040511 Mud, dust and incoming mortar rounds

040511 Mud, dust and incoming mortar rounds

 

The last few days have been dusty and last night was very dusty (see pics.)  This is pretty typical and when it's dusty and windy but still not too hot (summer just started), it'll also rain (which really falls as mud)  but only enough to get the ground wet.  And even then any moisture immediately dries up.  Soon there'll be afternoon lightening shows and we'll see and hear the rain but the ground will never get wet.  And as usual, when it's dusty, we get incoming.  Above are a few pics of one sprung that got 'hit' the other night.  In one pic the round came in the big hole on the left, and struck the concrete in the middle and then produced a large exit hole on the right.  And all those little holes?  That is shrapnel.  Fortunately the sprung was empty (this happened at night) and no one was hurt.  Otherwise a 'kill zone' is probably about 100 feet.
Such is life in Iraq.
R/Chris