Soldier's Diary/The Last 24 Hours In Iraq

[PHAT MAX]

WELCOME BACK!!!! Glad you're safe!

[landcrusher909]

Randy, good to hear from you, and we are glad you got your stuff. i have to get to work right now. take it easy Rob , Wendy, and Will

[Campfire]

Welcome back to the Land O'Mud Randy. Glad your safe, and hope you get some rest. Box #2 is ready to get shipped out, so watch for more goodies.

[Red Herring]

Glad to hear from you!


I think we've all been wondering!

Thanks to your sister for the update.

[PacToy]

06-08-07

As usual we have been pretty darn busy and even more so now that more than half the team is away. However, all is well and we are still all accounted for. So that is good.

The ones who have remained back and with the help from a SeaBee det that was here have started to build a off the COP building for us to stay live and work with the IPs. Should be a big improvement in our area knowing that the Marines and IPs are together right there if anyone wants to get jiggy or needs help. The IPs are really excited about it. I can't say that we Marines are as excited about it as the IPs but we believe it is the right thing to do for the Iraqis in our area.

Seeing how not only do we hunt the bad guys but we also settle a bunch of civil disputes it should be a very effective venture. Kind of like a patrol sub-station would best describe it. I expect that our Arabic will get better and the Iraqis will get better with their English to boot. Should be good times.

We have started to lean hard on the locals to follow the law. Before it seemed as every time we caught some person doing something shady they had an excuse that when presented to the IPs was a legit excuse. Not anymore! We have implemented a no grey area no excuse course of action for Iraqis when on patrol. It has made the patrols longer and more time consuming but the more we enforce the law hard, the sooner they will understand to follow the law to the T. It has been effective so far and we hope that it will be more readily adopted way for the IPs too. So far good results though.

The weather has been blistering hot. Even more so with all the combat gear on but at least we get a cool breeze most of the time. I can honestly say that I put down a minimum of 4 gallons of water a day. My uniforms and combat gear are drench by the end of the night.

So let me get on with the pictures. I know everybody likes those better than hearing me babble on about silly stuff in the posts.

1st pic) This would be what we call an Iwacky Stacky. There is a Suburban underneath all that somewhere.

2nd pic) This would be the reason why we call them Iwacky Stackies.

3rd pic) Hmm, not something that the average person gets to see on a daily basis back in the US. This is every day for us. Thought I would share it with all the mudders

[PacToy]

A couple of funny signs from our greater Al Anbar FOB tour last week.

For some reason I don't think the 2nd sign is going to get the desired results. To the Marines and Soldiers it reads" Piss in the bunker".

[landcrusher909]

good stuff Randy, we hope your getting time to relax , strange mental picture of you sitting on your bunk with a mouth full of candy dirty butt wipes all over the floor wearing a old beat up railroad hat smiling while your looking at a bunch of goofy off road pictures

[semlin]

great photos!

what was the iwacky stacky carrying? it looks like cotton candy or fibreglass insulation or animal carcasses?

[whodat]

Cool Randy,

I like the "no grey area" method of dealing with these guys.

Good luck,

Whodat

[BJ-44]

If you were able to drink beer there Randy I would say the "No pissing in the bunker " sign would be specifically for you.

[HawkDriver]

Hey guys, thought I'd add another update on Randy's thread here. It's been a while.

First off, thanks for the great pics and stories Randy. Seems a bit like the wild west out there in the Marine sector. We rarely get to go out there, but I guess we have our hands full here in Baghdad. That ghost town pic is cool. We've been seeing a lot more of the Humvees with that bad ass armor round here. It's the toughest shit I've seen put on em since the last time we were over here. Big ass loops on the door handles to rip em off if ever need be. Shit's tough.

Like I said it's been a long time and my thread I started doesn't seem to get the visibility that this sticky one gets so a lot of my pics go unseen by the mud masses. So here's a bunch all at once.

My wife asked me if I had seen this bridge that was on the news yesterday. So today we flew past it to check it out. This crater was huge. It was at Check Point 20 on the Main Supply Route coming up from Kuwait just south of Baghdad. It had been a while since I had flown down close to the road along the MSR but today I got a good look and there are the remains of IEDs and vehicles about every mile it seems.

