DISPATCHES FROM IRAQ
11 Schofield soldiers injured in rocket attack
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq — Eleven Schofield Barracks soldiers were injured last night when what was believed to be a 107 mm rocket exploded in a military housing area.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
None of the injuries was life-threatening, said Maj. Scott Halstead, adjutant for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
A field ambulance stands by after a rocket exploded in a military housing area at Kirkuk Air Base, injuring 11 Schofield Barracks soldiers.
Some of the soldiers were treated for minor injuries and were immediately returned to duty. Others are being held at base medical facilities for further observation, and some are being evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany, Halstead said.
Names and units were being withheld pending notification of family.
A 25th Infantry Division (Light) medical compound was hit by a rocket several weeks ago, and six people received superficial injuries. Rocket and mortar attacks are a near-nightly experience, and four cells of insurgents have been given the singular nickname of Rocket Man for regularly firing rounds in recent weeks that are usually far off the mark.
One or two rounds are fired, then the attackers quickly flee as U.S. forces track the trajectory, respond with artillery fire and send out quick-reaction forces to track down the enemy.
"This is the most in terms of the number of soldiers injured by one of these attacks," Halstead said.
The rocket hit at about 8:15 p.m.
A golf-ball-sized hole was punched through one of the 20-foot shipping-containerlike "conexes." Shrapnel had slashed through the wall of another.
Four soldiers live in the units, which have two windows, two sets of bunk beds, plus air conditioning and heat.
Pfc. Joshua Ivy, 20, who works in communications for the 2nd Brigade's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, was outside his conex about 150 feet away when the rocket hit.
"All you heard was a loud bang and you saw the flash and heard a lot of screaming," Ivy said shortly after the attack as he waited for the "all clear" in one of the 6-foot-tall moveable concrete bunkers that are placed around the base.
"We ran down here toward where the shell went off, and they sorted us out from there. All I can say is that if you have never heard something explode before, it's not something you can describe unless you are right there with it," said Ivy, of Lexington, Tenn. "It makes you realize that it's real — not just some exercise."
On Friday night, Schofield soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, on a rooftop observation post were fired on by three men in a taxi believed to have launched a 107 mm rocket that landed about a football field's distance from the air base's dining facility, but did not explode.
The soldiers returned fire, and an Arab and a Turk in the red and white Volkswagen taxi later died from gunshot wounds, officials said. Another Arab was wounded and detained.
All three were believed to be aligned with terrorist groups.
The following morning, more than two companies of Schofield soldiers conducted a search of houses in that area "with the message that we would not tolerate attacks against our troops," said Maj. James Hanson, 1-21's operations officer.
Ten AK-47 rifles and five pistols were among the weapons seized.
