jhungary
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War Stories 4 : Roxanne
This story is dedicated to @levina
Women in war is not a big concept anymore than used to, nowadays women can and do get involve in firefights and get dirty themselves. Just 30 years ago the concept of women in front line is an unimaginable situation. Just to think of women were still relegated to supporting role like administration or nurses back in Vietnam war just 50 years ago.
In the military, you tend to not look at soldier according to their gender, you would not get any different treatment if you are a woman, nor would you expect one. But that's a lot more easier to say then actually done, I happened to know this first hand.
Fallujah, 2004
In this god forsaken city, I should have been home by now, it was about 9 months after the now famous "Mission Accomplished" speech, which most of us actually believed in, thinking all the hard work has done and most of the 3d ID guy I came with had gone home, and somebody extended my tour to replace a LT who was wounded .
The war, for me, is not over, and I have to accept that, now I am running ops between Baghdad and Fallujah, which is still wild west even after the major fighting have done for, our job are to run convoy in and out of Baghdad International to Fallujah.
Now, since the Army for all its mighty, decided to send us, cavalry troop without our APC to war zone and use us as tailgate jockey, we are there without any transport, so we are matched with a transport company, where they drove us around and we, well, fight.
On most day, we were driven around by the element of the 593rd Army Support Group and they were in charge with logistic and combat service support in theatre, they were deployed since the on set of the war, so they have rack up about 9 months of frontline war fighting along with our regular folks. Those gang are alright.
What they basically do is to provide truck, humvee and driver to transport us to and from any location, while we are mounted, those asset are organized into our detachment.
My people, on the other hand, are a typical 11 Bravo, not like the gang I had before, which is a bunch of cavalry men working as a dismounted troop. They are infantry, plain and simple. So they are supposed to know what they are doing.
This system work very well, they know what they are doing and we went thru a few ambush and comes out unscathed, well, mostly. but that actually all that you need, a crew that know what they were doing, with each and every single one know what to do when they are ask to do it. That is a crew that carry you home alive.
That's cool, given we only stay for another six months, well, coming from the mission accomplished, what we are expecting is that shit is going to roll downhill.
Then things changed. One day in April, 2 months left in this hole, I woke up to the noise of truck humming and engine turning over. I got up, dressed in just my trouser and undershirt. I gone outside my tent and find out the truck and humvee was leaving, being redeployed and eventually move back Stateside, I did not make much of it as redeployment are quite common in a war zone and we have no ops or patrol in the next 3 or 4 days, just that I owe someone some money and now I cannot pay it back, well, I went back to bed.
Woke up for lunch, skipped breakfast. At the canteen, where we all gather and have our lunch, then the bunch of us starting to talk trash, there are always one that talked to much in any platoon, a motor mouth by definition or scuttlebutt. And in our platoon, it's PFC Vinson.
He started by stating the 593rd redeployment and starting a rumour that they are replaced by an reservist outfit from another brigade since the war was officially over.
"No shit, are you shitting me, troop?" I said
"I shit you not lieutenant, its true, my friend up on Battalion OP told me that" Vinson said.
"That ain't right" I said.
At this point I should explain why it would be such a problem the regular army (us) sees in the reservist. See, the regular guy like us trained to do a job, and we train 5 days a week for it. So we are very good at doing what we do. However, for the reservist, they trained once or twice per week, and they have a 1 or 2 week intense pre-deployment training before deploying to the hot zone and that's it.
Most of them have another job, they could be firefighter, police officer, farm hand, lawyer and so on, they are doing one thing and then drag into Iraq and do this given only 1 or 2 months pre-deployment training. Another reason we hate them is because they are new, and no one like breaking new guys into their own rank.
I usually take rumour not so seriously, but I had this bad feeling about this, I mean, first they take away our Bradley and use us as infantry, then they extended my tour, then what they won't do??
Soon, my doubt have been confirm, and a day later a new convoy pull into our FOB. Then the distress started. A Captain emerge out of the lead humvee, ask to see the Battalion Commander, while the rest of his company exit the vehicle and starting to chat with one another.
"Holy Shit" I exclaimed. "Did you see that?" I ask my 2IC Platoon Sergeant Cowley
"See what? Sir?" He asked
"Since when do we have army haircut like that?" I point to one of the driver
Well, you can actually see from how soldier carry on with their demeanour to see how much training had put into him, especially when what you are seeing is not a him, but a her. Usually women don't join the Regular Army. So when you start seeing women in a unit, you know they are reservist.
I did not stay long, as the new guys come in, we are once again operational and I was called to attend a briefing for the Convoy Ops, but just one thought about tagging these reservist along have shake me off my boots.
So, the next day, we bunch up on 0400 and go over the day's objective. Basically Convoy op is quite simple, there are 3 routes leading out of Baghdad International Airport, which handle the supply to the North/North Eastern Part of Iraq, and convoy move out from these 3 routes Route BIAP (Baghdad Airport Road, known as Route Irish later, leading between the green zone to Baghdad International) Route Green (Highway 1 leading north to Tikrit and Mosul) and Highway 10-11-12 (Baghdad to Al-Ramadi, which pass thru Fallujah)
Later a 4th route was added that lead south to Nasiriyah but this is irrelevant for now. Well, convoy run out to supply bases across the North/North-eastern part of the country and then we tag along and make sure they arrive at their destination okay. This is an easy job but it was also the most dangerous, because since they cannot go toe to toe with our tank, the Iraqi insurgent would hit our convoy to stave off the log-base and the tanks.
So I climb up on my Humvee, the driver was already there, she was late teens to early twenties, soft in voices, seems like a student type, probably volunteer for money for school, an action I can totally understand. She had a 2 layer bun tie up her blonde hair, which is in violate with the Army Regulation. A feat you observe in most reservist.
"Good Morning Private" I said.
"Morning sir." She response, sounded kind of scare.
"Nervous?" I turned to her and ask.
"Yes sir" she said
"Okay, just remember to stick close to the vehicle ahead and don't forget to put your foot down when we are getting shot at, then we will be alright. and You don't need to sir me every time, private.... Bloom." I lean forward in order to see her name tape
"roger that, sir" she response then we started drive off.
