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28 March 2003

Today I find myself alone in the camp. Mal and Greg have spent the night in An Najaf, covering the action there. I'm looking forward to a day of a little rest, and a lot of cleanup. The weather is clear and calm again today. It should be a good opportunity to rearrange my gear and get the sand and dust out of things.

But first I go to the TOC to check in with Lt. Col Wesley. It sounds like Greg and Mal got some good stuff last night, and they will likely be down there for most of the day. Wesley also wants to hook me up with Chief Warrant Officer Vicente with the 1-64 Tuskers. He is dead set on getting our hummer humming again.

They want to tow the hummer up the road a bit to their camp. They have another busted hummer there that they are stripping for parts. That and all of their tools and guys are up there as well. So, once again we attach a tow bar to the hummer. This time my ride is a 5 ton truck/wrecker.

Across the desert we go. I think the guys forgot that my hummer doesn't have as much "ride" as their 5-tom. I hit my head on the roof a couple of times over some stiff bumps.

At the Tusker camp, Chief Vicente and his men don't waste any time. Chief isn't a waste time kind of guy. The plan is to do what they can to get it running as is. They really don't want to convert to 24v unless they have to.

The first thing to go in is a mechanical fuel pump. That solves the 24v fuel pump problem. The engine is still having a hard time cranking. All the cranking that everybody has been doing on our beast has dragged down the batteries. A fresh set of batteries go on, and she's cranking a little better. But still not running.

Off with the air intake, in with a little gasoline. Praise Allah, she catches and starts to grumble away. Chief Vicente kills her to do some more work. Next on his agenda is checking the glow plugs.

WHile he's doing that, I go over to talk to some of the tank guys. One of the big Abrahms tanks is being used to test out one of the spare engines. Well, an Abrahms doesn't exactly have an "engine." It has a turbine - actually the same one that is on the Blackhawk helicopter. I get a chance to get inside the turret. It's quite close quarters for the 3 men that work there. The gunner, loader, and commander all work together in their tiny office to destroy everything else in the world. The driver sits in his own compartment at the front of the tank. The beast is amazing. It can accurately fire its gun, while moving at 45mph, over almost any terrain. The gunnery system automatically tracks whatever target it is assigned. On the newer tanks, the commander has a second sighting system, so he can line up the next target for the gunner. The machine can fire its 40 rounds as fast as the loader can put the shells in the breach. If only we could put a satellite dish on top of it. Talk about "blowing away" the competition!

I head back over to check on the progress of the hummer. All of the glow plugs are shot. Luckily, 7 of them came out OK. Cheif tells me that they tend to mushroom out at the end and won't come back out the whole. That's the problem with out 8th plug. Luckilly, the military glow plugs have the same threads. It's just a matter of adapting the connectors on my hummer and their glow plugs. Not a problem for Chief! He also suspects that the circuitry that controlls the plugs is bad as well. So he rigs up a manual switch for us. We want glow plugs, just hit the switch.

With everything in place, it's time for another crank. And then another. She doesn't want to catch again. Finally on the fourth try the truck is running. Turns out the fuel is back-flowing into the tank when it's not running. This would be the drawback to the mechanical fuel pump. So, I guess we'll just keep her running all the way to Baghdad!

Night has fallen now. Because of light restrictions, and some enemy contact in the area, I decide to stay with the Tuskers tonight. This is actually the maintence arm for the Tuskers. Back two weeks ago when I rode out my first sandstorm in the back of a 113, that was with Charlie company of the Tuskers. Right now, Chief tells me, they are the most forward mechanics in the war.

29 March 03

I spend the night in the hummer. I don't know when we'll be moving, and I'm too lazy, so I don't set up a tent. On the horizon, I get a first class fireworks show. Through most of the night, American rocket batteries, arty, and air suport pummel Iraqi positions ahead of me.

In the morning the truck is still running. Cheif comes by to do some final tweaks. He adjusts the idle speed a little, and then works on getting rid of the knocking sound in the engine. His guess is there is a stuck vlave lifter. Turns out I'm quite low on oil. The masterful rebuild job the Kuwaitis did on this truck has resulted in some loose rings and seals. Cheif figures I'm burning about a quart of oil a day. More oil goes in, but the knock is still there. Vicente guesses that there is a ton of goo and sludge in the engine. The solution - oil additive. Army STP, also known as transmission fluid. Sure enough, after revving it through for a few minutes the knock is gone. Chief, done working his miracles, stands back and smiles.

We saddle up and head back to the brigade HQ. I haven't heard from Mal and Greg for quite some time now. Hopefully they know something of their where abouts at HQ. I get down there and they haven't heard anything from them. Battle plans are in the works, so I leave to go try the sat phones again. After many attempts, I finally get a weak connection through to Mal. Between the hiss and the static, we both figure out that I'm at the same place that they are headed to. We'll meet up in about an hour.

