Silly Rabbit I have two F-15s
The ANA look at us as they move by with pity, they’re well aware of how much the equipment we’re carrying weighs. Several of them have tried our equipment on prior to this and been shocked. We have failed to grasp the lessons of medieval knights. Mobility vs armor. I am also 20 years older than many of them. My Afghan counterpart, the Kandak XO , chose to remain back at the vehicles 2000 ft below us. He informed me that he felt it was most advantageous to command from below upon realizing I was serious about scrambling up here.
Now, I’m at 9000 ft and moving backwards with each step
forward as I slide through the broken rocks.
CPT Brain is carrying even more than I as he has an FM radio in his
ruck. I offered to carry it but he
declined. I suspect out of fear that
everyone would razz him about me humping the radio and being older.
The patrol has gradually thinned as we continue our expedition. Below us bodies are littered along the line of march leaning against small trees and rocks attempting to wring any amount of oxygen out of the air. Even the Afghans are falling out at this point. The ANA refer to American soldiers as robots, due to the fact that we never stop, despite the heat, cold or altitude and the immense loads we carry. We pray to die sometimes but never stop.
We reach a rocky ledge overlooking our vehicles and pause for a moment. I think I’d be in pain right now but I’m high from hypoxia. Kind of like High School, but that’s another story. CPT Brain and I consult and agree that he’ll stay here and relay over the radio and I’ll move farther up on the mountain with one of our Terps.
The mission that brought us here was a Movement to Contact. Basically it means you set out trying to get in a fight. It’s the military equivalent of shoving someone in a bar. Prior to today, CF forces had been in contact with the ACM near here and we’ve come to see if we can bite a piece off of the ACM.
I continue on; working my way up and around the top of the mountain in order to observe a valley and ridge to our north. My brain continues to tell me to stop; luckily I damaged a lot of brain cells in college so the message isn’t too loud or convincing. Up I go.
Reaching an outcropping near the summit, I flop down doing my best imitation of a goldfish out of water. I reach into my vest and pull out my binos; starting to scan the ridge to our north. I see nothing due to the fact that my hands are shaking so violently that I almost give myself motion sickness. I try to slow my breathing and gather myself, it always important to look very cool no matter what in the Army. I’m doing a poor job of it right now. Danica Patrick is not pushing me hard enough on the elliptical trainer despite her loathing for me.
My breathing slows and I start to scan. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but two booger eaters on the far ridge, booger eater is our new derogatory term for the enemy. Once again please don’t comment about my cultural sensitivity, I know it’s insensitive to call them booger eaters. But, I know they call us some derogatory names too. What fun is war if you can’t make up names about your enemy.
They look at me and I them across the valley; a distance of about 2 kilometers. We stare at each other through binoculars for a couple of seconds and then they move into a bunker. They seem unconcerned because of the valley separating us believing it keeps them safe. Oh, silly rabbit but I have two F-15s.
I move back down to CPT Brain and get on the radio calling the CAS; telling them what I see and asking them to take a look. They overfly the area and confirm what I’ve seen. By the way, now the booger eaters are running around because they can hear the jets. The pilot calls and asks what I want to do.
“Smoke them” I reply. Not really but that’s what I was thinking and it sounds a lot cooler than going through the steps of a nine line call.
“Roger that, we’re going to release one 2000 pounder and three 500 pounders in this pass” he replies. All pilots sound like Chuck Yeager.
“Roger, I have eyes on point of impact” I radio back. I wish I sounded like John Wayne but I think I sounded more like a couch potato in the middle of an aerobics class wheezing away.
“Weapons release in 30 seconds” the pilot tells me.
“Dude, standby this is going to be big” I tell CPT Brain. We’re both giddy at the idea of 3500 lbs of high explosive hitting something. Little kids waiting for the door to open on Halloween and yell Trick or Treat. Unfortunately for them it’s Trick.
“Weapons away” as the jets scream overhead harbingers of what’s to come.
And we wait.
“Dude, what the? Where the hell is the explosion?” We look at each other disappointed that our Fourth of July show has fizzled. “I thought it’d be really big” I comment downfallen.
KABOOOOOOOOM! As
massive blast rips through the air and orange flames shoot off the opposite
ridge.
“Hell YEAH, that was awesome” I shout.
“We have good impact and full detonation, no secondaries observed at this time”, I radio the pilots as they pull off station. “Thanks for your help and have a good day”!
At this point I’m pretty darn happy with the days production. Then the artillery fire direction center calls us and tells us that they’re shooting a fire mission at the same grid to follow up on the CAS.
“Roger, I will adjust” I call back. The first round is on target, no adjustments and more rounds follow.
The rounds rip through the sky headed toward the ridge impacting all along it. Those boys over there are having one heck of a bad day, I predict it’s their last day. Rounds continue to impact tearing the ground apart. Suddenly we see huge secondary explosions, meaning we’ve hit either their rocket or mortar dump. That means they can’t be shot at us later. Ah yeah, it’s business time!
