Blogotional

I have heard from my friend Jared Leinart in Iraq again. When I read the matter of fact way in which he describes what are very dangerous activities, and the fortitutde with which he and his soldiers go about their jobs, I know they really are heroes. If you are not already, go to Soldier's Angels or Any Solder, find a soldier and support him or her.

It has been a busy week for us here in Mosul. We are continuing Task Force Bullet and Task Force IED. Both of these missions are very similar. We escort Explosives and Ordnance Disposal (EOD), better known as the bomb guys to sites where people have found Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) or Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) or weapon caches. We basically provide security to EOD enroute to these sites (some as far as 20 miles outside of the city) as well as when we get to the site. We also help them with destroying these devices using explosives or even using a sniper rifle to set it off. Occasionally we have to transport the devices back to a holding place on our base (don’t worry…far enough away from us in case it blows).

Well back to this week…while enroute to one of these missions we had an IED go off right next to our last vehicle. Praise God it was one of our armored tracks (tank looking vehicle without the big gun on the top). Four guys (SSG Sykora, SGT Johnson, SGT Surowiec, and PFC Landfald) received shrapnel to the face. We high-tailed it to the hospital and they were treated and released with a few stitches and some great stories to tell the grandchildren. PFC Landfald received most of the shrapnel but still had the strength to hit on the nurse that was working on him.

The very next day, we had another IED go off behind our last vehicle. This one was quite a bit smaller and no one received shrapnel, however, immediately after the blast, the convoy starting receiving small arms fire. We were able to return fire and killed two of the estimated five insurgents that had been firing at us. The others ran off into a residential area.

Then yesterday, while on site trying to place an explosive charge next to an IED with a robot (better it than us) we again started taking fire from an abandoned building about 200 meters away from approximately 4 shooters. We had about 4-50 caliber machine guns, 3 smaller machine guns, and about 10 rifles send rounds into the building. One of the sad parts is that there were Iraqi families on the streets not far from us. These insurgents don’t care who else they hurt. Again, we had God looking out for us as no one was hurt (other than the insurgents).

The other day we responded to a call where a mortar had landed inside of a school courtyard but did not explode. It was sticking out of the ground. When we arrived, we had all of the school children get far away and then we took care of the mortar. Afterwards we spend some time handing out coloring books and crayons. Many of the children had never had crayons before.

Many of you are asking about what our days are like. Yesterday, we woke up at about 6:00 and started working on our vehicles to make sure they are running well. We spend about an hour working on the vehicles, checking radios, and making sure weapons are cleaned and operational. By about 8:00, we get called out on our 1st mission. It is a call of a grenade and a mortar round that an infantry unit has found and needs picked up or blown up. When we get there, we starting looking around and come up with: 56 hand grenades, 1 mortar round, and about 100 fuses (the things inside of a grenade that make it go BOOM). So being the true engineers, we piled it all up, added some C4 (plastic explosives) and blew it up. As soon as we returned to our base, I checked in and was briefed on another mission. A marine unit wanted us to clear an 800 lb pound bomb that landed but never exploded. While enroute to this mission, we came across a infantry platoon that had a road blocked because they thought they had an IED. We sent the robot up to set a charge and blew the suspected device. It was a bomb that was hooked to a cordless phone (like many of us have in our homes). It was set up so the insurgent hits the ringer button on the base and it sets off the bomb from far away. The bomb was a box full of nuts and bolts, shaved pieces of metal, etc to cause more damage.

By now it’s about 1:45 and we head to the 800 lb bomb. By the time we analyze that (had to be dismantled) it was 2:30. On the way back to the base, we come across another infantry unit that had a suspected IED. We investigated and found 2 130mm mortar rounds (big boom) hooked to a two-way radio that you buy at Radio Shack. Again, we put an explosive charge on it with the robot and blew it.

It’s now about 3:45 when we get finished and we’re about to roll back to base when the radio chirps up and we have another mission. This one is another IED mission (of course all of these missions are on opposite corners of the city). This is the mission where we were sending the robot up to set the charge when we started taking fire. By the time we got done with this mission it’s now 5:30 and we head to a local base and get a bite to eat (the first meal of the day). We get back to our base about 7:30. We then try to wind down for the night, but at 11:00 pm we get another call to head about 20 miles southeast of the city for another IED call. We gear up and head out the gate and immediately after getting out of the gate we get a call of a possible vehicle IED (car bomb), which has priority. So we immediately turn the opposite way and head back into the city. We get to a scene with a bus that has a suspected device in it. We set a charge under the bus, blow it, then walk up and investigate. Seeing what was left of a bomb, we then throw a thermite grenade which will set the bus on fire. We leave and head out to the original call. This call is a suspicious device on a railroad crossing. We again, set the explosive, blow it, and investigate. From what remained, it didn’t look there was an explosive charge so we load head up head home. By the time we get back it’s 3:30 in the morning and we collapse. This is one of the long days, but we usually go from about 6:00 until 8-10 o’clock.

Well, enough of my war stories. Like I said earlier, God is truly looking out for us. We have been blessed to not have any serious injuries and morale is high amongst the guys. Every one of the guys has done very well and I am very proud of each of them. Please continue to pray for the safety of our troops and that the Iraqi people see the good that we are trying to do.