We hook up and figure out the next plan of action. They have some excellent material to feed. We get the dish set up and move what we can before dark. The deeper we get into Iraq, the more carefull we need to be about white light at night. And as you can guess, TV equipment takes a lot of white light.

30 March 03

With the truck running, we are ready to move forward with TOC Alpha. The Army is beginning their push for Baghdad. The first task is to secure the area known as the Karbala Gap. This is a rural strip of land between the city of Karbala and a large lake to the west of the city. It is an important part of the battle plan of bypassing cities. The gap will give 3ID an open and secure route to the highways leading into Baghdad.

Today we move to a few klicks south of the Karbala area. Tomorrow a task force will probe a nearby city with a bridge over the Euphrates to see if it would be a viable alternative to the Karbala Gap.

31 March 03

Greg and Mal head out today with the taskforce to probe the town of Hindayah. I stay behind with the gear. I wind up spending the day with the FSB - Forward Support Batallion. The FSB is a key group of medics, mechanics, and supply trucks that provide crucial aid to the forward elements.

It's a long and hot day, waiting for the guys to return. Eventually, the FSB moves out to a different area to set up for the night. Not having heard from Greg and Mal all day long, I check in with New York.

In the raid, Greg and Mal came under very heavy fire. They are OK, but one of the cameras has been destroyed. Wow. I really need to get linked up with them to satellite the material out. Only, I can't get through to them because they are riding in an APC (Armoured Personel Carrier, or M113). I give NY the location of the team I am with, and set out to get myself moved to where I think Greg and Mal are heading.

Just as I am about to convoy out, Greg and Mal show up. They have had a very rough day. It turns out that they were standing outside the APC taping a piece to camera. A mortar shell landed about 15 feet from where they were standing. They were both knocked to the ground, and the lens was literally blown off the front of the camera. Mal was fine, if a little dazed. Greg got some cuts from the flying glass of the lense, but you can't see them now, 6 hours after the attack.

We move out to the TOC, where we will set up for the night and feed our material. Happy birthday, Mom!

01 April 03

Saddam is dead. Happy April Fools day.

03APR03

Today I wake up again inside the hummer. And again, the hummer is being towed behind the JAG team.

The truck died yesterday in the big push north. We left our positions south of Karbala. One of the task forces has found a safe route to the east of Karbala, bypassing the Karbala Gap and saving some distance on the trip north. We wind our way out of the desert and quickly come into a long string of villages and irrigated farm land.

The forces in front of us have cleared the way of any opposition. The convoy is still tense. We only have one or two Bradleys to guard us, through almost every other vehicle has a .50 cal or AT4 rocket launcher or SAW.

Inside one of these villages the truck breaks down again. Once again, the JAG guys come to the rescue. We quickly hitch up and get towed the rest of the way.

Greg and Mal are riding forward of me again today to get any battle action that may happen. But I have a new passenger with me. Specialist Jennifer Nelson is one of the few women this far forward in the combat. She is an intelligence analyst with the TOC Bravo team. Her track broke down yesterday, and they needed a seat for her to ride in. I'm happy to have the company.

The day drags on. We should have reached our RV with TOC Alpha by now. The convoys ahead of us have come into some action. The road we were going to take and become impassable because of the damage done to it by the weight of all the armor passing through it. The alternate route has a very large crater in the middle that our heavy tanker trucks cannot get through or around. We are sitting by a large irrigation canal. So close to our objective, so long to get there.

Night falls. None of the men enjoy driving in the dark, especially with a slow moving convoy of juicy targets like fuel tankers. Eventually, we begin to move again. The one good thing about getting a tow is that I don't have to do any night driving. All of the soldiers have night vision goggles, and so do we. But it takes a fair ammount of training to drive with them in blackout conditions, and even then it's a challenge to do it for a long stretch. I'm gratefull that is not my task tonight.

Around 10pm local time we RV with TOC Alpha, and Greg and Mal. They have had a very long day, and have a very early morning ahead of them. Tomorrow they will be taking the bridge over the Euphrates, the last main obstacle in the push to baghdad.

04 April 03

After a long wait, I move out with TOC Bravo. The plan is to move just short of the bridge, and cross it in the morning. It is well into the afternoon before we get moving. I spend most of the day chatting and bullshitting with the JAG guys and Spec. Nelson. We eventually move out to our next stop. We get there as night is about to fall. No more movement for today. Tomorrow we are supposed to cross the bridge.

I roll out my sleeping bag. I've spent the last couple night sleeping in the truck. The air is warm, so I decide to sleep flat for a change. I also decide to sleep with my MOPP suit off. The MOPP suit is the chemical protective parka and trouser that we have been wearing for two weeks now. I strip down to my shorts, put in my earplugs, and quickly fall asleep.

