Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH Iraq

Road trip through Iraq

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq — Vehicles in a rear element of the 278th Regimental Combat Team’s convoy into Iraq ground to a halt just outside one of the country’s most dangerous towns. "Everybody on your weapons, and look mean and ugly," said Capt. Todd Woodruff, company commander of Service Battery, First Squadron, over the radio. "If you see (a U.S. soldier) smoking, joking or sleeping, tell them to get back on their guns and act like they are going to shoot somebody."

Soldiers with the 278th, a Tennessee-based National Guard unit, began arriving in Iraq from Kuwait this weekend on several convoys spread over six days. The regiment will spend the next year at three military bases in the country’s eastern Diyala region near the Iranian border. Camp Caldwell will be the home of the regiment’s headquarters and its First Squadron.

While 278th mechanics worked on a broken-down convoy vehicle near Baqubah, troops spread out along the road and pointed their weapons at the vast desert in all directions. A white truck with three passengers soon began heading straight toward the stopped convoy. Military officials had called the area around Baqubah a "hot spot" during preconvoy meetings.

"We’re just sitting ducks out here," said Staff Sgt. Carmen Halcomb, 47, of Crossville, Tenn., as he crouched down to one knee behind his truck.

Soon two Apache helicopters appeared and began circling low overhead. The white truck turned around and began a slow retreat, a relief to the soldiers.

READY TO FIGHT

Col. Dennis Adams, the regimental commander, said the convoys, each lasting about three days, were successful because troops drove only in daylight hours and seemed fierce.

"Our vehicles looked like they were ready to fight," Col. Adams said. "Scary looking, ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’-type stuff."

The convoy with Capt. Woodruff’s unit had one roadside bomb go off between two vehicles with no injuries. Troops also found another improvised explosive device and disposed of it.

Col. Adams said the homemade armor the soldiers put on their vehicle probably prevented serious injuries for the riders in the truck nearest the homemade bomb.

"It probably saved them because they added stuff on top of the vehicle," he said.

"Not one single round fired You can’t beat that trip," said Sgt Doug Carroll, 40, of Madisonville Tenn., about the convoy section under Capt. Woodruff ’s command. But after the convoy’s wait of nearly an hour for maintenance outside of Baqubah, the roughly 35 vehicles still had to navigate a stretch of road known as RPG/IED Alley for its frequency of rocket attacks and homemade bombs. Craters from past explosions lined the roadside.

"Live and on location, it is one of the most dangerous roads on the face of the planet," said Sgt. Ernest "Bull" Hunter, 30, a bar bouncer from Cookeville, Tenn. "You thought Chattanooga traffic was bad."

To avoid any bombs, the convoy drove right down the middle of the road, forcing civilian cars to swerve onto the surrounding dirt.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

The nearly 450-mile convoy began about 48 hours earlier in Kuwait under less-tense conditions.

Troops with the 278th crammed equipment into the cabs of their trucks. Bullets, weapons and gas masks shared space with bags of chips, sodas and empty bottles for nature calls. There would be no bathroom breaks on this journey, and soldiers would have to sleep outside by their vehicles.

A single Iraqi flag by a roadside flanked with barbed wire offered the passing troops the only sign they had entered into potentially hostile territory.

Almost as soon as the convoy crossed the border, the 278th soldiers noticed a difference in the living conditions between Kuwait and Iraq.

"One word describes this place — hopeless," said Sgt. Hunter as he looked out at the desolation from his gunner’s rooftop perch.

Open-ended tents with clothes hanging on tent ropes dotted the landscape. Iraqis sold convenience store items out of flimsy thatched huts set dangerously close to the road. Sheep and camel herds appeared out of nowhere under the eye and stick of a single shepherd.

Despite the squalor in some places, more than a few homes had rooftop satellite dishes.

Accident-scarred cars formed long lines at every gas station. Some Iraqis rode on donkeys, but most just walked. Stray dogs darted across roads, and woman carried large basins on their heads.

MAIN SUPPLY ROUTE TAMPA

In Iraq, U.S. convoys own the roads. Cars trying to enter a convoy are warned to stay away by the barrel of a mounted .50-caliber machine gun. Iraqis often drive on the wrong side of the road for miles just to pass a long line of military vehicles.

Iraqi National Guard soldiers cradling AK-47 rifles stood guard at most roadside checkpoints. Other Iraqi security forces rode around in civilian trucks with guns on the back operated by Iraqis with black masks to protect their identity.

Throughout the journey, the 278th convoy passed streams of oil trucks guarded by Humvees, usually heading away from Iraq.

Soldiers saw many other military convoys on the roads sporting the same "hillbilly armor" on their doors and front grilles that the 278th members spent two weeks crafting in Kuwait.

"Some of the things we passed had no more armor on it than we do," Sgt. Carroll said. "Most of it was homemade."

But a steady stream of trucks, each hauling two brand-new armored Humvees, also was a common sight on the military’s congested major thoroughfare, called Main Supply Route Tampa.

HOME, HEART IN TENNESSEE

Frequent highway signs warning the troops to be aware of children in the roads hinted at what would be one of the convoys’ biggest challenges: dodging young Iraqis eager to catch a glimpse at the uniformed soldiers riding in the huge vehicles. Barefooted children by the hundreds jumped up and down, waved and gave the thumbs-up sign.

Some children cried out, "Give me food," but most simply motioned their hands to their mouths while pleading eyes stared directly at the nearest soldiers.

"There is a little public relations for you," said Sgt. Hunter as he tossed out candy. Even the few treats that landed inside rolls of barbed wire did not stay there for long. The tiniest children crawled through to snatch the goodies.

When the convoy halted, children rushed right up to the doors of the military vehicles, holding up gold-colored bracelets and old Iraqi money with pictures of Saddam Hussein.

"Five dollars. Buy it. Buy it. OK," shouted the children while they banged on the vehicle doors.

As the convoy reached its final leg some Iraqis shouted, "Welcome." Their words were encouraging to soldiers wary about what the next 12 months might bring.

"Home sweet home for a year," said Staff Sgt. Halcomb as he drove into the gates of Camp Caldwell.

"Home is where the heart is, and mine is still in Tennessee," Sgt. Hunter replied.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

U.S. Army Photos by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - A 278th Regimental Combat Team convoy rolls down a stretch of highway under the protection of Apache helicopters.

U.S. Army Photos by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - Members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team take up position along a stretch of highway.

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