AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > December > 03 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USConvoys magnets for bombs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Curtis Compton/AJC
A U.S. military supply convoy rolls under the arches as it arrives in Trebil, Iraq, on the Jordanian border last week. U.S. convoys escort supply trucks across the treacherous desert, where bombs laid by insurgents are a constant threat. | Photos of convoys, bomb attack | What's it like to be attacked? Read the firsthand accounts of reporter Jeremy Redmon and photographer Curtis Compton.
Trebil, Iraq — The desolate highway from this trash-strewn town on the Jordanian border into western Iraq is littered with bomb craters and burned-out skeletons of supply trucks.
They are grim reminders of the dangers that lurk along this main supply route for U.S. forces here.
Georgia National Guard soldiers regularly travel the highway, protecting trucks loaded with fuel, food and water. They send roughly 100 troops in about 30 heavily armed military vehicles to guard each convoy.
Despite the overwhelming military presence, insurgents are aggressively attacking the convoys with rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs. Between Sept. 1 and Nov. 11, 37 roadside bombs hit convoys or were detected by soldiers before they detonated. One recent convoy was attacked with eight roadside bombs.
“You get hit every damn time you go out,” said Capt. Jeff Schneider, 34, a full-time Georgia National Guard soldier from Atlanta who helps guard the convoys.
More than 2 1/2 years after the invasion of Iraq, the ambushes underscore how insurgencies remain robust in many parts of the country, despite U.S. attempts to stamp them out.
In western Iraq, Guard soldiers are tracking as many as five insurgent and militia groups operating around their supply routes. They include al Qaida in Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna. Both of these notorious terrorist organizations are linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a radical Sunni Muslim from Jordan.
The Georgia soldiers also are protecting the convoys from bandits seeking to plunder supply-laden trucks in the restive Al Anbar province.
The soldiers consider these enemies such a threat that they escort each supply convoy. Still, even with the overwhelming military presence, insurgents are aggressively attacking.
“You need all this security. It’s a way to guarantee that our supplies get there,” Schneider said.
Schneider is a member of the Savannah-based 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment Task Force, part of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. The brigade is guarding supply convoys across Iraq, from Tallil in the south to Baghdad in central Iraq to Trebil in the west.
The Theater Security Mission, as it is officially known, is important because it ensures soldiers get the supplies they need, everything from beans to bullets.
The 118th troops say their missions are particularly dangerous because Iraq’s western borders are not sealed off to insurgents traveling from Jordan and Syria.
“For every couple of insurgents we detain or kill, there are busloads of them coming across the border to join the cause,” said 1st Lt. Alan Dufresne, 28, a financial adviser who belongs to a Rhode Island-based company of National Guard infantrymen attached to the 118th.
Dufresne is constantly trying to fool the insurgents by changing his travel patterns. But that’s a challenging task — there is only one paved highway between the Jordanian border and their supply hub at Al Asad Air Base, near the city of Hit.
One 118th officer said that predicament makes soldiers “sitting ducks.”
“They are hitting you every time on this mission,” said Sgt. Curtis Wilmont, 45, a truck driver from Pembroke. “They are real consistent because they know your movement. They know you are coming and they know you are leaving.”
In recent months, several civilian truck drivers and U.S. soldiers from other units have been killed on supply routes across Iraq. As of Thanksgiving, no 118th soldiers had been killed or seriously injured on their missions in western Iraq. They have managed to keep their supply convoys running despite the attacks. But their vehicles have taken a beating from roadside bombs.
During the last week of November, a 118th supply convoy was hit by two roadside bombs, narrowly avoided a third and possibly a fourth. The convoy started early on the morning of Nov. 22 and ended on Thanksgiving Day.
The troops started their mission escorting about 100 empty supply trucks to Trebil. On the first leg of the trip, they rolled along a treacherous road called Route Uranium. Pocked with bomb craters, the road passes through a desert landscape. Soldiers wince on the narrow, one-lane route as they drive past suspicious-looking piles of gravel and sand, possible hiding places for bombs. A sign warns of mines off the road.
Route Uranium eventually gives way to Route Mobile, a divided highway lined with the blackened carcasses of supply trucks. When the trucks break down, U.S. soldiers move them far off the road and blow them up so they cannot be used as booby traps.
More than halfway through their trip, the 118th soldiers encountered some Marines stopping traffic. The Marines were about to detonate a bomb they found planted in the median. It was three mortar rounds connected to a car battery. When the Marines blew it up, the troops heard two explosions, the second possibly coming from another bomb planted nearby.