Then I know it's just a Rover but there are some rover fans on here and you'll have to check my other thread for all the Cruiser pics. I did however see a sweet 100 today with an ARB up front all black.

[HawkDriver]

First takeoff of the morning. The dust has been so thick here lately that you can look directly at the sun up to about 40 degrees from the horizon.

Blackhawk maintenance in our clamshell hangar.

Apache getting a little TLC.

[HawkDriver]

Been working alot with the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade lately with the search for the missing GIs in their area. These guys are sharp. This is their headquarters where we'll watch bad guys on the big screen from above with a UAV then we'll load up the Quick Reaction Force Infantrymen and swoop in and nab em. Then we'll go back in and pick em up and bring the guys we just saw on TV back on the birds.

Got to take a tour of a Stryker Infantry Vehicle. This thing's pretty bad ass, you can control the 50 cal from the inside with a joystick. The bad part is that they don't have AC in em and the engine takes up a good bit of the room so it's like a sweatbox with 110+ temps inside. These guys are tough.

Oh and here's an aerial resupply of water to a COP down near Yusufiyah.

I'll try to be a little more proactive with the pictures and stuff.

[semlin]

Originally Posted by HawkDriver

Blackhawk maintenance in our clamshell hangar.

is that a bone stock civilian john deere tractor or the new OEF camo?

[splitshot]

What is that in the last pic, an orchard? If so, what do they grow there?

BTW, all the pics are great.

[PacToy]

Originally Posted by semlin

great photos!

what was the iwacky stacky carrying? it looks like cotton candy or fibreglass insulation or animal carcasses?

That iwacky stacky is carrying water cisterns and potato chips.

Originally Posted by BJ-44

If you were able to drink beer there Randy I would say the "No pissing in the bunker " sign would be specifically for you.

I just can't imagine what would make you think that?

Originally Posted by HawkDriver

Hey guys, thought I'd add another update on Randy's thread here. It's been a while.

First off, thanks for the great pics and stories Randy. Seems a bit like the wild west out there in the Marine sector. We rarely get to go out there, but I guess we have our hands full here in Baghdad. That ghost town pic is cool. We've been seeing a lot more of the Humvees with that bad ass armor round here. It's the toughest shit I've seen put on em since the last time we were over here. Big ass loops on the door handles to rip em off if ever need be. Shit's tough.

Like I said it's been a long time and my thread I started doesn't seem to get the visibility that this sticky one gets so a lot of my pics go unseen by the mud masses. So here's a bunch all at once.

My wife asked me if I had seen this bridge that was on the news yesterday. So today we flew past it to check it out. This crater was huge. It was at Check Point 20 on the Main Supply Route coming up from Kuwait just south of Baghdad. It had been a while since I had flown down close to the road along the MSR but today I got a good look and there are the remains of IEDs and vehicles about every mile it seems.

Then I know it's just a Rover but there are some rover fans on here and you'll have to check my other thread for all the Cruiser pics. I did however see a sweet 100 today with an ARB up front all black.

Very cool, Hawk!

I'm thrilled to see that you posted some pics of your daily grind in Iraq. Your daily routine (if you can call it that) is way different than what we have out west.

Yeah, bro, you guys definitely have your hands full down there in and around Baghdad. No doubt about that! Just keep putting one foot in front of the other to keep bringing the fight to them.

That is the latest and greatest up armor Frag 5 kit. It will be mandated by MNFW-I here soon for all vics that go out side the wire. I was told by the civilian up armor guy that with that kit the M1114 HMMWVs weigh in at about 14,000lbs and the doors alone weigh 800lbs. I don't know how true that statement is but the doors sure are tough buggers to open if the vic is on an incline. Did you get to play with the turret?

By the way, every time I see a black hawk, I wonder if that is the real HawkDriver or just a wanna-be HawkDriver! Seeing how that you know where to find us, can you fly a beer drop mission for us?

Please keep posting to this thread too, Hawk. This thread is for all the mudders who wish to share their experiences while serving overseas.

[Campfire]

Package away Randy! Look for it in 2-3 weeks.

Stay safe. Please.

[PacToy]

06-20-07

Well, for the last couple of days we have been busy as usual and even more so these days. As the coalition forces clean up the Baghdad area we have seen an influx of bad guys in our area. These bad guys are what we call “leakers or squirters” and this type of influx of bad guys is common here when the coalition forces start a cleaning up in a particular area, especially if they are doing a good job.

