Okay, so this post is LONG overdue. I didn’t blog about while in Iraq but promised myself I would once back in the states. I’ve been back for some time and it is time this story is told.

Most of you know I fly a desk and am proud to admit it. However, I was pulled from behind my desk for about a week during the deployment to lend my assistance as an “A” driver. My job was to make sure the driver of my vechile didn’t fall asleep at the wheel and help maintain a watch on our surroundings.

Our convoy was stopped for some reason that escapes me now. I was doing my job and scanning the horizon for approaching vehicles and people. The road we were traveling had been closed off to civilian traffic for this specific op, but I noticed two trucks coming towards us. I mentioned them to my driver and our concern quickly faded when we got a better look and saw two Iraqi police trucks. Each was crammed full of people and had automatic weapons on mounts in the rear.

We noticed the occupants were dressed in civilian clothing and had bandanas covering their faces. We didn’t think much of it since the road was secured to civilian traffic. However, my feeling of concern never went away. I had good reason to be concerned.

The trucks passed and we completed our mission. After returning to base, we held our mission debriefing. It was then learned the trucks had been stolen by AQI forces and were suspected of being turned into vehicle borne IEDs (VBIEDs). Everyone in the briefing was rather dumbfounded how terrorists got their hands on the equipment, and we were very surprised we weren’t attacked. The general agreement was they knew we were Marines and stood no chance against our rather large convoy.

We never really learned what happen to those trucks, but we were certain they were recovered some time later and the thieves taken care of. I think of that day rather regularly and thank God that the terrorists didn’t attack. It wouldn’t have ended in a good day for the bad guys.