09 January 2006
Al Asad
A one and a two and a three . . .
That’s how we started every leg of the mission, singing that song. For those who don’t remember, didn’t know, or aren’t old enough, that’s the theme song to the early 80s television show, Greatest American Hero. I admit, I had forgotten about the show, but it brought a smile to my face when someone reminded me of it. The truck commander for this vehicle apparently has all the series of this show on DVD (who would have guessed there was a market for that). Any way, the crew I was riding with on this mission sings the song at the start of every leg of every mission. According to the crew, this ritual has kept them safe through IEDs, mortar attacks, and small arms fire. As it would turn out, this mission was no different.
The fog was just breaking when we left Navistar. We were going to make one short sleep stop along the way before getting to our first destination, Al Asad. Al Asad is a camp in the famed al Anbar province.
Despite going through some of the “hottest” areas, our trip to Al Asad was mostly uneventful. Although, on the trip to Al Asad, I was amazed by a certain stretch of a single lane road, about 20 miles or so in length. This road was pockmarked with so many IED sites that you couldn’t travel 100 meters on this road without seeing scars from an IED. There were some places on this road that there were 5 or more IED explosion markings within as many meters. The gunner in our truck started to take some pictures of a few of the spots as we were traveling when it dawned upon him how vulnerable he was taking the pictures from the exposed turret. He quickly tucked his head back into the truck in order to avoid unnecessary exposure. As it turned out, it was a smart move.
About 10 minutes after we made it through this 20-mile stretch, we heard on the radio that a PIED (another military acronym, meaning potential improvised explosive device) was spotted along the route we had just past through by the convoy that followed us. When the unit that spotted it was calling it in on the radio, they took small arms fire. This is likely an indicator that the AIF were intending the IED to explode and were covering the kill zone with sniper(s). Thankfully no one was hurt.
We arrived at Al Asad within 24 hours of departing from Navistar. I had never been to Al Asad before. It primarily consists of Marines. From the news, I know that the Marines have been very busy with operations in the last six months or so in the al Anbar province. Although, contrary to my expectations, the atmosphere at the base seemed somewhat laid back. The base was fairly remote, but it was of good size. It had some relatively nice Haaji shops.
The billeting arrangements were interesting. The tent we slept in was large and filled with bunk beds (which is usually the case—although, some camps only have cots). The bunks though had some of the worst mattresses I’d ever seen (except for ones covered in mold and/or sand fleas). You could feel virtually every spring in the mattress itself when you touched it. When I sat on one mattress, I broke through the bunk bed support springs (I’m just under 200 pounds and did not jump) and the mattress quickly fell to the floor. Luckily, I was spared the embarrassment as I was the only one there at the time as my guys had gone out to move the trucks and bring in additional bags. The second bunk I tried at least supported my weight. Regardless of the bunk chosen, when one sat on the center of the bed, the mattress formed a “v.” Someone commented that they were kind of like hammocks. Not a big deal, I’ve slept in worse places. Just kind of funny.
When we got up in the morning, we received the route to our next destination: the beloved and ever-peaceful, Ramadi. I’ll write about that segment as well as our trip around Falujah when I get a moment in the next couple of days.
Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself.
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
It should've been somebody else.
Believe it or not, I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free eee eee.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.
It's like a light of a new day,
It came from out of the blue.
Breaking me out of the spell I was in,
Making all of my wishes come true ue ue.
Believe it or not, I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free eee eee.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.
That’s how we started every leg of the mission, singing that song. For those who don’t remember, didn’t know, or aren’t old enough, that’s the theme song to the early 80s television show, Greatest American Hero. I admit, I had forgotten about the show, but it brought a smile to my face when someone reminded me of it. The truck commander for this vehicle apparently has all the series of this show on DVD (who would have guessed there was a market for that). Any way, the crew I was riding with on this mission sings the song at the start of every leg of every mission. According to the crew, this ritual has kept them safe through IEDs, mortar attacks, and small arms fire. As it would turn out, this mission was no different.
The fog was just breaking when we left Navistar. We were going to make one short sleep stop along the way before getting to our first destination, Al Asad. Al Asad is a camp in the famed al Anbar province.
Despite going through some of the “hottest” areas, our trip to Al Asad was mostly uneventful. Although, on the trip to Al Asad, I was amazed by a certain stretch of a single lane road, about 20 miles or so in length. This road was pockmarked with so many IED sites that you couldn’t travel 100 meters on this road without seeing scars from an IED. There were some places on this road that there were 5 or more IED explosion markings within as many meters. The gunner in our truck started to take some pictures of a few of the spots as we were traveling when it dawned upon him how vulnerable he was taking the pictures from the exposed turret. He quickly tucked his head back into the truck in order to avoid unnecessary exposure. As it turned out, it was a smart move.
About 10 minutes after we made it through this 20-mile stretch, we heard on the radio that a PIED (another military acronym, meaning potential improvised explosive device) was spotted along the route we had just past through by the convoy that followed us. When the unit that spotted it was calling it in on the radio, they took small arms fire. This is likely an indicator that the AIF were intending the IED to explode and were covering the kill zone with sniper(s). Thankfully no one was hurt.
We arrived at Al Asad within 24 hours of departing from Navistar. I had never been to Al Asad before. It primarily consists of Marines. From the news, I know that the Marines have been very busy with operations in the last six months or so in the al Anbar province. Although, contrary to my expectations, the atmosphere at the base seemed somewhat laid back. The base was fairly remote, but it was of good size. It had some relatively nice Haaji shops.
The billeting arrangements were interesting. The tent we slept in was large and filled with bunk beds (which is usually the case—although, some camps only have cots). The bunks though had some of the worst mattresses I’d ever seen (except for ones covered in mold and/or sand fleas). You could feel virtually every spring in the mattress itself when you touched it. When I sat on one mattress, I broke through the bunk bed support springs (I’m just under 200 pounds and did not jump) and the mattress quickly fell to the floor. Luckily, I was spared the embarrassment as I was the only one there at the time as my guys had gone out to move the trucks and bring in additional bags. The second bunk I tried at least supported my weight. Regardless of the bunk chosen, when one sat on the center of the bed, the mattress formed a “v.” Someone commented that they were kind of like hammocks. Not a big deal, I’ve slept in worse places. Just kind of funny.
When we got up in the morning, we received the route to our next destination: the beloved and ever-peaceful, Ramadi. I’ll write about that segment as well as our trip around Falujah when I get a moment in the next couple of days.
# posted by themobilized : 09:30
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I had forgotten about that show. Please keep singing that song or doing whatever it takes for you to be safe. God bless and protect the 127th.
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# posted by 
: 09 January, 2006 22:32
: 09 January, 2006 22:32<< Home