Insurgents sometimes attempt to lure soldiers by placing a bomb, called a “come-along,” in clear view. They conceal a second explosive nearby to kill troops who climb out of their armored vehicles to destroy the first bomb.
“I’m glad they found it because it was intended for us,” Dufresne said while briefing his troops later that evening.
Dufresne and his men slept that night at Camp Korean Village, a small Marine post 223 miles from Al Asad Air Base. Soldiers say the camp got its name from the Koreans who built the divided highway to Trebil for Saddam Hussein’s regime. The camp is blacked out at night, giving soldiers a striking view of the stars.
The National Guard soldiers didn’t start out with this mission. Until October, the 118th Task Force was headquartered at Camp Taji, a sprawling base northwest of Baghdad. The troops patrolled the surrounding area and hunted insurgents. Some 118th soldiers say their new mission is riskier because of the persistent threat of roadside bombs.
“I’m on the end of my tour and we went from dangerous to more dangerous,” said Sgt. 1st Class Wayne Oldroyd, 39, a Massachusetts state prison worker who is attached to the 118th Task Force. “You are basically riding down the road waiting to get blown up.”
On the second day of their convoy, Oldroyd and the other troops traveled 70 miles to Trebil. As they pulled into the outskirts, they saw two puppies wrestling over a dead rat in a pile of garbage.
The soldiers dropped off the empty supply trucks and linked up with 100 others full of fuel, food and water. Before they left, Guard soldiers inspected each truck to ensure it would not break down and make the convoy vulnerable to attacks.
Then the soldiers placed pieces of cardboard in the sand, marking spots where they wanted the civilian truck drivers to stand and be frisked. They searched for weapons, drugs and alcohol, anything that could interfere with the mission.
Soldiers also scan the U.S. military contract drivers for tattoos that could link them to insurgent groups or militias.
They also confiscate the drivers’ cellphones. They don’t want them tipping off insurgents about their travel times and locations. Insurgents have killed drivers in the past, stolen their passports and posed as their victims to gain entry into Iraq, U.S. soldiers said. Most of the drivers come from Jordan, Sudan and the Dominican Republic.
“When you see a new face, you have to keep your eyes on them,” said Spc. Luis Rivera, 41, of Jesup, who works at Sea Island Resort in civilian life.
On the way back to Camp Korean Village, the convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb. No one was seriously injured, but the blast flattened three of the Humvee’s tires.
Insurgents placed the explosive in a storm drain on the side of the road. The drains run perpendicular to the highway, making it easy for insurgents to aim and time their bombs. U.S. troops have stripped the metal guardrails from the highway so they can’t be used to plant explosives.
On Thanksgiving, the last day of their three-day convoy, the troops got hit again. Nobody was seriously injured, and the Humvee was not disabled.
Soldiers aren’t the only ones at risk on these convoys. Chris Lee, a fuel truck driver for KBR, a major U.S. military contractor, said 12 of his colleagues have been killed on Iraq’s roads in the last four months.
Lee, who goes by the nickname “Fuel Dude,” inherited a truck riddled with bullet holes and damaged by a roadside bomb. He said KBR’s rules prohibit him from carrying a sidearm. So he straps three knives to his vest.
“It kind of looks like Rambo,” said Lee, 48, a burly truck driver from St. Louis. “I’m not going to end up on TV, getting my head chopped off.”
“If it gets more dangerous,” Lee continued, “I will pull the plug and go home.”
As Lee prepared to pump his fuel out at a small U.S. military base near Hit, a roadside bomb exploded near the entrance to the camp. The blast seriously injured an Iraqi soldier, who was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital.
“Well, good thing we hadn’t left yet,” 2nd Lt. Matt Pitts, 21, of St. Mary’s, said dryly as he waited to escort Lee back to Al Asad Air Base.
Lee wears a helmet and body armor on his convoys. The interior of his truck is wrapped in a Kevlar blanket and has ballistic shields that fit behind the doors.
Truck drivers for other U.S. military contractors don’t have such protections. Supervisors for the Amman, Jordan-based International Oil Trading Company, said their drivers lack helmets, body armor and Kevlar blankets.
Two drivers have been wounded by roadside bombs in recent weeks, said Ahmad Al-Shaer, an International Oil Trading Company supervisor. One was blinded in his right eye and the other was burned. A third driver was kidnapped and beheaded in Trebil recently, Al-Shaer said.
