Last night, after all the patrols should have been done, our aerial camera caught a group of people that looked as though they may be planting an IED. Since we were the ones on QRF, the platoon got all their gear back on, and in about 5 minutes, we were out on foot, running to the suspected location (probably 1/2 mile down the road). The Bradleys were right behind us, and reached the location a few seconds before we did. We ran up on the suspects, surrounded them, forced them to line up on the wall, searched the vehicle, and realized they were only changing a flat tire... so just as fast as we got there, we mounted back onto the Bradleys and zoomed right out of there. The whole process was probably about 30 Minutes.
Tonight was one of the more fun and calm nights. We were out on patrol as usual, knocking on doors and talking to the local residents. I striked up a conversation with a family in the last home, and they invited us to eat dinner with them. I graciously accepted and the whole platoon got some good Iraqi food, and we talked (through the translator) about Obama, Football, Nuri Al Maliki, and other random shit. Good times, think we made a good impression on that particular family, hopefully we did not eat too much of their food though...
Off to bed...
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Strange day...
This morning, a dude with an RPG shot at our Bradleys (Bradley Fighting Vehicle- basically an Armored personnel carrier with a big gun) while our platoon was dismounted a good distance from them. We heard the explosion and started running toward the sound of the explosion. When we arrived, we found out a MAM (military age male) fired an RPG and completely missed the Bradely, droped the launcher, and him and his buddy made a run for it on their Moped or motor scooter. In the panic to get away, they crashed the scooter, could not get it to start again, and took off on foot. We tried to catch them, but they were long gone by the time we arrived on the scene. After questioning the locals and gathering descriptions of the perpetrators, we got the "ok" to run over the discarded Moped with our Bradely as a show of force and so it would not be used again (I have video). Once that fiasco was over, we gave high fives to eachother.
Also, we went out on QRF (quick reaction force) today in response to gunfire supposedly comming from a local school. We arrived at the scene, running toward the school, and began the systematic clearing of the entire building. We were moving fast and the adrenaline was pumping, we went from room to room, knocking down doors, clearing the building... only to find out we were at the wrong school...
Then we ran out of the school, and went to the school a block away, and did the same thing with the same intensity, doing everything with violent precision, every man knew his job... but it was the wrong school...
Turns out most of the gunfire came from the National Police, possibly shooting at eachtother because they were so disorganized. Apparently the incident started off with a personal dispute between a local leader and an off duty NP... strange... I do not want to say that the national police are incompetent, but they do need better lower level leadership. They definitely put forth the effort when necessary, but they still have a way to go.
Also, we went out on QRF (quick reaction force) today in response to gunfire supposedly comming from a local school. We arrived at the scene, running toward the school, and began the systematic clearing of the entire building. We were moving fast and the adrenaline was pumping, we went from room to room, knocking down doors, clearing the building... only to find out we were at the wrong school...
Then we ran out of the school, and went to the school a block away, and did the same thing with the same intensity, doing everything with violent precision, every man knew his job... but it was the wrong school...
Turns out most of the gunfire came from the National Police, possibly shooting at eachtother because they were so disorganized. Apparently the incident started off with a personal dispute between a local leader and an off duty NP... strange... I do not want to say that the national police are incompetent, but they do need better lower level leadership. They definitely put forth the effort when necessary, but they still have a way to go.
Monday, January 19, 2009
From Calm to Chaos
So I was playing XBOX, eating dinner, when a large explosion rocked the base. The CO and the XO were in the room at the time, we all scambled to the ground, and immediately put on our gear and ran to the TOC to find out what was going on. I thought it was a Mortar explosion right on base, or an RPG hit one of the towers or something. It turned out that an EFP (Explosively formed Penetrator), the nastiest of IEDs, hit one of our Bradelys on one of the roads that border our base. After a few minutes, we found out that everyone was okay, except for a 3rd degree burn on the back of the driver. The Copper projectile ripped though the armor, through the vehicle battery, and stopped just short of entering his body...
An EFP also struck our logistics convoy a few days ago, everyone also came out fine from that incident. The explosion was about a mile away, but it was so loud we could clearly feel and hear it on base.
