Sam
07-10-06, 09:56
A friend of mine is with the 101st operating somewhere near Ramadi. Thought you guys would like to read from first hand account rather than from the left wing media.
4th of July report:
"we had some "fireworks" here but nothing too bad. Ironicaly enough 2 of our mortars took minor shrapnel wounds from enemy mortars but as far as i know they were both "RTD". Life has been pretty slow lately. It's always aggrevating when you see or hear friendlies getting lit up and can't see whos doing the shooting. Also we are hitting that politically correct point here where stupid people are getting involved so we have to make sure that we use the correct terms. hehe it's not a civilian anymore it's a "local national" they aren't "military aged males..or MAM's" they are "Anti Iraqi Forces" It irks me when people get stupid. "
6th July:
"Just got back today from a little 24 hour mission. we have been getting a lot of those lately. Our main batt objective is to keep the MSR (main supply route) through ramadi free to travel but these little bastards put so many IED's in it's a real pain in the ass. They are starting to adopt semi-VC tactics, digging tunnels, stalking up to the road through consertina wire to emplace the IED's. You name it these guys have done it. I'm only thankful they are nowhere near as determined an enemy as the VC were. If they were we would be having to worry about them getting onto our outposts. As of yet they have never tried (knock on wood) but I have seen some truely ingenious things. An example for ya...they will freeze a ring of ice around a mortar round then set it in the top of the tube and leave...ice melts, round drops and there's no one around for counter-batt to hit. The part that's really getting aggrevating is that people are starting to get complacent so IED's are getting emplaced within 150m of some of the positions. When this happens, they call us to come sit and watch their sector for them cause they think we're automatically gonna spot the guy next tiime he tries when it's really only a matter of watching your sector. I will say a neat part of this tour has been that our sniper section has worked with literaly every special group out there. Everyone from rangers to xxxxx has come here to get a piece of the action. And at least i have the internet and phones! "
July 7th:
"We have already had the pleasure of enduring suicide bombers. They pack about 30-40 lbs or C4 with ball berrings or other shrapnel and fashion them into a vest that when worn under loose clothing is almost undetectable. They almost look like the police bullet proof vests. With these they can walk right up to there target then set it off. Fortunetely we have only had one successfull suicide bomber that i know of and he only got 2 rangers with the blast cause he was inside a house they were clearing hiding in the closet. They make their houses into bomb shelters here. It makes pounding loop holes a real pain in the ass. The other problem we have is Vehicle born suicide bombers. I will try to post the video i have of the attack on one of our OP's with a dump truck. This attack happened a couple of months before my unit came here and fortunetely nobody was killed because at the last minute the dump truck hit a barrier and veered into the wrong building but it knocked everyone in the building out. Right now activity has slacked off but I'm almost positive it's only because they are sitting back learning about the new armor unit thats here supporting us. They did it with us when we got here. For 3 months they threw just enough guys at us to make us think we were accomlishing something then pinned down an entire company of infantry in the city and blew up the QRF with massive IED's planted on the infil routes. Ramadi is truly the last insurgent strong hold. This is where they all come to party. "
4th of July report:
"we had some "fireworks" here but nothing too bad. Ironicaly enough 2 of our mortars took minor shrapnel wounds from enemy mortars but as far as i know they were both "RTD". Life has been pretty slow lately. It's always aggrevating when you see or hear friendlies getting lit up and can't see whos doing the shooting. Also we are hitting that politically correct point here where stupid people are getting involved so we have to make sure that we use the correct terms. hehe it's not a civilian anymore it's a "local national" they aren't "military aged males..or MAM's" they are "Anti Iraqi Forces" It irks me when people get stupid. "
6th July:
"Just got back today from a little 24 hour mission. we have been getting a lot of those lately. Our main batt objective is to keep the MSR (main supply route) through ramadi free to travel but these little bastards put so many IED's in it's a real pain in the ass. They are starting to adopt semi-VC tactics, digging tunnels, stalking up to the road through consertina wire to emplace the IED's. You name it these guys have done it. I'm only thankful they are nowhere near as determined an enemy as the VC were. If they were we would be having to worry about them getting onto our outposts. As of yet they have never tried (knock on wood) but I have seen some truely ingenious things. An example for ya...they will freeze a ring of ice around a mortar round then set it in the top of the tube and leave...ice melts, round drops and there's no one around for counter-batt to hit. The part that's really getting aggrevating is that people are starting to get complacent so IED's are getting emplaced within 150m of some of the positions. When this happens, they call us to come sit and watch their sector for them cause they think we're automatically gonna spot the guy next tiime he tries when it's really only a matter of watching your sector. I will say a neat part of this tour has been that our sniper section has worked with literaly every special group out there. Everyone from rangers to xxxxx has come here to get a piece of the action. And at least i have the internet and phones! "
July 7th:
"We have already had the pleasure of enduring suicide bombers. They pack about 30-40 lbs or C4 with ball berrings or other shrapnel and fashion them into a vest that when worn under loose clothing is almost undetectable. They almost look like the police bullet proof vests. With these they can walk right up to there target then set it off. Fortunetely we have only had one successfull suicide bomber that i know of and he only got 2 rangers with the blast cause he was inside a house they were clearing hiding in the closet. They make their houses into bomb shelters here. It makes pounding loop holes a real pain in the ass. The other problem we have is Vehicle born suicide bombers. I will try to post the video i have of the attack on one of our OP's with a dump truck. This attack happened a couple of months before my unit came here and fortunetely nobody was killed because at the last minute the dump truck hit a barrier and veered into the wrong building but it knocked everyone in the building out. Right now activity has slacked off but I'm almost positive it's only because they are sitting back learning about the new armor unit thats here supporting us. They did it with us when we got here. For 3 months they threw just enough guys at us to make us think we were accomlishing something then pinned down an entire company of infantry in the city and blew up the QRF with massive IED's planted on the infil routes. Ramadi is truly the last insurgent strong hold. This is where they all come to party. "