thedrifter
06-29-04, 07:43 AM
06-28-2004
From A Good Gunslinger In Iraq
This is from Stony Smith working somewhere around Baghdad. He’s working as a security contractor/bodyguard and has some ground-level observations on what is really going on in Iraq.
To help put things in context, Stony is a very intelligent and talented former West Point trained Army Ranger who speaks and reads a little Arabic, too.
Stony had the privilege of serving as one of MSG Randy Shugart’s platoon leaders back in the 2d Ranger Battalion. Randy was one of Stony’s squad leaders. MSG Shugart later became one of the Delta Force operators who sacrificed their lives in Mogadishu in 1993, while saving a wounded comrade. For this, Randy received the Medal of Honor – posthumously. This was the rescue immortalized in the book/movie “Blackhawk Down.”
Subject: Iraq Update: 16 June (Pour Yourself an Adult Beverage, This is a Long One)
Greetings from Baghdad.
I had delayed writing because I didn't think I had enough material to warrant another installment of "The Adventures of Gringo Infidel in Iraq". Now I am struggling with what to include and what to delete. It's hard to believe that almost a whole month has gone by since I last wrote.
First of all I am going to preface what I say with a little background information. Hopefully you will undergo a paradigm shift as Stephen Covey calls it.
Here we operate under the premise that every phone call we make and every e-mail we send or read can be read by the bad guys. For those reasons, I often am not specific about dates, times, locations or even identities of people. Not even my parents know where I go or when until after it has already happened.
The bad guys continue to kill Iraqis seen as collaborating with the coalition. An Iraqi woman who worked within the palace of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was shot and severely wounded. Her father was killed in the attack. How cutting someone's hair or giving an $8 pedicure to an infidel is a traitorous act worthy of punishment by death is beyond me. For this reason I won't state the name of my driver or show you a picture of the two of us together.
It is also for this reason I don't state the name of my client company or exactly what they do. Just this week a three vehicle convey was hit with a car bomb that was loaded with 1100 pounds of explosive. That's over half of a ton! It literally blew the lead vehicle over to the other side of the road, flipping it onto its roof and setting the vehicle afire. It killed three clients and two PSD's (Protective Service Detail) inside. Amazingly enough, the occupants of the number two and three vehicles lived. Eight Iraqis who were mere bystanders weren't so lucky. There's no telling how many were severely injured and maimed
Imagine every time you get into your car spending 5-15 minutes to inspect your car for IED's (improvised explosive device) or booby trap to the rest of the world. You wear body armor and have a loaded weapon in your hands. You have an assigned sector to watch. A car coming up fast on your tail is a potential threat. This isn't a once in a while event. It happens each and every time you get into your vehicle and go out into the streets. This is my world folks and it causes me to look at things differently.
Have you shifted paradigms yet? If not, that's okay. Now for some anecdotes.
Several weeks ago a few of my clients had to go to one of the ministry buildings out in Baghdad. Because of the peculiarities of their contract, my client company cannot hire their own personal PSD team. It has to be provided by the Project Management Office (PMO). Is this a jacked up arrangement? Yes. Do my clients like this arrangement? No. What's my job? I'm a Security Manager (air quotes here). They're allowed to have that under the conditions of their contract. Basically I'm PSD with additional duties, but not the backing of a team.
So the PSD team rolls up to pick up my clients. As my clients are boarding the fully armored SUV, the team leader asks me if I'd mind riding along as an extra shooter. This is akin to asking a little kid if he wants a lifetime pass to Disney World. I'm in the tail vehicle as the left passenger seat gunner. I like this position because I'm right handed and it allows me to shoulder my weapon into my right shoulder when I'm in firing position. For those of you who know me, it really doesn't take much to make me happy.
