BULL WHIP Part 4

After crawling out of my sleeping bag the morning of March 26th, I immediately put on my boots and got an update on how things were going. At this point, I was fairly confident that we were going to encounter little enemy resistance (from our planning and best estimations, we knew if the enemy was going to put up a big fight, that it would have already occurred during the insertion). No shots fired so far..

I was however more concerned about injuries. Hundreds and hundreds of Soldiers running and jumping off the back of helicopters, with 115 pounds on their backs, into rugged terrain they have never seen before, in total darkness, looking for insurgents, is great job security if you're running an orthopedic clinic. However, if you are running an Infantry Rifle Platoon, it only takes one or two guys to go down with injuries and you're dead in the water...stuck until a MEDEVAC arrives to extract your wounded. Amazingly, we had only 1 injury. A slightly sprained ankle, and the Soldier was already in position at a static OP...meaning, he had about a week before he had to walk anywhere again.

I began to breathe a little easier than I had the previous 7 weeks (I know, I had to arrive in the Gaulch Valley to catch a break and 'relax'). We had developed a good plan, and it went off well. The only thing that had not panned out was our injury and causality estimations for the first phase of the operation...and what an awesome thing to be wrong about. I settled into the side of the mountain, and spent the majority of the day observing our units as they cleared village after village, house after house.

One thing to note here...while things were becoming easier for the planner (Me), they were only just beginning for the units in the valley floor. TF IRONMAN still had one of the toughest weeks of their lives ahead, and were about to be met with several challenges. I had to keep reminding myself of this while I sat perched thousands of feet above them, watching in binoculars. It's quite easy to watch guys stack on each other, and then run into a house or courtyard to clear it. It's quite another thing to be the guy in the 'stack', not knowing what in the world is awaiting you around the corner.

TF IRONMAN did this time after time, hundreds of times a day, for over a week. It was very impressive to watch them endure, and later conquer the valley.

Morning of March 26th. From left to right...Myself, SGT Smith, COL Corell, SSG Bryant.

COL Corell and I discussing the operation.

JTAC's controlling the airspace.

Sunrise 1.

Sunrise 2.

Sunrise 3.

JTACs again.

Sunrise overtop of Lt Col Filler

COL Corell and SSG Bryant.

Me with my mapboard...or should I say, "My mapboard and I."

I welcomed the opportunity to go "old school" and work off of a mapboard with a protractor and alcohol markers. It was a refreshing break from my computer, and the software program that I want to destroy....PowerPoint.

I took a lot grief for this mapboard. I built it out of cardboard and duct tape, made it waterproof, etc. It became known as the "mapper keeper"...a play on words from the old trapper keepers. I think I got the last laugh in the end though. COL Corell will be delivering it to the Camp Dodge Gold Star Museum in the next few weeks, for display as part of the history of the Iowa National Guard.

Also, the blue writing on the left side says "Well done. Stay Dry" A note from BG Townsend who followed through with his promise to visit us on the objective the first day.

CPT Brian Nicol from TF IRONMAN was co-located with us, and controlled all of the indirect fires for his unit. He did an outstanding job. Brian and I go way back. We first met at Iowa State in 1999 in a chance meeting on campus in Ames that had nothing to do with the Army. In the years since, we have run into each other at various Army functions, training, events...and I guess now we can add to the list...Brigade level clearing operations in the middle of nowhere.