24. The Storm

Written: March 24-26, 2003

Monday, March 24, 2003
Here we sit in Iraq. We are just south of An Najaf at a dirt strip airfield called Khan Ar Rahbah. We are 8o miles south of Baghdad. It has been a sobering trip so far.

Right now it is 9:49pm and I am sleeping next to my aircraft with our crew, CBS Bob and two LRS guys. It is dark. The roving guards just walked by to tell us that there are 10 to 20 dismounted people with RPG’s and small arms 4 kilometers east of here. This gets worse by the minute.

Earlier I picked up (was issued) 4 grenades. They are in the grenade sumps in our aircraft. We have one M-60 mounted and one M-60 on the ground. We are all wearing our Mopp suits and haven’t been out of them since we came here.

Heard an update from LTC Franks that 3 Chinooks came under fire today while flying up here with some sling loads. One was hit by an RPG and debris hit one of the pilots. They dropped their load and eventually landed. I think it is still out there?

Intelligence is not flowing very well at all. This whole plan is messed up and it gets worse by the minute. There seems to be no real plan for defending this place but I am happy that we got the grenades. Something is better than nothing.

Bob is trying to uplink to his satellite to get some news.

There are white lights all over this assembly area but Fred just pointed out that they seem to have gone off. I think I will sleep with my pistol.

Jut heard a bunch of artillery fire to the east, very close by.

We spent today checking out the damaged aircraft and collecting information about what happened and what is happening. We also dug a large foxhole to get into if we need to and a garbage pit to toss our MRE trash into.

It was a very sandy, nasty day. When I woke up at 7am it was a beautiful, clear day but within a few hours it turned into a major sand storm and we fought the wind all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be much worse.

Took pictures of the aircraft that crashed on take off last night and saw lots of others with bullet holes in them.

The news said that Al Jazerra television is showing the Apache that were shot down last night and also displaying the 2 flight helmets of the pilots who were in it. No new news from them although the LTC said that the air force picked up two radio beacons earlier today. They are going to keep listening and will hopefully get another call from them tonight.

Not a good feeling at all to think that there are people just 3 miles from here with weapons looking to attack us. Of course, we are looking to attack them too so I guess it works out in the end.

Fred just got up and loaded his pistol and is keeping it close to him. I just woke up Jim and told him what was going on. He grabbed his pistol too.

Earlier we saw more MLRS rockets launch into the night sky.

Tuesday, March 25
The sand storm nailed us at 10am. It had been very windy up until this point, but something changed and the sand picked up and whipped around. We gathered our stuff and tried to get relief inside the aircraft but it really was no use.

At 3pm, we got word that there were shots fired in the perimeter so we went to 100% security. We all gathered our gear, some grenades and our guns and jumped into our foxholes and waited to see what would come.

It was hard to see through the thick sand and we were waiting the the "hoard" to emerge from the storm. Nothing happened. But we were ready.

At 4pm it started to get very dark. The sun was slowly being blocked out by the enormity of the sand and soon we could not see. The sun was still high in the sky but we could not see any signs of it. It first turned a shade of red that was similar to the pictures that the Mars lander sent back a few years ago.

The wind howled and the sun stayed blocked out. Suddenly, the wind stopped and we were able to get out of the aircraft. Everyone else got out of their aircraft and we all met outside and talked. The wind was still. Nothing was blowing. No sand, no wind, but the sun was still blocked and the menacing red glow remained. Pete Barr is in the aircraft next to us. He was able to crawl out of his shelter and together we all stood outside marveling at the red color of the earth and sky. We had never seen anything like this.

Within a few minutes, the wind picked up again and reversed direction. It was as if all the sand that had been covering us over the past day was now getting a second chance at us. Everyone retreated to their aircraft for shelter. It was comical to see everyone scurrying for shelter.

Eventually it got dark and we couldn’t tell if it was red still or not. The wind continued to whip all night and Jim wanted to set up a tent to sleep in so, reluctantly, I went outside and helped him set it up and weigh it down so it wouldn’t move. What a lost cause. Jim was outside pounding stakes in the ground and fighting the sand and wind but he perservered and eventually got it set up--a bit more worse for wear.

Fred and Kenny slept in the aircraft and Chris, Jim and I slept in that tent and got beat by the wind all night. We were covered in sand by morning. It was a miserable night.

Wednesday, March 26
By the time we woke up (did we even sleep?) it was 6am and the storm was apparently gone. No signs of anything other than the fact that our aircraft was now sand colored as was anything else that was outside. It was an amazingly clear morning. Brisk, almost cold, but felt great like a cool winter day. We attempted to fly our aircraft inside the expanding perimeter but were forced to stay when the storm returned within an hour. By the time we were ready to fly and reposition the sand picked back up again and we knew we were stuck for another day.

Spent most of the day in and around the aircraft and I even took my camera apart to try to fix it with no luck.

In the afternoon, in the midst of the sand storm we filled sandbags for our new living area.

Had guard duty again with Jim at 3am. The storm had settled so it was clear and cold. We drove around in a HMMWV for an hour with our night vision goggles.

On the horizon we could see shots being fired up into the air. Nothing significant other than trying to stay alive in this hostile environment.