These soldiers wear the typical clothing and equipment worn while serving in the Baghdad security and stability mission. One wears the desert three-color camouflage BDU, without equipment (1). It consists of hat, shirt, and trousers worn over a light brown t-shirt and underwear, with a black web belt. The shirt has breast and lower pockets with flaps, while the trousers contain four standard type pockets, two leg-bellows type pockets, and reinforcement patches added at the knees and buttocks. The desert boot is cut from soft leather for natural venting, without the venting holes that admit sand in other models. The BDU cap comes in several models for warm or cold temperatures. Note the US Army patch and name patch over left and right breast pockets. Above the name patch are the special qualification badges, in this case the combat infantryman insignia over the master parachutist badge.
The second figure (2) wears “full battle rattle” – the BDU uniform, helmet, Interceptor body armor (green camo) without collar or other attachments, ballistic goggles, AN/PVS mount on helmet, M4 carbine with sights, 4× scope, infrared pointer, and 40mm grenade launcher (note web sling of weapon around neck). Crossing over the left shoulder is the water tube from Camelbak® water carrier. The armored vest carries magazine and grenade pouches, bayonet/sheath, and Motorola Talk About radio.
The other illustrations show: PASGT Helmet with an AN/PVS-14 scope (3), Body Armor, Interceptor (4), Camelbak® Classic Hydration Pack (5), M9 pistol with holster (6), M4 carbine, with scope, pointer and grenade launcher, 30-round magazine (7), Magazine pouches (8), goggles – close-quarter combat (9) and service issue sand & sun (10) types, boots (11), compass & first aid carrier (12), knee pads (13), M9 bayonet with scabbard (14), and bush hat (15).
1st Armored Division soldiers train in a “shooting house” where live-fire engagements are practiced against target dummies set up in simulated situations of house-to-house fighting or surprise engagements. Non-combatant (i.e. civilian) persons are also represented in the target array, so that soldiers must distinguish targets in the exercise.
Four soldiers – arranged in the “short stack” for urban combat – practice movements before going on a raid. The minimum full battle gear includes rifle/SAW, body armor, helmet, ammo pouches, plus any combination of gloves, pads, eyewear, knives, and pistols. One carries the M249 SAW. Navigating down hallways and securing rooms, the soldiers will yell out their positions to each other. Each man has an assigned task. The team spreads down the walls until all corners have been locked down and secured. The house they’ve just secured is two-dimensional. Its walls are strips of white engineer tape pinned into the ground in assorted rectangular shapes. This “dwelling” is known as a “Glass House.” The house may be a life-size floor plan, but the action inside is just as real to the soldiers as if it were somebody’s home. “The first house that we came into in Iraq – we were so surprised at the layout,” said SSG Rogelio Cortes, 2d Platoon squad leader, C Company, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry. “It was a lesson learned. After we did our first house raid, we had to adjust how we thought it would look.”
Pictured here are some cargo/personnel variants of the HMMWV series and not the weapons and missile carrier vehicles that were manufactured with “basic” and “supplemental” armor. These carriers also received similar upgrades as the threat increased and new materials became available.
1. Improvised Armor: protected with scrap plate, armored glass, and Kevlar® sections “scrounged” from dumps and damaged vehicles.
2. Up-Armored HMMWV: The UAH weighs about 2,000lb (909kg) more than the standard HMMWV and includes 200lb (91kg) steel-plated doors, steel plating under the cab and several layers of bonded, ballistic-resistant glass to replace zip-up plastic windows.
3. Armor Survivability Kit (ASK): The kit weighs half of that designed for the UAH, providing some RPG and IED protection.
4. HMMWV Armored Demountable (HArD) Kit: This kit is an industry development providing interchangeable armor components for most HMMWV variants. It includes side, roof, and underbody armoring at a high level of ballistic and blast protection. “Sub-kits” provide only the armor protection desired, to retain a better vehicle payload.
