Night vision

Posted by mauer

Posted: February 16, 2007 - 12:29 pm

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Feb. 9 — I returned to the firing line Wednesday night. The artillery regiment was supposed to be doing some night-time firing in support an operation.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery, prepare a howitzer for a night-fire attack.

Sgt. Johnny French in the public affairs office for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, lent me a night vision adapter for my camera.

I’d been having a run of bad luck. I was scheduled to fly with the brigade’s commander, Col. Michael Garrett, to Fallujah, where some of the troops from Fort Richardson are stationed. The flight was cancelled because of weather. The other day, I got to the firing line just as the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, were cleaning up after firing 10 rounds. I was supposed to go out on a mission with some brigade troops and the Iraqi army that involved surrounding residences and searching for insurgents. That was postponed because the medevac helicopters were grounded.

Waiting for the OK to fire.

Tonight, there was some kind of problem with the forward observers. I hung around for a couple hours, but I knew no matter how long I stayed, nothing would happen, and that after I left, they’d get the all-clear to shoot

Sure enough, I was back in the internet café, reading emails and filing an earlier blog, when I heard the siren indicating the 105mm howitzers would be fired. Then came the booms.

Orion was high in the sky.

Nevertheless, the pictures were pretty interesting, as was the night sky. A drone took off from the Kalsu airfield, making an obnoxiously loud buzz. It gained altitude quickly, then disappeared into the night. Later, four helicopters cruised in darkness to the west, at least to the naked eye.

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