That trip was uneventful at best, we stick close to the truck that carry the supply, driven by the KBR guy, most of them a PMC type, while our soldier, mostly 88M like Private Bloom drove truck and get paid $2100 a month, those KBR guys drove them and get pay in 5 digits salary. PMC concept is still new back then, there were only 2 (KBR or Blackwater)
Not every convoy ended up a shooting war where somebody have to die, like the first time we went out with the reservist, while even we don't know the route until like an hour before the actual convoy time, when you do it enough time, you would figure out there are not too many route there are and it won't take you much to set up
But sometimes, things do went to shit.
A few weeks later, after we are officially being "Short" (Which means we have less than 60 days left before a rotation back to the US) We are tasked to run a convoy op between Baghdad and Al Ramadi thru Fallujah. But this mission is a bit different than the normal convoy op, this time we are breaking out mid-route to pick up a HVI (High Value Individual) on a town somewhere between Fallujah and Ramadi, a town call Al K something (I forgot the name a long time ago), somewhere before Ramadi
Al-Anbar being a Sunni district, naturally any deviation to a relatively secure route is any less than suicidal. Let alone go into the city and pick some one up, and if that person is of use by us, that mean he or she is probably wanted dead by the Sunni...
Anyway, we got our mission and we have to do them, while our company of 143 men will drive along with the 26 truck convoy to make sure they get to the FOB alright, me and my platoon will chop off 2 squad of about 20 men to pick up the HVI, then rally back on Highway 10 on a predetermined point and re-join the back of the column, at least this is the plan.
Now, Miss Bloom, here in my Humvee we will be the second vehicle, as the only rig that have a 50 cal on roof (Another thing I hate about the reservist is their equipment) we are trailing shotgun have I have my Platoon Sergeant SFC Randal lead and 2 more Humvee bring up the rear with my two rifle squad.
So we ride on the first few vehicle on the convoy, then we took a junction off Highway 10 and enter the city, locate the pick up point and pick up the individual and then exfil, re-join the column in the back, that was the plan. Now I am sitting on my Humvee going over the map at our line of departure near the gate and going thru it, thinking of what we need to do and remembering the turn so we don't get lost. Well, don't want to do a Jessica Lynch under my name...
So at 0415, we depart from our LOD and assemble with the trucks in BIAP, then the group travel west on highway 10 and start our Convoy op, now before we broke off with the main column, I am to call for a UAV to fly over the Al K and get the latest update, I have to call the UAV when the time is right, too early then the intel will expire when we got there, too late then we will need to wait for it on the outskirt for it to fly over. The best point to call the UAV recon is when we are about 1 and a half or 2 hours away.
Well, since the trip is about 70 mile (about 110 KM) while you can drive a really fast car and finish the trip in 1 hour, not in a convoy of truck and not when you have to slow down and aware of the surrounding, meaning you drive no more than 35 mile an hour. It would take about 4 to 5 hours to finish the whole journey. And mostly it will take longer depends on the traffic condition. Well, not only you driving on the road you know.
So, during those time, there are a few moment of peace before needing to do anything.
"This is a good way to get kill" I sort of ranted out loud.
"Why's that lieutenant?" Pvt Bloom asked
"You don't go down in Sunni district trying to pick up someone, you need at least a tank to get the job done" I said
"I don't understand" Bloom replied
Then my SAW gunner opens up "You don't go to Sunni district and pick up any local, if we want him, that mean they want him dead. Those are Saddam people down there"
Then we have been on about why are we here, what are we actually doing, we all express our view on the war, whether or not if it is unjust, and how long we are going to be in Iraq. Most soldier back then believe the war could be over soon, in fact, officially, the war has been over for 8 months, but we are still here, not to mention I should be at home at this moment having my 30 days deployment leave after my first tour.
The next thing we talked about is family, everyone have them and each one of those is like a sobbing story. Like how to tell your parent you are going to war? What we are doing maybe sounded very grown up, but at the end of the day, most of the guy (or girl) are only 18, 19 or twenty something. Even I was 25 back then. We are, one way or another, still just a kid. No matter how you put up a brave face, telling your parent you are going to war is the hardest thing you got to do, and that included actually killing people.
"I never told my mum I was in Iraq" I said
"So your parent don't know you are over here and what you have been doing? Bloom said
"No, I did not say that, I rang up my brother 2 days before being deploy and tell him where I am going. I supposed he told my mum about it" I said
"It's hard right?" She said
I chuckled and then I said "Like you never know"
The chit-chat continue on for another half and hour, putting occasional swearing on the traffic in the mix, we are about 2 hour from our objective. So I pick up my UHF and start calling the Air Force for a Predator Fly by.
A few minute later, I received an update on my centre console. A message including a couple of picture from a UAV flyby was emailed to us.
"umm, that was quick" I said.
"What's wrong" Bloom asked
"It will take the drone about an hour to fly over from their base in BIAP, getting the photo within a few minutes means they have one on station." I said
"What does that means?" She sounded worried
"Hot Spot" The rest of us in the Humvee replied at the same time.
The situation changed dramatically, and you can literally feel the tension build up inside the truck. It may sound a bit cliché to you, while we never expect running into Sunni district is easy, but the moment we receive the UAV photo, that sort of confirm what we actually know all along, and you are hit with a sort of epiphany, that, well, we are into the shit now.
After going thru the UAV photo, the first thing you see is how empty the street is. It is a community, there should be people walking about, kids playing in front of their house, it is not a build up area, but there should be some kind of activities in the street.
"Looked kind of quiet" I explained. "I don't like it"
What t could be is, someone might warn the insurgent ahead with our convoy, once we pass into Highway 10, they know we are going to Ramadi. I can only hope they are trying to ambush the main convoy, not us. Well, they have a chance, but if they(the insurgent) ambush us, how are we gonna fight back with 20 soldiers?
But being a professional soldier, you try to put all that in the back of your head and focus on your objective. which is to try and find a way least obstructed and get to the HVI and haul *** back out in one piece, so I started work on the map try to pick a route with more opening, but being inside a city, there aren't really that much opening.