Several hours later, I start to hear voices in the fog of my sleep. And for some reason, they sound like they are wearing their gas masks. I snap awake. We have had a gas alert. I quickly jump back into my MOPP suit and don my gas mask. I start to pull on my rubber overboots. Only, I don't have my regular boots on. My hands are shaking and I can't get the straps done up on the booties. I force myself to stop for a few seconds, at a time where every second can count. I take a deep breath, and force myself to be calm. Though time is of the essence in getting the protective gear on, getting it on right is more important. It is very tense, not knowing what is going on, if this is a drill or the real thing.

Sgt Rogers from the JAG guys checks on me, making sure that I have all of my suit on correctly. Spec Nelson comes over too, and we check each others suit. This is important stuff, not a game and not a drill she tells me.

About a half hour later the all clear comes. It was a faulty sensor at another unit that went off, and one of our radio monitors heard the call as the opposite and called out "Gas, gas, gas!"

We all slough off our masks and boots and gloves, and go back to sleep very weary, and very wary.

05 April 03

We awake today to the news that the entire division has gone to MOPP level 0. This means we can take off the protective suits we have been wearing for the bast two weeks and change into regualr uniforms, or civilian clothes in my case. I no longer blend in with the unit, clothing wise at least.

We are supposed to move over the bridge at first light. It is quickly aparent that this will not happen today. It is bloody hot. The thermometer in Doc Meadows truck says 105 degrees. There is nothing for us to do but wait and watch the convoys moving north ahead of us. Countless tankers and ammo trucks run past, empty ones returning the same direction. It is obvious that the pace of this conflict and shifted into high gear.

The second brigade has found the remnants of the Special Republican Guard Medina devision, and they are being routed. The tanks are running out of fuel and ammo. Keeping them going, keeping the rout on is much more important than getting the ancilliary parts of the TOC forward.

But the military is also now very wise to the media. They know that a good video shot can be much more devestating to the enemy that a good tank kill. Greg and Mal have excellent footage, but they need me and the satellite to get it out.

Word comes down to us that myself, Doc Meadows, and a security detail will be moving forward. We will leave the rest of TOC Bravo behind and join up with one of the fuel convoys. At 1pm we line up and get ready to roll.

It takes a couple hours for the fuel bowsers to meet up with us. And then a very large convoy of MLRS rocket artillery cuts in front of us. The sun is setting before we finally move forward, Doc pulling me and the busted hummer along behind. MP hummers with .50 cals and starlight scopes are in front and behind us.

Around 9pm we finally get to the bridge. This is taking way too long. A tanker has broken down on the bridge, lost its brakes. They are slowly backing it down the road to the rear. And then the MLRS convoy gets hung up, their commanders having a pow-wow before crossing the bridge. Finally around 11pm, I cross the Euphrates and enter the garden of Eden.

We are now at the back of a very long chain of MLRS launchers, ammo trucks, fuelers and support vehicles. We move forward a few hundred meters, then stop. Then ahead again, then stop.

Finally, after a few wrong turns and very slow driving, we arrive at TOC Apha. We are literally on the outskirts of Baghdad. And it is 5 in the morning. It has taken us 14 hours to move about 30 kilometers. TOC Bravo rolls in 2 hours behind me.

05 April 02

As I pull into the TOC Apha camp, Greg and Mal are getting up and getting their gear together. Second Brigade is putting on a raid to Baghdad today, and Mal and Greg are going to ride along with them. I'm staying back at the TOC to feed the tape from the previous two days, and to set up for their return from Baghdad.

Several hours later, they return with amazing footage. Fox has the first television pictures of US troops on the ground in Baghdad proper. It is a huge scoop for us. New York takes the pictures live as we play out the tape. Greg describes the action as it plays out. We do non-stop live shots for the rest of the evening. Fox is the talk of the town. Agencies from around the world are calling Fox, trying to buy our footage. We have literally made history. The next day, still images of our video will appear on the front page of the New York Times. This is why I went into tv news, this is THE reason we are here. The war may not be over, but Fox has already won.


One of the 577 tracks of TOC Bravo	Hummer also makes a decent clothes line	the hummer getting towed by the JAG guys	hummer getting towed by a HEMET wrecker to Cheif Vicentes team	Cheif Vicente working his magic on the beast

Greg reporting via telephone after the mortar attack	Lt. Col Eric Wesley and Greg Kelly	The mechanics working on the hummer in their MOPP gear	Ben models the latest in military MOPP fashion	Mal and the camera destroed in the Hindayah mortar attack

on the canal road north of Karbala	a team of combat engineers	Iraqi militia KIA on the road north of Karbala	Iraqi goats send their greatings to Matilda from the outskirts of Baghdad


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