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Iraq
No Medical Recovery Outside Of Iraq FOBs ??
2006-07-03
Read the whole exchange at the link. This just can't be allowed.
The 4/1 SPPT Team was traveling back from Salman Pak to Camp Rustamiyah along EFP alley (RTE Pluto South) on Sunday May 14th about 5:15pm in a 3 vehicle convoy. About 3 miles from Camp Rustamiyah, the first Humvee was hit by a massive roadside bomb called an EFP. The bomb blew the HUMVEE into the air and created a giant cloud of debris, dirt and pavement.

We stopped as fast as we could and when the smoke cleared enough, we could see the first HUMVEE had been completely blown off the road and was lying upside down in a ditch. To make matters worse it was also on fire. The rest of the team tried to free the driver and vehicle commander from the wreckage but the frame of the HUMVEE was bent and the door would not open. The two soldiers in the front were trapped inside the burning vehicle and died.

We could only pray that they were already dead from the EFP blast and did not burn to death. We tried to pull the front doors off with a winch and a tow strap, but the burning ammunition inside the wreck started to explode and the entire vehicle caught fire and blew up. The gunner was pulled from the wreckage and was severely wounded with shrapnel wounds from the spalling.
Posted by:Anonymoose

#8  "What happened at this point is what we need your help with."

-So somebody is going to the media or the public 6,000 miles away IOT change supposed SOP's in country?

"The MEDIVAC was denied because we could not guarantee the LZ was not hot."

-I don't know about this one, if we have lads down the guys I know would just declare that the LZ is not hot (whether it is or not).
Posted by: Broadhead6   2006-07-03 16:41  

#7  From what I've seen SFTT is very quick on the trigger and always eager ready to lambaste the brass. That doesn't mean they're always wrong, but generous portions of salt are usually called for.
Posted by: Xbalanke   2006-07-03 12:40  

#6  This is just crap. It rings of old 1980's fearmongering. IF it did happen, it only happened one. Todays combat teams are hardened and would have taken matters into their own hands. The decision makers would be beaten to a pulp by the team.
This whole article is suspect.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-07-03 09:34  

#5  The source is Soldiers for the Truth. Gives you a hint. Before anyone goes off half cocked [there's an arty term for you], think Al-AP or Al-Reuters. Verify first.
Posted by: Hupinemble Flaiger2203   2006-07-03 09:18  

#4  If some of Rantburg's military types would check out the source and tell us if it rings true? It looked full of jargon to me, but I've no idea if it's real jargon or not. I'm also suspicious of someone who describes himeself as a winner of the prestigious Peabody Award, and of a professional newsman who continued the self-description with the phrase, "... a protégée's of the late Col. ..."
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-07-03 06:57  

#3  If this is real, it's an outrage. But are we sure it's real, or some jerk just cooking up a "denial of service" job on military communications channels? If it were real, it wouldn't be long before you would run out of soldiers willing to stick their necks out only to get kicked in the @$$. Anybody have another more direct source to back this up? The whole thing smells like an urban legend. But if it isn't, this "policy" is doomed to self-destruct, and maybe even take the brass who cooked it up along with it.
Posted by: grb   2006-07-03 03:29  

#2  Some Commander needs to have his ass handed to him. Our volunteer Soilders fight as they do because we take care of them. Someone has lost sight of this and needs to be put out on the pointy end of the spear so they remember it.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2006-07-03 02:43  

#1  Well, imagine the outcry if a medical helicopter got shot down. This is what the commanders are thinking, and they're just doing a little CYA.

Not that that's excusable, but I'm sure that's what they're thinking.
Posted by: gromky   2006-07-03 00:37  

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