Standard Procedure

3 Apr 07
We got a new guy in a few days ago and we’ve had at one or more rockets every day he’s been here. Today we got three rockets. The first was this morning around 2 a.m. and seemed fairly benign. Two more rockets this evening shook all of us. I was in my hooch and heard what sounded like a aircraft maneuvering as he passed overhead. In actuality, the sound was the rocket passing overhead. The explosion was by far the loudest I’ve heard to date. It seemed enormous. Everyone hit the floor in their hooch and as I started throwing my gear on, the “incoming” alarm sounded (no kidding?!). Seconds later a second round impacted. All of the rounds sounded right outside our compound. Man! That startled the crap out of me!

The standing procedure is to hit the ground immediately to get below any exploding debris. After waiting 3 minutes you head to the nearest bunker. I shouted thru the walls to SciFi that the round sounded really close. A second later I heard his door open and slam shut. As he ran past he shouted he was going to the bunker. I was right behind him. The other guys were all in the bunker just a few seconds behind us. SciFi guessed that the rockets were 240s which have a 75 lbs warhead. As frightening as the round was, I can only imagine how terrifying it must be on the receiving end of a U.S. 500, 1000, or 2000 lb bomb we use. Having seen the effect these small rounds have on a building, I suspect the concussion from one of our bombs would likely rip buildings apart within hundreds of yards.