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A Soldier’s Story First Sgt. Robert Jennings |
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF FIRST SGT. ROBERT JENNINGS
A view from atop the roof at Alpha Company patrol base in Kirkuk, Iraq. Alpha Company is part of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) from Schofield Barracks.
Police car ambush
ends days of quietFeb. 27, 1945 hours >> Two explosions rock our patrol base. Everyone jumps to their designated defensive fighting positions until the situation is assessed. Our observation posts around the neighborhood start sending reports over the radio. I can see a glow from a fire about half a mile away. Our interpreter is on his radio with the police station to try to get some information. We get the report that two rockets have landed near one of the police stations. Our headquarters gives us the word to establish two traffic control points. Five minutes later we are rolling about 35 soldiers out the gate. Four hours of stopping and checking vehicles doesn't turn up anything that would help us find the people who conducted the attack. We only confiscated three AK-47s that were not being legally carried.
Other than this incident, this week in Kirkuk has been rather slow compared with the previous few. It has been a week of religious celebration for Shiite Muslims. It is called Ashoura, a 10-day remembrance of the death of the third Imam. A unique occurrence in this remembrance is the practice of self-flagellation. The Shiites were not been able to celebrate this under the former regime, which did not allow radical religious ceremonies. We expected big problems because of the diverse ethnicity here and the fact that they don't get along with each other. To our surprise, there were only a few minor outbursts throughout the week.
Most of our time this week has been making sure the different political parties are in compliance with the rules that were set down by the government. There is a big power struggle for the region between all the different religions and political parties. The Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Assyrians all think they should rule this province and city. They are all trying to control the area instead of sharing it. This is hard for our soldiers to understand since we all come from different backgrounds and religions, yet we get along well.
Unlike our political parties, these guys use force to gain power. About 10 soldiers would accompany several police officers as they visited these party headquarters ensuring that they were in compliance. There were some weapons violations. That's why we are there. We confiscate them and process them either to be destroyed or redistributed. How's that for gun control?
During the week we have continued our search for the people shooting mortars and rockets at coalition forces. This is a difficult mission to find a few bad guys in a city of 800,000. It entails long nights hiding in high, dark places trying to spot suspicious incidents to investigate.
We have had some leads, but none has turned up the culprits.
March 4, 1850 >> We just got word from one of our interpreters that a police car was ambushed. This has broken the four-day quiet streak we had going. One officer was killed and two were injured. This is the way the enemy wants to fight. He tries to attack the people that work for and with the coalition, because he is too much of a coward to fight us. Our prayers go to the family of the lost officer.
Town's revelry goes up in air
Pfc. Edmund Gilo, a graduate of Baldwin High School in Kihei, is an M-203 grenadier for 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, and has been in the Army for 21 months.
Gilo spends most of his time on patrols throughout Kirkuk. "Because we are here showing our presence, it will help the Iraqi police catch the terrorists and others trying to prevent change," Gilo said. "We have to continue helping them conduct raids and checkpoints to apply pressure to these bad guys."
Regarding his deployment, he said: "I feel that we really need to be here. I think the government is getting things under control. I just want the people here to know we are here to help them as much as possible."
Highlight so far: "We were on an observation post in the middle of town and all the people were celebrating. They started shooting their weapons in the air and you could see the tracers all around town. It was like fireworks. I was just hoping they wouldn't come down on us."
Message home: "I want to say 'Hi' to my mom, Connie Gilo, and the rest of my family on Maui. I also want to say 'Hi' to my brother here in Iraq. He is in Baghdad attached to the 1st Calvary Division."
1st Sgt. Robert Jennings