Two body armor systems are displayed:
5. The Personnel Armor System Ground Troops Vest (PASGT-V) replaced the old “flak jacket” models worn during the Korean and Vietnam wars. The ballistic protection of 13 plies of aramid Kevlar® 29 fabric is woven under the shell of ballistic nylon cloth, with woodland camouflage exterior reversible to olive green. The vest has a removable three-quarter collar, pivoting shoulder pads, two front pockets, and two grenade hangers. It provides superior protection against fragmentation impacts, but will not resist rifle-caliber shots at close distance.
6. The Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System consists of two components: the OTV, and SAPI plates (7). It combines the best characteristics of the older and newer vests by the ballistic protection the vest offers against fragments and pistol-caliber bullets, with the option of adding the heavier front and back plates (with side and shoulder protection procured later – “deltoid auxiliary protectors”) to defend against rifle-caliber (7.62mm) bullets.
The tandem issues of body armor and armor kits for utility vehicles became pressing in both military and political arenas once combat continued in 2003 after the “end of major combat operations,” when the Iraqi insurgency gained momentum. There seems no doubt that military requirements for the armoring of utility vehicles never intended for use in close combat came as a surprise to the logistics system, and the response proved predictably belated as casualties grew. Likewise, the provision of the new Interceptor armor system to the troops was only partial at the time of the 2003 invasion, and priorities of issue certainly left large numbers of them with the older pattern of PASGT armor vests. Moreover, defective quality control and the delays in providing upgrades to Interceptor components (heavier SAPI, additional side and shoulder protection) exacerbated the political uproar. Although much publicity came from the political opposition to the war, there seems little doubt that the American government and forces underestimated the scope and ferocity of the occupation struggle. The response of the military laboratories has been to design almost total protection for vehicles and persons alike, but like the metal-armored knights of the late Middle Ages, the future use of the proposed systems may result in the troops discarding or omitting to use many such components, as is already in evidence in Iraq today.
Targeting a bombmaker’s hideaway revealed by intelligence services, troops of the 2d Brigade, 1st Armored Division close in to isolate and assault the suspect building. The minimum full battle gear for such combat operations worn by the troops consists of rifle/SAW, body armor, helmet, ammo and grenade pouches, plus an array of gloves, pads, eyewear, knives, pistols, and so forth. From a dismount position, the troops leave their vehicles and move rapidly to take the center building from the right flank. An additional section watches the building on the left.
The raids typically result from tip-offs made by Iraqis increasingly willing to inform Americans about the groups attacking them, and this early morning raid was the result of one such tip. “I think what we found at the building helped to confirm information that we had, and gave us new indications of future, planned activities that we’ll look into,” said LTC T. C. Williams, 2/6th Infantry’s commander. “We took a good chunk out of the guys responsible for the majority of enemy activity.”
The Gators carefully planned the operation to capture the targets simultaneously and take full advantage of the element of surprise. The raid went off without a hitch. “Every one of these missions that’s quiet is a good one,” Williams said. “You go in with plenty of combat power, which certainly discourages the ‘bad guys’ from doing anything.” Part of the search included dog handlers from a civilian K-9 contractor, who brought their explosive-detecting canine partners to various raid sites to sniff out bomb-making materials. The raid did not net all the fish the Gators were trying to catch, Williams said; but the battalion did hook nine suspects: six of the targeted individuals, plus three others who tested positive for having been involved with explosives. “Now [having more insurgents off the streets] gives us the opportunity to do projects in a more secure environment,” said Williams.
Daily life in an FOB encompassed the various housekeeping needs of the troops, plus some amount of recreation. The workload centered around maintenance of equipment, guard duty, and preparing for operations outside the FOB: patrols, checkpoints, convoys, raids, and searches for the most part. Apart from training needs, the uniform and equipment requirements were relaxed and there was a possibility of a moment of relaxation to read and write letters, make a telephone call, or hang out with friends. The FOBs came in various sizes, especially in the early days, when so many Iraqi military sites, palaces, and industrial sites became available. Later, these were turned over to Iraqi government use or became patrol bases. The 26 second-generation FOBs ready in the fall of 2003 contained the amenities for troop life necessary to sustain morale during the year’s deployment. The third-generation camps, Expeditionary Camps, came on line in the spring of 2004, are designed to last ten years, and hold up to 12,000 troops.
