0358 Hours
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This is what my watch read as I laid in my bunk in Gardez, Afghanistan. I’d set my alarm for 0400 hours as later that morning I was going to be leading my first American and Afghan National Army (ANA) convoy on a 2 day trip from Gardez to FOB Tillman. I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy my remaining 2 minutes of sleep before I had to embark on a very long day.
Too soon the alarm went off and I tried to rub the sleep from my eyes in a sluggish attempt to wake up. At about the same time I heard a quick whoosh, followed by a tremendous explosion that shook our b-hut (living quarters) as it threw rocks and debris onto our roof. Shortly after that initial blast someone hollered “We’ve got incoming!” Next thing I know I’m running outside with my battle rattle (helmet, body armor, and weapon) on and trying to find a spot to sit down in the crowded bunker until we get the all clear that the attack is over. As I sat there and felt the adrenaline from a combat situation pump through my veins for the very first time, I realized that I didn’t put on my ACU top and I wasn’t wearing socks with my still un-tied boots. I didn’t feel so bad after I looked around and saw a few people with their body armor, no shirt, PT shorts. and unbuckled Kevlar helmet. I even heard a few people say “Oh man, I left my weapon on my bunk.”
Considering the company I was in, I looked “battle ready” as I at least had my weapon. After 45 minutes of sitting on the ground, listening to bodily functions going off, snoring, and just happen to have that guy who never stops talking about his own life (apparently he took the fact that I was ignoring him, for caring), we were given the all clear signal. Thinking that I had lost approximately 45 minutes of preparation time, I started to really move with a purpose. My NCO partner then asked me what my hurry was. After giving him the “are you kidding me look?” he responded with a reassuring “Sir, we’ve got hours. Remember we are working with the ANA.” As usual, the NCO was correct. We actually left 2 hours later then we had planned for. In sh’allah!
Later that morning we were informed that 2 security forces soldiers from the Florida National Guard were wounded in the 107mm rocket attack. One had minor wounds but the other soldier had taken a good amount of shrapnel and was MEDEVAC’d out. Both soldiers had less then 2 weeks left in Afghanistan. Luckily they would both survive.
Live free or die trying!
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