photojournalist John D McHugh-newest posts from Afghanistan

First of 4 new posts from photojournalist John D. McHugh, embedded with the 1-91 Cav 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan-click here for all the new posts

April 23, 2008

Going to bed when it gets dark means waking early, usually before first light. Everyone packs their gear and loads the vehicles before thinking about breakfast. This is as automatic for me now as it is for the soldiers.

The reason for it is quite simple: when you are outside the wire, you just never know what is going to happen. If an attack was launched suddenly, and sleeping gear was still strewn around, it would get left behind in the rush to weapons and vehicles.

Once packed, the coffee is brewed, and ration packs are opened. Breakfast is a quick affair this morning, as the plan is to move back to Bermel, where a proper breakfast should still be waiting in the Dining Facility.

By 6am, everyone is ready to move. Everyone is relaxed, and there is plenty of banter between the soldiers.

But suddenly a call comes over the radio, and it all changes. Bermel has just been attacked by rockets. The Point of Origin (POO) site, the place where they were fired from, has been spotted by an Observation Post (OP), and Bermel is preparing to fight back.

Charlie company's commander, Captain McChrystal, takes the radio, and starts calling out orders. He is getting information from his executive officer back at Bermel and giving orders to the artillery there to prepare a counter battery. This will be from the 155mm howitzers emplaced at Bermel, the big guns. At the same time he is on a second radio, passing situation reports (sit-reps) to his battalion commander.

Things can get confused in these types of scenarios, and at one stage McChrystal has to bark down the radio, "Hey, tell him, I don't give a fuck who he's talking to - I'm running this TIC (troops in contact) and he goes through me, goddammit!" It seems to have the desired effect, because he doesn't need to say it a second time.

Things slowly calm down as it becomes apparent that the attack is over - for now, at least: First Sergeant Collins points out that a week earlier they were rocketed at dawn, just like today, and then again at dusk. They took eight 107mm rockets that day, but no one was hurt.

These attacks are difficult to counter, because the rockets are usually set up overnight, on a delayed timer. This allows the insurgent to be well away from the scene, or POO, when the rockets launch. This in turn means that even if the POO site is observed, and a counter battery is fired, the chance of killing the person who orchestrated the attack is minimal. Which means he is free to do the same thing again.

The other major concern is that these rockets are fired horizontally from nearby mountains, meaning they come straight at the base, unlike mortar rounds, which shoot up into the air and then fall back down on to their target.

Direct fire means there is very little time for any warning, even if the launch is spotted. So instead of hearing an alarm, dashing for a shelter and then hearing the impact, the first thing you often hear is the whirr over head and then a huge explosion.

There is no confirmed kill on the "rocket man" today, so we all wait and wonder when he will attack again.

Captain McChrystal

Charlie company's Captain McChrystal, calling in instructions and ordering artillery strikes. Photograph: John D McHugh

Charlie Company

Soldiers from Charlie company begin to wake after a rare night spent indoors, sleeping in a school in Rabat. Photograph: John D McHugh