Convoy

In the last three days I've spent over eight hours on the road, experiencing the joy of convoys. Here are a few things I have learned through my limited experiences.
1 Convoys remind me of an early morning radio show; in fact most of the guys I've met would be quite successful at such a career. The banter on the radio between soldiers is constant because there is not much else to do hour after hour on the road. "It keeps us awake," one soldier said. My only is advice is to turn off your headset if they start telling jokes. I made the mistake of listening, laughing and telling bad jokes of my own. The madness went on all through the night. I wanted to sleep, but felt like it would be unfair to snooze while the soldiers must be wide-eyed and ready.

2. I was very impressed with the soldiers' positive attitudes. Here they are squashed inside uncomfortable armored boxes. Let me explain... Some of the armored vehicles have enough room in the back to stretch your legs, but most are worse than flying coach on a commercial airline. The other issue is the amounts of gear soldiers wear. The vests are several inches thick and weigh close to 40 pounds, which helps your body produce and then trap large amounts of sweat on your back and stomach. The high neckline can often choke you if you lean too far forward. My favorite part of the armored ensemble is what you wear above the neck. On convoys you wear a helmet, eye protection and a headset that fits snugly over your ears and under the helmet. After several hours the weight of the helmet begins to feel brain crushing. It also smashes the headset and sunglasses over your ears into a painful s'more of blunt objects.

3. On my last trip we were making our way through a long stretch of highway when something felt like it exploded beneath us. The driver quickly pulled the car over and the gunner announced that we had a flat tire. Within a few minutes the vehicle ahead of us backed up and another pulled along side of us for protection. Within ten minutes the tire was changed and we were on our way. I joked to the soldiers that I would write a story about how scared they were, which was the opposite of the truth, they got a laugh about that, especially when one guy kept saying he was only scared for one second. Not that anyone could blame them for getting shook up when driving in Iraq, where the greatest enemy threat is the IED. The 41st has already suffered several causalities, but soldiers still go out on the road every night. They do their jobs and fear is not part of the equation. I can't help feeling pride and pity for their plight.
The other excitement on the trip consisted of 10 minutes of hot miking. It was pure torture. Someone on another vehicle left their mike on, leaving everyone else with a deafening roar of static. Finally the culprit turned their radio off and the sound of silence was like the relief of peeing after holding it in for several hours.

Overall I am very thankful for the soldiers providing me safe travel through the country and allowing me a glimpse into their world.