Encounter on the Street
An Iraqi citizen came up to the main gate of the FOB (Forward Operating Base) in Tal Afar and appeared to be quite upset. After a few moments he was able to get across to the guards that he had seen a truck parked on the street with several armed men inside. Soldiers were immediately tasked to apprehend this vehicle.
They scrambled into their gear and exited the main gate of the FOB on foot. The directions given by the Iraqi citizen were right on the mark and the "lorry" was exactly where the man said it would be. Cautiously approaching the parked truck from both sides of the street, the soldiers had safeties off and where ready to assault the men in the vehicle if they didn't surrender
Working their way down the street as quickly as possible the men leap frogged closer to the truck parked on the curb. Through the windows they could see that the men inside had weapons. As they got within a few yards of the truck they heard a voice from inside, "Hey Chaps!"
The men in the truck were British soldiers. A confrontation on the street in Tal Afar was narrowly averted. If shooting had started there would definitely have been casualties - on both sides.
After a few nervous laughs and a quick conversation, the soldiers turned back towards the FOB, still a little jumpy after their close call. As they neared the FOB, AK fire erupted ahead of them. Months of training immediately took over and every Soldier dove for cover and immediately started scanning for "targets". Nothing materialized, no more shots were fired and cautiously they completed the trip back to the safety of the FOB. Later, a nervous Iraqi Security Guard with a sheepish grin on his face admitted to "accidentally" firing his AK-47. (The poor guy got chewed out twice. Once by the officer in charge and again by the Iraqi interpreter!)
In my interview with "one of these Soldiers" I was told that he wasn't nervous or scared - instead he said he was calm - it was as if he'd done it all before. Everyone took both incidents in stride, except for a couple of "newbies" who had just arrived in Iraq. Their hands were still shaking fifteen minutes later. (Only four months in country and they already have the bearing of hardened veterans.)
They scrambled into their gear and exited the main gate of the FOB on foot. The directions given by the Iraqi citizen were right on the mark and the "lorry" was exactly where the man said it would be. Cautiously approaching the parked truck from both sides of the street, the soldiers had safeties off and where ready to assault the men in the vehicle if they didn't surrender
Working their way down the street as quickly as possible the men leap frogged closer to the truck parked on the curb. Through the windows they could see that the men inside had weapons. As they got within a few yards of the truck they heard a voice from inside, "Hey Chaps!"
The men in the truck were British soldiers. A confrontation on the street in Tal Afar was narrowly averted. If shooting had started there would definitely have been casualties - on both sides.
After a few nervous laughs and a quick conversation, the soldiers turned back towards the FOB, still a little jumpy after their close call. As they neared the FOB, AK fire erupted ahead of them. Months of training immediately took over and every Soldier dove for cover and immediately started scanning for "targets". Nothing materialized, no more shots were fired and cautiously they completed the trip back to the safety of the FOB. Later, a nervous Iraqi Security Guard with a sheepish grin on his face admitted to "accidentally" firing his AK-47. (The poor guy got chewed out twice. Once by the officer in charge and again by the Iraqi interpreter!)
In my interview with "one of these Soldiers" I was told that he wasn't nervous or scared - instead he said he was calm - it was as if he'd done it all before. Everyone took both incidents in stride, except for a couple of "newbies" who had just arrived in Iraq. Their hands were still shaking fifteen minutes later. (Only four months in country and they already have the bearing of hardened veterans.)
posted by deesci | 2:18 PM
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