Let me give you a little background about this particular PSD team. Most of the members are South African Special Forces. Unlike how they're portrayed in "Lethal Weapon II" not all South Africans are bad guys. One of the members of this team, Brad (fictitious name) was a sergeant major in the British Special Air Squadron (SAS) and as you might have surmised, is British. This is the unit that inspired the creation of the US Army's own SFOD-D, Delta Force to most of you. They are like our Special Forces (Green Berets to most of you) and Delta Force combined. In other words these guys are not rookies and know their stuff. I'd team up with them anytime and really enjoy working with them.
As we're rolling out of one of the checkpoints of the Green Zone and into "Indian Country" Brad, the section leader, riding in the front passenger seat of my vehicle announces "windows down, safeties off". Yeah folks you read it right. Some of you might be wringing your hands. "Stony, weapons are icky to begin with, but riding around in a car with your safeties off, isn't that really dangerous." Well, gentle readers, let’s examine this. First of all, any shooter worth his powder keeps his damn finger off the trigger until his sights are on target. Secondly, it's supposed to be dangerous, but not to us, but to the bad guys. We don't "flag" each other with our muzzles. It's the shooter's equivalent of passing gas loudly at an opera. We keep our weapons pointed out the window of our vehicle. Thirdly, in the case of this PSD, they are armed with the ubiquitous AK47 with folding stock. When the stock is folded, it covers the safety. Also, although extremely reliable, the AK is not ergonomically friendly. In other words, when milliseconds can mean the difference between life and death, the AK is slow to put from "safe" to "fire" and then engage a target.
So here is our merry little band of shooters with our precious cargo whose lives are entrusted to us. Lead vehicle blocking traffic at intersections, second vehicle passing, third vehicle assuming the block as lead vehicle reassumes the lead position. All the while scanning your sector. Left to right. Near too far. Repeat. Don't fixate on any one person or object. Less than five-seconds, preferably less than three on any one location. A guy with his head under the hood of his car. Possible car bomb? Sights on target. Assess, Pass by without incident. Over and over again. Eyes open. Ears tuned to the commands of the section leader and any info he receives via the radio. Interspersed with command from Bruce such as "brace for bump" as we jump a curb to keep moving in traffic. All the way to the ministry.
Upon arrival at the ministry we exit our vehicles and form a 360 degree perimeter around the vehicle containing our principals as clients are often called. Our eyes are still scanning. Looking for those who would do them harm. I escort them into the building and to their meeting. In my next update I'll address the challenges of these situations, but for now let's move on to another excursion I had.
Days after this adventure four of my clients needed to go to Baiji to assess one of the facilities up there. This is our first trip out of Baghdad and we're looking forward to getting out into the field. My role includes not only coordinating the security of the travel to and from, but also while there. Even though a PSD team will be taking them and be with them, my guys insisted I go along. Even though there is going to be two SUV's literally packed with shooters, they want yours truly along to safeguard them. This is a two edged sword though. It's flattering that they have the kind of confidence in me that compels them to want my presence, but talk about pressure! This is what I want. I want my clients to think "Stony is going to keep me safe." "Stony is going to make sure that I go home alive and in one piece." But as the saying goes "watch out for what you wish." The brief ego gratification and satisfaction of accomplishing a goal is quickly eclipsed by the responsibility this implies. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to shirk this responsibility, but it is what I would call a bittersweet burden.
I literally spend hours bouncing around what I now refer to as the Puzzle Palace, which is the CPA headquarters. I know that there is a military Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the vicinity of Baiji but I don't have a map coordinate, name or phone number. Trying to ascertain this information is akin to being a kid with a severe inner ear infection and vertigo playing pin the tail on the donkey, but not even knowing if it's a donkey or if you're in the right room. I bounce from office to office being told some variation of "we don't handle that, you have to go to so and so in room such and such." And that's from the cooperative ones. Every once in a while I run into some smarmy, smirking Air Force puke who is not only useless, but needs to have a trauma induced attitude adjustment. But I'm in my "be nice and play well with others" mode, so I go from room to room trying to unravel this Gordian knot of mission coordination without resorting to Alexander the Greats solution.
continued......