The fire mission ends and we begin our slow march down the mountain, excited by the fact that today we did our jobs successfully. Slipping and sliding our way back to our vehicles for the long convoy back to the FOB. Another day in Afghanistan down and many more to go.
Good work! Hope you are able to relax a little after doing the triathlon!
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6, you lucky SOB..well, ya did have to hump the Ghar to get a shot, so there's that. The skinny air is smack in the tenders. This was a nice read as I prep to move in 45min to keep the bazaar safe from dirt shop keeprs, yup, I swear to god, dirty shop keepers, as in trash, litter, not as in corupt (that's a given with everything, I believe the dog packs that roam about exhibit corupt dog traits)taliban, but untidy shop keepers have become the driving force of our indig charge. ..Uuuuughh!
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Well, Vamp 6 you're back, I see. God bless ya. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, as the mother of an Army Ranger. I wish every American citizen could read your post. Then they would know what it means to be an American Soldier - fighting the good fight. I love you, Vamp. 6!!! Thank You. Navy Mom/Army Mom. Mary Kay, Aptos, Ca. U.S.A. p.s. I pray for you every day.
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"Booger eaters" can't be the worst thing they've been called.
Keep doing bad things to bad people, Vampire 06. It's much appreciated. Getting to hear about it (well, the non-OPSEC parts) is a nice bonus. You have a great ear for narrative.
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" The ANA refer to American soldiers as robots, due to the fact that we never stop, despite the heat, cold or altitude and the immense loads we carry. "
Surely, "robots" is an unevolved translation for Indomitable. I hope the ANA is inspired. You guys are the best of the western world. Truly, you must represent more than the statistical reports of "2%" serving in the military. I hope it's more like 20%, because that would explain why we're so bereft of character and integrity stateside. Our only hope here is that some among you will ascend to lead and protect this once great nation from its complacency. (i.e. President planning to follow Pakistan's "strategy" of negotiating with the T'ban)
Back to your writing. . .I'm no expert, but the image of your imitating a "goldfish out of water" conveyed a vivid image of the inconceivable. I'm going to look forward devouring then cherishing your book, as I have "This Man's Army", "One Bullet Away", and "Killing Time in Iraq". (The "Unforgiving Minute" is up next)
In one mission you men experience more life than I have in 57 years. We owe every night's sleep and every day we breathe free to you. "Thank you" is another one of those expressions that hasn't evolved to describe my debt of gratitude.
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Three of the best words in the English language - 'Fire for effect.'
Well done, Sir. Godspeed.
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Dear V-06,
Came across 3 new milblogs this morning including yours, saying a lot of the same things...(ok, you're the only one with F-15s.)
I highly recommend all 3 sites.
Cheers, mate
B.
"How Letters reach our Soldier in the Field", from 'a blog of anecdotes and articles about the First World War':
"The soldier without his letters from home is less good a soldier. So thoroughly has this been proved in wars, both ancient and modern, that it is now a military axiom...
Letters from home are as essential in their way to a soldier in the field as food and supplies; for just as food is needed to keep him in fighting trim so is news of relatives and friends to keep him in good spirits and in fighting mood...When you consider the thousands of queer duties held by men in so huge an Army, you can realise the enormous task before letter sorters. One sorter the other day racked his brain for several minutes over a letter addressed to a private, 'Care of O.C.P.' It was not till he had examined the key list that he discovered its meaning: 'Officer Commanding Pigeons'...
I spent half an hour in a dug-out post-office once in the valley of the Somme. You climbed down to it by twenty muddy steps made of plants. A stove chimney-pipe ran to the upper air by way of the strips, and in feeling your way down in the dark you invariably touched the stove-pipe and burnt your fingers. At the bottom the place looked more like some pirates' or smugglers’ den than a post-office….As the orderly arrived from the post office it seemed as though letters were more important than food, tobacco, ammunition, or anything else…Men swarmed round him bubbling with eagerness. "Anything for me, Puggy?" "Anything for me? "…"Now wait a minute, all of yer, and I'll tell yer'."
He climbed on a hummock of clay and sat down. Then, slipping the string off his bundle of letters, he picked them as one by one, shouting the names of the addressees. It went something like this: "Hubert Smith"; he looked up and threw the letter towards a hand eagerly extended for it. "Will Jones, Charles Pearce, Hubert Smith (you must owe money, Hubert!), Henry Hall, Bert Morris, Hubert Smith (how she must love yer '), Henry James," and so on right to the end of his pile."
http://outofbattle.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-letters-reach-our-soldiers-in-field.html
And then, from 'the Second World War Diaries of a Royal Hussar':
“…don’t know how on earth I’ll get all this kit packed. My personal wireless is the biggest problem….missed the 2.00pm passion truck, so we hitchhiked to Ashington. We were very lucky and got a lift in a Service Corps wagon all the way….queued for half an hour at the Co-op café only to find that there was no food left, so we had to be content with the YMCA and cheese sandwiches."
http://ledsoldiersdiary.blogspot.com/2009/03/saturday-4th-march.html
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Hey, I just wanted to tell you I love your blog. My husband is with 10th Mountain in Afghanistan right now, and sometimes when he talk I can mention something you wrote about it, and he's stunned that I know anything about it. You make me feel a little more in the loop. Maybe it's silly when people say it, but keep it up. I really love it. Stay safe and come home soon.
