Snipers pick off danger in Iraq

BAQOUBA, Iraq — In that quiet place between midnight and sunrise, four American soldiers set out into the darkness, swathed in burlap camouflage as they creep through a field pockmarked with gopher holes. The prey they stalk is insurgents who use rocket-propelled grenades to fire at U.S. troops.

Just before the sky turns blue, they will creep back to their Humvees, rejoining the scout platoon that shadowed them, another day’s work complete. Vigilance at this outpost in the Sunni Triangle never ends.

Humvees on pre-dawn patrols have been attacked with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) more than once as they passed this spot. Though no one has been hurt, commanders are eager to put a stop to the attacks.

“Hoss,” a rangy sergeant who prefers to give only his nickname, and his team of snipers with the 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, go to observe the site where the Humvees had their near misses. They choose a low spot in which to crouch, ready to strike if grenades are fired at passing Humvees.

If anything goes wrong, the scouts are ready to strike, too. Spc. Matthew Frank, 21, mans a mounted M2 .50-caliber machine gun from a high vantage point, watching the group as they navigate the uneven terrain in their burlap camouflage — a look that is more reminiscent of the “Star Wars” character Chewbacca than GI Joe.

This is quiet work, in which concentration is key. Fueled by a cocktail of adrenaline, chewing tobacco and a strong pot of Starbucks coffee, it’s easy to stay alert. They all know that if they let their thoughts drift, the next Humvee that drives on this road could be hit by a grenade.

“When they’re out there, I need them to use their noodle, not their testosterone,” says Hoss, who at 33 is the elder statesman on his team. Sgt. Kyle Watkins, 22, and Spc. Christopher Murphy , 27, spend their free time lifting weights, which helps them shoulder the hefty radio equipment and weapons into the field.

A few nights later, a tank patrol draws RPG fire in the same stretch of road. The patrol fires back, lighting up a grove of date palms.

Members of the scout platoon, all of whom have settled into their bunks to watch a movie, are on call tonight to respond to emergencies. Within moments, they are dressed and in their Humvees.

1st Lt. Matt Caldwell, 24, of Staten Island, N.Y., leads his men on foot through the palm grove to search for evidence of the RPG fire or proof that the tank fire reached its target. Seen through the single eyepiece of a night-vision scope, it is a tedious journey.

As the soldiers fan out in a wedge formation to search the grove, they stumble through a network of streams and ditches. The mud creates a suction effect, pulling their boots ever deeper as they try to keep up with the men ahead of them.

Again, the enemy is elusive.

The snipers and scouts are among 2nd Battalion’s specialized soldiers who are responsible for Diyala province. The northern portion of the Sunni Triangle lies in their territory, whose population is 40 percent Sunni Muslims, 35 percent Shi’ite Muslims and 20 percent Kurds, who are not ethnic Arabs but are mostly Sunni Muslims.

The province is best known to Americans for the town of Baqouba, where insurgents battled U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces during the bloody months of April and June.

The snipers’ work is performed largely under cover of darkness, which means these men keep the hours of vampires. After the night mission, the team ate breakfast together in the camp’s dining hall. Among the freshly shaved soldiers in desert camouflage just starting their day, the snipers stand out in their mud-caked forest camouflage, which is darker and helps them blend into the night.

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