Two deafening booms followed bright, orange flashes. The Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle shook violently. Smoke engulfed the vehicle inside and out. The engineers travelling inside the MRAP in western Baghdad April 25 knew they had just been attacked with two RKG-3 anti-tank grenades, but that wasn’t all they knew.
“I pretty much knew it was over with. We got hit and braced for impact,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Daigrepont, the personal security detail noncommissioned officer in charge assigned to the Headquarters Support Company, 46th Engineer Battalion, 225th Engineer Brigade. “I’m tremendously surprised it didn’t breach,” he said. “The armor and glass are the only reasons we’re alive, I guarantee it.”
The 46th Eng Bn Soldiers survived the insurgent attack because of the heavily-armored MRAP and they were wearing the right personal protective equipment.
“It was a loud, metallic ding and a big boom. The concussion felt like somebody kicked me in the chest,” said Spc. James Belcher, turret gunner. “All the glass on the right side flew up and over, into the turret. The only thing that kept it from putting my eye out was my eyewear.”
It wasn’t a coincidence Belcher was wearing his eye protection; PPE is a ritual for these engineers.
“We check our (ballistic armor) plates to make sure the lot numbers aren’t defective; the gunner’s harness, which keeps you in the turret so you don’t get thrown out; eyewear because you don’t want large scratches to make it defective; your Kevlar because there are a few out there that are defective; and gloves because of burns and the heat of the weapon’s metal,” explained Belcher from behind his dark eye protection that stopped shrapnel just a few days prior while on mission.
Before every mission, the engineers check each other during precombat preparations and inspections, enforcing safety standards.
“Though we sit there and cry and complain about (PPE) every day … when you need it and it comes down to it, this is why the commander says to wear it,” admitted Belcher.
“We wear all this equipment for a reason, but you don’t see it until you need it,” he added while smiling and adjusting his eyewear. “If I didn’t have these, I’d have one eye right now. I’d be blind … it’d be a hell of a way to let down your team.”
For these Soldiers, letting down their team and not accomplishing the mission are unthinkable.
“Considering we were hit twice and the damage to the vehicle, it could have been a mobility kill,” said Sgt. Michael Starkey, a personal security detail driver assigned to the 277th Eng Co, attached to the brigade. Instead, the engineers had a mission to accomplish and continued on for the next seven hours.
“We were still mission capable after all that,” he continued. “I kept checking the gauges and they were good. We had seven people in that vehicle and we’re all here to talk about it, so I’d say (the MRAP) is worth every tax dollar.”
“It’s like the NCO creed says, ‘My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind –– accomplishment of the mission and the welfare of my Soldiers,’” said Belcher.
“It gives you a lot more confidence in your equipment,” added Sgt. Troy Bannister, a personal security detail mechanic also assigned to the 227th. “You perform your job better when you have confidence in your equipment.”
Daigrepont added that this was an important lesson the engineers take to heart. “I got seven grateful guys that have lived through a hellacious attack,” said Daigrepont.
