For the soldiers in Iraq, is your life on the line 24/7 or not really?

Question

I know there are some soldiers that are heavily engaged in firefights, etc

but there are others that sit in the green zone doing desk work.

which one are you? or something else?

Answer 1

I left the wire everyday, and can only say....it depends.

2 years ago out by al asad it was everyday IED, complex attack, indirect fire....ect.
at the same time in the south around Najaf, you could go a whole year without any combat.
however, all this can change on a dime, and the next day all be different.
I remember how surprised I was when they launched that attack on Echo in Diwaniya.....ya never know.

there is also a little luck..
100 convoys can go down the same road on the same night.....and only the 76th will get hit or something like that.
We had a battery doing escorts on MSR tampa....one of their platoons got hit almost every time, another never even saw a shoot fired for 6 months. they had the same mission, same place, same time....

Sometimes you can get complacent like that.
I remember how sleeping you would get incoming indirect fire (mortars).....Most of time we did not even bother getting up for it. It was like, ahhh f it. Funny story: We had to go to the IZ (green zone) once, and we got to sleep over there. at 5am we got an incoming mortar, the 3 airforce officers jump out of bed, and put their armor on........me and by buddy both opened our eyes, look at them, giggle, looked at each other, and went back to sleep. We had mortars shot at our fob a bunch of times, never hit anything.
Next month I go on leave. While I'm on leave, a morter hits the tent next to mine dead on......you just never know.

Some guys who were REMFs, would want to come out on a mission sometimes, because they never got to see Iraq other than their office. We had one guy who worked in the motor pool, and never got to leave the wire. One night we took him on a mission as an AG.....his truck hit not 1, not 2, but 3 IEDs in a row! Everyone was ok (except the truck was done), but let's just say, he did not ever want to come out again.

Answer 2

A terrorist attack can take place any time and anywhere in Iraq. Even in the green zone. So, yes m in Iraq a soldiers life is in danger 24/7. Even the people who have desk jobs in Iraq have to travel on the roads occasionaly. Even if it is only from the airport when they first arrive to their base where they will live and work. That trip from the airport, or to the airport to go home is often very dangerous due to roadside bombs.

Answer 3

I served 1 and a half years in Iraq with my national guard unit, in which there were many times that I was on continuous 24 hour operations, but there's also a lot of down time between our normal missions. Most of our continous operations were due to conducting raids.

I couldn't imagine sitting at a desk in a combat zone, that would drive me nuts.

Answer 4

Usually someone is always in some type of harms way. We had things called "Fobbits", people who just sit around the base all day and do nothing. They were still in harms way from mortar rounds, and suicide bombers at the gate. People who left the wire were almost always in danger from IED's. Fuelers and people who ran log pac and whatnot were mainly in threat of IED's. We cleared houses, loooked for weapons caches and setup checkpoints so we were more at risk. All of our soldiers are in some threat or risk. But the Marines pushing the route clearance on RPG Road are at a lot more than the guys working at the palaces in the green zone. Depends where your at and what you do.

Answer 5

whether you're a soldier or not, Iraq is a dangerous place to be. they kidnap foreign civilians who work there. so being in that place is hazardous. and foreigners are only there to help them.

Answer 6

Bush told us that our lives, the American people, are on the line 24/7. Thats why we have to War on Terrorism that Bush coherced us into believing. The War on Terrorism is a figment of Bush's paranoia.

Fight mothas! You better be protecting us from the phantom enemy that none can see. You may friendly fire the bud next to you, but just know he died by your hands with honor so that maybe out of the fifty bullets you loaded into him that you might graze the phantom.

Answer 7

yes. it is. iraq is not a safe place, although they do do a good job setting up propper living and enviromantal equiptment. we always have someone on the watch. you'll NEVER understand unless you have been there


USMC 4 years

Answer 8

im at so amazed at the number of questions u ask here are u at yahoo answers all day?? by the way thanks for the two points:)

Answer 9

panda.