, it’s more than i thought i would have the attention span to get through. almost 15 months since i first arrived at ft. riley in kansas for our three-month predeployment training. i have a hard time believing that it’s almost over. in about a week, i will be back in the US, and a couple of days after that, back in california, trying to figure out what just happened to me. this is good and bad (like everything else in life, i suppose). (READ MORE)
One Marine's View: We are Marines - I was going to update on the high temps, sand flea bites and tics but below is a much more simpler post. All is good-Semper We are Marines. Many people don’t understand what we do as Marines nor do they really want to know. Many people are just thankful that we are out there. The force between them and evil. They are quick to chastise us or point out the rare occasions when we drift, however, they beg for us to go stand between them and fear. In the very recent past, we have lost two Marines from our unit, the first of this deployment, many of the last few deployments. (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Palmetto parting - The South Carolina state flag no longer flies over Camp Vulcan. The final eight of our soldiers from the Palmetto state left today on their way back to their families. We wish them nothing but the very best and the happiest of homecomings. They are members of the 218th Brigade Combat Team, the South Carolina National Guard unit that has led the combined joint task force that has played a vital role throughout Afghanistan over the past year. The 27th BCT has arrived from New York to relieve the 218th. All of us Embedded Training Team members over the last year came here as part of the 218th. We will be among the last ones to leave as the 27th BCT takes over control in Kabul. The guys who left were our security force (SECFOR), but really they were much more than that. (READ MORE)
Omar: Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Determined but Losing - The latest three messages from al-Qaeda addressing the Sunni community uncover the depth of the crisis that al-Qaeda is facing in its former host community. The threatening tone of the missives from the alleged Abu Omar Baghdadi and Aby Ayyub, and the insulting tone of the second by Zawahiri, reflect mistrust, anxiety and a dire need to retrieve what was lost. Death threats do not represent a serious call for cooperation on an achievable objective. This “work-for-me-or-I-kill-you” tone is completely different from the usual recruiting slogans that have focused on the ideology of fighting for absolute truth against absolute evil. (READ MORE)
James Aalan Bernsen: Dust Storm in Baghdad - This week, the City of Baghdad was choked and covered with fine dust as high winds pushed in a sandstorm from the West. I knew it was coming, since I get a weather briefing every day from an Air Force meteorologist, but it was nonetheless a surprise when I stepped outside and saw a dense, impenetrable fog cast about the horizon. We've had storms before, but this was the biggest. When most people think of sand storms, they probably think of huge rolling clouds of sand like something out of "The Mummy." And sure, there are some storms like that from time to time, but those are the exception. And they're not really the Baghdad thing. We're in a city - although on the edge of it - and there are buildings, trees and things to dampen the storm's energy. (READ MORE)
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: The Brothel - “We got nothing, LT.” SSG Boondock’s voice ricocheted around the thin walls of the Iraqi hut we had raided in the dead of the night. “No males, military-age or otherwise. Our guys must’ve bounced, already. Nothing here but the mom, the teenage daughter, a younger kid and a baby, and a crazy-ass grandma who won’t stop giving me the evil eye. Easy, lady! Put down the broom and come outside.” I was standing in the main room of the house with Sonic – a young terp with a propensity to spike his hair - explaining to the mother why we were there. Yes, of course you can pick up the crying baby. No, we are not here to talk about your eldest daughter being so sick that she’s in the hospital, although that is awful. (READ MORE)
