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Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Soldiers rely on heavy metal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bita Honarvar/AJC
48th soldiers (from left) Spc. Joseph Popp of Statesboro, Spc. Ignatio Mendez of Puerto Rico, and Sgt. Yolanda McDaniel of Hinesville replace the turret ring of a beefed-up Humvee at Camp Striker.
Camp Striker, Iraq â€â€? First Sgt. Bobby Barnes pointed to two heaps of mangled, metal contraptions sitting on the far side of a sand berm, behind a maintenance depot affectionately known as “the Alamo.”
Melted magnesium and aluminum. Crushed steel. Burned out seats and radio equipment.
Bita Honarvar/AJC
First Sgt. Bobby Barnes
The wreckage used to be Humvees that soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team drove outside Camp Striker for missions in the Baghdad area. The vehicles were torn apart by 155mm artillery shells buried in the ground and detonated as the soldiers passed over them, Barnes said.
He said the factory-manufactured armored Humvees came with the highest class of armor, known as Level I, which includes bulletproof glass in all the windows and heavy steel protection on the top, bottom and sides.
“None of the guys in these two vehicles died,” said Barnes, of Glennville, who runs the vehicle maintenance and repair shop at Camp Striker. “The armor [installed at the factory] is helping save lives.”
But even the top-of-the-line, factory-installed armor can be defeated, as insurgents proved in recent weeks. In separate attacks six days apart, two massive bombs killed eight 48th Brigade soldiers � all from Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment � while they were patrolling in factory-armored Humvees. Officials believe the bombs each had 500 to 600 pounds of explosives. Three other 48th Brigade soldiers died in a car bomb attack days later.
Makeshift bombs � what the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs � planted under or alongside roads have become the number one killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Of the 1,310 American combat fatalities reported by the Pentagon since President Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1, 2003, 450 deaths, or about 35 percent, have been caused by IEDs.
This year alone, IEDs have caused just over 53 percent of American combat deaths � 204 of 382.
In addition to the eight 48th Brigade soldiers who died within a week, 14 Marines were killed when an IED exploded under their lightly armored amphibious assault vehicle last week.
The Army promised adequate protection for its soldiers when roadside bombs began killing Americans in Iraq shortly after the fall of Baghdad more than two years ago. Humvee manufacturers began working at what military officials described as “lightning speed” to deliver factory-armored vehicles.
Armor stirs controversy
But from the beginning, the insurgency in Iraq has been about one-upmanship. Every time the Army slapped on more armor, the insurgents raised the ante. Bombs became larger and more deadly. Insurgents are now building bombs that are powerful enough to pierce the steel plating on even heavily armored vehicles, sometimes shredding them into small pieces.
Maj. John Conway, who oversees the armoring of personnel carriers just outside Camp Striker, said throughout history combatants have devised ways to outsmart each other.
“Somebody started with a spear and the next guy came up with a shield,” he said. “You can’t build something that will protect against everything.”
Last year, reports surfaced of soldiers refusing to go on convoys because they felt unprotected on Iraq’s menacing roads. The issue became even more controversial after soldiers complained of having to slap on “hillbilly” armor â€â€? salvaged pieces of scrap metal and bulletproof glass.
When a Georgia soldier questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the armor issue last December in Kuwait, Rumsfeld responded: “As you know, you go to war with the army you have. They’re not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
Yet when Rumsfeld visited Iraq last year, he did not ride in a Humvee. Instead, military officials put him what is known as a Rhino Runner, a bus-like box of steel. Other civilian officials in Iraq ride around in vehicles with V-shaped hulls that deflect IED blasts away from the vehicle.
The general in Kuwait who oversees supplies and logistics in Iraq said the military had already stepped up production of armored vehicles and add-on armor kits before the question of sufficient armor was raised to Rumsfeld.
“Sometimes, I think people back home say that we’re not doing enough,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin Leonard of the Coalition Forces Land Component Command. “We have done all we know to do to keep soldiers alive.”
Leonard said that of the 40,000 vehicles in use in Iraq, more than 85 percent are armored in some fashion.
Gary Jones, a spokesman for 3rd Army in Atlanta, which oversees equipping and supplying units in Kuwait before they head to Iraq, said the number of armored vehicles in Iraq continues to increase.
Jones said there are about 7,700 Level I Humvees in the country plus 18,000 Level II and 7,500 Level III Humvees and trucks.
“We have enough vehicles with Level I or Level II armor to do the job in Iraq,” Leonard said. Ultimately, the goal is to replace the entire fleet with the factory-produced armored Humvees. But that has not happened yet.
The production rate for factory-armored Humvees is 550 a month, according to a House Armed Services Committee fact sheet on military force protection issues. Level I Humvees cost about $250,000 each, about double the price of an unarmored model.
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Tadlock, the 48th Brigade’s maintenance manager, said only factory-armored Humvees leave the gates of Camp Striker, where a majority of the brigade is based.
‘Like a duck shoot’
Still, not all of Georgia’s citizen soldiers feel they have adequate protection to navigate the streets around the Iraqi capital. The sense of vulnerability was heightened after the brigade’s heavy casualties.
“I tell these guys, it’s like a duck shoot at a carnival,” said Staff Sgt. William Taylor, a police officer from Valdosta who serves in Alpha Company. “You have no control.”
The soldiers say the factory-armored vehicles provide excellent protection against small-arms fire, but can’t withstand the kinds of bombs they are encountering. The IEDs have become larger and some are being designed to better focus the force of the blast at the more vulnerable undersides of the vehicles. Soldiers of the 48th say they average six to 10 roadside bomb attacks a week.
