No Time

It has truly been a rough patrol cycle. QRF was called up on multiple occasions and FRAGOs (Fragmentary Order) were given a few times.

The first night there was a false alarm. I was woken up at about 1AM and was told there may be a possible QRF mission. I rounded up my gear and sped my way to the TOC (Tactical Operations Command)... only to find out there was no mission. The CO kinda looked at me funny, and it turns out the runner did not know what the fuck he was talking about when he told me to come to the TOC. Oh well

The second night, I was woken up at 3-4AM and was told that there were gunman running around from house to house in our sector, possibly criminals. I yelled out "QRF", and in matter of minutes, one of my sections ran to the Bradelys along with 9 of our dismounts- our reaction time was good, from the time I was given the call to the time we left the gate was only a few minutes. We roamed around the area, but did not find anything or anyone suspicious. Score one for the terrorists

After the last patrol during the second night, we were called up to escort EOD (explosive ordnance Disposal),... these "QRF" missions (I say "QRF" because EOD isn't exactly quick) are pretty gay, because all we are is an escort service, and we have to wait around till they either blow up the EFP, confirm its not an EFP, or make a post blast assessment. Didn't take too long, but it was still retarded.

During the middle of the day on the 3rd day, I was out in Sector and I received word that there was an EFP attack and there were troops in contact. We immediately ran back to the Bradleys and mounted up, but later received word that it was only going to be an EOD escort (great!). The unit that was blown up should have supplied their own EOD, but they were retards... I arrived on the scene and the unit in question seemed to be poorly organized and no one knew what the fuck was going on. It took me forever to find the man in charge, and even their CO seemed clueless... they just arrived in sector, but it was unexcusable. We eventually left the scene and continued mission.

When I barely walked out of the gate on the 3rd night, we heard an explosion in the distance. It did not seem that close, but I called up to COMMANDO MAIN (my TOC), and they were just barely getting information on a route clearnace convoy that was hit with a grenade. We headed in the general direction, found route clearance, and began TQ (tactical questioning) local nationals in the vicinity of the explosion. To make a long story short, it was a long night.

And to top it all off, we had one final QRF mission 30 minutes before the end of the patrol cycle... We heard 3 explosions from the JSS, and the radio traffic erupted. I immediately had my men on standby and awaited orders to SP. As soon as we got the word we were out the gate in less than 5 minutes. We found out on-route that it was a mortar attack (an unsuccessful one), and we were going to see if any civilians were injured. It was ridiculous trying to find the POI (point of impact). Command traffic, tower traffic, LNs (local nationals) were all telling us something different, but we were eventually able to decifier the POI and confirmed that there were no casualties. On route to the POI, we received word that there was a suspicious activity at at the possible POO (point of origin) of the Mortars. We mounted back up, and went to the location. They reported that there were possible snipers on the roof top of the location, so we rapidly dismounted, made an assessment, and cleared the bldg hard. It was textbook: knocked down the door, rounded up the occupants, cleared the bldg... but it was the wrong house (sound familiar?) We eventually got to the roof of the target house, but did not find anything. After TQing the locals and having COMMANDO MAIN pull our strings to their whim, we left.

Yup, pretty rough.

Slowing Down

Just when things seem to be speeding up, it slows back down. As fast they come, it slows back down again. That is life over here... not knowing when the next time the engine is going to fly to the next gear.

Last couple of days have been quiet, not much going on, doing the same patrols in the same areas, running into the same people, having the same conversations (for the most part). A couple of days ago, right after my previous entry, the other platoon got hit by a grenade, luckily there were only shrapnel wounds. After that, it has calmed down again. An attack is inevitable, but the timing of it always seems unexpected. I believe we have thwarted many other attacks, but it is difficult to gauge our success in that manner... if they don't attack, we just never know.

So many things that could kill and harm us... but it is best not to dwell on it too much. The first couple of days patrolling outside the wire, I was watching every step, looking at every rooftop, paranoid of every hole I pass by... I still am vigilant, but in a more "relaxed" sort of way now. I am more accepting of my situation, and acknowledge that anything could happen- so it is best to save the energy and save my mind for the moment when everything goes to hell.

I think I said that the way I wanted to...

The storm before the storm

Extremely windy today, dirt is flying all over the place and visibility is limited due to all the sand. The days seem to be going by pretty fast, just moving from one thing to another, one task to the next. I am just barely getting over my uncontrolled bowel movements, and some of the medicine that the doctor has given me seems to be working, just need to replenish on fluids. Seems like everybody has the same problem at least once during the deployment. The main culprit is the local Iraqi food which we are offered from time to time... think I will stay away from it for a while.

Had another RPG attack the other day, and once again, 3rd platoon was there at the scene. We were barely walking out of the gate when the explosion happened, ran toward the explosion, and tried to track down the shooter. Another miss at the Bradley... a little closer, but no cigar.

In completely unrelated news, I started and am in the process of finishing my taxes today, so refund will be on the way!

Finally...

After being told that this was the job I will have after leaving West Point, after training for this job for the longest time, and waiting even more on top of that to actually get the job, I am finally a platoon leader as of a couple of days ago. I've settled in pretty well, seeing as though I was already going out with the platoon for the last month. Going to have my first platoon meeting or "talk" where I will probably talk briefely about myself and what some of my expections are of them and what some of their expectations may be of me.

Other than that, not much has been going on, just trying to chase down bad guys basically.