“They hate us because we are working with” American soldiers, he said.
A fellow supervisor, Cesar Mejia Gonzalez, has been riding on the convoys between Trebil and Al Asad for more than a year. He said he is in Iraq for his wife and two young children back home in the Dominican Republic.
“I want to give a better life for them. That is why I take the risk,” said Gonzalez, 31.
Gonzalez and Al-Shaer agree the U.S. military escorts are critical for their convoys. None of their drivers, they said, would show up for work if the troops were not there to escort them.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Tammy
December 3, 2005 06:38 PM | Link to this
I wish every American would read your blogs, reflect on how blessed they are to live in this nation, and then realize that they are so blessed because of the men and women who wear the uniform of our military branches. I ran into an old friend the other day. She asked if my husband were still in Iraq. I told her yes, Then added that my daughter ( who has served almost 2years in Iraq), had just come back to the states. I asked about her son who I knew was Guard. She said “No, thank God, he hasn’t had to go” Then added “As long as he doesn’t have to go- I really don’t care anything about it.” I felt like I had been shot in the chest. I hope there are not too many people out there who feel that way. But for those of you who think you live in an indestructable bubble and what goes on in this world is none of your concern and you can’t be bothered with it- you just may be in for a rude awakening. If this country doesn’t get it’s act together and stand BESIDE it’s troops, you may be finding out first hand why we are in Iraq- And I am sure you will be the ones we hear scream the most and the Loudest.
By Cesar Mejia G.
December 4, 2005 01:59 PM | Link to this
Hi Jeremy, It’s me Cesar Mejia Gonzalez, the Supervisor for the International Oil Trading Company. I thank you very much for your comment about the Convoys in Iraq. As you said that we take too much risk in this job here in Iraq, but as I told you Jeremy, this is a Job in which I feel very proud of, because I’m helping the U.S. Military Forces deployed in Iraq by providing fuel to them and this Job is like a dream that came true, because I always wanted to help the United States to fight against the terrorist and now this is my opportunity to do it, because everything has changed after terrorist act on September 11. Although I’m not North American but many Good and Innocent People died at that big terrorist act and I and my entire family cried and suffered a lot for that. I thank you very much for being so honest and sincere and great person, Although I just had a short time talking to you here in Iraq, but I realized that you are a good human being who deserves my respect and consideration…..THANKS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART…..and I wish you prosperity and the best in your career as a Reporter…..Please say Hello from me to the Photographer Curtis Compton….MY DEAR FRIEND JEREMY REDMON… Very Sincerely, CESAR MEJIA GONZALEZ….Supervisor of Convoys in Iraq….GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ALL U.S. SOLDIERS DEPLOYED IN IRAQ….
By A Soldeirs Wife
December 4, 2005 02:16 PM | Link to this
Thanks, Mrs Tammy for your comment. That is very true. I have people ask me, how can you be married to a Soldier, I tell them that I Love Him.
By LEONTE READ
December 4, 2005 09:07 PM | Link to this
I read your article from the Dominican Republic, and I fell great to know the job that U.S.A soldiers are doing escorts the convoys, and at the same time helping people from different coutries who are working there to be safe, their families really apreciate it.
By eric towle
December 4, 2005 09:37 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the update on my brother’s unit.
By 48th family member
December 4, 2005 11:24 PM | Link to this
Funny how Roadheaver sent an email to the families telling us that our soldiers were going to be safer on their new assignments.
By soldiers mom
December 5, 2005 08:59 AM | Link to this
I want to give a huge Thank You to Jeremy Redmon and Curtis for there bravery to be with our men. It’s as close as we can get to being with them. THANK YOU & GOD BLESS YOU Although we know of the danger our troops face with every mission, it sure is a breath of fresh air to have honest journalism. Honesty isn’t something were use to. We keep hearing how it’s getting safer over there, and that’s what’s so wonderful about these last few articles, you should send them to all the major newspapers.
You won’t find a “see no evil” monkey in my home! We are very proud of all the troops serving in the wars, and pray they return home safely. God Bless Everyone
By 48th Wife
December 5, 2005 08:19 PM | Link to this
Dear 48th Family member, General Roadheaver is just a man who happens to be a General. He is not God. When someone within the Brigade is hurt or dies, I’m sure it is heavier on his heart than we can ever imagine. He can no more assure their total safety over there than he could over here. They have a mission, unfortunately, a dangerous one. That goes with the military. Bitterness never produces anything good. I hope for your sake that you can be proud of the job they are doing over there. It helps secure our freedom and safety here, as well as for the Iraqi’s. The men mentioned in this Blog think it is a worthy cause or they would not be there. We need to support their efforts in every way we can.