So the time came, we are outside our target city. We peel off the highway ramp while the rest of the vehicle continue on highway 11, we, the 4 Humvee with 24 men and women are heading into the unknown. As usual, I am going to give my soldier the eternal speech before heading into action, so I raise my ICom and push the button
"Put your game face on, it's time to earn your pay, watch your sector and scan your corner, and we will get out in one piece"
I also instruct the lead driver to drive slowly so I can see what's going on with the surrounding. I want to be the first to know if there are any activities. Al K is a low density city, unlike Sadr City or Baghdad, or even Fallujah, most building are 1 or 2 floor and they spread out quite a part. Our pick up point is somewhere close to the south of the Euphrates, which is quite a way to drive off ramp.
"Military aged men 11 o'clock" My 50 Cal gunner reported. "appear unarmed"
"I got him" I said. At this point, we all ready our weapon, putting one in the pipe.
"More military age men watching"
"I don't like it" I said.
"2 o'clock" A man armed with AK are standing on the side of the road
"Remember our RoE, don't fire until you get shot at" I sort of remind my guys about the SOP. As we drove by the AK man, he smile at us, like out of a courtesy. Then. more men appear out of the horizon on our left. And what supposed to happen, happened.
"Fu.k, we are under fire" While the people at our left start firing at us. The other on ground and inside the building starting to duck for cover.
"Contact Left, Contact Left" my grenadier yell out
"Well, shoot back" I said
At this point, everything on the left side open up, my grenadier shooting his M4 while the 50 cal engaging the target at our left.
While I sat on the right hand side front passenger seat, I cannot point my rifle over my driver head and shoot at my left. So I just extend my arms out of the window and use my pistol to shoot back, gangster-drive by style...
At this moment, any capable men would have speed up and run the gauntlet, but being reservist, the lead truck is sowing down, and I saw bloom is also slowing down.
"Keep pushing, you slow down then we are all dead" I said
"But sir, they are slowing down" She point to the lead Humvee
"Just ram it, we have to keep on going"
After a brief tussle, she manage to put her foot down on the gas and we rammed the lead Humvee. Soon after, probably my platoon sergeant have talked some sense to the driver in front, the lead Humvee also started to speed up.
"Turn left, Turn left" I try to get us out of the Ambush, but it turned out to be a bad idea.
At the same moment we turned left, we turn into a T-intersection, which was blocked by a school bus or some well, a bus, We have no choice but to stop our 4 truck mini-convoy, and once we stopped. My Saw gunner call out "Contact Front, Contact Front" and at that moment. I look dead ahead and see something I never want to see in battle. A dude with a RPG-7.
"RPG, RPG, Get out" I yell out and the moment I opened my door, they shot the RPG, it hit the side of the first Humvee and bounced off to the side.
"RPG, Take cover" I yell at my ICom this time. Now we have a building to our left and a building slightly in front of my right, maybe 10-15 meter in front. Which since I knew the enemy is coming from my left, so I decided to rally at the building at our right to stay away from the enemy.
"Rally point, building 2 o'clock" I announced it on my ICom. While I am doing it, a now the 2-story building in front are completely engaging us with small arms. A round hit the helmet of the 50 cal gunner and knock him unconscious. I noticed that when someone yell out man down while I am half way across the street. I look back after I reach the building and saw 2 of my men taking, well, dragging to be precise the 50 cal gunner out. And I started to lay down some cover to our 12 o'clock.
"last man, last man" the last man of the convoy came by and tap me on my helmet, signalling they all reach the cover of the building. The building is a single storey building, on side facing the T intersection while the other lead to a court yard.
My SFC clear the building, and we just hang in front of the door way trying to figure out what to do next. But at this point, the enemy was engaging us from our left hand side before have caught up to us. Now taking position on the roof top adjacent to our building. Now, I send a sit rep to my Company CO.
"Contact, Bravo-2-4 engaging enemy outside Al K we are taking small arms fire from 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock. estimate enemy strength at platoon size, please acknowledge"
My sergeant then brief me on the situation, we are basically boxed between a cross fire, our exit is covered by a 100 degree kill zone. While the other side of this road leads to a clearing which basically more naked than a playboy bunny. We have 1 man down, no serious casualty.
But at this moment, I feel like something is missing. Pvt Bloom is missing.
"Where's the girl" I asked?
They all looked at each other and we have 23 men there instead of 24. So I try to peek thru a partly collapsed wall and look back at the Humvees.
"Shit" I said. What I saw was, my humvee driver side door is open, no sign of Bloom on the cab so she much be still ducked behind the door. It was fine before as we are taking fire only to the front, now our left are enveloped as well, she was quite exposed to enemy fire.
"What did you see, lieutenant?" My platoon sergeant asked.
"Shit" I punch out of a 1 word reply.
Now, I have two option, either she move to us and we provide cover, or we send some volunteer to go pick her up, at this point, if the insurgent decided to come down and pick her up themselves, we can't do jack shit about it. We were being pinned down.
So I try to raise her on ICom, well, no joy. Then there are only one thing I can do, I will need to try break out of this killzone and reach her, if she cannot come to us, then we have to go to her. But it is just not that easy. We are pinned down, we are alone, there are no dedicated air asset and we are about 15 Kms from the Friendly patrol, if they have to envelope us now, we are gonna be dead in less than 10 minutes.
The image of me fighting to death with 20 of my guys appeared in the back of my head, and It gonna take quite some time to shake it off, anyway, before we are going out all gun blazing, I tried again to establish contact with her, well, make sure she is still alive and we are not risking out life to save a corpse. It may sound cold, but if she is already dead, there are nothing much we can do about, and we have to exfil.
So, I ask my SAW gunner and My Platoon Sergeant over.
"Cowley, I need you to go talk to her"
"You serious lieutenant?" He response with a surprised face.
"Yeah, we need to try and get her to come to us" I said
Plan is, we are going to lay down supressing fire to the building at out 12, then SAW and Platoon Sergeant go to my side of my humvee try to establish communication. From there, Cowley will try to get her to come to him, if she was still alive.
So the men are briefed about it, and 1st squad lay down suppressing fire and the two ran like hell.
