Safety is priority for convoy
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait — When 4,000 Schofield Barracks soldiers take up duty in northern Iraq, it will be the first time since the Vietnam War that a brigade-sized unit of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) has gone into a combat zone.
A drill in Kuwait prepares Pfc. Ian McClendon, right, and Pfc. Aledaine Lugo to engage the enemy, if necessary, when the soldiers get to Iraq.
First, they have to arrive safely.
About half of Schofield's soldiers will ride into the history books by Humvee and truck, making the 600-mile journey to northern Iraq in convoys of hundreds of vehicles. The rest of the soldiers will be flown in.
Aviation elements with Kiowa Warrior helicopters, along with engineers and supply units, have assignments separate from the main contingent heading to Kirkuk and will be based at locations such as Balad and Mosul.
Pfc. Juan De La Fuente, 19, from Los Fresnos, Texas, "a small, small, town (near the Mexican border) that's not even on the map," said he's not worried about the convoy.
"I've got confidence in my squad and the whole platoon," said De La Fuente, a machine gunner with Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment. "It's going to be a big convoy. We have a lot of big weapons. The Iraqis are not going to want to mess with us."
Soldiers at Camp Virginia and their military commanders talked freely about the size and makeup of the convoy, saying larger convoys are a deterrent against attacks.
Yesterday, three U.S. soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were killed in a roadside bombing near Kirkuk.
About a week ago, insurgent attacks on U.S. forces killed three soldiers west of Baghdad when a vehicle exploded. Two others died after a roadside bomb detonated as a four-vehicle convoy passed north of Fallujah in the "Sunni Triangle" where much of the violence directed at Americans has occurred.
Schofield soldiers have varying degrees of concern about the convoy trip. It's something that's always on their minds
"We'll get in our trucks and drive. We're reinforcing our vehicles," said Cpl. Mariko Yadao, 20, from Kaua'i, who carries a belt-fed M-249 machine gun.
"There's always a chance of something happening, but you don't worry about that. You just concentrate on the mission and you get there and it's over and you made it."
With the most comprehensive troop rotation in decades under way — 110,000 U.S. forces are on their way into Iraq to replace 130,000 — convoy safety is a major concern.
But the Army is taking multiple steps to minimize the danger.
"Typically, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), drive-by shootings and vehicle-borne IEDs target smaller elements of vehicles that are not well protected," said Lt. Col. Eric O. Schacht, executive officer of Schofield's 2nd Brigade. "We'll be moving in elements that will have enough combat power to protect themselves."
Wreckers, 5-ton and 2 1/2-ton trucks, and Humvees are the main components of the convoys. There will be trailers, artillery pieces and mortars in tow.
Many of the vehicles will be outfitted with turret machine guns and grenade launchers. An increasing number of vehicles moving around Camp Virginia have bristled with the added firepower.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Schacht said some Humvees have been upgraded with door armor kits. Armor plating acquired from the 101st Airborne Division and 173rd Airborne Brigade, both leaving northern Iraq, is being bolted onto other vehicles.
Pvt. 2 Jerry Lowden, left, and Sgt. Gustavo Escobar, both of the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, reinforce a Humvee's exterior with metal plates.
When the brigade got to Kuwait, about 4 percent of its vehicles were armored. When the convoys leave for Iraq, about 30 percent will have the door armor kits, and other vehicles were being retrofitted with plate steel.
"We're pushing. Anything that will carry troops, the majority will have some steel or armor around them," said Lt. Col. Scott Leith, commander of the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment.
Sandbags are being filled from the endless supply around Camp Virginia and will be placed in trucks. Kevlar "blankets" will provide extra protection.
Pfc. Jason Buck, 24, and Pfc. Kelly Ward, 19, both with Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, were piling sandbags against upright steel plates in the back of their open-backed Humvee.
"It'll help. Anything to slow a round down," said Buck, an M-240 machine gunner.
"You always want more, but we'll take what we can get," added Ward.
Col. Schacht said the best way to secure a convoy is to vary driving patterns. "Don't always drive in the left lane or center lane," he said. " ... Be observant to what's happening around you. If something doesn't look right in the road, it's probably not right."
A GPS tracking system is being installed on a number of convoy leadership vehicles to allow commanders to closely track the progress of the force. Supply routes are being swept daily by security elements.
The 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment — known as the "Gimlets" — has a strong sense of history. Company B's commander, Capt. Scot Davis, pointed out that early in the Korean War, the battalion's soldiers were rushed over from Japan and became the first U.S. Army troops to face the North Koreans. Those American soldiers, along with an artillery battery, held off a North Korean division for eight hours.
"This is pretty historic for us, at least for (Companies B and C), because this is the first time that we've deployed to a combat zone since 1950," Davis said.
