Today in 2003

1,224 Views | 7 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by JABQ04
Aggie12B
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On this date in 2003, the ground-war in Iraq began in the wee hours of the morning. I crossed the border as a team leader with 2nd Sqd, 1st Plt, B Co, 11th EN BN, TF 2-7INF, 1st BDE, 3ID on the initial invasion. I was the second Engineer from my company to cross the border (my driver crossed the border just before me). I was the TC in my M113 (call sign Bulldog 1-2 Alpha) and the .50cal gunner. I didn't know it at the time, but I would cross that border 3 more times before it was all said and done. It seems like ages ago and yet it seems like yesterday

I'm posting this because this event set in motion the events that changed my life forever, and it is therapeutic to me to post about it.

I'm cross-posting on the General, History, and Politics boards
Stringfellow Hawke
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Badass! What role does an engineer play in combat?

Peacetime?


Are you still active duty?


Any humorous stories?
Hey Nav
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I hope you are well (your profile says medically retired).

Yes, it was so long ago... and it seems like just yesterday.

You will remember this the rest of of your days.

Thanks for posting this and my best wishes to you.
Aggie12B
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SaluteTheMarines said:

Badass! What role does an engineer play in combat?

Peacetime?


Are you still active duty?


Any humorous stories?
We were attached to an Infantry Battalion in an Infantry Task Force, so we were doing a lot of the same S*** that the Infantry guys were doing. Combat Engineers are responsible for mobility/counter-mobility operations. Most of the Route clearance missions are done by Combat Engineers. Infantry is Called Queen of the Battle; Combat Engineers job is to make sure the B**** isn't raped on the way to the party (to put it crudely)

I was medically retired in 2013.
I'll save the humorous stories for another time
Stringfellow Hawke
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Aggie12B said:

SaluteTheMarines said:

Badass! What role does an engineer play in combat?

Peacetime?


Are you still active duty?


Any humorous stories?
We were attached to an Infantry Battalion in an Infantry Task Force, so we were doing a lot of the same S*** that the Infantry guys were doing. Combat Engineers are responsible for mobility/counter-mobility operations. Most of the Route clearance missions are done by Combat Engineers. Infantry is Called Queen of the Battle; Combat Engineers job is to make sure the B**** isn't raped on the way to the party (to put it crudely)

I was medically retired in 2013.
I'll save the humorous stories for another time


Thanks for replying. Sounds like a challenging role especially in less than ideal conditions.

Can you speak to logistics of combat?

For example, if in a prolonged engagement, are there support staff that bring extra ammo, fuel, water etc to a resupply point?

What about fatigue? Are squads/platoons rotated in and out of engagement similar to sports?
Iraq2xVeteran
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1st Deployment (December 2007 to February 2009): 1-27 Infantry Battalion S2, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Taji, Iraq

2nd Deployment (June 2010 to May 2011): 185th Military Intelligence Company, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Diyala and Saladin provinces of Iraq
AggieEP
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When I see how long you Army guys are gone from home on a single deployment I'm reminded why I went Air Force. I've never been gone more than 7 months.
Aggie12B
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SaluteTheMarines said:

Any humorous stories?


This is Bert. My squad caught him in Kuwait about a week before we crossed the border into Iraq back in 2003. He became our squad/platoon and eventually company mascot. He would sleep in our tent, and would ride in our M113. He was about two and a half feet long from nose to the tip of his tail and weighed about 25 pounds.

After we first caught Bert, we had him tied up in a large wood ammo crate so he wouldn't crawl away. One day after we caught him, I decided to see if the lizard would eat the cucumbers that were in the salad that was served with chow. He did. After that, we didn't to keep him tied up. That's when he became my squad/platoon's mascot.

As word got around about this huge lizard we had caught, other people from other units would catch lizards and bring them around thinking they had caught a bigger lizard. The closest any of them came was one that was about 6-8 inches smaller.

He didn't bite, but he would arch his back and hiss at you (like a cat) if he didn't like you. There was one Soldier in my squad that Bert would hiss at anytime he would walk within 4-5 feet of him. We would always joke and say "damn Waak, even the lizard thinks you are ugly."

We made a "kevlar helmet" for Bert out of a Plastic container for a 203 round , complete with his name, battle roster number (Bert1), blood type (lizard) and 1LT rank. He would actually wear it for a little while. We tried to make him a 'flak vest" out of corrugated plastic, but he wasn't having any of that.

We ended up releasing him a couple of days before we took the Baghdad airport. We tied his "kevlar" to his head before we released him., for safety reasons. When we sent him on his highly secret covert ops mission to infiltrate and subjugate the Iraqi reptile population he was First Lieutenant Bert. He's probably General Bert these days.
JABQ04
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That reminds me of how we turned our Outpost into a petting zoo in 2007-2008. Three dogs, a hedgehog (don't even know how we got one but we had one), a duck, and two goats. I remember our battery commander waiting for us when we came back in after dismounted patrol and we were dragging a goat who refused to walk the last mile. The ruts where he dug his legs in are probably still visible in Buhritz. He had seen us on one of our security cameras and was not happy. PL was like a kid and asked "but can we keep him sir?"
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