Commentary: Even inside the wire, keeping us safe is no simple task

Published Dec. 17, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Jake Richmond
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- "They call it 'Mortaritaville.'"

That's the response I got from my master sergeant at my home station earlier this year, after I asked her how safe it was at Balad. I had just gotten my deployment tasking to JBB, and she had been here in 2008. She described in detail how I could expect to "hit the deck" at least once or twice a day.

She showed me a special certificate she got that stated how many hundreds of indirect fire attacks she "survived" during her tour. A little apprehensive, I immediately wondered how I was going to explain such a thing to my wife without her worrying like crazy.

Joint Base Balad is the largest single base in Iraq. More than 25,000 people are stationed here, and the vast majority of us don't go outside the wire. That means our primary physical enemy threat is indirect fire attacks -- rockets, mortars, and small arms, fired in the general direction of the base.

When I arrived here, I even saw T-shirts for sale with "I survived Mortaritaville" scrawled across the shoulders. With all that in mind, imagine my confusion when the "incoming!" alarm didn't go off for the entire first week I was here. After it went on like that for a while, I got curious as to what prompted the change.

As it turns out, there's a huge, multi-branch contingent of servicemembers who integrate their skills and specialties with one goal in mind: Keep JBB inhabitants safe from IDF attacks.

It sounded interesting, so I went with my broadcaster counterpart to interview as many people as possible who were involved in the base defense mission.

Staff Sgt. David Veros is serving his fifth Iraq tour, this time as a vehicle commander for the 532nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron.

"I was here in 2004 and 2005. We used to get hit quite frequently," he said. "You could always hear it go over your head -- it was one of the most hellacious sounds you could have...you don't know where it's going to land, and it was on a constant basis. Many, multiple impact sites were around our living quarters.

"Now, it's actually a lot better than it used to be."

How much better? Indirect fire attacks are down roughly 70 percent from the rates just three years ago -- that's according to Capt. Timothy Wankowski, a prior-enlisted security forces officer, who's also an Iraq veteran three times over. Even just comparing 2009 to 2008, he said, the attacks are down about 40 percent.

"And it's going to continue to fall like that," he said, with the confidence of someone who has the determination and ability to make his own prediction come true. I suppose that's appropriate, since he's the battle captain for JBB's joint defense operations center.

Since fighting the IDF threat requires several resources to be employed in concert, the JDOC functions as the primary integrator.

Those resources include several high-tech cameras mounted around the base perimeter, which relay real-time imagery to computers and flat-screen televisions all over the JDOC. At each station, a keen-eyed servicemember constantly searches for suspicious activity.

"What they do every day, all day, is actively scan these camera (feeds)," Captain Wankowski said. "They don't leave them. Thankless, thankless job. They maintain their attention on target and then don't waver -- and quite often pick stuff up for us."

At the same time, a complex radar system called the FAADS -- forward area air defense system -- constantly monitors the air space around the base, alerting members of the engagement operations center whenever any airborne object begins moving quickly into the base's air space.

"It's our job as a human eye assessment (to) determine something like a golf ball at a high rate of speed, versus a real IDF coming in from five kilometers out," said Army 1st. Lt. Austin Duckwiler, the battle captain for the EOC.

If it's a legitimate incoming rocket or mortar, the on-duty FAAD operator in the room gets confirmation from the battle captain. Then, they activate the Wireless Audiovisual Emergency System, or "waves box," which starts the loudspeaker warning system -- "Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!" And since the FAADS also instantly and accurately calculates where the IDF is projected to land, they can limit the warning klaxon to the affected area. That's what gives the folks nearby time to protect themselves as much as possible.

Meanwhile, another EOC member has his finger on a very powerful trigger -- one that controls the counter rocket, artillery and mortar machine guns mounted at various spots around the installation. The weapons, which are transplanted from Naval combat ships, are operated and maintained by Navy Sailors. Of course, certain precautions have to be considered before the EOC boss can give the command to shoot the projectile out of the sky. But after watching a couple of videos, I can attest that the guns effectively -- and impressively -- do their job.

If the explosives avoid death-by-CRAM-gun and land somewhere on the base, they sometimes don't detonate on impact. Still, unexploded ordnance sitting on the ground presents a pretty serious safety issue. That's why another part of our security forces team is always ready to respond.

"For us, it's all inside the wire," said Staff Sgt. Teron Mobley, a 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron patrol sector supervisor. "The single most important thing is the safety of our personnel -- getting on scene as soon as possible, establishing that cordon, evacuating all personnel, and keeping that area safe and secure until everything can be rectified."

And while all of those reactive measures are taking place, the 532nd ESFS "Lions" go on the offensive. They're the men and women who gear up, load up and arm up for outside-the-wire force protection patrols.

The 532nd gets its name from a Vietnam-era Air Force unit, since that was the last time security forces Airmen had the primary mission of patrolling the battlespace. On their routine patrols, their goal is to interact with the local Iraqi populace and make them feel more secure.

"They don't want the insurgents here and neither do we," Sergeant Veros said.

But some patrols aren't routine at all. Sometimes, after an IDF attack, the JDOC radios over to the Lion Airmen on alert and sends them out to the point of origin -- another calculated location provided by the FAAD system. On those missions, the Airmen are truly being cops; they go out looking for criminals and evidence. Once they have both, they turn over the bad guys to Iraqi law enforcement for prosecution.

What if the bad guy flees the scene and our on-base cameras don't see him? That's when the JDOC calls in the "eyes in the sky" -- high-resolution cameras attached to one of several different aircraft platforms. The base has F-16s, Predators, MC-12s, among others, all with video cameras capable of tracking targets from thousands of feet in the air. The security experts here agree that it's those air assets that are the most unique element of JBB's multi-layer base defense mission.

If you ask Captain Wankowski, it's a beautiful thing when all of those layers work together. He relayed to us one recent start-to-finish success story.

"We had an IDF shooter fire on the west side of the base," he said. "The round didn't make it onto the base, but we had an MC-12 aircraft right over his head that followed him running from the point of origin to a nearby house. We used the synchronization of all our forces. We talked to the Army liaison officer who owns the battlespace out there, and the Air Force Lion elements actually swarmed this person's house, and we were able to roll up this person.

"They sprayed some detection element on his hands, and he was full of TNT. He went to jail that night, courtesy of the Iraqi security forces."

Sounds like mission accomplished to me.

As a servicemember going to a combat zone, even knowing I'd be seated at a desk most of the time, I expected some inherent dangers during this deployment. And they do exist, so I'm always careful.

But covering this story, I was amazed at the lengths the military goes to keep its people free from harm. Because of that, we can feel safer, and our families can worry less. How valuable is that? Ask anyone who's stayed behind while a loved one went off to war.

I guess the only downside is that I don't think they give out special certificates anymore, and I just don't feel like I've earned that "Mortaritaville" T-shirt.