Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Iraq War News-from the front
Back in Kirkuk. A bit of civilization… Although, first night back we made
three bunker runs in 45 minutes. First one was real, the second two were
“malfunctions”. Apparently, the rocket hit, then “skipped” off post, because
it wasn’t found. Then again, it might be lurking around somewhere. It hit
between the K9 compund and the “pool” ( a group of about 15 inflatable
kiddie pools. We have a real pool, but this is for those times whenyou just
can’t wait.
The Iraqi Army base that is being built is what I am working on now. We
drive out every day and have some great security guys from South Africa and
a few Kurdish “shooters”. The shooters ride in the back of the pickup and
smooth the way for us in the Land Rover Defender. Not a bad vehicle, but a
little rough riding. Pierre, one of the S.A. guys drives and always tells us
that "the brakes are bad, the shocks are shot, and the driver is delirious."
Job is interesting and I work some good people – Iraqis and Americans. We
are building bridges of understanding and mutual respect through these
projects and the base and water treatment plant we are also building are
letting the Iraqis know we care about their welfare. Its too bad some do not
see that and focus only on the negative.
Well, that’s about it from here. Thank you all again for your thought and
prayers. They are appreciated.
Kirkuk, Iraq
Camp Cuervo (for a tequila drinker, this is quite ironic)
Iraq War News
|
three bunker runs in 45 minutes. First one was real, the second two were
“malfunctions”. Apparently, the rocket hit, then “skipped” off post, because
it wasn’t found. Then again, it might be lurking around somewhere. It hit
between the K9 compund and the “pool” ( a group of about 15 inflatable
kiddie pools. We have a real pool, but this is for those times whenyou just
can’t wait.
The Iraqi Army base that is being built is what I am working on now. We
drive out every day and have some great security guys from South Africa and
a few Kurdish “shooters”. The shooters ride in the back of the pickup and
smooth the way for us in the Land Rover Defender. Not a bad vehicle, but a
little rough riding. Pierre, one of the S.A. guys drives and always tells us
that "the brakes are bad, the shocks are shot, and the driver is delirious."
Job is interesting and I work some good people – Iraqis and Americans. We
are building bridges of understanding and mutual respect through these
projects and the base and water treatment plant we are also building are
letting the Iraqis know we care about their welfare. Its too bad some do not
see that and focus only on the negative.
Well, that’s about it from here. Thank you all again for your thought and
prayers. They are appreciated.
Kirkuk, Iraq
Camp Cuervo (for a tequila drinker, this is quite ironic)
Iraq War News
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
U.S. Army troops of the 1st Cavalry Division
U.S. Army troops of the 1st Cavalry Division prepare to probe defenses on the edge of Najaf's old town, August 17, 2004. Iraqi political and religious leaders trying to end a radical Shi'ite uprising flew into Najaf on Tuesday, where U.S. troops and militia fought pitched battles near the country's holiest Islamic sites. REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish
Yahoo%21 News - World Photos - Reuters
|
Yahoo%21 News - World Photos - Reuters
Khaleej Times Online-Iraqi peace mission in Najaf starts as Baghdad blast kills seven
Iraqi peace mission in Najaf starts as Baghdad blast kills seven
(Reuters)
17 August 2004
NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi political and religious leaders trying to end a radical Shi’ite uprising flew into Najaf on Tuesday, where US troops and militia fought pitched battles near the country’s holiest Islamic sites. In Baghdad, insurgents fired a shell into a busy street, killing at least seven people including two children.
The new violence, especially the challenge from radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, highlighted the massive security headaches for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi barely seven weeks after he took over from US-led occupiers.
The eight-member delegation landed in Najaf on US military helicopters, hoping to persuade the firebrand cleric and his Mehdi Army militia to call off a rebellion that has hit eight southern and central cities and rattled oil markets.
Iraqis meeting at a national conference on Monday to pick an interim assembly agreed to send the team after Sadr’s weekend peace talks with the government collapsed and the cleric vowed to fight to the death from inside a sacred shrine.
“This is not a negotiation. This is a friendly mission to convey the message of the national conference,” delegation head Sheikh Hussein al-Sadr, a distant relative but political opponent of the cleric, told reporters at a military camp on the outskirts of Najaf.
“We want to change the Mehdi Army into a political organisation and to evacuate the Imam Ali shrine with the promise not to legally pursue those taking shelter there. This is what the government and all Iraqis want.”