By Jan
December 6, 2005 04:46 PM | Link to this
I have to agree with the 48th wife. I too am a 48th wife who received the email saying my husband was better off now…how is guarding rolling bombs better off than guarding Civil Affairs patrols…seems to me that bookbags and pencils do explode, fuel tankers do…………..
By Jan
December 6, 2005 04:49 PM | Link to this
And to the second 48th wife, you say this now but what will you say if you get THAT phone call or they knock on your door…BELIEVE ME, it ain’t fun…I know from experience about the knock.
By Mark
December 7, 2005 02:36 PM | Link to this
48th Wife, where did they say they thought it was a “worthy cause”? It’s not a worthy cause, it’s a waste of lives and money. I hope our military can return home safely and soon and get out of that quagmire.
By A soldier's mom
December 9, 2005 06:43 PM | Link to this
My son is traveling that road with the 118 3/172 from R.I. I too thought they were going to be a not safe, but safer. I just pray every day for him and all the troops that somehow this will all end, and no more soldiers will have to die or be wounded, which can sometimes be a greater hell. I pray too for those family members left behind. For all those wives who are left to handle any and all problems and catastrophes that come along, never wanting to complain or upset their soldiers and take the risk that they will not concentrate on the mission and therefore, make the possibility of their death or injury a cruel reality. I am the wife of a former soldier with a father who served in WWII and a brother and friends who served and died in Vietnam. It was a prayer said in ernest in 1975, when the Vietnam war ended that my sons never have to fight a war. History always seems to repeat itself and we never seem to learn. I don’t know why the US feels a need to engage in forcing itself to interfere in countries that have waged wars among themselves for thousands of years and will probably wage them long after we are gone and have lost more lives to either death of the mind, soul or body. Meanwhile, I wait for my son to come home as do many other mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children and families. God bless us all.
By 2nd 48th wife
December 9, 2005 07:47 PM | Link to this
As a soldiers wife and a soldiers mother, I can only speak for my two. When they joined the Army and the Army Guard, they new full well what the military was for. They did not join for a free ride, education benifits, or any of the other various reasons some may enlist. As a wife and mother I feel it is my job to support whatever mission they may have, dangerous or not. No, I have not gotten the knock at the door. There have been times that I have been afraid it was coming, though. I could lose them in a car wreck here at home, a random drive by shooting, or any of the other ways people are killed-just read the paper. If I’m not mistaken, a soldier was killed in Georgia before the 48th deployed by 2 of his own buddies (drug related) and I believe another drowned. Where is anyone absolutley safe? My soldiers joined the military to serve their country- whereever and how ever they were called to do so. It comes with the territory. It’s hard for us at home - but I believe we need to support them. That’s just me. One of my soldiers is with the 48th 167th INF. The other,regular Army, has been deployed to Iraq 20 of the last 24 months doing those very same convoys you talk about. I haven’t experienced the knock - but I do know how it feels to expect it and to dread it. Maybe I’m naive, but I think “Liberty, and justice for all” is still a worthy cause. And I truly believe they are fighting to keep us safe here at home. If we throw up our hands and walk out- we’ll see what happens…..when we’re getting blown up by IED’s here on US turf… Who do you suggest defend us-since no one wants it to be their husband, mother, son or daughter……….?
By Tammy
December 9, 2005 08:02 PM | Link to this
Dear Jan, I only hope that I would deal with the knock, with the same grace and dignity that I have read you did and still do. I know you support your husband, I know you lost your son. We can only do the best we can, and ask God for the strength and grace to handle the rest. It is He, not us or Generals, that is truly in control. God bless you, and I pray for the safe return of all our soldiers. 48th wife
By ???????
December 9, 2005 08:24 PM | Link to this
Dear Mark- What would qualify as a worthy cause to you? If terrorists were holding a knife to your neck, with your family watching, and you knowing they would be next and there was nothing you could do about it? Thank God for those who consider you and your family “worth it”, and ask yourself if you stand for anything at all. It seems to me people who stand for nothing are the ones in a quagmire, they also seem to be the ones that love that word.
