AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > June > 08 > Entry
Don’t go out without body armor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forward Operating Base St. Michael, Iraq — The Marines used to call this place “Camp Incoming” for the daily rockets and mortars Iraqi insurgents fired at it.
It’s one of the few forward operating bases in the country where soldiers must wear helmets and body armor every time they step outside, even if they’re only making a short trek to an outhouse or shower.
There’s also a total blackout at dusk to make the base less of a target at night.
Only a few insurgent fireworks have landed in or near this dusty compound since soldiers from the 48th Brigade Combat Team arrived, and the troops tend to regard them like springtime lightning; dangerous to be sure, but usually more sound than substance.
Commanders here hint that if all goes well the body armor restriction could be lifted during their yearlong deployment.
“We’re working on expanding the perimeter,” Brigadier Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, the 48th commander, said during a visit last week. “Hopefully, we’ll make it safe enough our people won’t have to wear their [individual body armor] all the time.”
Unlike other forward bases that tend to be set apart from populated areas, St. Michael is right off Route Jackson, a heavily traveled military supply corridor. That’s part of the reason it’s such a mortar magnet.
Insurgents know that if they launch rockets or mortars from neighborhoods, Americans will be reluctant to shoot back with their heavy artillery for fear of inflicting civilian casualties.
The heart of St. Michael is a military command post set up in a three-story brick building that used to be a chicken processing plant. The non- descript, good-enough-for-government-work structure is still pockmarked from hundreds of bullets that struck it during the 2003 invasion. Now, it bristles with antennae from a vast array of communications gear packed inside.
The Marines, who first took over the chicken factory, and the factory’s current Army residents set up a warren of offices and sleeping quarters on the first floor.
Soldiers consider the chicken factory the high-rent district because people inside sleep on beds instead of cots and the air conditioning runs day and night.
Any American fire marshal would be appalled by the miles of dangling wires and pigeon roosts inside. And any self-respecting building inspector would condemn the place.
Lookouts are posted around the clock in a series of turret-shaped, Medieval-looking guard towers. Any civilian vehicle that stops along the roads by the base is greeted with warning shots.
It’s not uncommon for firefights to break out between guards and insurgents, but they seldom last more than a few minutes because the American firepower is overwhelming.
St. Michael is one of the most austere forward operating bases in Iraq.
Most of the soldiers live in 10-person, Army-issue tents. They’re dark green but quickly turn desert tan when coated with a thick film of moon dust.
The kitchens are manned by soldiers, not civilian contractors known for their better food and service.
The Internet Café is hopelessly jammed at peak hours, and it’s hard to get a telephone line that works reliably.
But the 48th Brigade has plans for upgrades. When the Georgia Army National Guard soldiers replace the current inhabitants near the middle of the month, they plan to rewire the place, clean it and paint it.
They’ve started putting down gravel on the roads to cut down on the powdery, choking dust.
Outside the gates, soldiers encounter scenes that are almost biblical and are replete with shepherds, donkeys, camels and extreme poverty.
Also waiting just outside the gates is the ever-present danger of attacks by insurgents.
There’s little charm in Mahmudiyah itself, a midsized town at the eastern edge of the so-called Sunni Triangle of Death. A ferocious, close-quarters tank battle was fought on the city’s narrow streets three years ago when the 3rd Division based at Fort Stewart plowed through with its Abrams tanks.
The place was shabby then and has grown worse, with buildings falling apart and wrecked cars and garbage strewn everywhere. Now, more than two years after that battle, it’s just about impossible to tell where it took place.
But on the outskirts of the city are spacious, well-kept homes with lush palm groves and well-tended yards. The land looks tremendously fertile with tall grass and trees, and there’s an extensive network of irrigation canals.
Those irrigation canals run parallel to the roads and represent grave danger to the soldiers. Insurgents use them to tunnel into the soft ground underneath the narrow roads to plant bombs — some of them large enough to destroy American tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
The roads are deeply cratered in places from violent explosions aimed at U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, and the scrap yard at the base holds the carcasses of military vehicles mangled from the force of the blasts.
Surprisingly, soldiers from the 1st Armor Division who have been here for more than four months say they are reluctant to leave.
First Lt. Alan Hill of Powder Springs, a Georgia Tech graduate, said he wants to continue the progress the group has made. “We know the area, and we’ve learned the enemy’s tactics,” said Hill, 30, a former platoon leader.
“We’ve worked our tails off here, and we’re starting to see results,” he added. “There’s less insurgent activity here now than when we got here, and we expect that trend to continue.”