Iranians... they are making most of these bombs, seems like we mind as well be at war with them.
An EFP also struck our logistics convoy a few days ago, everyone also came out fine from that incident. The explosion was about a mile away, but it was so loud we could clearly feel and hear it on base.
Iranians... they are making most of these bombs, seems like we mind as well be at war with them.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Patrolling Favorites
the last couple of days I went out on all the patrols my future platoon went on and I was able to really see the different parts of our sector multiple times and also able to see the platoon in action in differing situations.
My perception of the Iraqi people is starting to become clearly defined. I do not dislike these people, nor do I completely sympathize with them either. In the very poor areas in our sector, people have simple concerns, and over the years, many of them have come to think that Americans can get them anything they want (ie money, food, health care, etc). When I went up to talk to some of these people, it was one sad story after another, and they kept asking for things that we could not give them. We have come to a point where we have made them rely on the US for assistance and now we are trying to handover this responsibility to the Iraqis... It is working? In some areas, yes, I believe a sense of ownership is developing from the Iraqis, but for the illegal dwellings in which most of the poor people live in our area... quite a different story, no one wants to help them and they are technically breaking the law...
The National police caught some bad guys the other day in a total mess of a situation. In Iraq, the big law enforcement groups are the IA (Iraqi army), NP (National Police), and IP (Iraqi police or just regular street cops). It seems as though they are competing entities, always trying to get credit for whatever they can at the expense of the other services. No cross talk, not much working together, etc. I guess this may be the same way in the states, but I am unsure. The are all evolving entities, and it seems like much results have come out of them, but it differs from area to area. Well, back to the situation... There were IA and NP on the scene when my platoon arrived at a checkpoint where suspects were detained (have to be vaugue because I do not want to give away any valuable information in this blog). Emotions ran high, and the NP and IA were aruging as too who was going to take the evidence and the suspects. My platoon was able to calm things down for a little while, analyzed the evidence, took pictures, etc. Then, some NP commander arrived on the scene with his posse of 10 other men and started aruging with the IA. The NP then said something to the effect that the IA were incompetent and he was going to arrest the IA commander. The group of IA then became angry and one of them cocked there AK-47 while US forces, IA and NP tried to take the weapon away from the IA soldier. One of the soliders shot rounds into the air in an attempt to calm everyone down, but it only agitated everyone. Soldiers were everywhere, everyone was aruging, it ALMOST became chaos, but one of the MITT team guys (US soliders who are imbedded with the IA who act as a liason and advisor) showed up, and calmed the situation down... One of our Bradleys also ran over a car when providing a base of fire for our element... whoops. Everyone was ok, the NP at the checkpoint waved the car through as a Bradely was headed towards it, caught in the blind spot, and was ran over. Crazy
Got more, but I'll keep it short for now
My perception of the Iraqi people is starting to become clearly defined. I do not dislike these people, nor do I completely sympathize with them either. In the very poor areas in our sector, people have simple concerns, and over the years, many of them have come to think that Americans can get them anything they want (ie money, food, health care, etc). When I went up to talk to some of these people, it was one sad story after another, and they kept asking for things that we could not give them. We have come to a point where we have made them rely on the US for assistance and now we are trying to handover this responsibility to the Iraqis... It is working? In some areas, yes, I believe a sense of ownership is developing from the Iraqis, but for the illegal dwellings in which most of the poor people live in our area... quite a different story, no one wants to help them and they are technically breaking the law...