As the delegation waited at the camp to be driven in civilian cars to the shrine, US troops fired some 20 artillery rounds at militia positions in the city.
The delegation had put off travelling by road to the southern city after insurgents threatened to ambush them.
Aides to the cleric who is the icon of Iraq’s downtrodden Shi’ite masses have said he welcomed the idea of sending the team but have not said whether he will meet the mission.
Speaking during a trip to Turkey, interim President Ghazi al-Yawar called on the militia to stop fighting.
“We in the government are very keen to save any drop of Iraqi blood ... We are still calling on these people to stop this nonsense and join the political process,” Yawar said.
VIOLENCE IN BAGHDAD
The attack in Baghdad’s bustling Rasheed street wounded 42 people, destroyed at least five cars and left pools of blood on sidewalks. Some officials said a roadside bomb caused the blast.
It followed a mortar attack near the fortified Green Zone compound where the political and religious leaders were meeting to select a 100-member interim national assembly. Officials said it was unclear if there were any casualties from that attack.
While the rebellion has undermined Allawi’s authority, he is walking a tightrope with passions in the majority Shi’ite country at boiling point over US troops fighting near Najaf’s sacred Imam Ali Mosque and a vast ancient cemetery.
Explosions echoed across the old city and thick smoke rose into the sky as US tanks and armoured vehicles took positions near the holy sites where Sadr’s militia are entrenched.
A Reuters photographer was wounded in the leg while covering the fighting. The photographer, an Iraqi, was treated for bullet fragment wounds at a US combat hospital and later released.
The national conference is expected to select the assembly later on Tuesday to oversee the interim government until January elections, but Najaf has dominated the three-day gathering.
Once appointed, the interim assembly will be able to veto legislation with a two-thirds majority, approve Iraq’s 2005 budget, and appoint a new prime minister or president should either resign or die in office.
Clashes also erupted overnight between the militia and US forces in a poor Shi’ite suburb in Baghdad called Sadr City.
The Health Ministry said 14 people had been killed and 122 wounded in Sadr City in the past 24 hours. Witnesses said two teenage girls were among the dead, killed in US shelling of the slum district where Sadr draws much of his support.
Broadening their uprising from the urban battlefield, the Mehdi Army set an oil well on fire in southern Iraq on Monday, the government said.
The unrest also forced Iraq to keep a main southern oil pipeline shut on Tuesday, reducing export flows by almost half.
The delegation will try to give the cleric a letter, urging him to leave the shrine and turn his militia into a political party.
But the scion of a Shi’ite clerical dynasty, aged about 30 and the most powerful opponent of the United States and the interim government, has shown little sign of compromise.
He has demanded US forces leave Najaf and the government grant an amnesty to his fighters as part of any deal.
Thousands of protesters have joined Sadr in the Imam Ali Mosque, promising to act as human shields in the city of 600,000 people some 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.
The French fiancee of a US journalist held hostage in Iraq has appealed for his release, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said, adding that Micah Garen’s family had not heard from him since Friday when he disappeared with his translator.
Garen worked for a New-York based production company and was making a documentary on archaeology and the impact of the war.
Khaleej Times Online
|
(Reuters)
17 August 2004
NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi political and religious leaders trying to end a radical Shi’ite uprising flew into Najaf on Tuesday, where US troops and militia fought pitched battles near the country’s holiest Islamic sites. In Baghdad, insurgents fired a shell into a busy street, killing at least seven people including two children.
The new violence, especially the challenge from radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, highlighted the massive security headaches for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi barely seven weeks after he took over from US-led occupiers.
The eight-member delegation landed in Najaf on US military helicopters, hoping to persuade the firebrand cleric and his Mehdi Army militia to call off a rebellion that has hit eight southern and central cities and rattled oil markets.
Iraqis meeting at a national conference on Monday to pick an interim assembly agreed to send the team after Sadr’s weekend peace talks with the government collapsed and the cleric vowed to fight to the death from inside a sacred shrine.
“This is not a negotiation. This is a friendly mission to convey the message of the national conference,” delegation head Sheikh Hussein al-Sadr, a distant relative but political opponent of the cleric, told reporters at a military camp on the outskirts of Najaf.
