In Regards to Mortars
A friend wrote a good e-mail to me asking alot about mortars. I'm guessing other people would like for me to go into further detail about this too. So, I decided to post it on the blog.
The distances vary on where they shoot them from. For the most part, they are close enough for you to hear that really distinct sound of the mortar launching the round. I don't know if they are firing from the same spots. The times they attack for the most part seem to be within a certian time frame. We can't really set up ambushes, because they don't just fire from the same area. Plus, we would need good intel before that happens. It would just be a waste of time. As far as I know, there is equipment that can detect incoming mortars. However, there is only one occasion I can remember when they fired a counter-barrage. In some areas, I believe (though I am not sure) they fire a counter-barrage all the time. That occasion they fired at a different area anyway, so they might have been the ones that did it. I asked though, and they said they were in fact were doing counter-barrage missions. How effect these are, I don't know, but it seems to boost moral alittle. I was happy when they first did it. I guess it gives a feeling that they are doing something about it, and not just letting it happen. People do get caught for firing mortars, but I don't know if they have caught people they know for sure if they fired them. Their motivation to doing it is beyond me, I am just a Grunt, not a interrogater. We also do have locals who help and give information on attackers. One of the local Iraqis recently discovered a cache of shoulder-fire SAMs in the fields. They also help with finding IEDs and anything else.
The distances vary on where they shoot them from. For the most part, they are close enough for you to hear that really distinct sound of the mortar launching the round. I don't know if they are firing from the same spots. The times they attack for the most part seem to be within a certian time frame. We can't really set up ambushes, because they don't just fire from the same area. Plus, we would need good intel before that happens. It would just be a waste of time. As far as I know, there is equipment that can detect incoming mortars. However, there is only one occasion I can remember when they fired a counter-barrage. In some areas, I believe (though I am not sure) they fire a counter-barrage all the time. That occasion they fired at a different area anyway, so they might have been the ones that did it. I asked though, and they said they were in fact were doing counter-barrage missions. How effect these are, I don't know, but it seems to boost moral alittle. I was happy when they first did it. I guess it gives a feeling that they are doing something about it, and not just letting it happen. People do get caught for firing mortars, but I don't know if they have caught people they know for sure if they fired them. Their motivation to doing it is beyond me, I am just a Grunt, not a interrogater. We also do have locals who help and give information on attackers. One of the local Iraqis recently discovered a cache of shoulder-fire SAMs in the fields. They also help with finding IEDs and anything else.
