Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq — Soldiers with blood types inked on their Kevlar helmets listened over idling engines as Capt. Todd Woodruff told them there were three roadside bombs in five days on the convoy route they were about to take.

Capt. Woodruff asked the gathered members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team to raise their hands if they were certified as combat lifesavers. After further instructions that there would be no stopping unless a vehicle broke down and that all bridges should be driven over as quickly as possible, the convoy patrol set off.

As last week’s convoy passed the camp’s outer gate, soldiers in the lead Humvee rammed cartridges into their M-4 rifles and clicked rounds into chambers. Each vehicle’s gunner pointed his weapon in a different direction so all areas were covered. Soldiers yelled at one another to overcome the earplugs serving as protection from potential explosions.

"Game Time!" said the lead Humvee’s gunner, Spc. Shawn Hart, 20, of Alcoa, Tenn., who improvised a seat inside his gunner’s hatch by using a cardboard box filed with prepackaged meals. Spc. Hart, with his torso sticking out of the Humvee’s roof, also served as traffic cop, waving Iraqis off the road. On previous convoys, he usually flashed a set of cosmetic gold teeth at passing Iraqis, but on this mission he forgot them.

"You left your teeth, and I left my reading glasses," said driver Sgt. Dean Roberts, 48, of Ten Mile, Tenn. "So we’re even. You can’t eat, and I can’t see."

Despite such deficiencies, the convoy of Tennessee-based 278th soldiers arrived safely at another camp, Forward Operating Base Cobra, without a shot fired. At Cobra, the soldiers picked up extra vehicles and supplies to take back to Camp Caldwell.

So far, the many combat patrols the regiment has taken since arriving in Iraq several weeks ago have been mostly incident-free, 278th commanders said.

Capt. Scott Leslie, the commander of 1st Squadron’s Deacon Troop, said insurgents have yet to attack his company’s patrols through the three major towns in its sector.

Capt. Dale Bradley, commander of the Cleveland-based Apache Troop in the regiment’s 1st Squadron, said his soldiers have been shot at only once during a convoy. Insurgents fired a few rounds at the patrol’s ambulance and fled, he said.

"It is good that it is quiet," he said. "I hope it stays quiet. Nobody in their right mind picks a fight."

Capt. Bradley said many people in the United States are under the misconception that it’s a shooting gallery every time a U.S. convoy rolls through the Iraqi countryside.

"The media has portrayed it to be that because that gets headlines," he said.

Lt. Col. Jeff Holmes, commander of the regiment’s 3rd Squadron, said insurgents are hesitant to attack U.S. troops because "every time they do, they get killed."

"The best thing that could happen to us is they stand up and shoot at us," he said. "That’s a good day, because that means we can kill them."

Lt. Col. Holmes, 43, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., said the insurgents prefer to go after soft targets such as defense contractors and unarmed Iraqi civilians. Capt. Jim Reed, of Cookeville, Tenn., said Iraqi security forces, such as police and National Guard units, are fired upon almost daily. A lot of Iraqi National Guard forces are killed in and around the 278th’s area, Capt. Reed said.

The Iraqis who were ambushed and massacred last October trained at Camp Caldwell, according to Capt. Reed.

On Oct. 24, insurgents dressed as policemen ambushed and killed 49 freshly trained Iraqi army soldiers and three civilian drivers in eastern Iraq. The victims were pulled out of three minibuses and, in most cases, shot execution-style in the head. "We’ve refocused so we can protect these guys and get them trained to make sure they are secure," Capt. Reed said. "We work hand-in-hand with all the Iraqi security forces. We do missions with them."

The 278th soldiers said they will not let their guard down no matter how many uneventful convoys or combat patrols occur. "You have to always have that mindset this could be the day," Sgt. Roberts said.

To deal with the tension and uncertainty, many 278th soldiers load up on caffeine or nicotine before a ride. Jolt chewing gum is eaten by the pack, cigars are chewed, cigarettes smoked and coffee or Red Bull downed.

"You can’t pay for this kind of adrenaline," said Capt. Woodruff, 36, of Cullman, Ala., who knocks down coffee while chewing Jolt. "It is an amusement park ride."

Soldiers said they enjoy some of the perks that riding in a heavily armored convoy provides them, such as getting to ignore most traffic laws.

"It’s a rush making those big trucks get over," Sgt. Roberts said of forcing civilian cars off the road. "It’s been a long time since I got to play chicken and win."

In a supply convoy to Logistical Support Area Anaconda two weeks ago, Capt. Woodruff successfully navigated a recently attacked pontoon bridge over the Tigris River that now is heavily guarded by U.S. Marines. Releasing all the stored-up energy for the firefight that never came left some soldiers hungry and others exhausted.

"We went to war, boys, and now we made it back," said Capt. Woodruff, whose unit will be making two supply trips a month. "Now I need a nap. Combat wears me out."

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

Staff photo by Edward Lee Pitts - Members of the 278th Regimental Combat team gather last week inside Camp Caldwell for a pre-convoy mission briefing.

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