(re-run) Husaybah on Fire: a Retrospective
I originally sent this email on 24 March 2003...from the very place I am stuck now. Camp Arifjan, KU.
Ok, I know that it has been a long time since you have all heard from me. I know I promised the 13th, but things have been really busy here. Most of my time has been spent on the wash rack ensuring that every last peice of dirt is washed from our vehicles. We do this so no agricultural contaminents make into the States from Iraq.
My last days at FOB Tiger were hectic, as expected. The hand over to the Marines went OK...but they did not listen to us. They have already had 4 people killed in our old AO. Most the ways we hear about evoke the same response..."We told them not to do that!" For instance the Marine who is now blind because left the ballistic windows down on his up armored Humvee...they hit an IED. They upset most of our translators and in response the tranlators quit. It really frustrates us, but I guess they will have to learn. Sadly, their learning will cost lives. The toughest part about the RIP (Releif In Place) was the long days. We had a morning and night mission everday, which means we started at 0600 and ended around 2300 every night. They rotated personnel, but we had to use the same crews every mission. Plum wore us out, yes it did. To make matters worse they were NEVER on time. At first we did not mind, but after the third day it really started getting old. This encounter tarnished our overall opinion of the Marine Corps.
After that was over we loaded up for Kuwait. I got put on a 3-ton truck with an overloaded shipping container strapped to it. This container maxed out the suspension so the entire ride was high adventure. We almost rolled the truck three times because the bumps would start it rocking and my driver (who is not the brightest soldier I have ever worked with) would jerk the truck around trying to get it under control...only exacerbating the problem. It did not help that whoever was responsible for strpping down the container failed to tighten the straps. After the first leg of the trip, I honestly thought someone wanted me dead. BUT I SURVIVED, SUCKERS!!! We tightened everything down and the rest of the journey was tiring, but not too eventful.
When we got close to the border the highway was lined with Bedouin children begging for food and water (whether they really needed it...I am not sure...but they begged just the same). Only after did we find out that we were not supposed to throw them any. Two children had been killed in the week preceding our convoy. Think about it. A 1.5 Liter bottle of water leaves a truck travelling 45mph headed for a child that running towards it to catch it...neither party considers the forces involved...the bottle bounces off the pavement...and well you can imagine the rest. I think it is a perfect metaphor of our efforts in Iraq.
We also lost a soldier on the way back. Sad accident. A fellow LT was in a tank and he was pulling security to the side with his .50 Cal when another convoy from another directing struck the barrel of the gun. Since the mount was free spinning, the gun twisted around and struck him in the back of the head and forced his face into the commander's cuppola. He died instantly. I am reminded of a quote from Band of Brothers: "The war is over but soldiers are still dying"
Now I am at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Washing vehicles or should I say in charge of the washing of vehicles. I am the guy watching the guy, watch the guys who are watching the guys clean...and there a guy that watches me from time to time. Ahhhh the bureaucracy.
We have had two accidents on the wash rack. Luckily no one has died, but two people have had both their legs broken. So the Army, ever concerned about safety, now makes sure the everyone wears Kevlar helmets on the wash rack. Isn't the definition of insanity: "when faced with a problem coming up with an irreleveant solution and expecting a different result"?? If so, then someone needs their head checked.
In closing this will probably be my last spam from over the sea. It has been a short adventure but an interesting one none the less. I could arrive anywhere from 29 MAr to the 3 APR. No one knows. I am releaved to know my roommate is back in the States, because HIS crap rolled on to MY washrack and bumped MY vehicles...when asked where he was the other LTs said he was in the States already. So Ed...I know where you live and I am coming to get you. :)
Well, that is all folks...see most of you shortly!!!
Bandit Red 1, OUT!!!!
(FYI That is my call sign)
Ok, I know that it has been a long time since you have all heard from me. I know I promised the 13th, but things have been really busy here. Most of my time has been spent on the wash rack ensuring that every last peice of dirt is washed from our vehicles. We do this so no agricultural contaminents make into the States from Iraq.
My last days at FOB Tiger were hectic, as expected. The hand over to the Marines went OK...but they did not listen to us. They have already had 4 people killed in our old AO. Most the ways we hear about evoke the same response..."We told them not to do that!" For instance the Marine who is now blind because left the ballistic windows down on his up armored Humvee...they hit an IED. They upset most of our translators and in response the tranlators quit. It really frustrates us, but I guess they will have to learn. Sadly, their learning will cost lives. The toughest part about the RIP (Releif In Place) was the long days. We had a morning and night mission everday, which means we started at 0600 and ended around 2300 every night. They rotated personnel, but we had to use the same crews every mission. Plum wore us out, yes it did. To make matters worse they were NEVER on time. At first we did not mind, but after the third day it really started getting old. This encounter tarnished our overall opinion of the Marine Corps.
After that was over we loaded up for Kuwait. I got put on a 3-ton truck with an overloaded shipping container strapped to it. This container maxed out the suspension so the entire ride was high adventure. We almost rolled the truck three times because the bumps would start it rocking and my driver (who is not the brightest soldier I have ever worked with) would jerk the truck around trying to get it under control...only exacerbating the problem. It did not help that whoever was responsible for strpping down the container failed to tighten the straps. After the first leg of the trip, I honestly thought someone wanted me dead. BUT I SURVIVED, SUCKERS!!! We tightened everything down and the rest of the journey was tiring, but not too eventful.
When we got close to the border the highway was lined with Bedouin children begging for food and water (whether they really needed it...I am not sure...but they begged just the same). Only after did we find out that we were not supposed to throw them any. Two children had been killed in the week preceding our convoy. Think about it. A 1.5 Liter bottle of water leaves a truck travelling 45mph headed for a child that running towards it to catch it...neither party considers the forces involved...the bottle bounces off the pavement...and well you can imagine the rest. I think it is a perfect metaphor of our efforts in Iraq.
We also lost a soldier on the way back. Sad accident. A fellow LT was in a tank and he was pulling security to the side with his .50 Cal when another convoy from another directing struck the barrel of the gun. Since the mount was free spinning, the gun twisted around and struck him in the back of the head and forced his face into the commander's cuppola. He died instantly. I am reminded of a quote from Band of Brothers: "The war is over but soldiers are still dying"
Now I am at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Washing vehicles or should I say in charge of the washing of vehicles. I am the guy watching the guy, watch the guys who are watching the guys clean...and there a guy that watches me from time to time. Ahhhh the bureaucracy.
We have had two accidents on the wash rack. Luckily no one has died, but two people have had both their legs broken. So the Army, ever concerned about safety, now makes sure the everyone wears Kevlar helmets on the wash rack. Isn't the definition of insanity: "when faced with a problem coming up with an irreleveant solution and expecting a different result"?? If so, then someone needs their head checked.
In closing this will probably be my last spam from over the sea. It has been a short adventure but an interesting one none the less. I could arrive anywhere from 29 MAr to the 3 APR. No one knows. I am releaved to know my roommate is back in the States, because HIS crap rolled on to MY washrack and bumped MY vehicles...when asked where he was the other LTs said he was in the States already. So Ed...I know where you live and I am coming to get you. :)
Well, that is all folks...see most of you shortly!!!
Bandit Red 1, OUT!!!!
(FYI That is my call sign)
posted by Lycurgus at 9:47 AM
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