120610 Hi, is this your first time to this rodeo???

120610 Hi, is this your first time to this rodeo???

Today we got attacked. Two mortar rounds, big boom, probably a couple hundred yards from the building that I'm in (judging from the 'medium' amount of shaking the building did.)  About half the people in the building are contractors (who come and go one at a time).  And the other half is a mix of military and DAC (Department of the Army Civilians).   The Military/DAC get switched out as one big group (once a year, 1 year tour, Oct to Oct) except for the Commander.  He will finish his one year tour this coming June.  So, all the DAC and military are new and we've not had any significant attack until today.    

So the 'Big Voice' alarm goes off ("INCOMING, INCOMING") and I hit the deck (floor) but I can hear people running in the hall.  One BOOM….silence… Two BOOM…  We're on the floor for 2-3 minutes before we figure we can now make a run for the bunker.  Once in the bunker the new DCO (Deputy Commander, a civilian) has us 'sound' off, 1, 2, 3….and she asks "are we all here?" Huh?  There are three bunkers around the building and you are supposed to go the closest bunker in a time of attack.  So 'are we all here' just doesn't make any sense.   Later, after being in the bunker for only 20 minutes or so we hear the recorded announcement by the 'Lady'.  Now up to this point the announcements were male voices.  But the 'all clear' announcement is always the 'lady voice' so as soon as we (those who have been coming to this rodeo for a while) hear her voice, we start to depart the bunker.  As we depart, we're passing by those listening intently to her words and waiting to hear "all clear, all clear".   I see this is your first time to the rodeo….

R/Chris