Wind, Convoys and Heroines

It’s like a broken record….or these days a scratched CD. The weather. It continues to blow and blow. For the past two or three weeks we’ve had whats known as a Shamaal: winds that blow for days. It creates dust storm situations where visibility is often less than ½ a mile which is a big safety concern for our convoys and our aviation.

I’m going to try to catch another ride on a mission going north. I risk being on a three-day convoy that turns into six or seven days. When the winds shut down the convoys pretty much stop at the nearest coalition location and wait it out. It can be a long trip. I’ll risk it. I’ve got to get back on the road.

I’ll be riding with another Commando unit. Commando 2-6. I’ll be the TC (vehicle commander). My vehicle crew are old friends. One I’ve known and deployed with off and on for the past ten years, Sergeant Dale West. He’s a great guy from Camden, Arkansas. Dale is a super soldier, an infantryman with a passion for combat arms and a real leader.

The other will be my gunner, the soldier that rides in the turret for the entire trip. I met her for the first time on my last outing. SPC Poindexter. I don’t know her first name but she calls herself Barbie and she is from Oregon. She even has a nametag sewn on some of her equipment. She is something else; a very outgoing personality, not afraid to work hard and if you ever meet her you would see her infectious, positive personality immediately.

This 20-year-old soldier was with a unit that did their tour and went home a few months ago. She is one of a handful of soldiers who stuck around to help us fill our ranks. This mission will be her last. She’s going home in a few weeks after a hard tour.

Another interesting fact about her is she is has been decorated for heroism. An Army Commendation Medal with V device (for valor). I don’t know the details but I do know she has seen her share of fighting and when things got tough, she, and her machine gun, got going. Can you picture the girl in the photo behind a flaming M-240B machine gun? I can now.

SPC Poindexter amazes me. She would rather gun than do anything else. In fact, she says if Commando wasn’t going to let her be a gunner, she was going to pack it in. They let her gun and she’s been with us about 3 months.

Well I feel comfortable knowing I’ve got two real pros riding in my armored Humm-V. I’ll let you know how it goes.

That is, if the wind calms down.

SABER 02
Out.