I got killed last night. - only for training purposes obviously. I was out doing a cordon & search with Bravo Company, of a mock village where an insurgent leader was supposed to meeting with supporters. I was shot at point blank range while trying to confirm or deny the identity of an insurgent fighter masquerading as an Iraqi Policeman. I was trying to negotiate take his weapon from him when he pointed it at me and fired. Lesson learned: Disarm first. Ask for ID second. I was in the middle of a unruly crowd of civilian role-players trying to get information on the location of the terrorist leader when it happened. Two other guys got shot with me as we were trying to get control of the crowd.
I got fireman's carried out of the fight and dumped on the back of a truck for the remainder of the mission. I wound up leaving the fight only slightly before half of the role players and "trainers." They got too cold, I guess. Meanwhile, the press attention that we have been getting due to the LA Times has been continuing. We have been discussed on local Fox affiliates back in California and on MSNBC. The story gets bigger every time it is told. I am really growing tired of the fourth estate. They are too lazy to check facts, and care more about drama and sizzle than facts. These journalists don't give a rip about us. They care about having their stories read. No one is risking court-martial for speaking out about the conditions here. No one has had to "vault over the wire." Yes, conditions here are far from perfect, and the training is lacking in many ways, often unnecessarily. Many of the things we have done are complete wastes of time due to incompetence on the part of some of trainers and planners outside of this unit. However, this is the Army. If it were easy and safe, everyone would do it. This also happens to be a unit that is very well manned. We have some duds, but mostly studs. We will do just fine in spite of the bureaucratic foolishness and journalistic hype. Sixteen days and a wake-up until Christmas leave!
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