oldmusclemike
Well-known member
Take it away grunt.............
The Gruntwerk story ......?
- Thread starter oldmusclemike
- Start date
hmmm, well this could take days to fill in lol.
I know I mentioned a few things before in your thread Mike which I'm sorry I ended up changing the pace of the convo....
So my quick background - I was an 11b (infantryman) in the Army and served two tours in Iraq, first was 2005 in Bahquba and the second was 2008 in Mosul. My first tour was pretty rough but the second was just mayhem for the battle of Mosul. First deployment I was a standard grunt and assigned to a mech unit out of fort hood, second go I had attended ranger school and changed units to the Ranger Bat... my actual job now was designated marksman..
I have to admit I struggled at first being a marksman, and not because I couldn't shoot well enough - because it changed the game of how personal it was when you had to take out an enemy. As a regular grunt on the ground when fire fights hit there tends to be multiple men shooting at the same person/people, it's rarely up close and personal unless it's a MOUNT operation and you're clearing a building or searching for an HVT. So now instead you're sitting on a roof pulling security, looking thru a leupold on your M-14, now it's personal. There is no mistaking it anymore, there is no logic of "eh well it could of been any of us who hit him," all that disappears and you know without a doubt it's you and only you - it's such a personal and direct way of taking ones life that it can be hard.
Too top it off you don't know who is actually an enemy or not, they're not in uniform, they don't stand out, they force kids to attack - so now you're looking at everyone as a threat or security risk which makes it hard to fight a war. Unfortunately with this type of setting innocent people get hurt, half time the civilians are injured by their own kind when they try to attack US troops yet we're always blamed for it. Once incident still haunts me revolving around this (not knowing who's who), as we were passing thru a spot known as "grenade valley" I had noticed a young boy out of the corner of my eye lurking around the corner of a building, in his hand I noticed he was holding a round black object... I couldn't get a perfect visual though. As my fellow men on the ground started to approach the building I noticed the boy raised his arm up with the object in hand and cocked his arm back, hew went to go around the corner and I knew then he was about to throw it. Needless to say I let a round loose and it hit him in the chest, I called it in over the radio and the guys on ground went to investigate - turns out the kid had a rock he painted black and was going to throw that. That whole mission literally crushed me because how do you accept shooting a 10 year old boy who turned out innocent?
Later I'll get to where I was injured, just figured I would share something for now about the shit hole war is and why it sucks.
On a lighter note, you fellas should of seen the gym we built at our COP... it was the most ghetto setup ever. We his this rickity wooden bench we used as our flat bench and MRE boxes stacked up to rack the weights on. Then we took a piece of ree-bar (spelling... not sure?) and tied bricks on either end with some para-cord (550 cord) and this made our ghetto bench press setup. Everything else we setup as a circuit which was an MRAP tire we flipped and also hit with a sledge hammer, a pullup and dip bar that our engineers welded for us, and the rest was setup of ammo cans (50 cal) for curls and such. The funny part is we managed to maintain some size and strength with this ghetto gym, but most importantly it kept our morale up a lot.
I'm actually working on writing a book about the battle of Mosul as I've found sharing to be therapeutic for me these days, took a few years to get there though. I will start to share some stories from there as well.
Surely I cannot be the only vet on here... where's the rest of the armed forces fellas?
I know I mentioned a few things before in your thread Mike which I'm sorry I ended up changing the pace of the convo....
So my quick background - I was an 11b (infantryman) in the Army and served two tours in Iraq, first was 2005 in Bahquba and the second was 2008 in Mosul. My first tour was pretty rough but the second was just mayhem for the battle of Mosul. First deployment I was a standard grunt and assigned to a mech unit out of fort hood, second go I had attended ranger school and changed units to the Ranger Bat... my actual job now was designated marksman..
I have to admit I struggled at first being a marksman, and not because I couldn't shoot well enough - because it changed the game of how personal it was when you had to take out an enemy. As a regular grunt on the ground when fire fights hit there tends to be multiple men shooting at the same person/people, it's rarely up close and personal unless it's a MOUNT operation and you're clearing a building or searching for an HVT. So now instead you're sitting on a roof pulling security, looking thru a leupold on your M-14, now it's personal. There is no mistaking it anymore, there is no logic of "eh well it could of been any of us who hit him," all that disappears and you know without a doubt it's you and only you - it's such a personal and direct way of taking ones life that it can be hard.
