Dear DerAdlerIstGelandet:
Well what do you know, we were at the same places at the same time! Oh, did you know a SPC Amanda Loveless? She worked on helicopter avionics at BIAP. Just being curios
Both times the team was at BIAP, it was a Camp Stryke. That was the walled area that was on the departure end of the runway. My team leader once was buzzed by a low flying C-130. He said it was so low he could see the color of the pilot's eyes.
I know the C-130s would pop IR flares so low that we would hear the pop of ignition. And sometimes the flares would still be burning when they hit the ground.
Was you there on Easter Sunday, April 2004? That was when the bad guys tried to storm a gate at BIAP. The fighting was on the other side of the wall (airfield side) from us. An M-1 and M-2 did engage the bad guys from 150 meters beyond the "house" we were quartered in. It was the two story job next to the wall. That was close enough! We did put on the "battle rattle" and go arming order red to be ready. But nothing happened in our area.
The next day we left BIAP for Kuwait. I figured we had done worn out our welcome! That next day, Monday, was interesting. We got to the gate to leave early. We had a dream of making Kuwait in one very long day.
We were held for several hours at the gate for IEDs. We weren't going to complain even though we knew Kuwait would now take two days. We finally got released and started south on MSR Tampa. Oh, about an hour, hour and a half south of Baghdad, the six lane road goes over two dry washes. A bit before we got there, the bad guys had blown 5 of the 6 lanes. The Marines were just securing the area as we arrived.
The element I was in stopped for a bit and then drove across the median and used the undamaged lane on each bridge to get over the bridge. Once over, my driver told me we were now the last truck. That is not good! Our truck was a Humvee with a "rat rig" shelter and pulling a 5K generator. Not good!
The element stopped and we pulled security. We pulled rear guard and told the next truck up to watch our flanks. Hey, you adapt!
While we were stopped, our 1SG is on the radio telling the SFC (senior person) in the rear part of our element to tell the Marines what ever he had to to be able to join us. We were NOT coming back! Just a note, TOP is in the one picture with me and he was a Mud Marine in Vietnam. Back to the story.
It worked. The rear did rejoin us and our 2nd element was able to get through the bridge area. So we continued south.
Everything was fine until we hit the fuel stop. They wanted to know what the he)) we was doing there! We was supposed to have back at the bridge. No one told us! So TOP told them we are here. We need fuel to go any wheres. So it was decided we could continue south.
MSR Tampa was closed. So we had the road to ourselves for two days! That was nice. And we had no problems with the bad guys the whole trip.
Tuesday we got to Kuwait and then Camp Victory in Kuwait. Our war was over!!!! TOP called his wife to alert the FRG telephone tree that we were safe. Her first call must have been to my Mom. She was yelling on the phone, THEY'RE SAFE! THEY'RE SAFE! Mom couldn't understand what was being said and almost hung up! I had done proper OPSEC and hadn't told Mom and Dad when we would be leaving Iraq. Only that we were getting close. So Mom wasn't worried at all!
Now for the wild part. Karen, who was to be my future girl friend, heard on the news that the road south out of Baghdad was closed, but that a few elements had gotten through. She says that once she heard the news, she new it was us that had got through. She is spooky that way.
I hope I didn't bore you or anyone else here. That is how my Company "Escaped" from Iraq!
Bill G.