Jim Spiri in Iraq

I'm sure as time goes on, the wall will somehow grow
to an enormous height that even Superman would think
twice about scaling, but the truth of the matter is
that the wall was barely six feet high and I'm sure my
grandson Jakob would have made it no problem hands
down. But it was a challenge. It was actually fun.

The night shift in any job I've ever had has always
been something that I seem to end up in. I had
avoided night missions simply for the fact of low
light situations and the camera. It's hard to get a
good night shot, especially when using the flash is
not an option. I have learned in years past how to
hold the camera quite still in many instances, yet the
older I become the more difficult that is to
accomplish.

The past two nights, I've traveled with first Bravo
Company, under the direction of Capt. Kendall, and the
second night with Apache Company, under the direction
of Capt. Tegge. Both missions were to arrive on scene
quickly, raid a home, look for the person of interest,
detain him, and return to base. Sometimes the intel
is correct, sometimes it takes more information. In
any event, I went along on two night missions the past
two days, and I learned that in each case, it is a
difficult task, yet one these soldiers have done many
times.

On Saturday night, we went to a home that was supposed
to have a certain person in it. We entered it,
rapidly, searched and cleared and gathered the
occupants only to find that on this case, the
information leading us to this place did not exactly
pan out. That happens, from time to time, but that is
the nature of the business here in Mosul. We
basically returned to base after a while of searching
the home and checking the area out.

On Sunday night, I was with Apache Company. I would
be in SSgt. Mansapit's vehicle. He is a soldier from
Guam, and very serious about his job. There were
three others in the vehicle, whose names I do not
remember but whose faces I can see well. Each of them
were glad to have me along and I kept my eyes on them
so as not to lose sight of them during the mission.
That is difficult even during daylight hours, and at
night it is even compounded. The fact is, everybody
looks alike and they move quickly. It's not hard to
find myself hooked up with exactly the wrong team, if
I'm not on my toes at all times. I'm always thinking
I'm going to get in the wrong humvee for those also
look alike. So, a great deal of my time is spent with
one eye watching whom I'm with, and the other eye on
the scene at hand. Maybe others are good at this
part, but for me, it is a constant worry inside my
head that I've kept to myself so as not to look too
stupid. I know they would never leave me, but, I
don't want to look like a lost child in the mall.

Sunday nights mission had good information ahead of
it. We would go to this home, looking for a specific
person with particular features. It was noted in the
brief that this person of interest is known to carry a
9mm pistol and use it first, and then ask questions
later. So, it was a very serious operation and I was
on constant heads up mode, so as not to impede
whatever would or would not go down. There is no
doubt in my mind that daytime ops are much easier for
me than night time ops. But, I wanted to get the feel
of it here in Mosul. That is why I'm here.

After much coordination we headed out into the dark
streets of west Mosul at a fast pace and arrived on
scene in fairly short order. All were wearing NVG's,
but the location we arrived at had some street
lighting and the moon was nearly full so illumination
was good. As we drove up close to the objective, Sgt.
Mansapit spoke up, "prepare to dismount".

The humvees stopped, the dismounts including myself
exited the vics, and we proceeded rapidly through some
side alley ways headed to the house we were about to
enter. All along this part of the juant, I was
thinking about when I was a kid and saw commercials
for new sneakers called, "PF Flyers". I remember as a
lad knowing full well that if I had one of those pairs
I could fly over anything. How I wished I had a pair
of those as we would soon be approaching "the wall".

We arrived at the home that was kind of upscale
looking, relatively speaking for homes in Iraq. We
were soon face to face with "the wall". The Mt.
Everest I was expecting was no bigger than 6' feet
tall and had wrought iron bars perfect for hand grips.
Getting over it was not going to be a hassel. I was
almost excited at that thought. I went right up to it
having slung my camera off to the side like a sling,
and soon was in the first group of guys going over.
Once at the top, in a split second I had to figure out
my immediate descent onto the ground. I had a choice.
I could land on the ground, or in the bushes. I
chose the bushes and found that to be an excellent
choice. It was like a perfect cushion. No problem.
I was in. I didn't need my cape after all!

