MarcusMaximus
02-21-2008, 06:50 PM
Observations of the Uncommon Heroes in Iraq
By Jim Carrier
http://www.nelsonguirado.com/media/users/nguirado/Soldier_helping_Child.jpg
Leaving the comforts of my daily routine as a partner in a money management firm in Manhattan, I took off for Iraq in December to visit the war zone as a freelance journalist. Feeling driven to gather my own observations of the job our service men and women were doing over there, I had applied to the U.S. Army for clearance and was willing to jump through hoops to make it happen. My father-in-law, a former diplomat, said, "You will have a unique opportunity to take in all of the sights, smells and sounds of history," and he was right.
I took a twelve-hour commercial flight to Kuwait City, where I became a guest of the United States government. At midnight on December 16, we rolled down the runway and lifted off from Ali A Salem Air Base in an Air Force C-17 cargo jet. Wearing eighteen pounds of body armor and a Kevlar helmet, I was surrounded by one hundred soldiers also dressed in their full battle gear.
I was there as an observer to learn about their way of life; they were there because this is their livelihood, serving in the American armed forces. An hour later, we began our aggressive decent into Baghdad International Airport (BIAP, pronounced By-Op). The landing pattern, a tight spiral, helped protect the plane from possible enemy fire. As the ramp was lowered, a young army sergeant sitting next to me said, "Game on, sir. Welcome to BIAP. Follow me and I'll show you where to get your gear from the pallet," As we walked single file from the aircraft to the terminal, the group was quiet and alert. I could sense the imminent danger of a war zone.
I transitioned to a bus and then a specially armored vehicle to my interim destination in Baghdad, the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC). We drove a circuitous route along the road, swerving randomly so not to leave the impression of a routine path for future enemy attacks. At the CPIC, I was given my final scheduling for getting out into the field with an American unit.
Being the only American there and the new guy on the block, I listened attentively while a string of European reporters -- two Italian, one German, one Swiss -- chatted about their findings of the day. They had just completed private, hour-long interviews with General David Petraeus, the commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, and they were keen to get their stories out to their audience.
Two days later, I boarded a Blackhawk helicopter. Strapped in and ready to go, the air crew gave final thumbs up to the pilots and manned the heavy machine guns mounted just behind the cockpit. As we lifted off, the two door-gunners rotated their heavy weapons on swivel mounts, scanning the ground below, searching for potential threats. I thought about how pilots and air crew do this routinely every day in a vastly professional manner.
All were volunteers, doing their jobs with an evident passion for the mission. As we traveled northwest of Baghdad over sprawling meadows and small farms, I was struck by the beauty of the Iraqi countryside. Then the Blackhawk made a sudden descent and landed in a remote spot. It looked like a goat pasture.
This was certainly not the developed base of Taji where I thought we were headed.
I tapped my army host, Major Randy Baucom from Dale City, Virginia, and over the racket mouthed: "Taji? Really?" He just smiled and said, "Mission plan changed. We've brought you out to one of our Coalition Outposts so you can see where the rubber really meets the road in this war."
Our destination was a Coalition Outpost (COP) located near the village of Al Raood, home of the U.S. Army 2nd Battalion - 5th Regiment, 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, more conveniently referred to as the 2-5 CAV.
I would learn that there are many COPs scattered in and around Iraq, bases where the mission is not only military but also diplomatic: We act as ambassadors, befriending villagers and teaching them that we're there to help push the al Qaeda out of their homes. It's all part of the Petraeus plan to develop trust and confidence one village at a time.
The formation of these COPs is precisely where General Petraeus is making the significant progress we are finally hearing about. The ultimate objective is to move American forces into Iraqi communities where they can live with the people they are protecting.
The next day I witnessed firsthand the duties and endeavors of this particular COP manned by a company of U.S. Army personnel. They served as a forward force as called for in the new Counter Insurgency Manual, or what the ground troops refer proudly to as the Petraeus Doctrine.
I was particularly taken by the passion of the senior NCO of the unit to which I was attached -- First Sergeant Erik Marquez, forty-two years old, from Walnut Creek, California. Marquez was a take-charge kind of guy who was proud to share with me every nook and cranny of his Coalition Outpost. He managed the construction of this forward operating position six months ago when tensions in Al Raood were so high that local villagers would not leave their homes.
Marquez explained that four short months later, there was trade in the streets, children playing outdoors and farmers tending their crops and animals. A humble man, the First Sergeant said, "I am proud to know that I am making a difference, and that difference comes in the form of helping the Iraqis take back their homes, villages and lives."
Self-sustaining in every way, the COP was equipped with its own mess tent with five cooks making chow using a mobile field kitchen that folds up into a trailer the size of a small family camper. Our brunch consisted of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and plenty of milk and orange juice. Later we visited the medical tent that serves as an emergency medical treatment facility, with four trauma beds and four additional beds, staffed by two medics and a physician's assistant. The medical team treats both American soldiers and local Iraqis, demonstrating another aspect of community effort by the Americans.
