TechnoChitlins

Another Story from Iraq

BlackFive posts another story about the Marines in Iraq, this time by an Air Force spotter working with them-

This particular night I was riding in the back with an "up-gunner" (the guy that mans the vehicle mounted machine gun in the back of the trucks or in the middle of the Humvees) that was new to the UPS. The team has 3 teams within itself and rotates through the drivers, gunners, and shooters (the ones that enter the house). This was the first night this particular gunner had the pleasure of the 60mph winds in the back of the truck with 30 degree temperatures driving blacked out in zero illumination nights on horrible roads. Great deal. Anyway, after detaining the HVT we were off so quickly to the cache that I didn't have time to show the gunner how to ratchet down the detainee, so we just left him blindfolded and zip-tied on the floor as we moved a couple blocks over to the cache site. Upon arrival at the site half of our Marines dismounted with EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) and the bomb dog and began searching the Palm Groves along the Euphrates that the cache was supposedly hidden in. Once stopped the HET (human exploitation team) Marine and Yusef (our interpreter, a whole entire other story on this guy, he was great) came over to the UPS and got in to begin "field interrogations" of the detainee while I was showing the gunner how to strap the detainee down. About that time all hell broke loose as AK fire started cracking over my head and ricocheting off the UPS and other vehicles. Immediately I spun around (as my back was to the fight while trying to latch down the detainee) and started to return fire. The 50 cal to my immediate left, the 240G about 1 foot above my head and the 50 cal to my right began to open up to the north where the fire was coming from and where we could see muzzle flashes. I immediately called in one of the F-18s that was overhead for a "gun run" on the individuals they had just reported to me that were firing on us. While all this is going on our Marines that were sweeping the Palm and Date Groves for the cache were about 50-100 meters away on the banks of the Euphrates checking out a shed and some boats. In true Marine fashion they came sprinting toward the fight. So much so that we had to cease fire while they charged forward. Of course, I would have no part of being left out of this and jumped out of the UPS and ran forward with them using the excuse that I would need to know where the forward line of troops was to call in air. The 2 50cals to our left and right put down suppressive fire while we moved forward through the groves. Keep in mind this all took place in probably half the time it's taking you to read this. After moving forward through the groves and establishing a somewhat protected position the firing ceased. All was quiet and air continued to fill us in on the proceedings. A couple of the individuals had run into near by houses, low crawling their way there and hiding behind a wall in the immediate area protected from our fire, the others had been taken care of. We gathered ourselves, got accountability and then decided to go pay them a visit. We mounted up in our trucks and then proceeded north along river road to the location that air saw them run to. This is where the litening pod and the 2 seat F-18D made its money and proved INVALUABLE to us. As we drove north they were able to tell us; turn left, turn right, go straight, stop, 1 went in the 3rd door on the right and the other is in the back courtyard. With a mechanical breach and a flash bang we quickly had the one in the courtyard and then moved to get the one that went inside the house. With the same technique, we made entry and secured the house in under 60 seconds. Our prize was one individual covered in mud (same as us) with a loaded, hot, freshly fired AK-47. He was quickly introduced to the dog for some questioning, taken into custody and loaded into my truck for the long ride home for us, but longer ride home for him. This was the beginning of our night. Having an aggressive, War-Fighting Commanding Officer, we grabbed some coffee and more ammo and went back to find and clear the cache. By the time we got back it was almost day break. We searched for about an hour and were about ready to give up when the dog sat and started wagging his tail furiously. Of course he had just found a relatively large stash of mortars, rockets, mortar tubes, gunpowder, rocket propellant etc. Nothing makes our EOD guy happier. 2 satchel charges and some detonation cord later and there was a beautiful explosion to mask the sun rising over the Euphrates. There was also one less building/shed/house in the grove. That was the good news, the bad news was that now it was broad daylight and we were in the heart of the town and had to drive down river road which contains the market with people everywhere, all kinds of rooftop sniper positions and we had already highlighted ourselves by the gunfight and now by blowing all these items up. The crowds were gathering and as always, there's no way to tell friendly from foe. Luckily for us we had a mixed section of Cobras and Hueys flying 30' over our head right down Main Street, guns trained on the crowds and escorting us home. 34 hours later that was the end of our day. That was Thanksgiving.

Whew.

RTWT here, and, as I've said before, ACTL