“We want to change the Mehdi Army into a political organisation and to evacuate the Imam Ali shrine with the promise not to legally pursue those taking shelter there. This is what the government and all Iraqis want.”
As the delegation waited at the camp to be driven in civilian cars to the shrine, US troops fired some 20 artillery rounds at militia positions in the city.
The delegation had put off travelling by road to the southern city after insurgents threatened to ambush them.
Aides to the cleric who is the icon of Iraq’s downtrodden Shi’ite masses have said he welcomed the idea of sending the team but have not said whether he will meet the mission.
Speaking during a trip to Turkey, interim President Ghazi al-Yawar called on the militia to stop fighting.
“We in the government are very keen to save any drop of Iraqi blood ... We are still calling on these people to stop this nonsense and join the political process,” Yawar said.
VIOLENCE IN BAGHDAD
The attack in Baghdad’s bustling Rasheed street wounded 42 people, destroyed at least five cars and left pools of blood on sidewalks. Some officials said a roadside bomb caused the blast.
It followed a mortar attack near the fortified Green Zone compound where the political and religious leaders were meeting to select a 100-member interim national assembly. Officials said it was unclear if there were any casualties from that attack.
While the rebellion has undermined Allawi’s authority, he is walking a tightrope with passions in the majority Shi’ite country at boiling point over US troops fighting near Najaf’s sacred Imam Ali Mosque and a vast ancient cemetery.
Explosions echoed across the old city and thick smoke rose into the sky as US tanks and armoured vehicles took positions near the holy sites where Sadr’s militia are entrenched.
A Reuters photographer was wounded in the leg while covering the fighting. The photographer, an Iraqi, was treated for bullet fragment wounds at a US combat hospital and later released.
The national conference is expected to select the assembly later on Tuesday to oversee the interim government until January elections, but Najaf has dominated the three-day gathering.
Once appointed, the interim assembly will be able to veto legislation with a two-thirds majority, approve Iraq’s 2005 budget, and appoint a new prime minister or president should either resign or die in office.
Clashes also erupted overnight between the militia and US forces in a poor Shi’ite suburb in Baghdad called Sadr City.
The Health Ministry said 14 people had been killed and 122 wounded in Sadr City in the past 24 hours. Witnesses said two teenage girls were among the dead, killed in US shelling of the slum district where Sadr draws much of his support.
Broadening their uprising from the urban battlefield, the Mehdi Army set an oil well on fire in southern Iraq on Monday, the government said.
The unrest also forced Iraq to keep a main southern oil pipeline shut on Tuesday, reducing export flows by almost half.
The delegation will try to give the cleric a letter, urging him to leave the shrine and turn his militia into a political party.
But the scion of a Shi’ite clerical dynasty, aged about 30 and the most powerful opponent of the United States and the interim government, has shown little sign of compromise.
He has demanded US forces leave Najaf and the government grant an amnesty to his fighters as part of any deal.
Thousands of protesters have joined Sadr in the Imam Ali Mosque, promising to act as human shields in the city of 600,000 people some 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.
The French fiancee of a US journalist held hostage in Iraq has appealed for his release, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said, adding that Micah Garen’s family had not heard from him since Friday when he disappeared with his translator.
Garen worked for a New-York based production company and was making a documentary on archaeology and the impact of the war.
