I know y'all are probably getting pretty tired of hearing me talk about Iraq, but I thought I'd share what happened to me earlier today.

I just got done with my radio guard shift and I was outside of out Troop area mopping. I heard this crazy sound, but it sounded like heavy machinery moving at a construction site and I figured our support guys were just moving stuff around outside, so I didn't think anything of it.

This guy about 30m away from me goes "Dude, are we getting mortared?"
All of the sudden he starts running and I see this cloud of dust and smoke and I hear the loudest blast I've heard since I've been over here.
I stood there for a second, waiting to see if there was another impact, because usually it's only 2 rounds. But then I heard a second round impact and people are scrambling everywhere screaming "Get your kit on! We're getting attacked!"

So I run inside and throw my gear on, all the while tripping over other guys who are trying to do the same. Everything is shaking, ceiling tiles are falling down, dust is everywhere, and then quiet.
Everyone was stunned because we didn't fully realize what had just happened.

What seems like an eternity passes and we all figure it's safe to go out. So I went back out in front of our area and started mopping again, when about 20 guys run back inside and start screaming "THEY'RE ATTACKING AGAIN!" and I hear rounds impact again.

This time I didn't wait for anything. I ran back inside, put my armor on and got down. Four more rounds impacted.
Then one of the guys in my Troop comes running in screaming "Lock and load! Lock and load! They're inside the COP!"
Everyone starts freaking out thinking a large force has penetrated the barriers"

Turns out the rockets had completely laid waste to our parking lot, hitting several trucks and cooked off a bunch of 7.62 and .50 cal rounds, which somebody misinterpreted as us taking fire and it got misconstrued as the perimeter had been breached.

Everything calmed down and we started hearing reports that a lot of trucks were ****ed up and one had been flipped, which sounded like complete bull****. You have to understand, our uparmored HMMWV's weigh near 9,000lbs, so it seemed impossible to us that one could have been flipped.

A piece of shrapnel had blown a small hole in the wall of our upstairs latrine, so I went and took a look to survey the damage.
When I looked out, sure enough the first thing I saw was a HMMWV flipped up on it's side.

All in all, we lot a ****load of vehicles. Everything was jacked up.
Miraculously injuries were minor shrapnel wounds.

It turns out, though, that we were hit with eight 107mm rockets that were jerry-rigged with Acetylene tanks filled with C4, two of which had a time delay fuze on them, meaning they do not explod on impact but rather .05 seconds after impact (Atleast, that's the standard for US Field Artillery time delay fuze), but it gives the round time to bury its self into whatever the target is before exploding.

I'm having a lot of fun playing COD4, but then I remember that this would probably be hell, and no where near "fun."

I would have pooped myself.

Yes, you have to reminds us you're in the army every single time you bloody post.

Oh, and ouch but, yknow, it's a warzone.

C4 rockets?
Interesting.

Wait- were the Acetylene tanks filled with C4 already in the lot?

That fire must have been really hot to cook off the rounds though. Doesn't it take quite a bit to do that to modern bullets?

No, they were somehow mounted on the Rockets.
Iraqi's are an ingenuitive lot, I'll give them that.


I don't know what the temp is to make rounds cook off, but it's not much.
Every time we hit an IED that catches a truck on fire, the rounds cook off and we end up losing more trucks to that than the actual IED's.


Course.. It doesn't help that every truck has an AT-4

Damn. Just, damn

pf, so what?

today i got a paper cut

I'm just glad to hear that none of our men (...and women, grr) in the service were seriously wounded.

Thank you for mopping on behalf of our great nation! Talk about dedication -- you even went back to your mop in the midst of the attack.

Sounds like you guys are a little jumpy...

Well, a COP is relatively secure.

And it annoys me when you call them Iraqis. They're probably from Saudi to Egypt and anything in between.

Well he's in Iraq, It makes sense in the same way calling the random guy you see at in Toronto, Canadian.

He's saying it's like calling everyone in Canada an idiot, just because you're an idiot.

Oh right, He's calling the Insurgents, Iraqis. I get it.
Carry on.

