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A Soldier’s Story First Sgt. Robert Jennings |
Police officers inspect a vehicle at a random checkpoint in Kirkuk. They have stepped up their presence in the city to deter an influx of insurgents fleeing from Fallujah.
Rocket kills Iraqi man
not far from patrol base
This week, enemy activity continued to increase in our area of operation as expected. U.S. and Iraqi forces are pretty much controlling Fallujah, so the bad guys that were able to escape are trying to cause havoc. We and the police have stepped up patrols throughout the area of operation. We are hoping that saturating the city with extra presence will deter the enemies' movement.Nov. 16, 10 a.m. » Local police have discovered two mortar base plates under one of the bridges in the city. They secured the plates and established an over-watch team to survey the area.
Nov. 16, 6:50 p.m. » Three rockets are heard launching in the distance. A huge explosion is felt just down the street. The whole house just shook, causing soldiers to scramble to their designated defensive positions. Radio reports are coming in describing a rocket impact 300 meters from the patrol base. After making an assessment, the company commander dispatched the ready squad to make sure the police were doing the proper investigation.
The squad reported back that one civilian was killed and his wife was slightly injured. After plotting the suspected points of origin for the rockets, we determined the one that hit near the patrol base was probably aimed at the airfield and just happened to hit short.
The other two impacted near each other on the airfield, causing damage to some buildings under construction.
Nov. 16, 8:21 p.m. » Another explosion is heard east of the patrol base. I listened as Bravo Company reports that one of their vehicle patrols was struck by a roadside bomb.
For an instant I was brought back to May 2nd when our company lost five great soldiers in such an attack. Instant relief was felt as they reported no casualties. They blocked the area off and discovered another bomb waiting in the distance. The Iraqi bomb squad was called in and the explosive device was disarmed. Six Iraqi men in the area were detained.
Nov. 17, 6:50 p.m. » I was standing next to one of the vehicles thinking how peaceful it was when the sky lit up from the tracer rounds. It's like all hell broke loose around us. From the east two rockets were fired toward the airbase, and there was an almost simultaneous attack on the coalition base just south of our patrol base.
Reports from the coalition base are that an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) was fired just after the two rockets from a car. The guards at the base returned a barrage of fire, no coalition casualties.
Nov. 18, 10:13 a.m. » An explosion 300 meters south of the patrol base. Our patrol that was out was sent to investigate along with the police. It was determined a roadside bomb exploded. There were two Iraqi civilians killed and some injured on a passing bus. The condition of the two men killed suggests they were right over the bomb when it exploded. We have had reports that in the past, the men planting these roadside bombs have accidentally blown themselves up. We can only hope this is one of those instances.
We were able to deliver the last of the medical supplies to Kirkuk General this week. Sgt. 1st Class Austin Brown, Irvington, Ky., and 3rd Platoon, continued the goodwill gesture by delivering three more truck loads.
God Bless and Aloha
Squad leader got assignment
of choice when he was sent to Iraq
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When he found out he was deploying to either Iraq or Afghanistan, he says he was hoping for Iraq. He said, "I spent three years at Fort Drum, N.Y., and the last six months of that in Kosovo. I was really tired of the snow and wanted a change in weather. I felt much more confident going to Iraq. The mission was the better of the two for me, and what I wanted to accomplish."
Grigley says that he felt lucky being out in the city at the patrol base. He said, "Being able to react to events around you is so much easier from here. I really like interacting with the community."
Grigley said that since he's been here he has been able to see some change in the community.
He added, "People are people. It's really hard to persuade some, but we have been able to win the hearts and minds of those who were not really sure what we were all about. We have done a lot of humanitarian projects like providing clean drinking water, electricity to small villages, and school supplies to all of the schools in our sector."
I asked Grigley what have been the high and low points of his deployment so far.
He said, "The live-fire rehearsals are definitely the high. We provided covering fire for 3rd Platoon. The battalion commander had a huge grin on his face, so I knew we did a good job. I was really proud of my guys. The low has to be the amount of indirect fire missions we've been able to shoot. Because we live in a big city, we aren't able to support the company like we would be able to if we were in the vast desert."
Grigley finished his interview by saying hello to all his family back in New Jersey and his wife Catella with her family in Florida. "We'll be on the beach soon, baby. Go Eagles."