Blog: MRE-Military Bits
You know how every now and then someone will claim so-and-so could sleep through a war? Well, last night I kind of did just that.
I got to the sleeping tent shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday and went to bed pretty fast. Two hours later I awoke to see all the lights back on and most of the soldiers in the tent bustling about in full combat gear, weapons in hand.
Apparently two "suicide bombers" had entered the base and took out the base defense operations center. Indirect fire was going off near the sleeping tents.
And I of course woke up for none of the actual attack.
In the end, about a dozen soldiers were "killed" as a result of the attack with another 15 "injured." Several radios and a Humvee were also taken out.
I'm still here at the Brigade Support Battalion and basically what this means is lots of paperwork. Every soldier who was killed or injured has to be processed, and requests need to be made to replace the damaged equipment. They don't get to use the stuff for the next 12 hours or so either.
This is the worst attack the base has seen here at NTC, and possibly it will be the worst during their whole time here. It's unlikely that such an attack will occur in Iraq (especially with declining violence there, but as Maj. Jeffrey Witt tells me, it's all just part of training for the worst possible scenario.
Stupid question, but how does getting "killed" work? Is it like paintball where you just sit out the rest of the round, or what?
Basically, yes. You go to the medical tent, they "fix you up," and then you're back to training in about an hour.
Chris, are you staying at FOB King the entire time or are you going to other FOB's at all?
My insider at King told me that even with 'the surprise attack' many of the men thought that it was a poorly written situation due to the fact they terrorists might get in, but they would never get out.
And then there was some talk of men running out of tents in their boots and boxers (guns in hand) to 'assess the damage'.
I'm leaving FOB King today for FOB Dallas, and I'll be moving to a couple other bases later in the week.
My husband is in the BSB and during one of the attacks he was told he obtained injuries to his left leg and "member" and they actually stripped him and wrapped it!!! Makes me wonder about these war games sometimes...lol.
Chris,
You were sleeping in the same tent as my husband !!!!
He said it was funny !!!
I can't sleep with noise, or light. How do you do it??
Thanks for being there, and sending us these stories. We appreciate the info, and the humor.
Will you be going to Iraq with them?
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