May 16th - Bingo Card
"Hey Dad. My Bingo card's just about full."
"What do you mean?"
"Mortar, Rocket, IED, Anti-tank Grenade - I just need an RPG or a little Direct Fire to finish it off. It's been an incredible week."
It's amazing that he can even find the strength to make light of what's happened this week. This has been the worst week of his tour to date - each day of the week a new challenge. When we had talked at the beginning of the week he had experienced a very close call with an IED - a road side bomb. The IED incident was an incredible stroke of good luck - or providence. To come out of it with no one wounded or killed is astounding.
Since then there have been three other incidents - all close calls. The renewed fighting in Fullujah and other cities combined with the "destructive" news coverage of the prisoner maltreatment has resulted in a very aggressive posture by the militants all over the country. Media news stories only give the militia and militants a new strength to continue their fight. And as we get closer to the June 30th turn-over of sovereignty things will continue to escalate.
The FOB (Forward Operating Base) in Tal Afar has been mortared and rocketed this week. One mortar shell landing about twelve yards of his position. Way too close for comfort. No one was hurt in either attack but having these shells land so close to occupied positions is scary. We've learned that the FOB in Tal Afar is attacked on an almost daily basis since the problems in the southern cities materialized. The fighting in Fallujah and Najaf get all the attention but the attacks are happening at the northern FOB's as well.
And to top off the week there was an anti-tank grenade attack Friday morning on his patrol as it moved through the streets of Tal Afar. The radio came alive with a sergeant yelling, "Grenades, grenades!", just as the sharp cracks of the grenades going off could be heard through the hull of the Stryker. Again it was speed that made the difference between a close call and disaster. A grenade came to ground just behind the Stryker and exploded. The exact same scenario had played out a week or so ago in this exact same location with a totally different result. That week the anti-tank grenade hit the Stryker square on the roof, penetrated the hull killing one Soldier and wounding two others.
An anti-tank grenade is shaped like a bowling pin or wine bottle - it looks like the old "potato masher" grenades of WW2. It's a Soviet invention and is shipped all over the world. It's a parachute stabilized, impact fuse hollow charge device. This means that once thrown high above the vehicle being attacked the chute (or drogue) puts it in the right position for the shaped charge to blow a hole completely through up to four inches of steel. The one thrown at the Stryker this day missed because the guy throwing it miscalculated the forward speed of the Stryker. It hit the ground behind the Stryker making a lot of noise but the shrapnel bouncing of the Stryker did little damage. Luckily there were no dismounts outside the Strykers at the time.
I'm told safety is measured in degrees when you are in Iraq. A driver is safer than a dismount, by a degree. A Stryker is safer than a Humvee, by a degree. Tal Afar is safer than Najaf, by a degree. And whatever happens in Baghdad on Monday is happening in Tal Afar on Wednesday. Car bomb in Baghdad today and they try the same stunt in Mosul before the end of the week.
Molotov cocktails are making an appearance now. Low tech but effective. A gasoline filled glass bottle with a rag stuck in the mouth. Light the rag on fire, throw the bottle at a vehicle, the glass breaks and the vehicle is engulfed in flames - burning fuel dripping into the interior through any opening.
As a side note; Saturday morning the entire HHT (Headquarters and Headquarters Troop) went out to the gun range to zero in their weapons. There isn't a single Soldier among them that wants to miss what they shoot at.
"What do you mean?"
"Mortar, Rocket, IED, Anti-tank Grenade - I just need an RPG or a little Direct Fire to finish it off. It's been an incredible week."
It's amazing that he can even find the strength to make light of what's happened this week. This has been the worst week of his tour to date - each day of the week a new challenge. When we had talked at the beginning of the week he had experienced a very close call with an IED - a road side bomb. The IED incident was an incredible stroke of good luck - or providence. To come out of it with no one wounded or killed is astounding.
Since then there have been three other incidents - all close calls. The renewed fighting in Fullujah and other cities combined with the "destructive" news coverage of the prisoner maltreatment has resulted in a very aggressive posture by the militants all over the country. Media news stories only give the militia and militants a new strength to continue their fight. And as we get closer to the June 30th turn-over of sovereignty things will continue to escalate.
The FOB (Forward Operating Base) in Tal Afar has been mortared and rocketed this week. One mortar shell landing about twelve yards of his position. Way too close for comfort. No one was hurt in either attack but having these shells land so close to occupied positions is scary. We've learned that the FOB in Tal Afar is attacked on an almost daily basis since the problems in the southern cities materialized. The fighting in Fallujah and Najaf get all the attention but the attacks are happening at the northern FOB's as well.
And to top off the week there was an anti-tank grenade attack Friday morning on his patrol as it moved through the streets of Tal Afar. The radio came alive with a sergeant yelling, "Grenades, grenades!", just as the sharp cracks of the grenades going off could be heard through the hull of the Stryker. Again it was speed that made the difference between a close call and disaster. A grenade came to ground just behind the Stryker and exploded. The exact same scenario had played out a week or so ago in this exact same location with a totally different result. That week the anti-tank grenade hit the Stryker square on the roof, penetrated the hull killing one Soldier and wounding two others.
An anti-tank grenade is shaped like a bowling pin or wine bottle - it looks like the old "potato masher" grenades of WW2. It's a Soviet invention and is shipped all over the world. It's a parachute stabilized, impact fuse hollow charge device. This means that once thrown high above the vehicle being attacked the chute (or drogue) puts it in the right position for the shaped charge to blow a hole completely through up to four inches of steel. The one thrown at the Stryker this day missed because the guy throwing it miscalculated the forward speed of the Stryker. It hit the ground behind the Stryker making a lot of noise but the shrapnel bouncing of the Stryker did little damage. Luckily there were no dismounts outside the Strykers at the time.
I'm told safety is measured in degrees when you are in Iraq. A driver is safer than a dismount, by a degree. A Stryker is safer than a Humvee, by a degree. Tal Afar is safer than Najaf, by a degree. And whatever happens in Baghdad on Monday is happening in Tal Afar on Wednesday. Car bomb in Baghdad today and they try the same stunt in Mosul before the end of the week.
Molotov cocktails are making an appearance now. Low tech but effective. A gasoline filled glass bottle with a rag stuck in the mouth. Light the rag on fire, throw the bottle at a vehicle, the glass breaks and the vehicle is engulfed in flames - burning fuel dripping into the interior through any opening.
As a side note; Saturday morning the entire HHT (Headquarters and Headquarters Troop) went out to the gun range to zero in their weapons. There isn't a single Soldier among them that wants to miss what they shoot at.
posted by deesci | 4:21 PM
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