I was sitting in my office on the FOB the other day, a little after noon, and I heard a rocket come sizzling overhead. It struck with a bang that shook my building. Daylight rocket attacks are pretty rare, so I was kind of surprised.
I looked outside and saw a pillar of dust about 50-60 feet high, slowly drifting. Looking around, I saw several soldiers looking around, trying to locate the point of impact. The dust pointed us in the right direction, to a small crater in a dirt road about 100 yards from my office and about 75 feet from where I sleep.
A few of us walked toward the crater, which was surrounded by a debris field of dirt clods and rocks. A soldier was standing over the crater, acting official, apparently trying to mark the crater and preserve the site. I saw the crater and chucks of the rocket and engine lying nearby. None of the soldiers were wearing body armor, but we were all wearing our helmets. About this time the Big Voice announced “Alarm Red,” meaning we are supposed to seek shelter.
However, by then it had been several minutes since impact, and no more rockets had arrived, so we weren’t feeling all that threatened. I took a couple of pictures, and about then the Air Force came hustling up in several armored Hummers. They jumped out and started bustling around, assessing the situation and doing a crater analysis to determine the type and origin of the rocket.
The Air Force guys were all wearing helmets and body armor, which they normally don’t do. One of them, the one who was moving the fastest, running from crater to debris to Hummer and back, and looking kind of freaked out, started yelling “Take cover, take cover!” I’m sure he thought we were idiots. Most of us moved off, and before long the all clear was given.
2 comments:
I'd love to see the pictures you took. Can you post them?
Hi Alan;
I was passing some time in the Spokane airport with Rinda, when she mentioned your blog. I have been spending otherwise billable hours reviewing the same since then. Daily life in Iraq sounds sort of like a summer camp that you didn't want to be sent to, with rockets of course. Do you require any vices that you are afraid to ask your wife to send? The cigar store is just around the corner from my office, so.... I hope this note finds you well, and we look forward to your safe return in December.
tom baskin
Post a Comment