Seeing how we are in favorable with the locals/law enforcement/gov’t agencies in our area we have had a pretty good success catching these “leakers” as they try to make their get away to hide out for a while. We have ways of knowing who is coming and what to look for as far as vehicle and personal identification goes. The Iraqis are also very forthcoming in helping ID people as they are spotted in the area. What I have found that works best for me is body mannerisms. Using a translator and talking to a couple hundred or so travelers, I arrested 7 bad guys in the last 10 days or so. Not bad but there are plenty of bad guys that got away too.

As I stated in the previous post we are building a joint sub patrol base for the Marines and IPs to live and work together. Everything has been coming along slowly but surely. While doing the build up we have to still carry out our normal duties in our AO and on our COP. So the build portion is taking a bit of time. Everyday that we show up to work on the defensive positions or quarters area the off duty IPs will come over and help us build and clean. It makes for some good times and budding friendships. The IPs are really looking forward to living and pulling duty with the Marines.

Our team of Marines are in a pretty good grove now of how the locals work in our AO. As always we have our ups and downs but we got the gist of the local workings.


Please forgive me as I haven’t been very vigilant at taking pictures recently but here are a few pics that I can share.

1st pic) It is always nice when the International Red Cross shows up without notice. Not that we need notice, it just helps a bit. They do drive some nice cruisers though and I got a pic from their last visit.

2nd pic) The IPs a Marine and a translator help build and clean our joint sub patrol base.

3rd pic) Last night’s moon. I thought it was pretty cool. Did anybody else see it?

[landcrusher909]

Randy we received your email thanks alot it really means alot to know we can make a diffrence. Will wants to pass on a big THANKS he is sharing your letter with his ROTC classmates.

[landcrusher909]

HawkDriver we got the info and should have something out next week

[HawkDriver]

Ya man, we did in fact see that moon with the star right next to it the other night. It was darker then, just before it set and the star was just barely touching it. Cool.

It's cool that you get to interact so much with the IPs and stuff. Ours is very limited, we occaisonally spend a night training and air assaulting a couple platoons of IA but that's about it. Last time I was here I really got to interact with the LNs that would work on camp but there aren't as many nowadays. I miss it cuz it was one of the most rewarding aspects of the deployment for me. We would eat lunch together under the canvas of the Deuce (LMTV) and we'd share eachother's food. The foremen could usually speak a little english and we'd work our way through conversation throughout the day. Very interesting to hear what they thought about the war and occupations and things. Cool stuff, I miss it.

Hey did you hear that they might be extending us for another 3 months? That'll put us here for 18 friggin months, I'd be 3 months out from home had not been for the first extension. Not sure if it effects you guys or not, and again might be just rumor. Mission first right... Keep up the fight bud.

Thanks Rob, I'll be looking forward to it.

[alex e]

Hey Hawk. Glad to see you are good. Catch you on the flip side. We're thinking about ya here in TX!

[brownbear]

Originally Posted by HawkDriver

Hey guys, thought I'd add another update on Randy's thread here. It's been a while.


Like I said it's been a long time and my thread I started doesn't seem to get the visibility that this sticky one gets so a lot of my pics go unseen by the mud masses.

Hey Hawk, thanks for sharing the aerial shots and more. tractors make great tugs eh? I use a Kabota to tug around my plane.


This thread was intended for ALL serviceman to post up. Share stories, like a diary. I remember fellow mods discussing that this would be a great catch all thread for you guys. That is why it got stickied.

So please post up more pictures and keep safe guys!

[HawkDriver]

Cool Brownbear, thanks man.

Well today we had 4 rockets hit the flight line damaging a number of aircraft and killing one and injuring a bunch. I happened to be about a football field away from where the closest one impacted, luckily. It has been a while since we've had rockets. Mortars are quite normal, like one or two a week. Here's a pic of where one hit the flightline also. This particular one had shrapnel hit a couple of guys on top of a bird and took them out of the fight, they'll recover ok though.

Then while eating at the chow hall the other day a car bomb went off at the gate which is almost a Kilometer away, this one shook the windows and dust fell from the ceiling. I kind of lost my appetite after that. Felt like it was just outsi