Howdy friends,
We moved up North in a 3 day convoy & have been here in Balad for a week now. The trip was uneventful thankfully. The day we left out was extremely hot. Like standing in front of a pizza oven. We had a breeze that felt like a blow dryer in your face.
The Hummers were uparmored with heavy steel doors are were within 1000 lbs of capacity which we exceeded easily with personnel & gear. In order to defend the convoy and fight from vehicles you have to keep the interior clear so the packing list was tight. Not much more inside the Hummer as extra ammo, Combat Lifesaver bag & a cooler full of ice/drinks. Of course weapons were cleaned & lubed, vehicles serviced, & radio coms checked. We expected breakdowns so we also had tow straps handy. We were actually a bit pumped up b/c it was finally go time.
We set out with weapons sticking out the windows, then locked & loaded once we crossed the border. Southern Iraq dry & poor. Mud huts & sand. A lot of kids begging on the side of the highway & people standing out in the middle of nowhere - very strange. The second day we saw a bit of green and small ranches eventually turning very green with palm groves, farms, & much nicer houses/ranches. We stayed overnight at Baghdad International Airport in a gravel covered staging yard. The run North out of BIAP was wild. No picute taking here - remain alert with weapons ready. It is a huge city with a lot of vegitation (vulnerable spots) and a lot of traffic. There are a huge amount of vehicles pulled over w/ guys standing around. I don't believe for a second these are all breakdowns - more like meeting spots. They watch you go by and you look 'em right in the eyes without blinking. Best to not present yourself as a soft target. We did see quite a few ominous charred black spots on the highway & some burned out trucks.
It was nice to finally arrive & we began work the following day. Still haven't had time to unpack! I'm up at 3 am to begin pushing convoys by 6am. We seem to get a few mortars daily. A couple have hit 300-500 m away. Not real close, but close enough. We took small arms fire at our work area night before last as well. Choppers went up & lit up the bad guys pretty good. I was off-shift but apparently it was quite a show. :p
The officers tent is about 120-130 midday. This is with the crappy a/c unit. Good thing we brought a couple of our own. We supposed to be getting 2 man trailers in about a month which will be great. :worship:
All for now.
Regards
We moved up North in a 3 day convoy & have been here in Balad for a week now. The trip was uneventful thankfully. The day we left out was extremely hot. Like standing in front of a pizza oven. We had a breeze that felt like a blow dryer in your face.
The Hummers were uparmored with heavy steel doors are were within 1000 lbs of capacity which we exceeded easily with personnel & gear. In order to defend the convoy and fight from vehicles you have to keep the interior clear so the packing list was tight. Not much more inside the Hummer as extra ammo, Combat Lifesaver bag & a cooler full of ice/drinks. Of course weapons were cleaned & lubed, vehicles serviced, & radio coms checked. We expected breakdowns so we also had tow straps handy. We were actually a bit pumped up b/c it was finally go time.
We set out with weapons sticking out the windows, then locked & loaded once we crossed the border. Southern Iraq dry & poor. Mud huts & sand. A lot of kids begging on the side of the highway & people standing out in the middle of nowhere - very strange. The second day we saw a bit of green and small ranches eventually turning very green with palm groves, farms, & much nicer houses/ranches. We stayed overnight at Baghdad International Airport in a gravel covered staging yard. The run North out of BIAP was wild. No picute taking here - remain alert with weapons ready. It is a huge city with a lot of vegitation (vulnerable spots) and a lot of traffic. There are a huge amount of vehicles pulled over w/ guys standing around. I don't believe for a second these are all breakdowns - more like meeting spots. They watch you go by and you look 'em right in the eyes without blinking. Best to not present yourself as a soft target. We did see quite a few ominous charred black spots on the highway & some burned out trucks.
It was nice to finally arrive & we began work the following day. Still haven't had time to unpack! I'm up at 3 am to begin pushing convoys by 6am. We seem to get a few mortars daily. A couple have hit 300-500 m away. Not real close, but close enough. We took small arms fire at our work area night before last as well. Choppers went up & lit up the bad guys pretty good. I was off-shift but apparently it was quite a show. :p
The officers tent is about 120-130 midday. This is with the crappy a/c unit. Good thing we brought a couple of our own. We supposed to be getting 2 man trailers in about a month which will be great. :worship:
All for now.
Regards