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NIIIICCCEEE!!!!
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Good Job. I know it might not count much, but you and your men are doing, well, a great job up there.
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Target,target,target--Great shot sir, you get all the fun!! I wish I was with you. I'll raise one for you from FT.Livingroom - Take care, sir >"Sweaty"
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Well done Sir, well done!!! Get some more for me!
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Good on ya for getting so high. Up the mountain, that is... and a good call for fire. Great story, great pics. Afghans get that funny look when you let them try on the body armor. Takes all the smug right out of them, the little rockhoppers. I hope you smacked that ANA XO when you got back down the hill.
Hooray for secondaries. Good stuff.
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The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 03/09/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
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This was quite a read. We miss you up here at Hawks and look forward to seeing you soon!
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You remind me of a certain OK NG LtCol I know happens to be over there right now.
Good s#$% Sir. Experiencing less incoming now?lol Least the climb was worth it.
I'll be waiting for the next entry and sending a prayer or two daily for all the Brothers down range.
Keep up the fire!
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Way to go!!
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Wow, you have a wonderfully ironic sense of humor. Thank you for your service, and keep 'em coming! Stay safe. Prayers being said for you.
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Traveled over to your site by way of Bouhammer's tweet.
We're kicking around some posts on the body armor, and the old "I don't think we're in Iraq, anymore Toto" reminders.
Keep up the good work on the blog, and know we appreciate all your service with all our gratitude and prayers.
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I have so much I'd like to say but I'm sure it would not come out as I would wish. I started my journey with Afghanistan when my son was deployed last year. At first I tried not to read too much as I didn't want to upset myself. Seriously, upset myself… makes me laugh now. A bit of out of sight out of mind…not my son of course but the situation he was in.
I started reading your blog last year after my son was trapped in a snipper lane for an extended period of time. As if there is such a thing, 1 second would be too long for most. An "extended period" would be a lifetime. I found out about this incident after he didn't call or write for a period of time. I started to worry and then he called. He was upset about something and I knew it, he tried to tell me that it was because he wasn't sleeping well. Finally, he gave me a dumbed down version of the event. Without disclosing anything important of course. From that point forward I decided that I needed to read as much as possible about the situation on your side of the world (and not from the media, not that they report anything about the troops anyway) and thus I discovered your blog after web searching FOB Boris. I knew it wasn't fair to him that I didn't know what was going on and knew I needed to suck it up and read. It was the least I could do. So many of the things he has expressed have been echoed in your blog and it has given me the perspective I needed to understand what he has gone through.
I got a call this weekend and found out my son left FOB Bermel after 1 year of service and I thank the heavens he will be on his way home as soon as the army can get him a flight home....and that's another story. Thank you for what you do. Alone and Unafraid really says it all. P.S. Hopefully you got a package from me in December...if not I won't beat my son too bad as I'm sure he had a few other things on his mind!! Stay safe, keep your head down, chin up and all that jazz.
Ma
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Ditto, Ma. I never got the "head in the sand" approach for military mothers and, like you, count on blogs and sites like longwarjournal.org to keep up with reality. I hope I have your fortitude if and when my son's in A'gan. Iraq was manageable, but barely.
Love this blog
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Damn you make me jealous! Say hi to DASC for me.
You are not the only one who is concerned that our guys are carrying around too much weight.
CiUMEaPc:UiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr">http://www.startribune.com/nation/41029477.html?elr=KArks
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Love the way you describe the ass-kicking, courtesy of the US Army. Hooah!
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Michael Yon says we're loosing in Afghanistan. No disrespect to Michael Yon but he isn't spending a tour there. Your take would be nice. Without giving away opsec of course.
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Ah, secondary explosions. Such a wonderful thing!
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Thanks
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You are an awesome writer and you need to save all these blogs and put them together for a book. I have a cousin that was flying the Fighter jets that you wrote about in your blog. He sent this to me and it made it so personal to me. You are doing awesome work over there. God bless and keep up the great work and writing.
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Good job. If you guys or anyone else over there would like to magazines to look at in what little spare time you have. Please contact me. Mostly guns and hot rods. I will send a box right over.
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Thanks for going. Happy to think about my tax $ at work.
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Excellent job, you are covering us over there, i wish we could do the same for you back here! politics suck! We will not forget you. Thank you all.
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