Report from Iraq: In harm's way
Update: Sgt. Will's latest missive is now up on the NewsWest 9 website.
We haven't heard from Sgt. Will in several weeks and I was beginning to get concerned. But an email arrived earlier this afternoon and laid those concerns to rest...a bit. His assignments don't normally take him directly into the line of fire in Iraq, but a recent one that took place north of Baghdad was different. I'll let him take over from here:
We had Charlie 4 [Ed. - Charlie 4 is Sgt. Will's truck] and two more of our super LMTVs, so we created a physical barrier across the four lane highway. We were to serve three primary functions: 1) shield EOD operations from potential terrorist personnel 2) provide rear security for all of the units involved 3) provide security for the civilians. The first objective is to keep anyone from seeing how EOD neutralizes threats. This keeps terrorists from being able to adapt and increase the threat. Second, we had our M2 BMGs and 5.56MM [Ed. - I assume this is an M16 rifle(?)] secondary weapons locked and loaded so as to make any terrorist second guess his commitment to the cause. We kept everyone back and did not allow any vehicle movement, as the vehicle-borne IED threat has risen of late. Third, we kept the civilians out of the danger zone so that they would not get hurt when the IED was destroyed. They get impatient after a while and start trying to push forward so we have to be on our toes and not allow anyone to sneak by.
After EOD took care of our immediate objective, an IED was command-detonated behind us along the route we had just come up a bit earlier. this IED was accompanied by several minutes of small arms fire. We maintained our threat posture and continued to cover our assigned sectors. We were not able to return fire as we were tied to our location and had 200+ civilians between us and the activity. After the firing stopped, we watched for any resumption. After a bit it was obvious that the enemy had disengaged. We prepared to roll on. We ended up getting delayed by another IED and had to take alternate routes (gravel roads) around two more IEDs. So this part of the route certainly lived up to its billing. We made it to the forward base without further incident. Oh yeah, the base did receive mortar fire that night, but it was not close to where we were and no one on post was injured. To say the least, that was an interesting day.
"An interesting day." Heh. I saw two squirrels grooming each other yesterday, and thought that was "an interesting day."
Did you notice something in Sgt. Will's write-up? His descriptions of their objectives and tactics -- standard operating procedures, we can safely assume -- explicitly address civilian safety. In this case, that objective overrode even their ability to return enemy fire. Anyone who still has the misguided belief that our intervention in Iraq was about "the oil" and not about liberating people from an evil regime should carefully consider the implications of Sgt. Will's description of their mission.
He goes on to report that Mrs. Sgt. and Baby Sgt. are doing well back here in Texas. Your donations to the Sgt. Will Fund have been greatly appreciated as a tangible show of support for Sgt. Will as an individual, for his family, and for the mission to which he's committed.
Technorati tag: War on Terror
I do not believe the restraint due to having civilians present is either new, unusual, nor different.
I didn't mean to imply that our strategy in Iraq in this regard is different than in the past. But there is a certain amount of propaganda that would have you believe that the US military places no value on the average Iraqi's life.
The concept of an "honorable American soldier" is not just preserved in black-and-white reels from WWII. It's being reinforced daily on the battlefield.
Posted by: Eric at June 12, 2005 02:48 PMHi Eric,
Didn't really think to clarify the 5.56 statement. Each crew is given a lot of latitude as to how they lay out the weapons station. We are usually assigned a crew served weapon, such as an M2, MK19 or M240B. With the M2 and MK19, there is more of a chance for collateral damage (larger rounds, more dispersal because of recoil) so we tend to carry a backup M249 mounted as well (my mount was not ready, so I was using my M4, unlike the other trucks). The M249 fires the same round as the M4/M16 only linked and at 850 rounds/min. A lot of us keep our M4s handy as well, in a lot of situations things happen so fast and so close that you do not have time to get your primary or secondary weapon on target. Besides, the M4 is effective in close quarters and does not have as great a potential for more damage than intended. Plus it looks cool. And on top of that, some of us are lucky enough to have an M9 assigned which comes in handy when pedestrians, sellers get up close trying to hock their merchandise or get candy/stuff from the crews. We have to keep everyone away since you never know...
For info on the weapon systems:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/index.html
People poke fun at the military for all the acronyms and what can seem like double-talk.
Having read Sgt. Will's report, though, I think I see one reason for it. Take this:
After EOD took care of our immediate objective, an IED was command-detonated behind us along the route we had just come up a bit earlier. this IED was accompanied by several minutes of small arms fire.
A less professional account might read: "After the bomb squad took care of the booby trap laid for us ahead, the terrorists blew up another one behind us. We had explosions ahead and explosions behind - and then they started shooting at us!"
It's not double-talk. It's a calm, detatched, factual description of events, which enables calm, detatched, rational responses (like not shooting back over the heads of the folks stuck in the traffic jam). The impression I get from it is remarkable restraint and professionalism.
It's amazing. And no wonder that nobody tries to take us on head-to-head.
Thank you, Sgt. Will.
Posted by: Brian at June 13, 2005 07:05 AMWill, thanks for the additional information. A bunch of us are getting some good education from your reports!
Brian, that's an excellent perspective...thanks for sharing it.
Posted by: Eric at June 13, 2005 10:13 AMI want to say I am proud of Sgt. Will for his dedication and commitment to our country's ideals.
As ex-Air Force, I was a little reluctant when he decided to join the Army. Today, I would not have it any other way. He is demonstrating what has been emobodied in our country's nature and character since our beginning. It is this desire to sacrifice for others that makes us a little different.
Our Church is praying for Sgt Will and all the troops that are deployed in "Harm's Way." We hope that you will also pray with us for them.
God Bless America!
Your pride is entirely justified. Rest assured that Sgt. Will and his family are in our prayers almost daily, along with his comrades-in-arms around the world.
And thanks for stopping by and letting us hear from you!
Posted by: Eric at June 14, 2005 09:38 AMAbout the publisher
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The M16A3 (fully automatic) and M16A4 assault rifles do fire 5.56×45mm ammunition. The official nomenclature is now, “U.S. Rifle, 5.56mm” There’s a decent history here. He says they fire 3-round bursts, but I clearly remember the sound as: pa-pa-pa-pop. Oh, well.
Like you, different things now make my day “interesting.”
I do not believe the restraint due to having civilians present is either new, unusual, nor different. Contrary to the images of madmen in the movies, military weapons fire is a serious business. Well. I know some artillerymen who have fun, but they like the noise, and if 105mm rounds fell on civilians, we would know.
Anyway, I don’t watch much television, so I’m not sure what illusion pops up nightly, but things are moving ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Ba’aths in Syria and the fanatics in (mostly) Saudi Arabia seem flummoxed. If it weren’t for the dispersed, aggressive nuclear weapons progam in Iran, I’d say—historically speaking—that things were looking pretty good in the Middle East.
Posted by: Daniel Morris at June 12, 2005 10:20 AM