Cowley open my door on my Humvee, and lean inside and trying to talk to her. I don't get audio but I do see him coming back just as soon as he lean inside. Then he raise me on ICom.
"No good sir, she's frozen" Cowley Said
"Is she still alive? Is she hurt?" I asked
"No, just frozen"
"Try to hook around the Humvee and drag her out of there" I said
"Roger"
After that, I see the two of them go to the back of the humvee. Every time Cowley trying to hook around, the insurgent just shoot him back to where he was. And then when the SAW open up and trying to get him some cover. he was shot. He was shot thru the shoulder.
I raise them on ICom and tell them to come back, as both of them limb back to where we are, I am really puzzled by the situation. Then, right about that time, another epiphany hits me. That we need that 50 Cal. We need the firepower to pin down the enemy at 3 o'clock above the bus then we can suppress the enemy at our 12 by a base of fire.
It is kind of stupid as I just have one guy wounded trying to get to that Humvee. And now they are back, the Iraqi is not gonna let us go back there easy. They will be eyeing on that 50s as much as we do. Realised I made a very major mistake, I talk to my Squad leader and my Platoon Sergeant.
"I was wrong, We need to get on that Ma Deuce" I said "We gotta go back"
"Affirmative, how'd you want to do that."
This is what I got pay for, this is a highly charged situation. I got a soldier alone out there, we are being pinned down inside a building, the situation is like what they throw at you at the training scenario, only this time is real.
So, I devised a plan on the spot, 1st Squad will fire 203 rounds toward the enemy at 12 O'clock, then 2nd squad will move East and clear the bus, at the same time Me and Cowley run along the line and mount the 50 Cal, and 1st squad will cross over ahead of us, retrieve private Bloom and clear the building at our 12. Then we rally at the bus, by then should be clear.
That's my plan on the situation, it is not perfect and when I did my mental calculation on battle assessment, I expect 10-15% casualty and even KIAs as the Iraqi is actually getting us pinned pretty good. And then I detail my plan to the 2 squad leader Sergeant James from the 1st Squad and Sergeant Miller from the 2nd.
"This is our line of departure" I said. "1st Squad put 2 203s at 2nd floor at our 12. then 2nd squad plus me and sergeant Cowley will move across, 2nd squad continue Eastward and clear the bus as our rally point, while me and Cowley hook West and mount the 50 cal, 1st squad move North and take the building at our 12. Hua?"
"Hoorah" Both sergeant grunted
Then I walk to the Grenadier of the 1st squad and lay down what I want and where I want, then I go back to the close wall and ready to jump out.
"You ready?" I patted Sergeant Cowley in the back
"I guess" He replied, look at me kind of weird.
Before I can get the command to move out of the LOD. A low pitch sustained gunfire started at our 8 o'clock. There can be no mistake, that was our 50 Cal firing.
My first through come to my mind is that the Iraqi have took that Humvee, and I was thinking I just send my squad to die if that did just happened, but then I can see flashes going up and going right, it is shooting at our enemy at 3 o'clock. And then I peek over the wall and see someone have mounted that 50 cal and since we have nobody out there, that must be Bloom.
The only problem is, she keep the fire sustained. And not firing it in short burst. Which mean the barrel will burn out in maybe 2 minutes.
"Scratch that, 2nd squad go strait toward the bus now, 1st squad strait toward the building, we need to take this chance, sergeant Cowley with me." I gave the command and we all jump off.
I ran as quickly as i could while plinking shot over to our 12. Soon enough both of us reach the Humvee. I opened my door and I saw her leg sticking out of the gun port.
"Private, short burst, short burst" I said, tapping her leg but she keep firing that thing continuously. So I craw back and hook to the back and climb up to where her torso at and smack it hard on her helmet.
"Private, get out" I yelled after I caught her attention, I want the sergeant to mount the 50
"I can't, my legs won't move." That is what we called a functioning froze. And when I look down the gun pod, I realised she had just wet herself.
"Alright, but easy on the trigger" I said, then I call Cowley over.
"Sergeant Cowley" I call him while i climb back down from the roof of my Humvee.
"Sir" He said after I gave him my rifle when I am climbing back down from the roof.
"I want you to spot for her, I want a reverse crest cover the building on a 120 degree defence." I said
"Yes Sir" he said then he gone up and work on the 50 cal. While I go up along the length and rejoining the 2nd squad by the bus, by now they have clear the bus and covering us on the building at 12 o'clock. The 50 cal now engage our now 12 o'clock (As I was heading toward the bus) in short burst.
Rallied next to the bus, now we have fanned out both side of the bus ready to make a run across to assault the building in front of us. Now just waiting on 1st squad to take the building they were assaulting so to put a barricade and stop both enemy position from mutually supporting each other, hence broke the kill zone.
It is still quite hot on the street level with all kind of activities happening all around us. We shoot our way out once we head off the bus, and by then the 1st Squad already took the roof and giving us some support from there
And The target building is a 2 storey high, about 5 room building, we carefully clear what remained there and flush out the other insurgent, and when they are hit with a choice between stay and fight or ran away, most choose the latter, so we took the second building in like 5 minutes.
Now we are regroup back at our column and after pushing the bus out of the way, I got back to my Humvee, bloom is still standing on the gunport manning the 50 cal, but not because she wanted to, but her feet just froze.
After a few minute of reassuring. She got back down from the gun port and trying to get in the Driver seat. I gave the order to remount, and we drive off as usual. When we got to the extraction point, it was 30 minutes late and there were no sign of anybody, so we drove off to the rally point to rally with the main column
"Welcome to the Regular Army, this battle is bought to you by the American Foreign Policy" Shawn the Grenadier sitting behind bloom trying to light up the atmosphere. We all laugh a bit or thrown a chuckle here and there.
Then I ask "What's your name, private Bloom?"
"Roxanne, Sir"
Well, I was gonna make a joke or be a wise *** about how she pee in her pants, but after some though, i decided against it. And instead, I said
"Roxanne"
"Yes, sir?" She said
"You don't know how to put on the red light." I started singing "Roxanne" by the Police
Before you know it, all in the Humvee start sing the song. And I can see her face is bashed with embarrassment. But not from wetting her pants during fire fights.
