Stuk Hear In Irak

I always complain about not having anything exciting to write about. Well, this morning we had a little dilemma that I thought was pretty "out of the norm", so I thought I'd share it with all of you. I guess I should start off by letting you know that we are currently in the rainy season here in Iraq (September-March). We have had a few rain-showers already, and it shows. Everywhere you go, there are huge puddles of water. It is hard to avoid these puddles on our daily travels to the JMMT, chow hall, post office, laundry facility or wherever it is that we usually travel on a daily basis. Sometimes, it's a little tempting to drive through the water. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's the joy of splashing the water as high as you can, or testing the limits of your vehicle to see if there is anything that could possibly stand in it's way.

Well, that's how this story could be started. After chow, we were driving towards the main road here on base when we found ourselves headed towards a huge water puddle. I think that is where I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

As we approached the puddle, we decided we should get back on the path which wasn't as muddy. As the driver turned back towards the path, our front left tired dropped as if we were driving off the edge of a cliff. As our vehicle sunk in the soft sand pocket, it felt as if the vehicle was going to roll over. If you look at the third picture, the grille armor rested on the ground and kept us from rolling over. The vehicle's weight from the armor pushed us deep into the sand pocket, leaving us unable to back out of it. If you look closely at the 4th picture, the front axle is actually submerged in the mud as well, deterring us from moving anywhere.

I hauled butt back to the AO (Area of Operations), and asked one of my go-to guys, SSG Campbell, if he could help get us out. SSG Campbell and I used to be in the same platoon back home, so we have always been working together. He drove me back to our LMTV in the PLS (Palletized Loading System) where we were able to hook up to the LMTV with a chain. As we pulled the LMTV out, we were able to see just how deep the mud was. You can't really get a good idea from this picture, but I would say it was about 2 feet deep.

I think we will use paved roads from now on. Especially since I don't have very good luck with LMTVs in the first place. If you don't know what I am talking about, I am referring to the time I was performing PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services) on the LMTV. I used the cab lift to lower the cab, when all of a sudden, the hydraulic arm snapped in half and the cab came crashing down, right next to where I had been standing.