Here is a teaser and sample of the Photo gallery I have been going through of my deployment in Iraq. There are literally hundreds of photos and some
videos that will be included, all of them exclusive from my unit to ATS. It takes time to gather and review every bit of media, so it will be some
time before the full version is posted. We are busy getting ready for redeployment, and even a year of my free time, I haven’t been able to get
every single picture and video. I am still working the issue, and hope to have a full version available by next year.
Enjoy and feel free to post all comments and or questions.
Sign on the way into our AO, Diyala Province Iraq. My unit was there during some heavy action, IED’s were the biggest threat and preferred means of
attack by the insurgents. EFPs and triple stacked AT mines were as common as HME.
This photo was taken at a place we dubbed the “dairy factory“. Notice the IED made from HME via propane tank and command wire wrapped around the
two litter. We confiscated that with our EOD assets. It is their robot I’m standing by, but Johnny 5 was broken and not alive right then.
This is the LMTV I was placed on during a 12 day mission which turned into 17 days. It was our supply/logistics (what we call “logpac”) vehicle
while out in Indian country Iraq. That’s me and my 240 mounted up in the turret. I was tasked with being the gunner for security of the LMTV, and
fueler which was behind us in the convoy. Notice the vegetation stuck in the grill and bumper(we nick named it the stash), the driver managed to get
us stuck no less that 7 times while out on the patrol. One time we almost rolled the truck, I was in the turret standing up on the seat, and by the
time I dropped down, landed on the passenger side door window. We were tilting pretty good. Still waiting to get those photos (the mechanics have
them), but I’ll post them when available.
Soldier rests back in our troop area after being crammed in a Bradley all day, night time was the coolest part of the day in Iraq and even a low of 80
felt great after 120 degree days. Add gear and hot CFV engine outputting heat and the temp was more around 140-150 so we drank a lot of water and
Gatorade.
EOD detonates an IED in one of the better parts of town in our AO of Iraq. This location would be considered upper class by Iraqi standards, as they
had a actual power grid for electric utilities.
The IA and locals flipped that tank over to make a road block. To this day we still have no idea how they did it, let along moved it over there. They
had no heavy equipment or anything, so we guessed it took a lot of them using manpower.
This is the entrance to our troop area on FOB Normandy. Each troop has (Cavalry has troops not companies) their own design for their area of
quarters.
Here is my troop HQ, 1st and 2nd platoons. Yeah, that is one of our NCOs wearing a sumo suit. Crazy mofo was sweating buckets, but the moral and
entertainment made it worth it.
Here is my ugly mug after no more than three hours rest, when first getting to Iraq. They woke me up just to get a photo for records purposes. Little
did I know that within 12 hours of arriving to Iraq, we replacements were going out side the wire and into the fray. My first patrol happened within
20 hours of being in country, and I was the first replacement to “go out” because of my prior service.
No it’s not Sharlet and her web, that is Kumar the Camel spider, and if you notice the hole in the door for the knob, you can get an idea of how big
it is.
IP standing near gate, we ended up working with them and getting the locals established as well for the Iraqi version of neighborhood watch/militia
aka CLCs. Some thing which worked well once it was rolling.
Joint patrol with IP and our guys, teaching the Iraqis how to better secure their neighborhood and keep vigilant about it as well. Yes that truck is
one of the ones we gave them, more reliable than what they have over there, which is a must if they are to be reliable as well.
IP gunner, some of them wore masks so they insurgents would not know who they are. It was a safety measure to protect their families. AQIZ liked to
kidnap and kill locals who cooperated with us, so our presence patrols were a daily occurrence.
Here is one of the Mosques near a palm grove. Palm groves were very common in our AO, and we often did many dismounted patrols through them. This one
was one of the nicer looking Mosques.
Here is a typical looking part of town where the shops were set up. Even though it is day time out, the locals were worried out attacks so they would
never come out and sell their goods. It wasn’t until we increased our presence patrols and started establishing the CLC’s that they started coming
out and eventually let their kids out unsupervised when we were around.
Another image of the market, notice all the power lines hanging low in the streets. Often we would roll through in our vehicles and the weapons
barrels would get hug up on the cables, causing some locals to get aggravated when we accidentally ripped their power down. They tried so hard to
raise the lines, but eventually would just resort to stringing the across the ground.