This story is dedicated to @levina
Women in war is not a big concept anymore than used to, nowadays women can and do get involve in firefights and get dirty themselves. Just 30 years ago the concept of women in front line is an unimaginable situation. Just to think of women were still relegated to supporting role like administration or nurses back in Vietnam war just 50 years ago.
In the military, you tend to not look at soldier according to their gender, you would not get any different treatment if you are a woman, nor would you expect one. But that's a lot more easier to say then actually done, I happened to know this first hand.
Fallujah, 2004
In this god forsaken city, I should have been home by now, it was about 9 months after the now famous "Mission Accomplished" speech, which most of us actually believed in, thinking all the hard work has done and most of the 3d ID guy I came with had gone home, and somebody extended my tour to replace a LT who was wounded .
The war, for me, is not over, and I have to accept that, now I am running ops between Baghdad and Fallujah, which is still wild west even after the major fighting have done for, our job are to run convoy in and out of Baghdad International to Fallujah.
Now, since the Army for all its mighty, decided to send us, cavalry troop without our APC to war zone and use us as tailgate jockey, we are there without any transport, so we are matched with a transport company, where they drove us around and we, well, fight.
On most day, we were driven around by the element of the 593rd Army Support Group and they were in charge with logistic and combat service support in theatre, they were deployed since the on set of the war, so they have rack up about 9 months of frontline war fighting along with our regular folks. Those gang are alright.
What they basically do is to provide truck, humvee and driver to transport us to and from any location, while we are mounted, those asset are organized into our detachment.
My people, on the other hand, are a typical 11 Bravo, not like the gang I had before, which is a bunch of cavalry men working as a dismounted troop. They are infantry, plain and simple. So they are supposed to know what they are doing.
This system work very well, they know what they are doing and we went thru a few ambush and comes out unscathed, well, mostly. but that actually all that you need, a crew that know what they were doing, with each and every single one know what to do when they are ask to do it. That is a crew that carry you home alive.
That's cool, given we only stay for another six months, well, coming from the mission accomplished, what we are expecting is that shit is going to roll downhill.
Then things changed. One day in April, 2 months left in this hole, I woke up to the noise of truck humming and engine turning over. I got up, dressed in just my trouser and undershirt. I gone outside my tent and find out the truck and humvee was leaving, being redeployed and eventually move back Stateside, I did not make much of it as redeployment are quite common in a war zone and we have no ops or patrol in the next 3 or 4 days, just that I owe someone some money and now I cannot pay it back, well, I went back to bed.
Woke up for lunch, skipped breakfast. At the canteen, where we all gather and have our lunch, then the bunch of us starting to talk trash, there are always one that talked to much in any platoon, a motor mouth by definition or scuttlebutt. And in our platoon, it's PFC Vinson.
He started by stating the 593rd redeployment and starting a rumour that they are replaced by an reservist outfit from another brigade since the war was officially over.
"No shit, are you shitting me, troop?" I said
"I shit you not lieutenant, its true, my friend up on Battalion OP told me that" Vinson said.
"That ain't right" I said.
At this point I should explain why it would be such a problem the regular army (us) sees in the reservist. See, the regular guy like us trained to do a job, and we train 5 days a week for it. So we are very good at doing what we do. However, for the reservist, they trained once or twice per week, and they have a 1 or 2 week intense pre-deployment training before deploying to the hot zone and that's it.
Most of them have another job, they could be firefighter, police officer, farm hand, lawyer and so on, they are doing one thing and then drag into Iraq and do this given only 1 or 2 months pre-deployment training. Another reason we hate them is because they are new, and no one like breaking new guys into their own rank.
I usually take rumour not so seriously, but I had this bad feeling about this, I mean, first they take away our Bradley and use us as infantry, then they extended my tour, then what they won't do??
Soon, my doubt have been confirm, and a day later a new convoy pull into our FOB. Then the distress started. A Captain emerge out of the lead humvee, ask to see the Battalion Commander, while the rest of his company exit the vehicle and starting to chat with one another.
"Holy Shit" I exclaimed. "Did you see that?" I ask my 2IC Platoon Sergeant Cowley
"See what? Sir?" He asked
"Since when do we have army haircut like that?" I point to one of the driver
Well, you can actually see from how soldier carry on with their demeanour to see how much training had put into him, especially when what you are seeing is not a him, but a her. Usually women don't join the Regular Army. So when you start seeing women in a unit, you know they are reservist.
I did not stay long, as the new guys come in, we are once again operational and I was called to attend a briefing for the Convoy Ops, but just one thought about tagging these reservist along have shake me off my boots.
So, the next day, we bunch up on 0400 and go over the day's objective. Basically Convoy op is quite simple, there are 3 routes leading out of Baghdad International Airport, which handle the supply to the North/North Eastern Part of Iraq, and convoy move out from these 3 routes Route BIAP (Baghdad Airport Road, known as Route Irish later, leading between the green zone to Baghdad International) Route Green (Highway 1 leading north to Tikrit and Mosul) and Highway 10-11-12 (Baghdad to Al-Ramadi, which pass thru Fallujah)
Later a 4th route was added that lead south to Nasiriyah but this is irrelevant for now. Well, convoy run out to supply bases across the North/North-eastern part of the country and then we tag along and make sure they arrive at their destination okay. This is an easy job but it was also the most dangerous, because since they cannot go toe to toe with our tank, the Iraqi insurgent would hit our convoy to stave off the log-base and the tanks.
So I climb up on my Humvee, the driver was already there, she was late teens to early twenties, soft in voices, seems like a student type, probably volunteer for money for school, an action I can totally understand. She had a 2 layer bun tie up her blonde hair, which is in violate with the Army Regulation. A feat you observe in most reservist.
"Good Morning Private" I said.
"Morning sir." She response, sounded kind of scare.
"Nervous?" I turned to her and ask.
"Yes sir" she said
"Okay, just remember to stick close to the vehicle ahead and don't forget to put your foot down when we are getting shot at, then we will be alright. and You don't need to sir me every time, private.... Bloom." I lean forward in order to see her name tape
"roger that, sir" she response then we started drive off.
