A week to remember

Last Monday a couple of Marines and I flew out to a small base to do some bridge recon. We couldn't get a ride on Monday but we were promised a ride on Tuesday down to at least one of the bridges. WE were supposed to leave at 1000 but when we showed up the drivers were just waking up because they had been driving all night. We were told to come back at 1130 but when we came back the told us it was going to be at least 3 hours before they could leave because the trucks had to get loaded. When we checked at 1530 they were still messing with the trucks so we just decided not to go because the sun was going down and we couldn't do the recon in the dark. So Tuesday was a complete wash. The convoy never left and so I had nothing to do all day, typical. Then on Wednesday we left base early (around 0600) in order to make up for Tuesday. Well we made it 20 min out of the gate and one of the 5 trucks we had started acting up so we turned around to get a new one. So now we are an hour behind schedule. After that things went smoothly for awhile we made it to 2 of the 4 bridges we were supposed to look at that day. On our way to the 3rd bridge, however, we took a wrong turn and while we were trying to turn around the 7-ton I was riding in got stuck. It took 2 and a half hrs for us to get unstuck and continue on our way. So we finally got all of the bridges looked at and made our way to another FOB where we were going to pick up some detainees. When we got there we were told that it would only take 30 min to an hour before we left. Well that turned into 3 hrs and so we didn't leave to return back to Deli until after dark. About 20 min after we left the lead vehicle took a wrong turn and got himself stuck in a giant mud hole. Where we were driving was open desert with a smattering of mud huts and this guy managed to find the local watering hole and tried to drive straight through the middle of it. So now we had 1 vehicle stuck. The next truck decided to try and get around the stuck one so that he could chain up to him and give him a pull . While truck 2 was going around he got stuck worst than the first guy. 2 vehicles stuck. Well the thought was that the 7 ton I was in and a lot of pulling power to we all jumped out and the driver took our truck around on some drier ground to pull the second truck. The problem was the 2nd truck was stuck really bad and the 7 ton driver didn't know when to let off the gas so they managed to get the 7 ton stuck. 3 trucks stuck. At this point the convoy commander was pretty ticked off so he sent his truck up to give the 7 ton a tug because it wasn't stuck THAT bad. Well the driver of that 4th vehicle miscalculated his route and attempted to drive through the worst of the mud. In the process he got vehicle number 4 stuck. We had one truck left that was mobile. It was big and heavy and its 4 wheel drive was broken so we weren't expecting much. True to form 20 feet off the road on its way to try and pull the 7 ton it too got stuck. So now it was 2000 getting cold and all 5 trucks in our convoy were hopelessly stuck. My buddies and I had planned on a 7 hour round trip so we only brought minimal cold weather gear. All I had besides my uniform and flak jacket was a light weight fleece, a fleece beanie, and my gloves. The convoy commander called in to his battalion and they sent a convoy down that was supposed to meet up with up at 0200. So there we sat freezing, keeping watch, and hoping the Taliban were as cold as us and didn't want to come and play. The other convoy showed up at 0200ish like they promised but they weren't there to pull us out. They were there to pick up the 3 detainee's we had because there was a time limit on how long we could hold them with out processing them. So the bad guys were whisked away to warmth while we were left to fend for our selves with a promise of a wrecker sometime the next day. So we waited and froze and kept watch. The next morning (24 hrs into the convoy, 12 hrs into being stuck) the sun come out and warmed us up and we were excited because the wrecker convoy was supposed to be on the way. It wasn't. That convoy didn't leave until 1600 that day. So we spent the day listening to firefights going on all around us wondering if they were getting closer. We saw a couple of IEDs go off and prayed that none of our boys got hurt, and we saw 2 harriers do gun runs on targets in the city. And we waited for the wrecker. By the time they got to us it was dark again and so they didn't stop they just drove on past to another base....twice. So we spent another night freezing and worrying and watching. Finally Friday morning at 0900ish, 39 hrs after we first got stuck, a convoy showed up with 2 wreckers and we were pulled free with in an hour. We all danced a jig and jumped on the trucks and headed back up to the base to clean up and get into a warm sleeping bag. So thats how my week of bridge recon went. It was an adventure to say the least.