Services »
Comments
By Holly
June 8, 2005 09:01 AM | Link to this
from Mom
By Tina Pace
June 8, 2005 11:12 AM | Link to this
My husband is with the 220th from MO.,and is attached to the 48th.I think what you are doing is great with reporting the events. It has given me and I’m sure alot of other spouses comfort in knowing what is going on. Thank you for being with our guys and gals. To my husband, John we all love you and miss you.Tell Jas we love and miss him too and the rest of the gang as well.
By mjjaj
June 8, 2005 11:52 AM | Link to this
What a fascinating look at what’s going on over there, and what our troops are up against. Thanks for the detailed and realistic view presented. We all see the media coverage and spin on the news from Iraq, but I am always left with a feeling that it’s sanitized, general info that tells me nothing new. We need more of this, simple yet honest and detailed views of what is really going on over there, from a number of points of view of the guys and girls who are actually living it. Keep up the good writing! mjjaj
By eric
June 8, 2005 01:44 PM | Link to this
I also appreciate the work you are doing. Hopefully, someone with the 48th can continue to Blog their activities after the embedded journalists leave. Having this website is a great reassurance to all the friends and family of the soldiers over there. If we cannot talk to them, at least we can get on here and read what is going on and that in itself makes us feel a little better about being so far away from the people we care about. I’ll take this over CNN or MSNBC or FOX news any day, all you hear about on the major media outlets is bad news. Thanks again.
Eric
By regina
June 8, 2005 02:00 PM | Link to this
It doesn’t matter which state you come from. we are all in this together. teamwork is the real thing. we should be praying for our men and women instead of worry about who’s who. my son is deployed and he is out of a unit here in ga but attached to illinos.
By regina
June 8, 2005 02:03 PM | Link to this
born in ala—raised in ga- unit in ga- based to a unit in illinos. but we are well pleased with him and what he stands for. god bless you all my prayers are with you. you to dave and crew
By W.H.
June 8, 2005 03:23 PM | Link to this
Please keep writing the Absudity Facts. They are real and funny. Thanks to both of you for a job being well done.
By Rick
June 8, 2005 11:32 PM | Link to this
Who in the heck named this place Camp St Michael? You have to be kidding me! If you do not want to highlight yourself, don’t name your camp after a Christian saint in the middle of a Muslim country where they already think of us as infidel crusaders. No wonder they are still shooting at us.
By Gina Morgan Williams
June 8, 2005 11:36 PM | Link to this
I’ll 2nd that comment on taking this column, blog, reporter and photographer over CNN or FOX, etc any day. Hip Hip Hooray for the AJC for sending you two over with the 48th. I’ve said it before, but I”ll say it again: It is indeed truly INVALUABLE to all of us who are concerned and interested to be able to get this detailed daily accounting that is directly related to the folks we know who are serving over there. I wish you could stay and keep the information coming. Maybe the AJC will switch out the reporter and photographer with another set and keep the info flowing to us. I hope so. I want to comment on the brave young lady who was injured and is getting medical attention at Walter Reed Hospital. I don’t know her. But, she has really impressed and inspired me with her courage, strength and eager willingness to return to Iraq and complete her mission. YOU GO GIRL ~ YOU ROCK !! To my buddy Jim Brown, I sent a box to you today. I finally got your address in Iraq. Hello to all the guys from Monroe & Walton County, Georgia. Make Jim share the stuff I am sending. The box is full of Walton County newspapers. Plus, lots of goodies, etc. Jim, you don’t have to share the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies I sent. Those are for you. Peace from Turkey Mountain, GA USA ~GMW~
By Frank
June 9, 2005 02:37 AM | Link to this
A father’s away Soldiering. His son sleeps The dreams of infancy. His wife paces the night Fearfully and alone again.
By David Trent
June 9, 2005 02:32 PM | Link to this
I’m Sgt. Trent, David with the Marines. I was in the same town and base a year ago that these guys are in now. Its not a pleasant place to live but the people in the town aren’t to bad. As long as you get along with them and be respectful, which is hard to do….then everything should go fine with the exception of a few IEDs here and there. I hope the best for these guys and my cousin that is with them. God bless you all.
By Michelle Smith
June 16, 2005 11:00 PM | Link to this
SPC James L Smith, with the 1/118th, we love and miss you, take care. We will see you when you come home in a few months.
Love ya,
Michelle & Leah Smith
By Michelle Smith
June 16, 2005 11:03 PM | Link to this
SPC James L. Smith, 1/118th, we love and miss you, take care. We are looking forward to seeing you in a few monthes.
Love Michelle & Leah Smith