That trip was uneventful at best, we stick close to the truck that carry the supply, driven by the KBR guy, most of them a PMC type, while our soldier, mostly 88M like Private Bloom drove truck and get paid $2100 a month, those KBR guys drove them and get pay in 5 digits salary. PMC concept is still new back then, there were only 2 (KBR or Blackwater)
Not every convoy ended up a shooting war where somebody have to die, like the first time we went out with the reservist, while even we don't know the route until like an hour before the actual convoy time, when you do it enough time, you would figure out there are not too many route there are and it won't take you much to set up
But sometimes, things do went to shit.
A few weeks later, after we are officially being "Short" (Which means we have less than 60 days left before a rotation back to the US) We are tasked to run a convoy op between Baghdad and Al Ramadi thru Fallujah. But this mission is a bit different than the normal convoy op, this time we are breaking out mid-route to pick up a HVI (High Value Individual) on a town somewhere between Fallujah and Ramadi, a town call Al K something (I forgot the name a long time ago), somewhere before Ramadi
Al-Anbar being a Sunni district, naturally any deviation to a relatively secure route is any less than suicidal. Let alone go into the city and pick some one up, and if that person is of use by us, that mean he or she is probably wanted dead by the Sunni...
Anyway, we got our mission and we have to do them, while our company of 143 men will drive along with the 26 truck convoy to make sure they get to the FOB alright, me and my platoon will chop off 2 squad of about 20 men to pick up the HVI, then rally back on Highway 10 on a predetermined point and re-join the back of the column, at least this is the plan.
Now, Miss Bloom, here in my Humvee we will be the second vehicle, as the only rig that have a 50 cal on roof (Another thing I hate about the reservist is their equipment) we are trailing shotgun have I have my Platoon Sergeant SFC Randal lead and 2 more Humvee bring up the rear with my two rifle squad.
So we ride on the first few vehicle on the convoy, then we took a junction off Highway 10 and enter the city, locate the pick up point and pick up the individual and then exfil, re-join the column in the back, that was the plan. Now I am sitting on my Humvee going over the map at our line of departure near the gate and going thru it, thinking of what we need to do and remembering the turn so we don't get lost. Well, don't want to do a Jessica Lynch under my name...
So at 0415, we depart from our LOD and assemble with the trucks in BIAP, then the group travel west on highway 10 and start our Convoy op, now before we broke off with the main column, I am to call for a UAV to fly over the Al K and get the latest update, I have to call the UAV when the time is right, too early then the intel will expire when we got there, too late then we will need to wait for it on the outskirt for it to fly over. The best point to call the UAV recon is when we are about 1 and a half or 2 hours away.
Well, since the trip is about 70 mile (about 110 KM) while you can drive a really fast car and finish the trip in 1 hour, not in a convoy of truck and not when you have to slow down and aware of the surrounding, meaning you drive no more than 35 mile an hour. It would take about 4 to 5 hours to finish the whole journey. And mostly it will take longer depends on the traffic condition. Well, not only you driving on the road you know.
So, during those time, there are a few moment of peace before needing to do anything.
"This is a good way to get kill" I sort of ranted out loud.
"Why's that lieutenant?" Pvt Bloom asked
"You don't go down in Sunni district trying to pick up someone, you need at least a tank to get the job done" I said
"I don't understand" Bloom replied
Then my SAW gunner opens up "You don't go to Sunni district and pick up any local, if we want him, that mean they want him dead. Those are Saddam people down there"
Then we have been on about why are we here, what are we actually doing, we all express our view on the war, whether or not if it is unjust, and how long we are going to be in Iraq. Most soldier back then believe the war could be over soon, in fact, officially, the war has been over for 8 months, but we are still here, not to mention I should be at home at this moment having my 30 days deployment leave after my first tour.
The next thing we talked about is family, everyone have them and each one of those is like a sobbing story. Like how to tell your parent you are going to war? What we are doing maybe sounded very grown up, but at the end of the day, most of the guy (or girl) are only 18, 19 or twenty something. Even I was 25 back then. We are, one way or another, still just a kid. No matter how you put up a brave face, telling your parent you are going to war is the hardest thing you got to do, and that included actually killing people.
"I never told my mum I was in Iraq" I said
"So your parent don't know you are over here and what you have been doing? Bloom said
"No, I did not say that, I rang up my brother 2 days before being deploy and tell him where I am going. I supposed he told my mum about it" I said
"It's hard right?" She said
I chuckled and then I said "Like you never know"
The chit-chat continue on for another half and hour, putting occasional swearing on the traffic in the mix, we are about 2 hour from our objective. So I pick up my UHF and start calling the Air Force for a Predator Fly by.
A few minute later, I received an update on my centre console. A message including a couple of picture from a UAV flyby was emailed to us.
"umm, that was quick" I said.
"What's wrong" Bloom asked
"It will take the drone about an hour to fly over from their base in BIAP, getting the photo within a few minutes means they have one on station." I said
"What does that means?" She sounded worried
"Hot Spot" The rest of us in the Humvee replied at the same time.
The situation changed dramatically, and you can literally feel the tension build up inside the truck. It may sound a bit cliché to you, while we never expect running into Sunni district is easy, but the moment we receive the UAV photo, that sort of confirm what we actually know all along, and you are hit with a sort of epiphany, that, well, we are into the shit now.
After going thru the UAV photo, the first thing you see is how empty the street is. It is a community, there should be people walking about, kids playing in front of their house, it is not a build up area, but there should be some kind of activities in the street.
"Looked kind of quiet" I explained. "I don't like it"
What t could be is, someone might warn the insurgent ahead with our convoy, once we pass into Highway 10, they know we are going to Ramadi. I can only hope they are trying to ambush the main convoy, not us. Well, they have a chance, but if they(the insurgent) ambush us, how are we gonna fight back with 20 soldiers?
But being a professional soldier, you try to put all that in the back of your head and focus on your objective. which is to try and find a way least obstructed and get to the HVI and haul *** back out in one piece, so I started work on the map try to pick a route with more opening, but being inside a city, there aren't really that much opening.