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: House of the Holy - Augustly, it shoots out of the Babylonian dust to defy the sandstone skyline. Surrounded by a haphazard maze of tiny homes and shops lacquered in grime, a sea green minaret sits on top of the building like a crown. It has overseen more easy wars and more fragile peaces than any human being could ever fathom, even in this post- oral history era. The mosque stands as proudly today as the day it first became a place of worship, many dawns ago. This is just one of those dawns. My scout platoon has returned to the combat outpost from an all-night mission. Twenty men out, twenty men in. We are hungry. We are exhausted. We can smell the stench from our own bodies. What we want has made that dangerous evolution into what we need. (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: Iraq News (22 April) - The Good: Currently, there is a conference going on in Kuwait with Iraq and all of its neighbors, which Condi (Secretary of State) is attending. Prime Minister Maliki is calling for debt relief and more help to curb terrorism in Iraq (Reuters has the highlights of his speech). Seems like he may have taken a subtle swipe at Iran when he called for the neighboring countries to do more to strengthen their borders to prevent terrorists from streaming across the border, but it was probably directed at Saudi Arabia or Syria. The politics of this part of the world continues to befuddle me at times, and I just hope people stop shooting each other so we can leave and the Iraqis can have some semblance of peace. (READ MORE)
Fearless 1st Marines’ blog: Fox, 2/24 unearths massive weapons caches - HABBANIYAH, Iraq (Apr. 18, 2008) – Marines of third platoon, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, can thank the local Iraqi people for the numerous weapons caches found from Apr. 7-11. The Marines are grateful for the intelligence given by a local Iraqi, which lead to unearthing 6.5 tons of ordinance, ammunition and an abundance of enemy weapons from several cache sights; taking away an enormous amount of possible threats to coalition forces from the enemy. (READ MORE)
Doc in the Box: The Little Black Bunny of Doom - Going to war has always been a somewhat mythical experience, legends often rise up and just as many are dashed to the ground (well really, mostly just rumors and stories). One such tale I've heard over the last couple years (since 2006) as been of a black bunny who comes out at dusk and goes up to strangers and allows them to pet him. Yeah, right, in the middle of war zone with some sort of howling beasts that live in the waddee a couple hundred feet away and face it, I know that there are some very unfriendly military folk out here. This has to be one of those urban myths that they use on the new guys fresh off the plane, I'm not about to fall for it. (READ MORE)
ToySoldier: Return of a Season - It is April, and Baqouba is reported as a major hot spot of terrorist activity and is named an Al-Qaeda in Iraq stronghold. AQI holds the residents of Baqouba in a strangle hold of fear and oppression. Coalition forces enact Operation Arrowhead Ripper, a major offensive through the Diyala River Valley to reclaim it. That was 2007, and at that time Coalition Forces not show their faces without expecting a shot being fired, or an explosion of some sort going off. It truly was an unclaimed portion of the Country. I arrived in Baqouba in August of 2007, after Arrowhead Ripper to finish securing Baqouba and relieve the unit (3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division) so that they could redeploy home. It was an interesting task for me and my fellow soldiers as we had just arrived from Baghdad in the hot spot neighborhood of Doura. (READ MORE)
Major John: Iraqi Army Memorial Service - The Iraqi Army lost some men, including a Brigadier, during the recent fighting around Basrah. Yesterday began a three day period where a memorial/rememberance would be held for a portion of the day. I was invited to attend, and was allowed, even encouraged, to photograph any part of the event. We came to the place it was held, where banners were hung announcing the mourning. We entered with a group of Iraqi officers and sat along the walls of the room, with more chairs in the middle. (READ MORE)
The Alley: rodeo, VBIEDs, and other life in the grinder - Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. My regrets.... Here's what has been going on here. The Rodeo: The first annual Balad Rodeo went down a couple of weeks ago. My buddy Andy was the mastermind behind this event, which ballooned from a little hospital get-together to a big freakin' deal! Donated prizes poured in from back home, to the consternation of those concerned about the appearance of solicitation of gifts from civilian enterprises. The planning got pretty intense as the Rodeo neared, and Andy bent but didn't break under the stress of the monster he had created! The day of the rodeo was beautiful, and hundreds of people came out for burgers and 'dogs, (plastic) calf-roping, bull-riding, Guitar-Hero-ing, and two-stepping. (READ MORE)