Khaleej Times Online
Iraq War News
Suspected Militants Kidnap Iraqi Officer-Jazeera: "Suspected militants have kidnapped anIraqi intelligence officer in response to the fighting in theholy city of Najaf, Al Jazeera television reported on Tuesday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Journalist, Translator Kidnapped in Iraq: "A Western journalist and his Iraqi translator were kidnapped by two armed men in a busy market in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, police said Monday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq delegates urge al-Sadr to end fight: "The deadly showdown between U.S. troops and Iraqi militants in Najaf dominated Iraq's national conference Monday, with tribal and religious leaders deciding to send 60 delegates to the holy city to persuade a radical Shiite cleric to call off his fighters."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Tanks closing in on Shrine in IraqWar.info
Israel may try to break hunger strike: "Israeli jailers may try to break a Palestinian hunger strike with barbecues, hoping the aroma of grilling meat will wear down security prisoners protesting conditions and demanding more access to their families."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
2 more Turkish men taken hostage in Iraq: "Armed assailants attacked a convoy of Turkish trucks delivering supplies to U.S. forces in Iraq and took two Turkish drivers hostage, their company said Monday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Israel deports pro-Palestinian American: "An Israeli court ordered a pro-Palestinian American activist deported from the country Monday, the latest move against a foreign group opposing Israeli military activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.N. official urges political independence: "The United Nations should find ways to demonstrate political independence, regain the neutrality it lost after the Sept. 11 attacks and better communicate with the world's 1 billion Muslims, a top U.N. official said Monday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Isolated clashes in Najaf, national conference delays Sadr mission: "Clashes dragged on in Najaf after delegates from a national conference postponed a trip to the holy city in a bid to coax rebel leader Moqtada Sadr back from the brink before a threatened US-led assault. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Militants Give El Salvador 20 Days to Leave Iraq: "An Islamist grouphas given El Salvador 20 days to pull out troops from Iraq orit would strike inside the Central American country and againstits forces in Iraq, according to an Internet statement postedMonday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqi delegates delay mission to coax militia out of Najaf shrine: "At least 50 delegates from a key national conference delayed for a day their mission to persuade militia leader Moqtada Sadr to vacate Najaf's holy shrine as fighting resumed in the central Iraqi city. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
NEW GENERATOR MEANS MORE LIGHTS ON FOR IRAQ in CENTCOM: News Release
COALITION SUPPORTS NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND ANA SECURITY EFFORTS in CENTCOM: News Release
DETAINEE RELEASE BOARD TAKES ON IRAQI PARTNERS in CENTCOM: News Release
VOTERS REGISTRATION SUCCEEDS IN AFGHANISTAN in CENTCOM: News Release
IEDS BRING PRISON TERMS FOR ANTI-IRAQI FORCES in CENTCOM: News Release
POOL REPORT 2 FROM FPRINT PRESS POOLER AT FOB EAGLE, SADR CITY in CENTCOM: News Release
Conflict in Najaf Dominates Iraq Political Meet: "Iraqi leaders met for a second day onMonday to pick an interim national assembly but fighting inNajaf dominated the event, piling pressure on Prime MinisterIyad Allawi to hold more talks with Shi'ite rebels. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqi delegates prepare to leave to coax militia out of Najaf shrine: "At least 50 delegates from a key national conference prepared to drive to Najaf, confident they could persuade militia leader Moqtada Sadr to vacate the city's holy shrine, said a participant. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Delegates Urge Al-Sadr to Leave Shrine: "U.S. tanks rolled into the Old City of Najaf toward a holy Shiite shrine where militants were hiding Monday as participants at a national conference voted to send a delegation here to try to negotiate an end to the fighting. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Militants Give El Salvador 20 Days to Quit Iraq: "An Islamist group has given El Salvador20 days to pull out troops from Iraq or it would strike insidethe Central American country and against its forces in Iraq,according to an Internet statement posted Monday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
in
|
Suspected Militants Kidnap Iraqi Officer-Jazeera: "Suspected militants have kidnapped anIraqi intelligence officer in response to the fighting in theholy city of Najaf, Al Jazeera television reported on Tuesday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Journalist, Translator Kidnapped in Iraq: "A Western journalist and his Iraqi translator were kidnapped by two armed men in a busy market in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, police said Monday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq delegates urge al-Sadr to end fight: "The deadly showdown between U.S. troops and Iraqi militants in Najaf dominated Iraq's national conference Monday, with tribal and religious leaders deciding to send 60 delegates to the holy city to persuade a radical Shiite cleric to call off his fighters."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Tanks closing in on Shrine in IraqWar.info
Israel may try to break hunger strike: "Israeli jailers may try to break a Palestinian hunger strike with barbecues, hoping the aroma of grilling meat will wear down security prisoners protesting conditions and demanding more access to their families."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
