 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Also in this section:
Engineers Rest Up As Dust Settles
By JONATHAN FOREMAN in Iraq
March 29, 2003
Finally, a day of near- rest for the 54th Engineers - interrupted by a frightening chemical scare.
But the big news: no more swirling sand.
After crossing the Euphrates and routing Iraqi forces from the town of Al Kifl, the 54th Engineer Battalion - and the rest of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division - has settled down, briefly, at a tactical assembly area in the desert.
When the troops awoke before first light yesterday, they got their armored vehicles running and dug in on the perimeter of the encampment - to be ready for anything.
The desert was peaceful, the air clear. And, incredibly, they could see the horizon.
They relaxed. They took their boots off for the first time since crossing into Iraq. They put on clean clothes.
They burned trash - and used the fire to heat water for washing up and shaving and making hot drinks. They did their laundry and hung it up to dry on lines strung between their armored vehicles.
They cleaned the sand and dust out of those cramped vehicles and made sure they were in good running order.
And they were served their first hot meal in a week - T-rations, on paper trays. Meat, vegetables, pasta, poundcake and hot coffee.
Great! Except, there was no mail. Some of the troops are taking the lack of news from home pretty hard. They arrived in Kuwait in mid-February and haven't yet received a letter.
The near-serenity of the day ended abruptly at noon with the blare of a siren - gas masks had to be put on.
A huge black cloud loomed on the horizon, heightening the sense of doom. After an excruciatingly long hour, there was an all-clear and the gas masks could come off.
Not quite a day of rest.
----
BUNKER-BUSTING BADDIE
GBU-37 PENETRATOR
TYPE: 4,400-pound precision bomb (630 pounds of high explosives)
GUIDANCE: By satellite
WEIGHT: 5,000 pound
LENGTH: 12.8 feet
DIAMETER: 14.5 inches
LAUNCH: Dropped at an altitude of at least 40,000 feet
UNIT COST: $231,250
USE: Bomb has a hardened warhead designed to penetrate buried bunkers.
They can penetrate 20 feet of concrete or 100 feet of earth, killing leaders
and destroying command and control networks hidden underground. The GBU-37
can be launched by the B-2 Stealth bomber and is guided by GPS satellites
to its target.