If these guy's had been Saudi, this COP would not be here.

On a happier note, Charlie thinks they caught the guy that shot our man a few days ago.

Don't use the waterboard to make sure it was him!

I must admit that I am predujiced against you because you remind me of the piece of **** fister that worked in my TOC during my last deployment. Like him, you seem to have ample time to post here and whine about crap during your shift.

I was going to go on but I figure I've insulted you enough already.

I don't dislike you but as a military man familiar with your situation and those in which you post about about I am annoyed by you.

Sorry. Just felt like venting my feelings on this and inspiring some drama for the other members here who have no idea what it is like to go through the things we, you, me, and the couple others here like us, endure routinely.

I don't know about you, but I think we've all had to deal with the consequences of what may seem like poor life decisions.

So, Sergeant, Are you trying to say that I'm a pog?

You know, this could've all been summed up nicely by a :circlejerk: emote. Why don't we have one?

Also, sucks man. Hopefully your time's up sooner rather than later.

needs more headcrabs

Hold it pal I made a model of a fighter plane

I know everything there is to know

OKAY

Typical Thrawn32452345 post:

Something something

Something something

CAPSLOCK PUNCHLINE

I hate when people pretend like their experience being unique and individual gives them some kind of unique right to complain, make unquestionable claims, and hold others at social gunpoint. I don't go around telling people they couldn't possibly fathom my life or my experiences just because they aren't crippled. I certainly don't think it entitles me to criticize other crippled people/midgets for their behavior, either. I completely agree with Yoshi's circle jerk comment.

It's far different when you're venting about a life or death situation. Let the guy blow of some steam. A lot of us post threads here when something's bugging us to get it out there and. frankly, it all pails in comparison to having mortars and rockets blow up close enough to be killing people.

Kirbs:Thinking your personal experience is far and away different and incomprehensible to the average person is stupid.

Unless, you know, your experiences are so far removed from anything a normal person will ever even get a glimpse of that the relation makes zero sense.

Fister:

I mean seriously I would have been mopping in my kevlar and flak. Then again everyone else makes fun of me because I sleep with my weapon slung, so I may be an example of craziness.

This is decidedly a stressful experience and you are right to vent it to people who were not there. I do not give a **** if there are stupid *******s on this site who think you should stop posting. They can not click the thread if they don't want to. They will not ever understand what you are going through right now or the mental and emotional stress you are under. The single most important factor in dealing with combat related stress is unloading these pressures to other people.

That does not, however, change the fact that you are an idiot sometimes. Particularly due to the fact that you do tend to mention the Army in nearly every, single, post, that you make on here. While I understand that your life consists almost entirely of military service right now, I think it would do well for your standing in the community if you would pretend to be a native Alaskan while posting. Maybe roleplay as a humble tibetan monk posting from a high mountain monastery?


EDIT:And then thrawnnumerals replies with when someone calls him on his formulaic posting habits. So predictable.

Did you ever catch the rebel scum who performed the attack?

I think I've heard they succesfully escape pretty often.

He's kinda stuck in iraq, posting about a jedi knight level he's working on isn't really an option.

Agreed, and I completely condone Fister's post.

Wookie's was just :circlejerk: though.

He should definitely try to make a map of his hooch area.

I like Fister's posts. It makes the gibberish on TV a little more real to someone (read: ME) whose insulated in the middle of a large continent far away from the war.

I'm not questioning that. I'm questioning whether it entitles people to make absolute claims or attack people.

as long as you aren't talking to your rifle... or sitting on the toilet in the middle of the night loading a magazine

get a blog

And by that I mean wow, that really sucks. Here I am getting stressed out about papers and tests, and you're trying not to get blown up. Doesn't make me any less stressed out, mind you, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to switch places. Best of luck, dude.

But that's when enemies always attack! D:

Kirbs:Ok yeah. We are on the sam epage.


I name all my weapons and sing them lullabies while I clean them.

No really.

*cough*

What the hell were you looking for when you found that?

Back on topic let us turn this into a fister appreciation thread.