- Introduction
Introduction to the writer - Breaking the News
How I told my family I was leaving in ten days. - The Road to War
Planning for combat operations aboard the USS Bataan enroute to the Middle East - Hurry Up & Wait
Life in the assembly area - Camp Shoup, Kuwait - Attack Positions
Occupation of final staging areas in Kuwait - Crossing the Line of Departure
Attacking into Iraq. - Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Speeding down the highway at night, without lights (going the wrong-way). - Attack!
Attack to seize key bridges in An Nasiryah. - "Punch out the TAC CP"
More action in the Battle of An Nasiriyah. - Running the Gauntlet
Racing through 4 miles of enemy held city. - Return to Friendly Lines
My encounter with an Iraqi tank on the return trip. - Counter Attack!
Iraqi night attack on our rear area. - Jessica Lynch Rescue
The rescue of Jessica Lynch and the next mission.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
A Personal Account of the Battle of An Nasiriyah
Hurry Up and Wait
Camp Shoup was a tent camp constructed in the North West corner of Kuwait about thirty miles from the Iraqi border. It was surrounded by sand berms and eventually grew to include chemical toilets and shower facilities. The latter didn’t arrive until it was almost time to leave Kuwait and travel north.
Communications Equipment, Camp Shoup, Kuwait
After about three weeks of eating MRE’s, we were served breakfast and dinner in the chow hall -- a row of large white tents installed by local contractors. Chicken was the standard fare for our evening meal. I’m fortunate to like chicken and was happy enough even though the portions were pretty small. One evening, I was late getting to chow and had to eat what they had left: white rice and brussel sprouts. The upside was I got to eat all that I wanted -- which wasn’t much.
My experience at Camp Shoup is easy to describe. Imagine a giant hair dryer blowing sand in your face. We experienced a sand storm every three or four days. They made your life miserable. We had difficulty keeping the sand out of sensitive equipment. The sand really tore up our generators. New air filters were impossible to come by. So every two hours, we had to go out in the storm and beat the sand out of our filters.
RCT-2 was subordinate to 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2d MEB). During the war, 2d MEB was known as Task Force Tarawa. Under Task Force Tarawa was RCT-2, Combat Service Support Battalion 22 -- a small logistics element, and later, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (15th MEU (SOC)) and 24 MEU (SOC).
One night during a sand storm, I was walking with a friend to the toilets. We shot an azimuth with his compass to where we thought the porta-potties were. We certainly couldn’t see them -- even with goggles on. We walked for quite a while until I actually physically ran into somebody. We never found the toilets that night. The next morning we learned most of them had blown over anyway. We were lucky to have the compass to find our way back to the tent.
Members of the "Mess," Camp Shoup, Kuwait
One enjoyable part about Camp Shoup was the time I spent in the "Mess". The "Mess" consisted of about ten majors that shared a GP (general purpose) tent for living quarters. Our evenings were well spent in laughter as we worked out the frustrations of the day. A few of the Marines developed Rules of the Mess that were directed a curbing the annoying habits that each of us had. The rule prohibiting any mechanical noises before 7:15 am was established in my honor. The February evenings got rather cold in Kuwait. Hence, I preferred to use my battery-powered razor before I got out of my warm sleeping bag in each morning. My fellow members of the mess were apparently not impressed with my efforts to stay warm.
CONSTITUTION OF THE MESS
- Magazines are not to leave the mess portico defined as half the distance to filthy company grade barn.
- No washing of body parts above laughing line and below naval in view of the mess.
- No references to feminine hygiene or birthing process in general within the confines of the mess.
- No mechanical noises within mess between the hours of 2200 and 0715 (special emphasis on electric razor).
- It is encouraged and considered of gentlemanly refinement to share magazines, food packages, and tobacco products with other members of the mess.
- Trash is to be removed from mess on a daily rotary basis commensurate with bed spaces clockwise around the mess.
- Eating of MRE's within mess is strictly prohibited with the exception of inclement weather (conditions agreed to by members of the mess and confirmed by Viking 2).
- Foot hygiene to be maintained by all members of the mess.
- No clipping of toenails within the mess
- Residue of foot powder prohibited within the mess
- Movie selection voted on by a quorum with Viking 2 maintaining veto power.
- Members of the mess in abstentia (without voting power)
- Commanding Officer
- Chaplain
- Captain Debbie
- Further nominees may only be joined by unanimous vote
- Flatulence not prohibited but rules of etiquette apply.
- No male dancing within the confines of the mess.
- Chairs to be surrendered to rightful owner upon their return to the confines of the mess.
- Captain Debbie is the standard of the mess for all women within CENTCOM AOR.
- Nightly gathering of the mess during one hour on either side of EENT (sunset) to occur on Portico (To be referred to as the Tobacco Abuse Period - AKA "TAPS")
(Note -- I never met "Captain Debbie", an Army officer, however those that did were very enamored by her)
Our time in Kuwait was spent finalizing and validating our communication plans, conducting training, and fielding and integrating new equipment. We kept a careful eye on the news, anxiously watching the diplomatic efforts to avert the war.
On several occasions we were ordered to prepare to attack within 48 hours. We weren’t sure if this was part of a deception plan or someone was trying to anticipate the President’s decision. The orders didn’t seem to correspond to what was happening on the diplomatic front (gleaned from Voice of America). We complied with the order but didn’t commit ourselves emotionally to the imminent prospects of combat. Later, when the Voice of America was reporting that diplomacy had failed, we knew we were getting close.
One of the nice things about Camp Shoup was my access to the Internet. It took a couple of weeks to get the service in, but it was good to maintain daily contact with my family. I knew that I would not have access when we crossed the line of departure into Iraq. As we grew closer and closer to combat, I was concerned how an abrupt end of my electronic correspondence would affect my wife. I would violate security rules if I mentioned that this e-mail would be my last. So I just sent her a nice e-mail telling her how much I loved her and that no matter what happened, I promised to come home safely. She was able to figure it out.
Later I received a letter from Karen telling me that she and a number of other wives were actually relieved when the war started. To them this meant the waiting was over. We could now do our job and get home.
Next...
Attack Positions
Occupation of final staging areas in Kuwait