So the time came, we are outside our target city. We peel off the highway ramp while the rest of the vehicle continue on highway 11, we, the 4 Humvee with 24 men and women are heading into the unknown. As usual, I am going to give my soldier the eternal speech before heading into action, so I raise my ICom and push the button
"Put your game face on, it's time to earn your pay, watch your sector and scan your corner, and we will get out in one piece"
I also instruct the lead driver to drive slowly so I can see what's going on with the surrounding. I want to be the first to know if there are any activities. Al K is a low density city, unlike Sadr City or Baghdad, or even Fallujah, most building are 1 or 2 floor and they spread out quite a part. Our pick up point is somewhere close to the south of the Euphrates, which is quite a way to drive off ramp.
"Military aged men 11 o'clock" My 50 Cal gunner reported. "appear unarmed"
"I got him" I said. At this point, we all ready our weapon, putting one in the pipe.
"More military age men watching"
"I don't like it" I said.
"2 o'clock" A man armed with AK are standing on the side of the road
"Remember our RoE, don't fire until you get shot at" I sort of remind my guys about the SOP. As we drove by the AK man, he smile at us, like out of a courtesy. Then. more men appear out of the horizon on our left. And what supposed to happen, happened.
"Fu.k, we are under fire" While the people at our left start firing at us. The other on ground and inside the building starting to duck for cover.
"Contact Left, Contact Left" my grenadier yell out
"Well, shoot back" I said
At this point, everything on the left side open up, my grenadier shooting his M4 while the 50 cal engaging the target at our left.
While I sat on the right hand side front passenger seat, I cannot point my rifle over my driver head and shoot at my left. So I just extend my arms out of the window and use my pistol to shoot back, gangster-drive by style...
At this moment, any capable men would have speed up and run the gauntlet, but being reservist, the lead truck is sowing down, and I saw bloom is also slowing down.
"Keep pushing, you slow down then we are all dead" I said
"But sir, they are slowing down" She point to the lead Humvee
"Just ram it, we have to keep on going"
After a brief tussle, she manage to put her foot down on the gas and we rammed the lead Humvee. Soon after, probably my platoon sergeant have talked some sense to the driver in front, the lead Humvee also started to speed up.
"Turn left, Turn left" I try to get us out of the Ambush, but it turned out to be a bad idea.
At the same moment we turned left, we turn into a T-intersection, which was blocked by a school bus or some well, a bus, We have no choice but to stop our 4 truck mini-convoy, and once we stopped. My Saw gunner call out "Contact Front, Contact Front" and at that moment. I look dead ahead and see something I never want to see in battle. A dude with a RPG-7.
"RPG, RPG, Get out" I yell out and the moment I opened my door, they shot the RPG, it hit the side of the first Humvee and bounced off to the side.
"RPG, Take cover" I yell at my ICom this time. Now we have a building to our left and a building slightly in front of my right, maybe 10-15 meter in front. Which since I knew the enemy is coming from my left, so I decided to rally at the building at our right to stay away from the enemy.
"Rally point, building 2 o'clock" I announced it on my ICom. While I am doing it, a now the 2-story building in front are completely engaging us with small arms. A round hit the helmet of the 50 cal gunner and knock him unconscious. I noticed that when someone yell out man down while I am half way across the street. I look back after I reach the building and saw 2 of my men taking, well, dragging to be precise the 50 cal gunner out. And I started to lay down some cover to our 12 o'clock.
"last man, last man" the last man of the convoy came by and tap me on my helmet, signalling they all reach the cover of the building. The building is a single storey building, on side facing the T intersection while the other lead to a court yard.
My SFC clear the building, and we just hang in front of the door way trying to figure out what to do next. But at this point, the enemy was engaging us from our left hand side before have caught up to us. Now taking position on the roof top adjacent to our building. Now, I send a sit rep to my Company CO.
"Contact, Bravo-2-4 engaging enemy outside Al K we are taking small arms fire from 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock. estimate enemy strength at platoon size, please acknowledge"
My sergeant then brief me on the situation, we are basically boxed between a cross fire, our exit is covered by a 100 degree kill zone. While the other side of this road leads to a clearing which basically more naked than a playboy bunny. We have 1 man down, no serious casualty.
But at this moment, I feel like something is missing. Pvt Bloom is missing.
"Where's the girl" I asked?
They all looked at each other and we have 23 men there instead of 24. So I try to peek thru a partly collapsed wall and look back at the Humvees.
"Shit" I said. What I saw was, my humvee driver side door is open, no sign of Bloom on the cab so she much be still ducked behind the door. It was fine before as we are taking fire only to the front, now our left are enveloped as well, she was quite exposed to enemy fire.
"What did you see, lieutenant?" My platoon sergeant asked.
"Shit" I punch out of a 1 word reply.
Now, I have two option, either she move to us and we provide cover, or we send some volunteer to go pick her up, at this point, if the insurgent decided to come down and pick her up themselves, we can't do jack shit about it. We were being pinned down.
So I try to raise her on ICom, well, no joy. Then there are only one thing I can do, I will need to try break out of this killzone and reach her, if she cannot come to us, then we have to go to her. But it is just not that easy. We are pinned down, we are alone, there are no dedicated air asset and we are about 15 Kms from the Friendly patrol, if they have to envelope us now, we are gonna be dead in less than 10 minutes.
The image of me fighting to death with 20 of my guys appeared in the back of my head, and It gonna take quite some time to shake it off, anyway, before we are going out all gun blazing, I tried again to establish contact with her, well, make sure she is still alive and we are not risking out life to save a corpse. It may sound cold, but if she is already dead, there are nothing much we can do about, and we have to exfil.
So, I ask my SAW gunner and My Platoon Sergeant over.
"Cowley, I need you to go talk to her"
"You serious lieutenant?" He response with a surprised face.
"Yeah, we need to try and get her to come to us" I said
Plan is, we are going to lay down supressing fire to the building at out 12, then SAW and Platoon Sergeant go to my side of my humvee try to establish communication. From there, Cowley will try to get her to come to him, if she was still alive.
So the men are briefed about it, and 1st squad lay down suppressing fire and the two ran like hell.
Cowley open my door on my Humvee, and lean inside and trying to talk to her. I don't get audio but I do see him coming back just as soon as he lean inside. Then he raise me on ICom.
