Balloon Wars Chapters 17 33 40"Balloon Wars: An ISR Operator's Account Of The Wars In Iraq & Afghanistan"
MUQTADA AL-SADR - Origin of the Mahdi Army. Muqtada’s family and lineage. Twelvers. Arab prejudice. URGE TO JUMP - Synopsis of the operational restrictions. How leaks are found and the time Ron Laniere and I are fired on during a leak inspection. WE WATCH MORTARS LAUNCHED AT US - We catch the mortar team firing on us and see them killed.
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Chapter 17 is about a very important figure in the Iraq War, Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Chapter 33 details what happened to Ron Laniere and me while we were looking for and repairing holes in the balloon. Shortly after we forgot about the danger that night while in the aerial lift, fifty feet above the wall and without cover, the enemy started shooting at us. And Chapter 40 describes what it was like to watch the mortar team launch the rounds that were falling around us and then seeing them killed.
Book Chapter and photos © Robert A. Crimmins, Felton, Delaware, USA
(photos on this page are by others)Chapter 17 is about a very important figure in the Iraq War, Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Chapter 33 details what happened to Ron Laniere and me while we were looking for and repairing holes in the balloon. Shortly after we forgot about the danger that night while in the aerial lift, fifty feet above the wall and without cover, the enemy started shooting at us. And Chapter 40 describes what it was like to watch the mortar team launch the rounds that were falling around us and then seeing them killed.
Chapter 17 - Muqtada al-Sadr
Chapter 33 - Urge To Jump
Chapter 40 — We Watch Mortars Launched At Us
To have formed an effective military force of 60,000 in the name of the Twelfth Imam to defeat the infidels in the city that was once the capital of Abbassid caliphates is a historical accomplishment and at least a figurative godsend for an ambitious cleric but it’s just one of Muqtada al-Sadr’s many political accomplishments.
A couple hours before daylight, with sweat pouring out from under the vest and helmet, when our location and the circumstances were completely forgotten, we heard gunfire. Turning toward the sound we saw tracers coming over the wall near the guard tower and toward us. The troops in the tower fired back and more rounds came in. Terror seized me and I had the urge to leap out of the basket just like those who jump from burning buildings. It was nearly irresistible and completely rational. Two broken legs seemed better than a rifle bullet in just about any part of my body. But rather than jump Ron and I made ourselves as small as we could as I swung the boom away from the balloon and took us down, at a sickening slow pace.
I was stepping off the mooring platform when the alarm sounded, a series of short horn blasts and the loud, electronic voice announcing, “INCOMING, INCOMING”. I’d heard it before and it never sounded more than a couple of seconds before the incoming round landed. Often the first round landed before the alarm. This was the first time I was outside on open ground.
