Heading North...again

I’ll be on the road again this week. Ill be heading to Taji, one of the large bases that is just north of Baghdad. We go there all the time. Even though it’s not a new destination, every mission is unique in some way. The pictures here are soldiers preparing for the mission.

For those who have just starting keeping up with this blog let me explain what it is I do. I am part of a Cavalry Squadron whose mission is to escort logistics convoys in Iraq. Usually we escort 30 or 40 semis full of parts, fuel, supplies and various other things to support the coalition forces based in and around Baghdad.

These missions last for several days and span a few hundred miles. If you total all of the miles that our trucks have driven since we got here in April we’ve driven over 1,500,000 miles. That’s a lot of driving.

Before a mission, extensive preparations are done. Then those preparations are checked. In Armyspeak we call it PCCs (Pre-Combat Checks) and PCIs (Pre-Combat Inspections). We load and prepare everything we take such as weapons, ammo, radios, ice chests, trucks and, of course, soldiers.

These PCCs follow a rigid standard. Every soldier has a certain amount of ammo. Each has a first aid kit attached in a specific place. Radios have predetermined frequencies. Weapons have a standard load of ammo and a place to store it. All of this is the result of years of experience and training.
I’ll write you about the journey north from COB Adder through Baghdad when I get back. We’ve literally done this mission hundreds of times. Most are uneventful but we prepare for the worst just in case. The worst I have experienced is a flat tire…in fact it seems to be my running them. I’ve had two flat tires in the middle of the night. No fun but it hasn’t been too bad.

One reader suggested that I make a can of Fix-A-Flat part of my standard combat load. I’ll see if the Army will buy me a case. Until then…pass me the jack.

SABER 02
Out.