Just another day locating a cache on Tampa & Barracuda.  After what looked like it would be another dry hole the word came over the radio they had located  a few things.  I was riding with SSGT Danecker and his crew.  SGT Boone my cover guy.   We were sitting in the back waiting for the word to dismount and go to the objective.  Specialist Bevan was driving and Razzle Dazzle (SPC. Rasmussen) was in the turret on the 50 cal.  We were sitting on Tampa looking at the intersection of Tampa and Barracuda.  For anyone who has ever served in Mosul they know this is the last place in the World you want to be... and never just sitting there pulling security.   Everyone had that gallows laughter... we’re taking contact today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it came over the net that they had located a few things SGT. Boone and I dismounted the Humvee and ran to the low ground where they were searching.  It was obvious they were in the right place.  But the cache was spread all over the place.  The Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers were finding weapons spread all over this vacant lot.   The weapons were hidden kinda in plain site.  This area is covered in garbage.  Strewn with the little plastic shopping bags you will find most anywhere around the World.  So what do they do?  They hide their weapons in discarded shopp’et bags amongst the rest of the trash lining the streets and vacant lots like this one.   This weapons cache was right in the middle of an area Ghost Battalion had been engaging the enemy for months.  Today would be no different.  Every time they find one of the enemies caches they come out and try to drive them off... or just shot RPGs and AK-47’s at them cause they’re pissed they just lost their equipment.   And that is what happened about twenty minutes onto the objective.  It gave Bevan SSGT Daneckers driver a little wake up.   One of the rounds slammed into the door of his Humvee.   SSGT. Danecker said Bevan spun around to look at him, “What was that”?  They all just laughed it off.

 

There was a lot

more to this cache

than I can show...

All that secret squirrel

stuff...  As SSGT Mac says

“It’s G-3 Classified”...

Which means nothing at

all.. Ha ha SSGT. McKissen

G-3 Classified, very funny.

 

He laughed when I told him

I would use it in a sentence

before the week was out...

I did.  Good stuff man.

 

The crazy stuff you learn from these Joes.

 

 

 

 

The day was still not over by a long shot.  We still needed to make it back to the safety of the trucks and then wait for EOD to blow the weapons cache in place.  That made for a really nice boom!

 

But to no ones surprise it still wasn’t over yet.  Just about where we had been sitting in the Humvee pulling security, the first explosion exposed a command wire.  SGT Volk and his crew, SGT Labrato and SGT. Briola  spotted the wire... it lead to an IED.  So EOD sent the robot over and placed another charge... and BOOM.  With that we were headed home much to the pleasure of all the Joey’s.  We would make it just in time for dinner.    SSGT Danecker, “Mike, it’s just another day at the office”.  “Lets go eat brethren”.  And with that it was off to the DFAC for more of the same over cooked meat.