"No good sir, she's frozen" Cowley Said
"Is she still alive? Is she hurt?" I asked
"No, just frozen"
"Try to hook around the Humvee and drag her out of there" I said
"Roger"
After that, I see the two of them go to the back of the humvee. Every time Cowley trying to hook around, the insurgent just shoot him back to where he was. And then when the SAW open up and trying to get him some cover. he was shot. He was shot thru the shoulder.
I raise them on ICom and tell them to come back, as both of them limb back to where we are, I am really puzzled by the situation. Then, right about that time, another epiphany hits me. That we need that 50 Cal. We need the firepower to pin down the enemy at 3 o'clock above the bus then we can suppress the enemy at our 12 by a base of fire.
It is kind of stupid as I just have one guy wounded trying to get to that Humvee. And now they are back, the Iraqi is not gonna let us go back there easy. They will be eyeing on that 50s as much as we do. Realised I made a very major mistake, I talk to my Squad leader and my Platoon Sergeant.
"I was wrong, We need to get on that Ma Deuce" I said "We gotta go back"
"Affirmative, how'd you want to do that."
This is what I got pay for, this is a highly charged situation. I got a soldier alone out there, we are being pinned down inside a building, the situation is like what they throw at you at the training scenario, only this time is real.
So, I devised a plan on the spot, 1st Squad will fire 203 rounds toward the enemy at 12 O'clock, then 2nd squad will move East and clear the bus, at the same time Me and Cowley run along the line and mount the 50 Cal, and 1st squad will cross over ahead of us, retrieve private Bloom and clear the building at our 12. Then we rally at the bus, by then should be clear.
That's my plan on the situation, it is not perfect and when I did my mental calculation on battle assessment, I expect 10-15% casualty and even KIAs as the Iraqi is actually getting us pinned pretty good. And then I detail my plan to the 2 squad leader Sergeant James from the 1st Squad and Sergeant Miller from the 2nd.
"This is our line of departure" I said. "1st Squad put 2 203s at 2nd floor at our 12. then 2nd squad plus me and sergeant Cowley will move across, 2nd squad continue Eastward and clear the bus as our rally point, while me and Cowley hook West and mount the 50 cal, 1st squad move North and take the building at our 12. Hua?"
"Hoorah" Both sergeant grunted
Then I walk to the Grenadier of the 1st squad and lay down what I want and where I want, then I go back to the close wall and ready to jump out.
"You ready?" I patted Sergeant Cowley in the back
"I guess" He replied, look at me kind of weird.
Before I can get the command to move out of the LOD. A low pitch sustained gunfire started at our 8 o'clock. There can be no mistake, that was our 50 Cal firing.
My first through come to my mind is that the Iraqi have took that Humvee, and I was thinking I just send my squad to die if that did just happened, but then I can see flashes going up and going right, it is shooting at our enemy at 3 o'clock. And then I peek over the wall and see someone have mounted that 50 cal and since we have nobody out there, that must be Bloom.
The only problem is, she keep the fire sustained. And not firing it in short burst. Which mean the barrel will burn out in maybe 2 minutes.
"Scratch that, 2nd squad go strait toward the bus now, 1st squad strait toward the building, we need to take this chance, sergeant Cowley with me." I gave the command and we all jump off.
I ran as quickly as i could while plinking shot over to our 12. Soon enough both of us reach the Humvee. I opened my door and I saw her leg sticking out of the gun port.
"Private, short burst, short burst" I said, tapping her leg but she keep firing that thing continuously. So I craw back and hook to the back and climb up to where her torso at and smack it hard on her helmet.
"Private, get out" I yelled after I caught her attention, I want the sergeant to mount the 50
"I can't, my legs won't move." That is what we called a functioning froze. And when I look down the gun pod, I realised she had just wet herself.
"Alright, but easy on the trigger" I said, then I call Cowley over.
"Sergeant Cowley" I call him while i climb back down from the roof of my Humvee.
"Sir" He said after I gave him my rifle when I am climbing back down from the roof.
"I want you to spot for her, I want a reverse crest cover the building on a 120 degree defence." I said
"Yes Sir" he said then he gone up and work on the 50 cal. While I go up along the length and rejoining the 2nd squad by the bus, by now they have clear the bus and covering us on the building at 12 o'clock. The 50 cal now engage our now 12 o'clock (As I was heading toward the bus) in short burst.
Rallied next to the bus, now we have fanned out both side of the bus ready to make a run across to assault the building in front of us. Now just waiting on 1st squad to take the building they were assaulting so to put a barricade and stop both enemy position from mutually supporting each other, hence broke the kill zone.
It is still quite hot on the street level with all kind of activities happening all around us. We shoot our way out once we head off the bus, and by then the 1st Squad already took the roof and giving us some support from there
And The target building is a 2 storey high, about 5 room building, we carefully clear what remained there and flush out the other insurgent, and when they are hit with a choice between stay and fight or ran away, most choose the latter, so we took the second building in like 5 minutes.
Now we are regroup back at our column and after pushing the bus out of the way, I got back to my Humvee, bloom is still standing on the gunport manning the 50 cal, but not because she wanted to, but her feet just froze.
After a few minute of reassuring. She got back down from the gun port and trying to get in the Driver seat. I gave the order to remount, and we drive off as usual. When we got to the extraction point, it was 30 minutes late and there were no sign of anybody, so we drove off to the rally point to rally with the main column
"Welcome to the Regular Army, this battle is bought to you by the American Foreign Policy" Shawn the Grenadier sitting behind bloom trying to light up the atmosphere. We all laugh a bit or thrown a chuckle here and there.
Then I ask "What's your name, private Bloom?"
"Roxanne, Sir"
Well, I was gonna make a joke or be a wise *** about how she pee in her pants, but after some though, i decided against it. And instead, I said
"Roxanne"
"Yes, sir?" She said
"You don't know how to put on the red light." I started singing "Roxanne" by the Police
Before you know it, all in the Humvee start sing the song. And I can see her face is bashed with embarrassment. But not from wetting her pants during fire fights.
.... Though I did not get the notification. 
