...how I almost got blown up, twice.
I found out a couple days before on the 19th that I would be going out on a mission with C Co. 3/67 Armor Bn. to do a Cordon and Knock. I was scheduled to meet up with them at 0500 in the morning on the 22nd and we would roll out to the neighborhood that was about 15miles away.
So I hit the sack around 2300 on the 21st and after jocking for position with my dog, she thinks it's cute to push my legs off the bed with her back as her paws are against the wall, I end up getting to sleep around midnight. I am awaken by my cell phone at 0215 and it's the XO from C. Co wondering were I'm at? He tells me there leaving in twenty minutes. I can see where 0500 and 0245 can get confusing.
I grab my weapons, body armor, kevlar, assault pack and hook Beast up and we meet up with C. Co at there command post. Even though they are a armor company, we are not taking any Brads or M1 Abrams out with us, all of us are riding in M1114(up-armored Humvee's). I'm riding in the XO's truck in the passenger/rear seat. We stage at the gate, load our weapons and roll out at about 0300. We stop right outside the gate(I don't know why) and I'm staring off to the right outside the camp, spacing off through the 4" thick glass and BOOM a rocket hits about 100m from us at the concrete factory sending sparks and chunks of dirt into the air. The XO gets on the the radio and relays to Houndbase(3/67 BN headquarters) where the round impacted.
We ditty mount out of there but I'm still hearing impacts over the engine noise and my earplugs. I have no idea where the hell they are landing except that they are ****ing close. Way to start the night out, eh?
Now 15 miles in Baghdad, Iraq is a damn long distance to drive. You really push your luck and at 15mph, yes that's how fast we drive due to the IED threat, the puker factor is there. On the way there we here over the radio that attack aviation(Apache helicopters) has arrived at the POO site(point of origin) of the rocket attack. We also hear that they see roughly 30 rocket tubes and that they are going to engage them. After about 5 minutes they come back on and say that the site has been neutralized and there are quite a few dead insurgents. Now that is a rare event because usually the insurgents are firing the rockets on a remote controlled setup and are long gone, plus the fact that the Apaches were nearby and saw the flashes. Score one for the good guys.
We finally arrive at the neighborhood where we are conducting our search. Now understand, this search is what we like to call a "dart drop", in where a officer throws a dart up in the air and wherever it lands on the map is what we search. We aren't finding **** and Beast is all about chasing the 100 or so cats and could really care less after 30 houses. This was in a very nice residential area(for Iraq) and after 80+ house and finding no more than a couple AK and pistols, which they are allowed, we pack up and leave.
On our way back we get a call that a 1/26 INF patrol hit an IED. We are close by so we haul *** over to the grid they gave us. On the way they request a medvac for two personnel. We arrive and help set up a perimeter around the rescue effort. The Humvee that was hit showed tell-tale signs of a ADD(armor destruction device, I think that is what there calling these new ones) and is designed specifically to penetrate the armor on the humvee at specific points to cause the most causalities. The front passenger door is hanging on by one hinge(these things weigh around 135-150lb. and has a hole in the bottom front where your legs would be. The rear door has 6-7 smaller entry points. Now this is clean through 2" of armor. The back hatch is completely blown off and is laying 30-40ft behind the truck.
All the soldiers are out of the truck when we arrive and the team leader(front passenger) was transported to the nearest FOB. I never did here if he made it or what the extent of his injuries were. The rear passenger KIA, he was the iraqi interpreter that rides with every patrol. His body was still lying near the humvee severed at the abdomen. We couldn't get to him due to a second IED the bad guys had set for first responders. EOD arrived and sent their robot out with a controlled charge and blew the bomb. The other responders recover the body and the humvee and we begin a door to door search of the neighborhood.
Now, I'm running on two hours of sleep so between being exhausted, having been through a rocket attack and now witnessing this I was, to say, a bit cranky. We get through with some tactical questioning of some men that were around the are but come up empty handed.
We mount up and begin our way back to camp at around 1300. On our way back we hear a huge explosive and see a big plum of smoke about mile or two away. Yep, we start making our way there, this time we are hauling *** through some narrow commercial streets. I can't see crap because of the two story buildings so I have no idea if we are getting close or not.
Then the truck in front of us starts smoking and the team leader called over the radio and said his Duke is on fire. A duke is a IED countermeasure device that is suspended out in front of a Humvee on a 8' pole. We pull to the side and extinguish the fire. No other damage so we throw in in the back of his truck and start to get in our trucks. As we get ready to roll another patrol(Military Police) pass us heading to the same explosion as we are. We get in behind them and about three blocks later we get rocked by another explosion from the front. It hit the MP truck 2 trucks in front of mine. To say I jumped would be the understatement of the year. The drivers slam on the brakes and everyone checks immediately outside there windows for secondary devices as the gunners look for the trigger man or signs of an ambush. Once we determine it clear we get a perimeter set up and our medic goes up to the truck that got hit. It got hit just like the last truck did on the passenger side except the front door took most of the blast. The team leader was KIA.
We arrived back on the camp 16 hours after we left early that morning. The camp ended up taking 16 rockets the night we left from those guys before the Apache's lite them up so all and all a ****ed up day and a birthday I'd rather forget about.
EDIT: I think I fixed most of the grammar errors, it's 2 in the morning so cut me some slack. lol