By Jim Carrier
http://www.nelsonguirado.com/media/users/nguirado/Soldier_helping_Child.jpg
Leaving the comforts of my daily routine as a partner in a money management firm in Manhattan, I took off for Iraq in December to visit the war zone as a freelance journalist. Feeling driven to gather my own observations of the job our service men and women were doing over there, I had applied to the U.S. Army for clearance and was willing to jump through hoops to make it happen. My father-in-law, a former diplomat, said, "You will have a unique opportunity to take in all of the sights, smells and sounds of history," and he was right.
I took a twelve-hour commercial flight to Kuwait City, where I became a guest of the United States government. At midnight on December 16, we rolled down the runway and lifted off from Ali A Salem Air Base in an Air Force C-17 cargo jet. Wearing eighteen pounds of body armor and a Kevlar helmet, I was surrounded by one hundred soldiers also dressed in their full battle gear.
I was there as an observer to learn about their way of life; they were there because this is their livelihood, serving in the American armed forces. An hour later, we began our aggressive decent into Baghdad International Airport (BIAP, pronounced By-Op). The landing pattern, a tight spiral, helped protect the plane from possible enemy fire. As the ramp was lowered, a young army sergeant sitting next to me said, "Game on, sir. Welcome to BIAP. Follow me and I'll show you where to get your gear from the pallet," As we walked single file from the aircraft to the terminal, the group was quiet and alert. I could sense the imminent danger of a war zone.
I transitioned to a bus and then a specially armored vehicle to my interim destination in Baghdad, the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC). We drove a circuitous route along the road, swerving randomly so not to leave the impression of a routine path for future enemy attacks. At the CPIC, I was given my final scheduling for getting out into the field with an American unit.
Being the only American there and the new guy on the block, I listened attentively while a string of European reporters -- two Italian, one German, one Swiss -- chatted about their findings of the day. They had just completed private, hour-long interviews with General David Petraeus, the commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, and they were keen to get their stories out to their audience.
Two days later, I boarded a Blackhawk helicopter. Strapped in and ready to go, the air crew gave final thumbs up to the pilots and manned the heavy machine guns mounted just behind the cockpit. As we lifted off, the two door-gunners rotated their heavy weapons on swivel mounts, scanning the ground below, searching for potential threats. I thought about how pilots and air crew do this routinely every day in a vastly professional manner.
All were volunteers, doing their jobs with an evident passion for the mission. As we traveled northwest of Baghdad over sprawling meadows and small farms, I was struck by the beauty of the Iraqi countryside. Then the Blackhawk made a sudden descent and landed in a remote spot. It looked like a goat pasture.
This was certainly not the developed base of Taji where I thought we were headed.
I tapped my army host, Major Randy Baucom from Dale City, Virginia, and over the racket mouthed: "Taji? Really?" He just smiled and said, "Mission plan changed. We've brought you out to one of our Coalition Outposts so you can see where the rubber really meets the road in this war."
Our destination was a Coalition Outpost (COP) located near the village of Al Raood, home of the U.S. Army 2nd Battalion - 5th Regiment, 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, more conveniently referred to as the 2-5 CAV.
I would learn that there are many COPs scattered in and around Iraq, bases where the mission is not only military but also diplomatic: We act as ambassadors, befriending villagers and teaching them that we're there to help push the al Qaeda out of their homes. It's all part of the Petraeus plan to develop trust and confidence one village at a time.
The formation of these COPs is precisely where General Petraeus is making the significant progress we are finally hearing about. The ultimate objective is to move American forces into Iraqi communities where they can live with the people they are protecting.
The next day I witnessed firsthand the duties and endeavors of this particular COP manned by a company of U.S. Army personnel. They served as a forward force as called for in the new Counter Insurgency Manual, or what the ground troops refer proudly to as the Petraeus Doctrine.
I was particularly taken by the passion of the senior NCO of the unit to which I was attached -- First Sergeant Erik Marquez, forty-two years old, from Walnut Creek, California. Marquez was a take-charge kind of guy who was proud to share with me every nook and cranny of his Coalition Outpost. He managed the construction of this forward operating position six months ago when tensions in Al Raood were so high that local villagers would not leave their homes.
Marquez explained that four short months later, there was trade in the streets, children playing outdoors and farmers tending their crops and animals. A humble man, the First Sergeant said, "I am proud to know that I am making a difference, and that difference comes in the form of helping the Iraqis take back their homes, villages and lives."
Self-sustaining in every way, the COP was equipped with its own mess tent with five cooks making chow using a mobile field kitchen that folds up into a trailer the size of a small family camper. Our brunch consisted of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and plenty of milk and orange juice. Later we visited the medical tent that serves as an emergency medical treatment facility, with four trauma beds and four additional beds, staffed by two medics and a physician's assistant. The medical team treats both American soldiers and local Iraqis, demonstrating another aspect of community effort by the Americans.