Too top it off you don't know who is actually an enemy or not, they're not in uniform, they don't stand out, they force kids to attack - so now you're looking at everyone as a threat or security risk which makes it hard to fight a war. Unfortunately with this type of setting innocent people get hurt, half time the civilians are injured by their own kind when they try to attack US troops yet we're always blamed for it. Once incident still haunts me revolving around this (not knowing who's who), as we were passing thru a spot known as "grenade valley" I had noticed a young boy out of the corner of my eye lurking around the corner of a building, in his hand I noticed he was holding a round black object... I couldn't get a perfect visual though. As my fellow men on the ground started to approach the building I noticed the boy raised his arm up with the object in hand and cocked his arm back, hew went to go around the corner and I knew then he was about to throw it. Needless to say I let a round loose and it hit him in the chest, I called it in over the radio and the guys on ground went to investigate - turns out the kid had a rock he painted black and was going to throw that. That whole mission literally crushed me because how do you accept shooting a 10 year old boy who turned out innocent?
Later I'll get to where I was injured, just figured I would share something for now about the shit hole war is and why it sucks.
On a lighter note, you fellas should of seen the gym we built at our COP... it was the most ghetto setup ever. We his this rickity wooden bench we used as our flat bench and MRE boxes stacked up to rack the weights on. Then we took a piece of ree-bar (spelling... not sure?) and tied bricks on either end with some para-cord (550 cord) and this made our ghetto bench press setup. Everything else we setup as a circuit which was an MRAP tire we flipped and also hit with a sledge hammer, a pullup and dip bar that our engineers welded for us, and the rest was setup of ammo cans (50 cal) for curls and such. The funny part is we managed to maintain some size and strength with this ghetto gym, but most importantly it kept our morale up a lot.
I'm actually working on writing a book about the battle of Mosul as I've found sharing to be therapeutic for me these days, took a few years to get there though. I will start to share some stories from there as well.
Surely I cannot be the only vet on here... where's the rest of the armed forces fellas?
halfwit
I like turtles.
Thanks for sharing gruntwerk. 
I'm sure you know this, but children are often used this way; some given items that look threatening, some are given the real deal. My grandfather had to write a report for the US Army back in the 60's about this practice (MI in Vietnam), as it would cause GI's to second guess, getting folks killed. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if jihadis weren't doing the same.
Again, thank you for your service to this country and protecting my freedoms.
I'm sure you know this, but children are often used this way; some given items that look threatening, some are given the real deal. My grandfather had to write a report for the US Army back in the 60's about this practice (MI in Vietnam), as it would cause GI's to second guess, getting folks killed. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if jihadis weren't doing the same.
Again, thank you for your service to this country and protecting my freedoms.
carverelli
I am banned!
I watched a movie called the kingdom which I think depicted the scenery and not knowing exactly who was the enemy.
Don't think I could have fought over there without adopting the mentality of " kill em all let God sort them out".
War sucks....always will. Collateral damage comes with it and that's what can grate on a soldier long after the fighting is done
Don't think I could have fought over there without adopting the mentality of " kill em all let God sort them out".
War sucks....always will. Collateral damage comes with it and that's what can grate on a soldier long after the fighting is done
blakey
I am banned!
My heart goes out to you mate tough situation that you were in there brother
Without going to deep i still suffer from PTSD for the things I've done and seen I still have trouble walking into a shopping centre and doing things that a lot of people take for granted
Unless people have been in that or a similar situation they won't understand because they just can't comprehend the situation because they weren't in it
When you are in these places doing the things we have done having to make these decisions .
When everyday you are faced with life threatening situations I don't know what word to describe it mmmm alertness maybe it's very hard to turn it off or down I don't really know how to explain it hopefully you get what I'm saying brother it's a hard job but somebody has to do it
Thanks for sharing brother
If you get that book finished I'll have a copy
Without going to deep i still suffer from PTSD for the things I've done and seen I still have trouble walking into a shopping centre and doing things that a lot of people take for granted
Unless people have been in that or a similar situation they won't understand because they just can't comprehend the situation because they weren't in it
When you are in these places doing the things we have done having to make these decisions .
When everyday you are faced with life threatening situations I don't know what word to describe it mmmm alertness maybe it's very hard to turn it off or down I don't really know how to explain it hopefully you get what I'm saying brother it's a hard job but somebody has to do it
Thanks for sharing brother
If you get that book finished I'll have a copy
I believe the term you're searching for there is hypervigilance, it took me a long time to realize what that was. Basically it just means always on edge sort of thing, expecting the worst, always waiting for something bad to happen, plotting exit strategies as soon as you walk into a building... it's certainly a real thing.