2 more Turkish men taken hostage in Iraq: "Armed assailants attacked a convoy of Turkish trucks delivering supplies to U.S. forces in Iraq and took two Turkish drivers hostage, their company said Monday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Israel deports pro-Palestinian American: "An Israeli court ordered a pro-Palestinian American activist deported from the country Monday, the latest move against a foreign group opposing Israeli military activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.N. official urges political independence: "The United Nations should find ways to demonstrate political independence, regain the neutrality it lost after the Sept. 11 attacks and better communicate with the world's 1 billion Muslims, a top U.N. official said Monday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Isolated clashes in Najaf, national conference delays Sadr mission: "Clashes dragged on in Najaf after delegates from a national conference postponed a trip to the holy city in a bid to coax rebel leader Moqtada Sadr back from the brink before a threatened US-led assault. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Militants Give El Salvador 20 Days to Leave Iraq: "An Islamist grouphas given El Salvador 20 days to pull out troops from Iraq orit would strike inside the Central American country and againstits forces in Iraq, according to an Internet statement postedMonday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqi delegates delay mission to coax militia out of Najaf shrine: "At least 50 delegates from a key national conference delayed for a day their mission to persuade militia leader Moqtada Sadr to vacate Najaf's holy shrine as fighting resumed in the central Iraqi city. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
NEW GENERATOR MEANS MORE LIGHTS ON FOR IRAQ in CENTCOM: News Release
COALITION SUPPORTS NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND ANA SECURITY EFFORTS in CENTCOM: News Release
DETAINEE RELEASE BOARD TAKES ON IRAQI PARTNERS in CENTCOM: News Release
VOTERS REGISTRATION SUCCEEDS IN AFGHANISTAN in CENTCOM: News Release
IEDS BRING PRISON TERMS FOR ANTI-IRAQI FORCES in CENTCOM: News Release
POOL REPORT 2 FROM FPRINT PRESS POOLER AT FOB EAGLE, SADR CITY in CENTCOM: News Release
Conflict in Najaf Dominates Iraq Political Meet: "Iraqi leaders met for a second day onMonday to pick an interim national assembly but fighting inNajaf dominated the event, piling pressure on Prime MinisterIyad Allawi to hold more talks with Shi'ite rebels. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqi delegates prepare to leave to coax militia out of Najaf shrine: "At least 50 delegates from a key national conference prepared to drive to Najaf, confident they could persuade militia leader Moqtada Sadr to vacate the city's holy shrine, said a participant. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Delegates Urge Al-Sadr to Leave Shrine: "U.S. tanks rolled into the Old City of Najaf toward a holy Shiite shrine where militants were hiding Monday as participants at a national conference voted to send a delegation here to try to negotiate an end to the fighting. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Militants Give El Salvador 20 Days to Quit Iraq: "An Islamist group has given El Salvador20 days to pull out troops from Iraq or it would strike insidethe Central American country and against its forces in Iraq,according to an Internet statement posted Monday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
in
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
U.S. Army troops of the 1st Infantry Division stand
U.S. Army troops of the 1st Infantry Division stand over an automobile engine thrown by the blast of a suicide car bomber, where six Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed and six wounded at a checkpoint outside Baquba, August 3, 2004. Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, has been the scene of numerous insurgent strikes in recent months, including a suicide car bomb last week that killed 70 people. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters
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Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters
Up-armored vehicles offer 24th MEU convoys more protection
Up-armored vehicles offer 24th MEU convoys more protection
Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon
Civilian contractors work to install a gunner's shield atop a humvee from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at an armor installation facility in Kuwait July 17.
The gunner's shield is part of the new up-armor being placed on the MEU's vehicles. Up-armor offers the Marines in the vehicle 360 degrees of protection by covering the gunner's turret, undercarriage and side of the vehicle.
The MEU is currently in Kuwait conducting training and making final preparations for their deployment to Iraq.
by Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon
24th MEU
CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait (July 18, 2004) -- In a large warehouse outside of Kuwait City civilian contractors from more than 25 countries around the world work in two, 12-hour shifts seven days a week.
They are working around the clock in temperatures reaching 120 degrees to ensure U.S. Marines are protected from improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire during convoy operations by installing new panels, dubbed up-armor, to the gunner's turret, undercarriage and sides of their vehicles.
Beginning July 16, more than 60 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement seven-ton trucks and humvees from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been fitted with the new armor plates.
"Since February we have installed more than 5,000 kits on Marine Corps vehicles," said Chief Warrant Office 2 Eric Gilmer, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, and is a project team leader from Logistics Command, Marine Corps Base Albany, Ga. "The guys in my shop call this 'Operation Armor All.'"
According to Gilmer, the up-armor project began in February when Marine commanders wanted 100 percent side protection on their vehicles. Headquarters Marine Corps sent a request to Logistics Command to come up with a design for the new armor.