By SSG Martin's Mom
December 11, 2005 01:21 PM | Link to this
A JUST CAUSE? Even if you felt it wasn’t “a just cause”, once an American Soldier’s blood was shed, it became JUST! To speak any other way is to insult the service and sacrifice of our Fallen and say to their families that what they did…was for nothing! Removing Saddam from power was every bit as JUST as removing Hitler from power. I hope and pray that the USA will continue to Champion the cause of the helpless and afflicted. The day we stop is the day we lose our Calling! And just so you know, my only child is in Iraq and though I selfishly pray he is never one of the Fallen, I know that he could be. The sacrifice his wife, his children, myself and all those who love and miss him are making…isn’t for NOTHING. Our soldiers are…”The GOOD GUYS, FIGHTING THE BAD GUYS…for a JUST CAUSE”! Thank God there are still a few good men who believe in JUST CAUSES! Martin’s Mom
By Marie
December 11, 2005 06:19 PM | Link to this
SSG Martins Mom… I agree….it is a just and noble cause so I have something to say to those that oppose us……..
By Marie
December 11, 2005 06:24 PM | Link to this
I have always been careful of what I said on here because as so many people have mentioned the enemy can read and in all likelihood will read blogs and news articles such as these…in this vein I have a few things to say to these people…. Have you no mind of your own or conscience…no sense of moral rightness? You and your ilk take and destroy innocent lives with the impunity of the Almighty….such blasphemy will not go unpunished in the end and you should know that your very souls are in peril from your evil violent and wicked acts. Simple right and wrong can be ascertained outside of any religious affiliation. Kindness Generosity Selflessness Moral Fortitude all these things are universally understood to be attributes of a worthy human being. Cruelty selfishness murder of innocents and arbitrarily wanting to control the actions and ideas of any people can be understood as ethically decrepit across any and all social economic and religious lines. Do you understand that we as Americans have no desire to be in your country…that we have little to gain in the worldly realm and much to lose as a people. Do you understand that we desire peace and prosperity for all people of the world and pray always for freedom from persecution for all human beings. We are a kind and generous nation. Our neighbors care for us and we them and we seek to reach out and help those in need as much as we are able or allowed. Our soldiers hearts are pure and their motivations are selfless. You can not stand against us. Not because we are rich or powerful but because we are right and just. Your cause is hopeless and your motivations flawed. Educate yourselves. In all of history it has been that great nations come and go … some endure through adaptation and change but without exception evil unholy and cruel acts lead to destruction and loss. The only hope for you and your children is to act now to change yourselves….put down your guns and armor yourself with love and peace. Give instead of taking. Put aside pride and seek the peace of humility. Only in this way may you achieve the greatness and power that you seek. We are not a perfect people and like all humanity we falter and fail at times but in this we shall prevail. Regardless of the outcome we have our homeland our loved ones and our freedom to come back to we will reach out to each other and find again the peace we seek. We live in a nation founded on the idea of liberty and justice. Your God our God whichever or whomever your higher power is gave all people the right of free will…the earth and its people choose its own course and in the same way must nations behave. Who are you to take from others what God has given. He gave free will to His people. Do not in your misguided fervor seek to undo what God has ordained because you will in the end pay the price for your sins. Seek truth in the solace of the human heart and find that which you have missed. Restore yourself to righteousness and reclaim the promise of eternal salvation and in doing so become a force for good in the world. Let the hostages go…leave the children in peace…put down your guns and pick up your souls. Find that which no man can give another and become what you are meant to be. Seek in all things to do good and right and know that your worth is not measured by your money or power or strength but by your humanity to other human beings. Protect your neighbors children and let the people decide for themselves through intelligence and discourse how their nation will be ruled. Cast aside prejiduce and intolerance and pick up the flame of tolerance and acceptance. Recognize the worth of another human life and love others as you love yourself. In all ways seek the path of kindness and learn the poetic rhythm of a life lived for good. Find the way to truth and in the finding become something more than you could ever have imagined you might be. Cast aside the veil that has covered and diseased your minds and hearts and let the healing power of the light shine into your souls. In all ways seek to do good and right so that the world might be a better place for your having been here.
By With SSgt Martins Mom
December 11, 2005 10:08 PM | Link to this
Well Mark, you have heard it from two mothers and a wife who KNOW this is a worthy cause. You are intitled, of course, to your opinion - But it is OUR SOLDIERS defending your right to have it. Please, do not ever forget that!
Tammy-48th wife