From A Good Gunslinger In Iraq
This is from Stony Smith working somewhere around Baghdad. He’s working as a security contractor/bodyguard and has some ground-level observations on what is really going on in Iraq.
To help put things in context, Stony is a very intelligent and talented former West Point trained Army Ranger who speaks and reads a little Arabic, too.
Stony had the privilege of serving as one of MSG Randy Shugart’s platoon leaders back in the 2d Ranger Battalion. Randy was one of Stony’s squad leaders. MSG Shugart later became one of the Delta Force operators who sacrificed their lives in Mogadishu in 1993, while saving a wounded comrade. For this, Randy received the Medal of Honor – posthumously. This was the rescue immortalized in the book/movie “Blackhawk Down.”
Subject: Iraq Update: 16 June (Pour Yourself an Adult Beverage, This is a Long One)
Greetings from Baghdad.
I had delayed writing because I didn't think I had enough material to warrant another installment of "The Adventures of Gringo Infidel in Iraq". Now I am struggling with what to include and what to delete. It's hard to believe that almost a whole month has gone by since I last wrote.
First of all I am going to preface what I say with a little background information. Hopefully you will undergo a paradigm shift as Stephen Covey calls it.
Here we operate under the premise that every phone call we make and every e-mail we send or read can be read by the bad guys. For those reasons, I often am not specific about dates, times, locations or even identities of people. Not even my parents know where I go or when until after it has already happened.
The bad guys continue to kill Iraqis seen as collaborating with the coalition. An Iraqi woman who worked within the palace of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was shot and severely wounded. Her father was killed in the attack. How cutting someone's hair or giving an $8 pedicure to an infidel is a traitorous act worthy of punishment by death is beyond me. For this reason I won't state the name of my driver or show you a picture of the two of us together.
It is also for this reason I don't state the name of my client company or exactly what they do. Just this week a three vehicle convey was hit with a car bomb that was loaded with 1100 pounds of explosive. That's over half of a ton! It literally blew the lead vehicle over to the other side of the road, flipping it onto its roof and setting the vehicle afire. It killed three clients and two PSD's (Protective Service Detail) inside. Amazingly enough, the occupants of the number two and three vehicles lived. Eight Iraqis who were mere bystanders weren't so lucky. There's no telling how many were severely injured and maimed
Imagine every time you get into your car spending 5-15 minutes to inspect your car for IED's (improvised explosive device) or booby trap to the rest of the world. You wear body armor and have a loaded weapon in your hands. You have an assigned sector to watch. A car coming up fast on your tail is a potential threat. This isn't a once in a while event. It happens each and every time you get into your vehicle and go out into the streets. This is my world folks and it causes me to look at things differently.
Have you shifted paradigms yet? If not, that's okay. Now for some anecdotes.
Several weeks ago a few of my clients had to go to one of the ministry buildings out in Baghdad. Because of the peculiarities of their contract, my client company cannot hire their own personal PSD team. It has to be provided by the Project Management Office (PMO). Is this a jacked up arrangement? Yes. Do my clients like this arrangement? No. What's my job? I'm a Security Manager (air quotes here). They're allowed to have that under the conditions of their contract. Basically I'm PSD with additional duties, but not the backing of a team.
So the PSD team rolls up to pick up my clients. As my clients are boarding the fully armored SUV, the team leader asks me if I'd mind riding along as an extra shooter. This is akin to asking a little kid if he wants a lifetime pass to Disney World. I'm in the tail vehicle as the left passenger seat gunner. I like this position because I'm right handed and it allows me to shoulder my weapon into my right shoulder when I'm in firing position. For those of you who know me, it really doesn't take much to make me happy.