The military says about 40 percent of the roadside bombs in Iraq are intercepted before they detonate, either because of more frequent patrols or the use of jamming devices. Bomb-detecting vehicles called “Buffaloes,” which have V-shaped hulls and a robotic arm with a camera that can see into hard-to-reach places, also are being used, but to a limited degree.
Sgt. Peter Satele, the gunner on Barnes’ Humvee and who routinely goes out on vehicle recovery missions, said the Level I, factory-armored vehicles are very much a necessity but they are by no means totally safe.
“It all depends on the ammunition they use,” said Satele, who works full-time at the vehicle maintenance facility at Fort Stewart. “I just don’t think the military was ready for what we’re dealing with.”
Since the brigade’s arrival in Iraq in early June, five Humvees have been declared a total loss, including the two that were carrying the Alpha Company soldiers who were killed, said Tadlock, the maintenance manager.
The brigade is starting to use the 88 armored personnel carriers it has for routine patrols. But many of Iraq’s roads are narrow with canals or ditches on both sides. The personnel carriers and the tougher Bradley fighting vehicles are too large to negotiate those roads.
Conway said there are limits on how much armor can be added to Humvees or the slightly larger armored personnel carriers because too much weight affects mobility and maneuverability and shortens the life span of the vehicle.
“If you build a 200,000-pound box, you can’t move in it,” Conway said. “There is an evil enemy out there determined to kill people. You build something, they’ll build something to defeat it.”
Military officials have said the heavy armor protection on Level I and Level II Humvees may have been responsible for fatalities from some rollover accidents and vehicles being driven into ditches.
Satele said some soldiers find the factory-armored vehicles restricting and unfamiliar, especially since the 48th Brigade did most of its training in Humvees without armor.
“It can be hard to get in it,” Satele said. “It can be even harder to get out.”
Doors on the factory-armored Humvees can weigh up to 500 pounds, he said, making it difficult to get out from a ditch or on an incline.
Barnes, however, said he’d take that chance any day. He looked at the “Cadillac” of Humvees and shook his head. “Boy, I’d hate to know I was out there in anything but one of these.”
Staff writer Ron Martz, news researcher Sharon Gaus and news services contributed to this article.
Trust fund set up for soldier’s children
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A trust fund has been established for the children of Charles Warren, the Georgia National Guard soldier killed last week in Iraq.
Two of Warren’s nine siblings made the announcement on Tuesday during a press conference at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville.
“We’re just sort of overwhelmed with the outpouring of support,” said Rachel Elliott, Warren’s older sister.
Warren, a sergeant first class with the Guard’s 48th Brigade, was killed when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint. He was 36. Before he was sent to Iraq, he, his wife, Carol, and their son, Jackson, lived in Duluth. Jackson is 22 months old. Warren’s 6-week old daughter, Madeline, was born while he was in Iraq. She was christened on Saturday.
Money contributed to the new trust fund will help pay for the children’s college education, Elliott said.
Standing in front of the imposing stone tablets that form the justice center’s Fallen Heroes’ Memorial, Elliott and her brother, Alexander Warren, talked about Charles. They said he had been proud to be a Georgian, and even more proud to be a soldier.
Speaking for his brother, Alexander Warren said he was certain his brother would want to encourage the troops still serving in Iraq.
“He supports you now in his death as does our entire family,” Alexander Warren said. “He wants you to come home safe and sound.”
Charles Warren became a member of the Georgia National Guard immediately after moving to Gwinnett about six years ago. He had been working as a pediatric nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta before his deployment.
Elliot said Charles Warren’s name had already been added to one of the war memorial crosses in Duluth. His name will be etched into one of the tablets at the Fallen Heroes’ Memorial, county officials said, though a date has not been set for its addition.
“He would be thrilled that they’re going to add his name,” said Elliott.
A private funeral service will be held on Saturday, the same day that would have been his sixth wedding anniversary, Alexander Warren said.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Carol Warren Children’s Fund
c/o Bank of North Georgia
8025 Westside Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30004
War-torn unit finds relief in talent show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camp Striker, Iraq â€â€? Three times over the past two weeks, soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team gathered at the stage here to grieve for their fallen comrades.
But the tears turned to laughter on a recent night as a brigade talent show drew soldiers primarily from the two units that suffered the casualties � the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment and the 648th Engineer Battalion.
Spc. Robert Davenport of Lithonia dances in the audience during the entertainment.• MORE PHOTOS
After a moment of silence to remember the 11 soldiers who have died in bomb attacks since July 24, the show got under way just as a C-130 transport plane roared overhead in its takeoff from Baghdad International Airport. From devotional songs to rap, from poetry to dance, about a dozen performers took the stage to demonstrate their talents.
Organized by Spc. Clayton Jones and Spc. Patrick Afeku of the 648th Engineers, the show provided some much-needed diversion for some deployment-weary soldiers.
“It’s getting their minds off some of this bad stuff that’s happened,” said Jones, who builds school buses in Montezuma in civilian life.
Jones said he was worried about the event taking place where the memorial services have been held, but then he decided to go ahead with the show.
The sound of music drowned out the constant buzz of nearby electrical generators and planes and choppers overhead. No one seemed to mind the hot wind blowing dust in their faces.
Jones, who runs a music studio, was looking for serious talent to sign when he goes home.
The star of this show by a large margin was “T. Jones,” otherwise known as Spc. Tarinzo Jones, who sings with a band called Simple Pleasures at home in Dillon, S.C. For an encore performance, he sang “Lovers and Friends” by Usher, Ludacris and Lil’ Jon.
Turnout wasn’t the best â€â€? some of the bleachers were empty. Many of the 648th soldiers couldn’t attend because they were on a mission in southwest Baghdad.
But it was all worth it for organizer Jones. In these difficult moments of a long deployment, he had put smiles on the faces of his fellow soldiers.
