A LONG THREE DAYS

We recently went on a mission about an hour west and an hour south of Tal Afar. The intent was to cordon and search three or four villages which are isolated and have little military presence or influence. We met our BN about 0600 and began the trip, about 1/2 hour into the trip they stopped for a flat tire (they didn't have a spare so they borrowed ours.) The drive was actually quite scenic, harvested wheat fields, rolling hills and a mountain range dominated the horizon.



After a couple of hours of driving we stopped on a hilltop overlooking the first village we were to search. It was typical of the small hamlets that are everywhere in this country. Simply put it redefines your definition of poverty. The first village may have had 100 buildings in it. None of these utilized construction technology that has changed in 200 years, they were simply made of mud and straw, with woven thatch roofs. Many of the roofs did have plastic sheeting spread over them with tires holding it in place.


The citizens of the first village eyed us suspiciously as if they new that they were in for a long day. Most of the women and children simply went in the house. When the IA started there search they decided to round up all of the military aged males and bring them to the school house. Once there they lined them all up and had them sit for what seemed to be hours so that they could interview them and check their identification.

While all of this was going on, our team was simply observing, and sweating and trying to stay hydrated. With 50+ pound of gear on sitting in the sun on top of a HMMWV is not where you want to be. It is a struggle to drink enough water and to replace lost electrolytes. Food seems out of the question. After about three hours in this town, after finding nothing of interest the IA decided to move north to search another larger town. We rallied at the school house and the IA set off on there search, the radioed back to report they found a man selling ice, so we sent a couple guys to by big blocks of ice to replenish our coolers. Several hours later they reported again that they had found nothing of note and we were quitting for the day, they would take us to where we would be spending the night. On the outskirts of the town there was an abandoned gas station which had a 10 foot wall surrounding it, we jammed all of our vehicles through the small gate and finally after nearly 18 hours, took off our helmets and body armor, and felt the breeze to what mother nature intended, finally cool our bodies. After a night spent sleeping on top of the truck, never fully relaxing for fear I would roll off into the dirt, we arose around 0500 to do it all again. This time we travelled back south to a village we had already driven through twice the day prior. I guess surprise wasn't part of the Iraqi's plan, or maybe by driving through and not stopping twice, the insurgents would be lulled into a false sense of security. Either way, we arrived about 1000 and the Iraqis once again dispersed into the city to begin their search. While searching, they discovered that a wedding was scheduled for the day, what did they do? Detained the groom for questioning. But before they could detain him, the groom wanted to do one thing. He wanted to share tea with the Americans. I turned around in my turret to see four Iraqis walking my way with a tray of tea. I'm not sure I'd recommend drinking scalding hot tea in the sun wearing body armor on top of a hmmwv when its already over 100 degrees, but it was pretty funny

After another day and a half of the same, we finally made it back to FOB Sykes, the land of air conditioning and beds

A LONG THREE DAYS

We recently went on a mission about an hour west and an hour south of Tal Afar. The intent was to cordon and search three or four villages which are isolated and have little military presence or influence. We met our BN about 0600 and began the trip, about 1/2 hour into the trip they stopped for a flat tire (they didn't have a spare so they borrowed ours.) The drive was actually quite scenic, harvested wheat fields, rolling hills and a mountain range dominated the horizon.



After a couple of hours of driving we stopped on a hilltop overlooking the first village we were to search. It was typical of the small hamlets that are everywhere in this country. Simply put it redefines your definition of poverty. The first village may have had 100 buildings in it. None of these utilized construction technology that has changed in 200 years, they were simply made of mud and straw, with woven thatch roofs. Many of the roofs did have plastic sheeting spread over them with tires holding it in place.


The citizens of the first village eyed us suspiciously as if they new that they were in for a long day. Most of the women and children simply went in the house. When the IA started there search they decided to round up all of the military aged males and bring them to the school house. Once there they lined them all up and had them sit for what seemed to be hours so that they could interview them and check their identification.

