The Price of Complacency
The C-130 lurched slightly as it slowed above the hot sand, then began spiraling down toward the southern end of Mosul, located in northern Iraq. I would soon be meeting with an old platoon member and friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. With my ears still popping, the Air Force pilot leveled out, swooping in over the Tigris and onto the narrow slit of heat emanating tarmac at the Southern fringe of the city. I’d hung up a brief teaching profession as a Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp instructor for one more adventure. I would be spending the next year, if all went according to plan, providing force protection for a large construction company now running at full steam in Iraq.
As the ramp dropped on the C-130, the first thing that caught my eye was the white barriers that dominated the landscape. Ten and 12 foot concrete barriers were everywhere. I remember thinking that if I had a nickel for each barrier, I could go back to the beach and retire.
Grabbing my kit bag I caught a ride to company headquarters where I was greeted by my old team mate. After catching up on our lives as civilians and the administrative chores that needed doing, we got down to business. He described my duties and a few days later I was providing force protection (FP) for the Airport side of a base on a complex which, divided by a major highway, covered several hundred acres. Indoctrination included a daily ration of mortars (small to large) and rockets, mostly 122mm, fired onto both sides of the base, like clockwork, to remind us it was time to eat.
My first assignment was to ensure there were enough barriers in place. Over the next few months we erected an additional thousand or so around living quarters, the gym and a newly renovated headquarters facility. Working closely with the military, our department assisted with the coordination and integration of FP between the military and ourselves. After acquiring additional personnel in early summer, I went across the road to support the military with FP requirements on Camp Marez located to the West of Highway One.
On Camp Marez, the Army’s G-3 (Operations Officer) was responsible for FP as-well-as the ammunition holding area (AHA) that adjoined the reservation. Separated from the main base by a dilapidated chain link fence, the AHA contained over 60 hardened ammunition bunkers that took EOD over six months to clear (safe) following takeover by the 101st. . Over the next few months the Major and I commenced trying to put some teeth in FP on Marez, both agreeing that the dining facility (DFAC), in it’s current configuration, was a scary place to congregate, especially three times a day.
True to form, shortly after my arrival, a young female soldier was struck down by an infamous “dinner time mortar barrage” at the facility a few weeks prior to her scheduled wedding date. As she ran for shelter during the attack, a small fragment from a 60mm mortar struck her in the heart, putting a sudden and unexpected end to both her wedding plans and life.
Over the next few months, the major and I, working through the Army Contracting Officer (ACO) and company representatives were able to convince parties of interest that a stationary, hardened DFAC facility was in everyone’s best interest. During this same time period, the major became somewhat irritated when two unknown Middle Easterners (eventually found to be Syrians) with no identification were discovered enjoying a meal in the same facility. It was evident that the vetting process must be tightened up when hiring locals. Also, it was common to observe paperback books at inspection points at both entrances to the DFAC.
Over the next few months, the contract for the new DFAC was secured and the facility was being built a stones throw from the makeshift tent. Following temporary assignment at another base East of Mosul, I left for the West Coast to take care of some business and the FP major rotated back to Fort Lewis.
On December the 21st a terrorist made his way to the salad bar in the middle of the same DFAC and ignited a vest packed with C4 and hundreds of small diameter steel shot. As the ball bearings hurled outward at hundreds of miles an hour, twenty soldiers and four contractors died. Following a thorough investigation, mode of entry by the perpetrator was never established but it is a good bet he was wearing an Iraqi National Guard (ING) uniform and fell in with one of the units that ate there daily. Although the new DFAC was still under construction, an equivalent blast contained within a hardened structure may have been more damaging. All those ball bearing bouncing around in a fortified chamber would have probably been worse.
Conventional security doesn’t work in unconventional warfare. Unfortunately, the majority of rules and regulations are written with the blood of the complacent; some unknowing, most brave, and unfortunately, many now maimed or deceased. Security on today’s urban battle field (your street) or anywhere the terrorist plies his trade requires a high degree of consistent vigilance. When we become complacent, even momentarily, we and our Team will eventually pay the price and warriors will loose lives. Be vigilant, stay alive.