Each camp has a defensive perimeter, usually based upon a wall and ditch combination, watched over by guard towers. There are also mobile or roving patrols around larger FOBs and a reaction force stands ready in case of intrusions or other threats. The gates are especially fortified and even fitted with metal detector systems to permit rapid searches of the large numbers of Iraqi workers employed for services and construction in the FOB.
Under the protection and fire of a tank and BFV, dismounted infantrymen work along the far side of the street, in what had been a busy, prosperous neighborhood of the city. They are looking into or briefly entering the storefronts, but several men remain oriented toward the more distant buildings, watching for snipers or other enemies. The tank fires its cannon at the right rear building to eliminate a sniper position.
The M1A1 Abrams tank and M2A2 BFV are the mainstays of US armored and mechanized infantry divisions. The tank has older NATO woodland camouflage, long faded by a year in Iraq, covered with the sand and dust of the environment. The M2A2 has been repainted to desert scheme. The Abrams’ 120mm cannon proved highly useful in urban fighting. Its accuracy and the excellent fuzing of the explosive ammunition meant it could be used against specific targets without running the risk of ricochets or excessive penetration of solid bullets into adjoining buildings or neighborhoods, as could happen with the 25mm chain gun of the Bradley or the.50-cal. tank commander’s weapon.
TF 1/37th Armor took its tank and mechanized infantry companies into action in Karbala in the final major action of Operation Iron Sabre, the suppression of the al-Sadr rising in April–July 2004. Several hundred enemy fighters roamed at will over the city, except for around the two coalition FOBs on the outskirts. Upon its arrival in early May, the battalion task force established a cordon and search of the vital al-Mukhayem mosque and began to secure the surrounding neighborhood. Fighting house to house, the Bandits not only rescued Iraqi police officers, but also liberated the civilians trapped in their homes by the al-Sadr militia threats. By May 21, the tide had shifted and civil affairs operations could be mounted and the city restored to normalcy. The final action by Old Ironsides was to establish a weapons buy back program. In the course of about a week, it paid out nearly $1 million in $200 increments for weapons and ammunition.
This soldier takes advantage of some off-duty time at his FOB to head for the swimming pool. By the fall of 2003, most of the FOBs, although still of the “temporary” type, had been rebuilt, with living and recreational amenities required to keep soldiers in a sustainable state of morale for their unending occupation duties. In addition to providing a secure environment, the FOBs afforded a measure of relaxation, internet contact with home and the outside world, access to service stores and fitness centers, plus sound and video entertainment commensurate with their lives in home stations. Thus, the FOB system served simultaneously the tactical and administrative systems of the US forces.
This soldier (1), shown in the tank commander’s position of the M1A1 tank, wears the regulation nomex crewman uniform in olive green, with the 1st Armored Division patch on the shoulder, US Army patch over left breast pocket, and name over right breast pocket; and the CVC helmet with black external shell.
The tankers in Baghdad and other areas frequently had to dismount and act or assist other troops in apprehending street criminals or insurgents, and even executed impromptu raids using several crewmen from the same platoon. In those cases, they discarded the nomex flame-resistant tanker suit (it also retained heat worse than the standard uniform) and equipped themselves in a similar manner to the infantrymen. Although armored fighting vehicle crews took their turns with all other soldiers of TF 1st Armored Division in guard duty and dismounted raids and patrols, they retained at all times their combat orientation and capabilities as crewmen, assisted by continuous training and proficiency. The payoff came in Operation Iron Sabre, when conventional combat ensued between US forces and Mahdi militiamen loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr.
Also depicted are the following typical items worn or at hand in combat:
2. goggles, sand & sun
3. helmet, CVC. It is exploded to show exterior shell (3a) colors usually black, green, or sand, H4 interior communication and padding harness (3b), headphones with boom microphone (3c)
4. M9 pistol, shoulder holster
5. Nomex gloves
6. M4 carbine and magazines
7. body armor, PASGT and Interceptor
8. tanker boots, a personal purchase item