Let me give you a little background about this particular PSD team. Most of the members are South African Special Forces. Unlike how they're portrayed in "Lethal Weapon II" not all South Africans are bad guys. One of the members of this team, Brad (fictitious name) was a sergeant major in the British Special Air Squadron (SAS) and as you might have surmised, is British. This is the unit that inspired the creation of the US Army's own SFOD-D, Delta Force to most of you. They are like our Special Forces (Green Berets to most of you) and Delta Force combined. In other words these guys are not rookies and know their stuff. I'd team up with them anytime and really enjoy working with them.
As we're rolling out of one of the checkpoints of the Green Zone and into "Indian Country" Brad, the section leader, riding in the front passenger seat of my vehicle announces "windows down, safeties off". Yeah folks you read it right. Some of you might be wringing your hands. "Stony, weapons are icky to begin with, but riding around in a car with your safeties off, isn't that really dangerous." Well, gentle readers, let’s examine this. First of all, any shooter worth his powder keeps his damn finger off the trigger until his sights are on target. Secondly, it's supposed to be dangerous, but not to us, but to the bad guys. We don't "flag" each other with our muzzles. It's the shooter's equivalent of passing gas loudly at an opera. We keep our weapons pointed out the window of our vehicle. Thirdly, in the case of this PSD, they are armed with the ubiquitous AK47 with folding stock. When the stock is folded, it covers the safety. Also, although extremely reliable, the AK is not ergonomically friendly. In other words, when milliseconds can mean the difference between life and death, the AK is slow to put from "safe" to "fire" and then engage a target.
So here is our merry little band of shooters with our precious cargo whose lives are entrusted to us. Lead vehicle blocking traffic at intersections, second vehicle passing, third vehicle assuming the block as lead vehicle reassumes the lead position. All the while scanning your sector. Left to right. Near too far. Repeat. Don't fixate on any one person or object. Less than five-seconds, preferably less than three on any one location. A guy with his head under the hood of his car. Possible car bomb? Sights on target. Assess, Pass by without incident. Over and over again. Eyes open. Ears tuned to the commands of the section leader and any info he receives via the radio. Interspersed with command from Bruce such as "brace for bump" as we jump a curb to keep moving in traffic. All the way to the ministry.
Upon arrival at the ministry we exit our vehicles and form a 360 degree perimeter around the vehicle containing our principals as clients are often called. Our eyes are still scanning. Looking for those who would do them harm. I escort them into the building and to their meeting. In my next update I'll address the challenges of these situations, but for now let's move on to another excursion I had.
Days after this adventure four of my clients needed to go to Baiji to assess one of the facilities up there. This is our first trip out of Baghdad and we're looking forward to getting out into the field. My role includes not only coordinating the security of the travel to and from, but also while there. Even though a PSD team will be taking them and be with them, my guys insisted I go along. Even though there is going to be two SUV's literally packed with shooters, they want yours truly along to safeguard them. This is a two edged sword though. It's flattering that they have the kind of confidence in me that compels them to want my presence, but talk about pressure! This is what I want. I want my clients to think "Stony is going to keep me safe." "Stony is going to make sure that I go home alive and in one piece." But as the saying goes "watch out for what you wish." The brief ego gratification and satisfaction of accomplishing a goal is quickly eclipsed by the responsibility this implies. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to shirk this responsibility, but it is what I would call a bittersweet burden.
I literally spend hours bouncing around what I now refer to as the Puzzle Palace, which is the CPA headquarters. I know that there is a military Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the vicinity of Baiji but I don't have a map coordinate, name or phone number. Trying to ascertain this information is akin to being a kid with a severe inner ear infection and vertigo playing pin the tail on the donkey, but not even knowing if it's a donkey or if you're in the right room. I bounce from office to office being told some variation of "we don't handle that, you have to go to so and so in room such and such." And that's from the cooperative ones. Every once in a while I run into some smarmy, smirking Air Force puke who is not only useless, but needs to have a trauma induced attitude adjustment. But I'm in my "be nice and play well with others" mode, so I go from room to room trying to unravel this Gordian knot of mission coordination without resorting to Alexander the Greats solution.
continued......