Sorry to hear you suffer from PTSD as well... it can really suck sometimes as you know. Not sure what job you did, I see you're in Australia - I actually meant quite a few Aussies in passing. Most of them we're in Kuwait, then we had a few British attachments in Iraq. Were you part of the military or did you do first responder type work (police, EMT, fire, etc)? I know quite a few guys that are EMT's here state side and they struggle sometimes, I know a few of them responded to horrific car accidents where people were dismembered and shit. I've also meant a few trauma surgeons that left that practice to take up family medicine because they couldn't handle it no more. One of them doctors actually delivered my sons... he ended up becoming a gynecologist after his trauma surgery days because he wanted to bring sometime good into the world. He told me it helped with his PTSD, I thought that was pretty neat.
A lot of people suffer from PTSD... some don't even realize it's happening, many folks think it's only war related but it appears any real psychological trauma can cause it - example being rape, or children who were molested and/or physically abused, like I already mentioned first responders as well.
One cool note I can make here is TRT has helped me cope with my PTSD better, I believe having low T and high E2 mode me more emotional about it - also worsened the depression and anxiety. It wasn't until recently that I was actually able to openly discuss the stuff I went through, so I appreciate you guys and this board for letting me vent.
I also want everyone to know I don't share these stories because I want people to pity me or feel sorry, or that I'm trying to be Joe Cool badass because that's truly not it. I think talking about some of it helps promote better awareness to help our vets, or at the very least understand them a little more and it's therapeutic for me.
I wanted to mention the A-10 (thunderbolt) quick too, any one who likes badass fighting machines should you tube some videos of it. It has been one of our best air supports for many years and played a vital role in Iraq and Afghanistan, she's truly an animal. I was honored to see it function in real life... it was like seeing hell unleashed and just raining death every where. The US Military is going to be retiring them so figured I'd make a note.... they saved me and my buddies numerous times!
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Thanks for sharing gruntwerk.
I'm sure you know this, but children are often used this way; some given items that look threatening, some are given the real deal. My grandfather had to write a report for the US Army back in the 60's about this practice (MI in Vietnam), as it would cause GI's to second guess, getting folks killed. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if jihadis weren't doing the same.
Again, thank you for your service to this country and protecting my freedoms.
Thanks for the support and kind words halfwit.
The Vietnam era are truly my heroes in terms of battles fought, they really had it rough... the terrain alone was deadly as well as the animal life. I'm thankful I was in a desert versus a jungle.
I believe you are right though, one of the MI attachments had mentioned that before (about the children in nam) and he and the other intelligence assets believed they were trying to achieve the same effect.
It's so wild and ruthless to fight like that, just can't imagine what goes thru their heads to force children to do such things. I've seen kids in the toddler age bracket carrying ammo or bomb materials, command wire, even live bombs/grenades and they would often help. Make's it really difficult to gauge whos an enemy when you have little ones every where and you never know if one will blow up or not.
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I wish we could of carried that mentality but unfortunately our ROE made that really hard, and if we made an unjust call that was obvious then we could of been tried with murder and court marshaled. This made shit even harder because half the time you'd be scared to make the call... this got people killed in my second tour, the media had started to really nit pick what was happening there and they tightened our leash.
anzel
New member
You absolutely should share these stories....you too Blakey.
People NEED to understand this shit. I'm a 1st responder and I realize a long time ago that people use their imagination and assumptions and MOVIES to fill the blanks in. They just don't understand.
I work with a handful of guys that were in Iraq. 2 of em have ptsd.
One was a truck driver. So everyone over here says oh that's not a big deal. Well it certainly was! Everytime he rolled out he just grabbed the wheel white knuckle tight and just waited for his turn for an IED to blow his truck up.
And he drove alot! Can u imagine the stress levels?
Most people wouldn't even be able to handle that.
thank God he is well looked after and he is given good progressive guidance to keep his ass grounded and outta trouble.
Hearing their stories and yours is important to me so I can try to understand.
Thanks!
People NEED to understand this shit. I'm a 1st responder and I realize a long time ago that people use their imagination and assumptions and MOVIES to fill the blanks in. They just don't understand.
I work with a handful of guys that were in Iraq. 2 of em have ptsd.