Soon, all the soldiers stealthily moved into the
courtyard of the home and then entered unannounced and
startled the residents who were sleeping all on the
floor in the living room of sorts. The soldiers
immediately gathered the two males and shined lights
on them and began an intense search of the home.
Other elements had entered from the rear and still
other elements had taken up positions securing the
immediate area outside. Once it was determined that
the area was clear, an inspection of the male subjects
took place. During this time, there was an adult
female present, with a newborn child, as well as two
young girls, ages maybe around 5 and 6. They remained
on their make shift mattrases as the investigation and
questioning proceeded.

It was determined that these folks were not exactly
whom we were looking for, but with further
questioning, it became apparant that right next door,
kind of adjoining this home, was possibly the person
we were looking for. I'm not sure, but I think it was
determined that the person next door was the brother
of the man whom we were talking with at the moment.
Again, I'm not sure on this point.

The decision was made that the man we had in custody
would take us to the home next door. The man said
that it would be better if he knocked otherwise the
one inside would shoot at whomever came in. So, we
carefully went next door, as soldiers took up
positions outside along the back wall of the alley,
and the man in custody who was being escorted by
soldiers, began knocking on the steel gate door.

At this point I was thinking, "how strange, the
neighbor knocks on the door in the middle of the
night, and awaiting outside is a bunch of American
soldiers ready to come on in and see what there is to
see". My experience is that the Iraqi people sleep
rather soundly. There were several knocks as all lay
in wait. Then the door opened and many rushed in.
The house was cleared and what was found was a man
upstairs just awakened and still rubbing his eyes. An
older lady had answered the door. Upon immediate
search of the home, the 9mm pistol was found. The
whole house was searched and after much questioning,
it was determined that we had our guy. He was
detained after a while and then we prepared to take
him to the humvees down the street and through some
alley ways.

The exit to the humvees was coordinated in such a way
that in the event someone might try to interrupt our
mission, they would be dealt with. It was a precise
movement back to the humvees with SSGT Mansapit and
his crew leading the way as escorts along with another
team, both providing cover security as we moved
quickly to the vehicles. Once in the vehicles, we
exited and headed to where we would take the person
that was in custody.

Later, we would be finished and head back to the FOB.
Sunrise was just a couple hours away now. It had been
an interesting evening. The goal of the mission was
met, no one was hurt, and everyone went back to their
quarters. I walked to my hooch, about 15-minutes
away. I was tired, but not exhausted. I was still
glad that the wall was not that much of a challenge.
I had witnessed a night mission that panned out.
There will be more in the nights ahead.

During this night I saw many things. One thing I will
remember is the family whose home we entered first,
and how they reacted. It is not easy for them to
experience what they experienced. I watched closely
how the soldiers handled themselves in this situation.
They are professional soldiers first and foremost.
One never knows what to expect, but one never forgets
this is war in Iraq. What I saw was that once
information is gathered and assimilated on the spot,
working with the family at hand is a critical part of
the job. There is no other way to do what was done,
other than how it was done. Come in with the intel
you have, assess the occupants, always being extremely
alert to what might happen, and caring for the safety
of the men around you as well as family memebers who
may or may not be a part of the objective. All this
is done in rapid sequence.

I watched as the mother cared for her newborn. I
watched as the children observed all that was going
on. I watched as the males in the first house that
were apprehended at first, explain and answer the
soldiers questions which led them to the next house
and the capturing of the one we were after. I watched
as the soldiers of Apache company assessed and
evaluated each changing situation throughout the
entire operation. Everyone kept a level head. And I
will remember how surreal it was just knocking on the
door of the guys home we would eventually apprehend.
As we left passing through the first home and by the
family, I looked at the whole scene. The man raised
his eyebrows at me and kind of shrugged his shoulders
as if to say without words, "this is Iraq".

At one point in the night, as the man we were after
was being questioned, I had a moment to talk with SSGT
Mansapit. He asked me if I was ok after climbing the
wall. I told him I was good, and that the bushes were
a perfect cushion. He told me he was watching me and
wondered which way I would go. We laughed at how I
explained my decision to leap over and fly into the
bushes. It was a light moment in the middle of a
serious operation to nab a bad guy.

None of these soldiers have a big res S on their
T-shirts, and none of them have a cape. But they all
are super-men. They handled themselves well and
completed another night mission and no one got hurt.
The photos were hard to take, but the scene is ever
etched into the memory banks in my head.

Night shift is always interesting.

Jim Spiri
FOB Marez, Mosul-Iraq
jimspiri@yahoo.com