Another Damn Car Bomb
My War blog
I'm getting pretty good out here at guessing just from the noise an explosion makes if it was a mortar impact, Vehicle Borne IED, or a controlled detonation. This morning I went to breakfast at the chow hall. Had the usual, Eggs, sausage, side of bacon. And as I was leaving the chow hall with my morning dose of coffee in my hand, I heard a loud explosion off in the distance and observed a huge cloud of dust from where it came from. I thought to myself, damn, that was probably a car bomb. Guess what, it was.
Strykernews.com reports:
MOSUL, IRAQ (August 1, 2004) – A car bomb exploded outside of the Somer Police Station in southeastern Mosul at 8:15 a.m. today during the morning shift change at the station killing three Iraqi citizens and wounding more than 40.
Our Plt was placed on QRF today. A lot of crazy shit went down today here in Mosul. The big news today was our Battalion Commander was hit today in the arm this morning when his vehicle got ambushed. I saw him walking around the FOB earlierperfectly fine, so he's ok.
I get a lot of e-mails from people just joining the military, and people already in the military asking me of all people for advice on what to look out for once they get here to the great two way live fire in the Middle East. Instead of answering every single e-mail, I've decided to just post some of the advice up here on this site.
-If you're a new guy to the unit, learn as much as you can as soon as you get there. If they hand you a TM or FM, memorize it in its entirety. A lot of people will want to help you out when you get here, take advantage of that. Stay the fuck away from people that have negative attitudes. Avoid these bad apples like the plague. For example people who brag about how many article 15's they have, or guys that start off every sentence with: "Man, this is bullshit..." or "Fuck The Army." or "I aint doin shit" or "Fuck this shit." You start hanging out with shit, you're going to end up smelling like it.
-Remember, if the enemy is within range, so are you.
-Whenever you find an IED, weapons cache, or a stack of old Artillery rounds that are just sitting there in plain sight, automatically think it's a decoy and be prepared to be ambushed.
-Its not a question of IF you'll get RPG'd or IED'd here in Iraq, it's a question of WHEN. When it happens, look around and make a mental note of every single person you see standing around. Try to memorize those faces. Because, the next time you get hit, and you see the same faces standing around watching, that should tell you something. Tell your chain of command, "Hey, those same guys were hanging around at the last place we got hit" And detain those guys ASAP for questioning.
-When you get hit with an IED, expect to be ambushed with small arms and RPG fire immediately after.
-The number one advice I have for people coming to Iraq is become very good friends your interpreters. They will help you out a lot out here. Learn as much as you can from them. They know this place better than anybody else, they have their ears to the streets, they will tell you where the dangerous neighborhoods are, what to look out for, what to do and what not to do. Listen to them.
-Learn as much Arabic as you can. You can get a speak Arabic in 10 days crash course CD off Amazon. Constantly practice your Arabic as much as you can, on the interpreters, contractors, shop owners, whoever.
-On patrols, they're constantly going to tell you to scan rooftops for possible attacks. But also be aware that, they also like to fire RPG's from the corners of the buildings and disappear in the streets. Be aware of that.
-Know the maximum affective ranges of your enemies weapons, and be aware of that when you're scanning. When on patrols, reverse the situation in your head, think: If I was going to attack us, where would I do it from and how. These people are geniuses when it comes to playing dirty, they've been fighting for like that for years and years.
-Always assume that somebody is watching you, because they are. And always assume your going to get hit, and in your head think: if something happens right now, where would I go and what would I do. Always be at least one step ahead.
-Always expect the mission to last way longer than it's supposed to and plan accordingly. One time they told us this mission was only going to last 48 hours, and we were out in the field for almost 3 weeks. If you smoke always bring at least a carton. That was you don't have to worry about running out of smokes, and when everybody else runs out and starts turning into nicotine addicted crack addicts, you can charge 10 to 20 bucks a pack. And yes people will happily pay that for a pack of smokes in the field.
- This one is going to be a hard one to explain, but I'll do my best on this one. Everybody here owns an AK47. One way to help tell if the person holding the AK47 is Friendly (like an ICP or ING) or Foe is by his body language. Example: the "bad guy" with an AK47, will be crouched down in an attack position, sneaking around with an AK up ready to fire. He's in a threatening position, being sneaky. An ICP or ING, wont move his body like that. He'll usually be in a standing up position, more relaxed, walking around. I can explain this one better verbally and in person.
-Situational awareness. Always be aware of your surroundings.
-Not everybody here is a bloody terrorist. (This doesn't mean put your guard down and think everybody here is your fuckin friend either, they're not) Target identification is key. One time we were doing a raid on a house, and we blew the front door up with some explosives and it woke up some Iraqi who lived down the street, who was a police officer during the day. And he came out in civilian cloths and an AK47 to investigate what the hell was going on. He lived, but he almost didn't. I'm not going to tell you what to do in a situation like that, that's up to your chain of command, but make sure you know your PLT's S.O.P's and ROE's inside and out for situations like this, so when you get here, you know exactly what to do in situations like that if they come up, which they will.
-It's still Iraq. It's just as dangerous now, as it ever has been. People are still getting killed here every day, and every time you leave the FOB your still entering the concrete jungle that's filled with people who would love to kill you, by any means necessary. Always have your guard up, and never get complacent.
"One learns survival, by surviving"
- Charles Bukowski
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