IN-iraq: More than a wave from behind a windshield - Kirkuk, Iraq - Many of the veteran soldiers of the 1st/151st out of Jasper, IN, have been previously deployed to the Middle East where they conducted missions largely on foot. Now that their missions are behind the wheel of a armored vehicle, they don't miss walking in burning heat, but many miss the interaction with the local population. "Humanitarian missions are so much fun," Staff Sergeant Christopher Mikiska, 27, of Vincennes, IN said. "That's the only bad thing about convoy security missions." Mikiska who was deployed to Iraq during the first year of the war spoke of working with locals in Nasiriyah, and not just kicking in doors. They conducted what he called "search and greets". (READ MORE)
From Home:
Susan Knowles: Families Serve Too - Going through a deployment is like going through a blender. Everything is mixed up and intensified – good things and bad things. It’s not that life isn’t regular life… it’s just that everything you feel feels bigger. Some days are pretty tough. During the last deployment we started calling them “survival days.” As soon as we realized we were having a survival day, we backed off and tried to give ourselves the space to pull ourselves together again. Sometimes the only thing that helped would be talking with another military spouse – even if only by e-mail. It’s hard to understand why things are as hard as they are if you’re not in a military family or very close to one. I knew that another military spouse would completely understand – enough said. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
Soldiers distribute school supplies - A convoy rolls up to a small school in the Monsouri area of Iraq, just outside FOB Kalsu, and at first glance the school looks abandoned. Then small faces start appearing and heads lean out the windows. Moments later, Soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and the 415th Civil Affairs Battalion, from Kalamazoo, Mich., currently assigned to 1-76th FA, are surrounded by helpful faculty and eager students, waiting to see what has been brought. (READ MORE)
Cuscatlán Battalion delivers wheelchairs, gives hope - The El Salvador Cuscatlán Battalion X rotation distributed 125 wheelchairs to disabled children and adults at the al-Rhama Disabled Association in al-Kut, Iraq, April 18. “I was shocked by the large number of children,” said Col. Walter Arévalo, commander of the Cuscatlán Battalion. Many of the wheelchair recipients suffer from conditions such as epilepsy, heart disease, migraines and eye and skin disorders, said Arévalo. (READ MORE)
Marines attacked by SVBIED near Ramadi - CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Two Multi-National Force – West Marines were killed when a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at an entry control point in the vicinity of Ramadi, Iraq, at approximately 7:30 a.m. April 22. The SVBIED attack wounded three other Marines. Two Iraqi Police and 24 local Iraqis were also wounded in the attack. The wounded were taken to local medical facilities. (READ MORE)
One terrorist killed, 23 suspects detained in operations against al-Qaeda - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed one terrorist, detained 23 suspects and discovered homemade explosives during a series of operations Monday and Tuesday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq. In a synchronized effort triggered by intelligence from an operation April 12, Coalition forces descended on targets in Salah ad Din province to disrupt AQI foreign terrorist leadership. As the operation in Sharqat began, one man rushed Coalition forces, who responded to the hostile threat by engaging and killing the suspected terrorist. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers kill five criminals - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers killed five criminals in eastern Baghdad April 21. An aerial weapons team engaged two criminals with rocket-propelled grenade launchers at approximately 9 p.m. The AWT fired one hellfire missile at the criminals, killing them both and destroying the RPG launchers. At approximately 10 p.m., Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducting a route-clearing mission were struck with an improvised explosive device. (READ MORE)
MND-B engage criminals, seize weapons in multiple operations - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers and an MND-B aerial weapons team killed seven criminals and seized weapons in separate incidents across Baghdad April 21. At approximately 8:40 a.m., Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment were on patrol in New Baghdad when they were attacked by terrorists using small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The Soldiers returned fire and killed three criminals. (READ MORE)