The National police caught some bad guys the other day in a total mess of a situation. In Iraq, the big law enforcement groups are the IA (Iraqi army), NP (National Police), and IP (Iraqi police or just regular street cops). It seems as though they are competing entities, always trying to get credit for whatever they can at the expense of the other services. No cross talk, not much working together, etc. I guess this may be the same way in the states, but I am unsure. The are all evolving entities, and it seems like much results have come out of them, but it differs from area to area. Well, back to the situation... There were IA and NP on the scene when my platoon arrived at a checkpoint where suspects were detained (have to be vaugue because I do not want to give away any valuable information in this blog). Emotions ran high, and the NP and IA were aruging as too who was going to take the evidence and the suspects. My platoon was able to calm things down for a little while, analyzed the evidence, took pictures, etc. Then, some NP commander arrived on the scene with his posse of 10 other men and started aruging with the IA. The NP then said something to the effect that the IA were incompetent and he was going to arrest the IA commander. The group of IA then became angry and one of them cocked there AK-47 while US forces, IA and NP tried to take the weapon away from the IA soldier. One of the soliders shot rounds into the air in an attempt to calm everyone down, but it only agitated everyone. Soldiers were everywhere, everyone was aruging, it ALMOST became chaos, but one of the MITT team guys (US soliders who are imbedded with the IA who act as a liason and advisor) showed up, and calmed the situation down... One of our Bradleys also ran over a car when providing a base of fire for our element... whoops. Everyone was ok, the NP at the checkpoint waved the car through as a Bradely was headed towards it, caught in the blind spot, and was ran over. Crazy
Got more, but I'll keep it short for now
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Waiting Game
Been on a few more patrols, getting more and more familiar with the area, and also, getting to know some of the people in my future platoon and other platoons.
A few nights ago I had my first sit down with some local Iraqis and drank some chai in their home. The TV show "Las Vegas" was playing in the background which almost made me forget that I was in Iraq except for the fact that there were Arabic Subtitles. For the most part, the poor people in our area don't give a damn about anything besides their home (literally and meaning family) and work. Many residents knew nothing about the new security agreement made with the United States or even that our base was attacked (they only live a very short distance away from us). This is very understandable when you are poor, but they still have sattelite TV.... I also realized that it is almost a necessity to become a smoker over here, or at least take a cigarette when offered. It is an excellent ice breaker, and opens up people to start a conversation, very useful when talking to Iraqis and of course my own soldiers and superiors.
Today, we visited a few vocational schools in the area and checked out a National police checkpoint. We were suppose to come back him after about 4 hours, be we were directed to cordon off an area of a suspected IED. So, we secured the area with help of the IP (Iraqi Police) and NP (national police) and cleared the area so EOD (Explosive ordnace disposal) could blow up the suspected bomb. Took a while... That is the worst thing about a cordon- waiting. Seems as though the IP did a good job of suspecting that there was a bomb and we (US forces and Iraqi) spolied a potential enemy attack. Kudos
Im tired...
A few nights ago I had my first sit down with some local Iraqis and drank some chai in their home. The TV show "Las Vegas" was playing in the background which almost made me forget that I was in Iraq except for the fact that there were Arabic Subtitles. For the most part, the poor people in our area don't give a damn about anything besides their home (literally and meaning family) and work. Many residents knew nothing about the new security agreement made with the United States or even that our base was attacked (they only live a very short distance away from us). This is very understandable when you are poor, but they still have sattelite TV.... I also realized that it is almost a necessity to become a smoker over here, or at least take a cigarette when offered. It is an excellent ice breaker, and opens up people to start a conversation, very useful when talking to Iraqis and of course my own soldiers and superiors.
Today, we visited a few vocational schools in the area and checked out a National police checkpoint. We were suppose to come back him after about 4 hours, be we were directed to cordon off an area of a suspected IED. So, we secured the area with help of the IP (Iraqi Police) and NP (national police) and cleared the area so EOD (Explosive ordnace disposal) could blow up the suspected bomb. Took a while... That is the worst thing about a cordon- waiting. Seems as though the IP did a good job of suspecting that there was a bomb and we (US forces and Iraqi) spolied a potential enemy attack. Kudos
Im tired...
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Patroling
I am now permanently at JSS Ur. I arrived a few days ago and already went on a few patorls. I am planning on doing 2-3 a day, get the most I can out of it, try to memorize the ins and outs of the neighborhood, get a feel for the local population, etc. Recently, right before I arrived, we were attacked by a few RPGs, and we also had a Mortar attack yesterday that totally missed the base.
My impressions of the Shishan- Hay Ur (specific names that the area we are in go by) area? It is pretty much a shithole. The riftraft of Sadr City and Baghdad live in this area, it is inhabited by illegal squatters, road conditions are poor, trash and abandoned vehicles everywhere, packs of wild dogs roam the streets and outskirts (they get in the way a little too often), sewage is poor or nonexistent, smells like shit...