Within 28 days of the request, the new up-armor had been prototyped, tested, approved and installed on vehicles headed to Iraq from the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
After being installed, the new up-armored panels and gunner's shield offer the Marines in the vehicle 360 degrees of protection.
"This stuff really works," said Gilmer. "I have gotten a few e-mails from different Marines and they all said it works great. I have also seen photos, and in every instance no one has died - a few have been hurt, but no deaths."
Even the vehicle operators feel safer just having the armor on there.
"It is comforting to know that most anything can't get through it," said Lance Cpl. Jason Williman, 22, a Los Angeles native and motor vehicle operator from 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. "Now we don't have to use so many sandbags and it feels a lot safer."
Pfc. Ryan Norstrom, 20, a Greenwich, Conn., native and motor vehicle operator from 1/2 agrees. "The new armor makes it pretty hot in there, but you definitely feel more protected, so I think it is a fair tradeoff."
"I would rather feel safe than comfortable," added Williman. " I have a wife to go home to."
The Marines also agreed they felt more protected from improvised explosive devices and heavy machine gun rounds.
"The survival rate with this armor is tremendous," said Lt. Col. Vincent Coglianese, 44, a Spring Lake, N.J., native and commanding officer of MEU Service Support Group 24. "I know the Marines feel more confident with it on there."
Armed with newfound confidence, the Marines of the 24th MEU will soon put their enhanced armored vehicles to the test as they move from Kuwait to Iraq.
Up-armored vehicles offer 24th MEU convoys more protection
|
Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon
Civilian contractors work to install a gunner's shield atop a humvee from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at an armor installation facility in Kuwait July 17.
The gunner's shield is part of the new up-armor being placed on the MEU's vehicles. Up-armor offers the Marines in the vehicle 360 degrees of protection by covering the gunner's turret, undercarriage and side of the vehicle.
The MEU is currently in Kuwait conducting training and making final preparations for their deployment to Iraq.
by Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon
24th MEU
CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait (July 18, 2004) -- In a large warehouse outside of Kuwait City civilian contractors from more than 25 countries around the world work in two, 12-hour shifts seven days a week.
They are working around the clock in temperatures reaching 120 degrees to ensure U.S. Marines are protected from improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire during convoy operations by installing new panels, dubbed up-armor, to the gunner's turret, undercarriage and sides of their vehicles.
Beginning July 16, more than 60 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement seven-ton trucks and humvees from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been fitted with the new armor plates.
"Since February we have installed more than 5,000 kits on Marine Corps vehicles," said Chief Warrant Office 2 Eric Gilmer, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, and is a project team leader from Logistics Command, Marine Corps Base Albany, Ga. "The guys in my shop call this 'Operation Armor All.'"
According to Gilmer, the up-armor project began in February when Marine commanders wanted 100 percent side protection on their vehicles. Headquarters Marine Corps sent a request to Logistics Command to come up with a design for the new armor.
Within 28 days of the request, the new up-armor had been prototyped, tested, approved and installed on vehicles headed to Iraq from the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
After being installed, the new up-armored panels and gunner's shield offer the Marines in the vehicle 360 degrees of protection.
"This stuff really works," said Gilmer. "I have gotten a few e-mails from different Marines and they all said it works great. I have also seen photos, and in every instance no one has died - a few have been hurt, but no deaths."
Even the vehicle operators feel safer just having the armor on there.
"It is comforting to know that most anything can't get through it," said Lance Cpl. Jason Williman, 22, a Los Angeles native and motor vehicle operator from 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. "Now we don't have to use so many sandbags and it feels a lot safer."
Pfc. Ryan Norstrom, 20, a Greenwich, Conn., native and motor vehicle operator from 1/2 agrees. "The new armor makes it pretty hot in there, but you definitely feel more protected, so I think it is a fair tradeoff."
"I would rather feel safe than comfortable," added Williman. " I have a wife to go home to."
The Marines also agreed they felt more protected from improvised explosive devices and heavy machine gun rounds.
"The survival rate with this armor is tremendous," said Lt. Col. Vincent Coglianese, 44, a Spring Lake, N.J., native and commanding officer of MEU Service Support Group 24. "I know the Marines feel more confident with it on there."
Armed with newfound confidence, the Marines of the 24th MEU will soon put their enhanced armored vehicles to the test as they move from Kuwait to Iraq.
Up-armored vehicles offer 24th MEU convoys more protection