While all of this was going on, our team was simply observing, and sweating and trying to stay hydrated. With 50+ pound of gear on sitting in the sun on top of a HMMWV is not where you want to be. It is a struggle to drink enough water and to replace lost electrolytes. Food seems out of the question. After about three hours in this town, after finding nothing of interest the IA decided to move north to search another larger town. We rallied at the school house and the IA set off on there search, the radioed back to report they found a man selling ice, so we sent a couple guys to by big blocks of ice to replenish our coolers. Several hours later they reported again that they had found nothing of note and we were quitting for the day, they would take us to where we would be spending the night. On the outskirts of the town there was an abandoned gas station which had a 10 foot wall surrounding it, we jammed all of our vehicles through the small gate and finally after nearly 18 hours, took off our helmets and body armor, and felt the breeze to what mother nature intended, finally cool our bodies. After a night spent sleeping on top of the truck, never fully relaxing for fear I would roll off into the dirt, we arose around 0500 to do it all again. This time we travelled back south to a village we had already driven through twice the day prior. I guess surprise wasn't part of the Iraqi's plan, or maybe by driving through and not stopping twice, the insurgents would be lulled into a false sense of security. Either way, we arrived about 1000 and the Iraqis once again dispersed into the city to begin their search. While searching, they discovered that a wedding was scheduled for the day, what did they do? Detained the groom for questioning. But before they could detain him, the groom wanted to do one thing. He wanted to share tea with the Americans. I turned around in my turret to see four Iraqis walking my way with a tray of tea. I'm not sure I'd recommend drinking scalding hot tea in the sun wearing body armor on top of a hmmwv when its already over 100 degrees, but it was pretty funny

After another day and a half of the same, we finally made it back to FOB Sykes, the land of air conditioning and beds

FOB SYKES

Forward Operating Base (FOB) SYKES is located just south-west of the Iraqi city of Tal Afar. It is situated on a former Iraqi Airbase. The major features are a long runway and numerous concrete bunkers and hangars. The terrain is predominantly flat and dusty with mountain ranges rising to the Northwest and Southeast. We live in Containerized Housing Units (CHUs), which are 20’x8’x8’ metal containers with a front door and window as well as air conditioning, lighting and a linoleum floor, they are situated in rows and about 10 and they are arranged around central restroom and shower containers. So I guess I have about 160ft2 that I can call my own. In my container I have a twin bed, a refrigerator, TV, a desk and chair as well as a couple of wall lockers and shelves. It’s not bad living, a bit Spartan and institutional, but comfortable nonetheless.
FOB Sykes has some pretty good amenities, the DFAC (Dining Facility) is among the best I’ve seen, they always have fresh fruits and a wide assortment of deserts and entrées. Most importantly to me they have a cooler stocked with soda including Coca Cola Light imported from Turkey; needless to say a couple of those somehow find their way into my cargo pocket after just about every meal. It’s hard to maintain some sort of diet and avoid the French-fries, hamburgers and pizza. I try to lean towards the baked chicken breasts and fresh tomatoes as much as possible; it would be all too easy to gain a couple pounds a week here. The MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) center is fondly referred to as the MUF, or multi-use facility, inside you can find a great gym with free weights, cardio machines as well as plenty of Hammer Strength machines. There is a recreation room with pool tables, ping-pong, shuffleboard and air hockey. There is a computer lab and phone center as well as a full court basketball/volleyball court. There is even a movie theater used each night for movies and during the day for large briefings or other business. Most of the amenities were built when the 3rd ACR had upwards of 3,000 soldiers living here, now there perhaps 1,000 which reduces crowding most of the time.
The entire FOB is hundred’s of acres, and to reduce the need for walking there are three different shuttle bus routes to whisk soldiers wherever they need to go. Our team has taken it a step farther and has commandeered three vehicles from our Iraqi Army counterparts to drive around and use as we please.
All in all its not a bad place to be, mortar attacks are non-existent which is quite a change compared to FOB Marez where I was in 2004-05 where it was not uncommon to receive 5-10 mortars in one day. I used to lead convoys out here a couple times of week when I was here the last time and it has changed quite a bit.