Good stuff? Seems like a good majority of people like us or are indifferent. The primary enemy in the area in JAM or Jaysh Al Mahdi- which is basically a bunch of shia thugs that use to run the streets before US Forces arrived. They kidnap people, terrorize the local population, try to undue the good we have done in the area. Al Sadr is a pretty popular figure around here, google him if you get a chance (hence the name Sadr City).
The first part of the deployment, they rounded up alot of the bad guys, and the population has noticed a difference. Now, we are trying to maintain our gains, and continue to deny the enemy use of our area of operations.
Learning alot in these last couple of days, going to continue to go on patrols and get used to the area.
Aufweidersehn!
My impressions of the Shishan- Hay Ur (specific names that the area we are in go by) area? It is pretty much a shithole. The riftraft of Sadr City and Baghdad live in this area, it is inhabited by illegal squatters, road conditions are poor, trash and abandoned vehicles everywhere, packs of wild dogs roam the streets and outskirts (they get in the way a little too often), sewage is poor or nonexistent, smells like shit...
Good stuff? Seems like a good majority of people like us or are indifferent. The primary enemy in the area in JAM or Jaysh Al Mahdi- which is basically a bunch of shia thugs that use to run the streets before US Forces arrived. They kidnap people, terrorize the local population, try to undue the good we have done in the area. Al Sadr is a pretty popular figure around here, google him if you get a chance (hence the name Sadr City).
The first part of the deployment, they rounded up alot of the bad guys, and the population has noticed a difference. Now, we are trying to maintain our gains, and continue to deny the enemy use of our area of operations.
Learning alot in these last couple of days, going to continue to go on patrols and get used to the area.
Aufweidersehn!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
A New Year starting out with some purpose
A few things have happened in the last week:
First, I conducted my first 15-6 investigation. A 15-6 is basically an investigation where an unbiased officer if given the task of finding out the facts of a given incident. In my case, it was a negligent discharge- which is when a person accidently or "negligently" fires his weapon when he did not intend to fire it. It was a qucik investigation: I recieved sworn statements from the people invovled, put together a bunch of paper work, and gave my unbiased opinion on what happened and what actions (punishment) I recommended. Basically, I found the person at fault due to him not following proper procedure when clearing his weapon.
Also, I had to take a FOO (Field Order Officer) class (in order to be certifed to become a FOO) at Taji. For the comming month, I will be the "FOO" for my new company, Charlie, when I move up there tomorrow. I basically am given control of up to $25,000 to buy things for everyday use on our base, for example: TVs for dayrooms, microwaves and Refrigerators for common use, wood to build "non-permanent" structures, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Primarily, it is to buy off the local economy due to the slow governemnt process of buying such items for everyday use. That will be a side job I will have for the next month until I get my platoon.
And thats about it. Still looking for one more item on my inventory list... ugh. Also started watching "Rome" the HBO Series, pretty awsome show so far.
yup
First, I conducted my first 15-6 investigation. A 15-6 is basically an investigation where an unbiased officer if given the task of finding out the facts of a given incident. In my case, it was a negligent discharge- which is when a person accidently or "negligently" fires his weapon when he did not intend to fire it. It was a qucik investigation: I recieved sworn statements from the people invovled, put together a bunch of paper work, and gave my unbiased opinion on what happened and what actions (punishment) I recommended. Basically, I found the person at fault due to him not following proper procedure when clearing his weapon.
Also, I had to take a FOO (Field Order Officer) class (in order to be certifed to become a FOO) at Taji. For the comming month, I will be the "FOO" for my new company, Charlie, when I move up there tomorrow. I basically am given control of up to $25,000 to buy things for everyday use on our base, for example: TVs for dayrooms, microwaves and Refrigerators for common use, wood to build "non-permanent" structures, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Primarily, it is to buy off the local economy due to the slow governemnt process of buying such items for everyday use. That will be a side job I will have for the next month until I get my platoon.
And thats about it. Still looking for one more item on my inventory list... ugh. Also started watching "Rome" the HBO Series, pretty awsome show so far.
yup
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