Tip leads MND-C Soldiers to caches near Ci Ci Bar Canal - CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Acting on a tip from a citizen, Soldiers from Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), located two weapons caches and a possible vehicle-borne improvised explosive device near the Ci Ci Bar Canal April 20. One cache, found in a spider hole, contained 22 120 mm mortar rounds, 560 artillery fuses and 37 23 mm projectiles. The vehicle-borne IED and a cache consisting of three IEDs were also found nearby. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers, SOI seize IED, discover RPGs (Baghdad) - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized an improvisedexplosive device at approximately 9:30 p.m. April 20 in the West Rashid district in southern Baghdad. The IED was found based on information provided by an Abna al-Iraq, or Sons of Iraq, member. Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found the IED made of homemade explosives that was rigged to an Iraqi Security Forces vehicle. (READ MORE)
U.S., Iraqi Forces Winning in Western Anbar Province, Colonel Says - WASHINGTON — Increased security brought about by military success against insurgents in the western portion of Iraq's Anbar province is enabling a drawdown of U.S. forces there as well as enhanced regional reconstruction efforts, a senior Marine commander told Pentagon reporters last week. "The insurgents, by and large, have been marginalized in western Anbar," Marine Corps Col. Pat Malay, commander of Regimental Combat Team 5, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference from Camp Ripper, Iraq. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Army Soldiers Discover Large Cache with Iranian-Marked Weapons - BASRA — The Iraqi Army discovered a large weapons and munitions cache in a house located in the Al Hyyaniyah area of Basra April 19. Soldiers from the 1st Iraqi Army discovered the cache during the search phase of Operation Charge of the Knights. The cache consisted of a large number of weaponry with Iranian markings. The cache included a 240 mm high-explosive war-head and approximately 160 mortars. Some of which were less than 12 months old. (READ MORE)
Soldiers Distribute Fertilizer to Farmers - FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Zambraniyah farmers got much-needed assistance for their crops recently with a delivery from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “Today we conducted a fertilizer distro for the farmers of Zambraniyah and I think this is something that definitely will continue helping to establish the foundation for economic growth in our sector,” said Capt. Cesar Santiago, a native of Coamo, Puerto Rico, the executive officer for Company B, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment. (READ MORE)
Iraqi National Policemen Provide Medical Clinic for Citizens of Doura - AGHDAD — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers observed the policemen from the 7th brigade, 2nd national police division, in action first-hand during a free medical clinic April 9-11 for the citizens of the Doura community in the Rashid District of northern Baghdad. The national police battalion, charged with providing security for the residents of the mulhallas located in southern Baghdad, took time in a gesture of community service to provide free medical screening and treatment for the citizens of Doura from their joint security station, which is the headquarters of the 7th NP brigade. (READ MORE)
Afghanistan:
Private receives Purple Heart, CIB - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Army Pvt. Joseph Miner graduated Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Ga., shortly before Christmas 2007 and reported to his Guam Army National Guard Unit, Alpha Company, 1-294th Infantry, which was scheduled to deploy here to Afghanistan shortly thereafter. After pre-deployment training at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the 22-year-old infantryman deployed February 2008. (READ MORE)
Private First Class Brandon L. Davidson - Following an air assault in the village of Tsangar to conduct a search and attack in order to disrupt Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in the Watapor Valley, PFC Davidson’s platoon was attacked by 80 personnel in a deliberate attack with a heavy barrage of small arms, PKM, RPG and accurate sniper fire. Within minutes, his platoon had suffered five casualties. PFC Davidson immediately moved to the hasty CCP, where his capabilities as an EMT were critical and prevented a mass casualty incident from overwhelming the platoon medic’s ability to treat casualties. Throughout the contact, which lasted hours, he continued to treat casualties in spite of rounds impacting all around his position. (READ MORE)
Detained Helmand province militant identified - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Coalition forces recently identified an extremist detained during an operation conducted April 1 to disrupt militant operations in Helmand province. The extremist, identified as Hajji Abdullah was apprehended during an operation in the Kajiki District targeting Abdul Haq -- a Taliban sub-commander who was killed during the operation. (READ MORE)
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