One was a truck driver. So everyone over here says oh that's not a big deal. Well it certainly was! Everytime he rolled out he just grabbed the wheel white knuckle tight and just waited for his turn for an IED to blow his truck up.
And he drove alot! Can u imagine the stress levels?
Most people wouldn't even be able to handle that.
thank God he is well looked after and he is given good progressive guidance to keep his ass grounded and outta trouble.
Hearing their stories and yours is important to me so I can try to understand.
Thanks!
Milton
Administrator
Teutonic will be here shortly, must be taking some leave.
Milton
Administrator
I thinks it not only good for others to hear these stories, but for the veterans to get the stories out of them, so they dont have to hold it in and cover up the psychological flack with booze, broads, pills etc. and beats paying $100 an hour to have some rich shrink listen to my stories while i lay on his couch and him checking his FB.
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blakey
I am banned!
Yep that was the word I was searching for
Australian army mate rifleman (aka shit kicker )
In afgan didn't make it to Iraq well didn't fight there anyways
Great to hear everybody's stories and thoughts on the matter it isn't really a subject I get to hear or talk much about and since most of you guys are yanks just want to say it's a pleasure and honour to have you guys and girls as allies without you we would pretty much be fucked
If I'm correct I think we have about 15 thousand marines up in the Northern Territory at the moment
Australian army mate rifleman (aka shit kicker )
In afgan didn't make it to Iraq well didn't fight there anyways
Great to hear everybody's stories and thoughts on the matter it isn't really a subject I get to hear or talk much about and since most of you guys are yanks just want to say it's a pleasure and honour to have you guys and girls as allies without you we would pretty much be fucked
If I'm correct I think we have about 15 thousand marines up in the Northern Territory at the moment
blakey
I am banned!
What do you do brother ?
anzel
New member
Fireman in an inner city.
To me weight training and cardio are part of my job. Hate to say it but it looks like I'm in the minority. Most of the guys eat like shit and walk past the weight room and don't even think of hitting it.
But they work like sons a bitches!
blakey
I am banned!
Nice mate firey good on you
Yeah right I thought all you guys were ripped maybe that's a bit of a stereotype haha
Well what's a story without pictures.
Here's a quick one, the back story is we kept getting his on this major road coming into a village we always patrolled.... we would get so hard with armor piercing rounds we would have to turn around. They managed to shred armored MRAPS, was quite scary because it took us some time to figure out what we were dealing with.
After we got some intelligence from the UAV we ended up fighting an alternate route with a path, so needless to say we pursued and managed to find the nest they were attacking from. They had managed to setup a 25MM anti-aircraft gun pointed directly at the road with high end armor piercing rounds. Needless to say we smoked the fellas holding the nest down when we got to them and destroyed the weapon after our quick photos (C4).
I'll be back to respond soon to every ones input, and thanks for sharing Blakey... so you were a grunt just like me and I'm glad you made if home safely from the stan.
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Here's a quick one, the back story is we kept getting his on this major road coming into a village we always patrolled.... we would get so hard with armor piercing rounds we would have to turn around. They managed to shred armored MRAPS, was quite scary because it took us some time to figure out what we were dealing with.
After we got some intelligence from the UAV we ended up fighting an alternate route with a path, so needless to say we pursued and managed to find the nest they were attacking from. They had managed to setup a 25MM anti-aircraft gun pointed directly at the road with high end armor piercing rounds. Needless to say we smoked the fellas holding the nest down when we got to them and destroyed the weapon after our quick photos (C4).
I'll be back to respond soon to every ones input, and thanks for sharing Blakey... so you were a grunt just like me and I'm glad you made if home safely from the stan.
View attachment 565361
Little road side bomb action, this was a small IED as you can see on the damage to the MRAP all it did was disable the vehicle, didn't break armor.
They did this as a tactic to stop our convoy as they blew the front vehicle and waited for us to dismount and assess the situation, once we were out in the open the secondary attack began which turned out to be a small arms ambush. We came out on top this day.
I don't have any photos of the after math for the large IED's, usually shit was rough with the loss of life on them so taking photos wasn't usually something that happened. Anyway, here's what a small IED will do.
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They did this as a tactic to stop our convoy as they blew the front vehicle and waited for us to dismount and assess the situation, once we were out in the open the secondary attack began which turned out to be a small arms ambush. We came out on top this day.
I don't have any photos of the after math for the large IED's, usually shit was rough with the loss of life on them so taking photos wasn't usually something that happened. Anyway, here's what a small IED will do.
View attachment 565363View attachment 565364
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