Members of a Rhode Island National Guard unit check out the facilities at what will be their new base.

01:45 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 18, 2005

BY JOEL P. RAWSON
Executive Editor

SAMARRA, Iraq -- Ten minutes after the soldiers of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard cleared the wire yesterday, they came on the aftermath of the death of a soldier.

Dozens of trucks are backed up on the main supply route, dubbed Tampa; Humvees stand with their guns pointed at the traffic. One Humvee sits empty by the roadside and blood is on the pavement.

It looks like any bad accident on Route 95 -- except it is an act of war caused by a bomber who hid beside the road and now has disappeared.

Twenty-six men in seven Humvees drive north to see their new home. Capt. Michael Manning, of North Kingstown, is to meet the officers he will be working with, feel out the people and get a handle on what is happening in their new area.

Lt. John Fay, of Exeter, is to take a look at the new facilities and start coordinating the move.

Journal photo / John Freidah

Specialist Randy LeBoeuf, 28, of Cumberland, tests out the air conditioner at Forward Operating Base Summerall, near Baija, Iraq, where the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard will be moving next week.

Iraqi children are walking to school, boys carrying books, girls dressed in blue smocks and white blouses.

At 8:15 a.m. the group stops for breakfast at Forward Operating Base Remagen where there is a nice mess hall. Before starting out again, Manning briefs them.

"This is the real deal," he says. "Vehicle bombers will come up on the last vehicle. Gunners are to shoot. There will be almost no time to react."

The vehicle bombers pack their cars or trucks with explosives such as old artillery shells and come driving up to a guard post or into a convoy and blow themselves up. The soldiers call them VBIEDs, pronounced VeeBids, for vehicle borne improvised explosive device.

In the lead Humvee are Staff Sgt. Timothy Halloran of Stonington, Conn.; Specialist Richard Busa, of Newton, Mass., the driver; Sgt. Christopher Sheehan, of Providence, gunner; and Staff Sgt. Stephen Lafond, of Chicopee, Mass.

The entrance to their new home, Forward Operating Base Summerall, was not encouraging: dirt and desert and barbed wire, and the stench of a slum outside the gate.

"Awesome," Halloran said sarcastically.

Don't think of it as hopeless, Lafond said. "Think of it as up and coming."

Summerall is established on an old Iraqi airfield near the Tigris River town of Baiji. Across the river to the east are the Alhamnin Mountains; to the west is desert. One soldiers checked his global positioning system. Summerall is 5,731 miles from Providence on a bearing of 133 degrees.

Sgt. Maj. Neil Hoffman, of Somerset, Pa., greets the soldiers of the 173rd and offers to show them around the base. He says he lives 15 miles from the place where Flight 93 crashed on 9/11.

The first stop is a clean, bright gym with exercise and weight-lifting equipment.

The detachment's two most avid weight lifters are impressed.

Specialist Christopher Azevedo, of New Bedford, says, "I hate to admit, this is a lot nicer." Meaning it is a real step up from their own setup at the old base.

Sgt. Phillip Wagoner, of Bristol, gives it a thumbs-up.

Hoffman takes the men to their new living quarters. "This is where you're going to be living, guys. I think I can swing it so there'll be no more than two to a CHU."

A CHU, a containerized housing unit, is a small box of a building the size of a shipping container. It has two windows flanking the door, an air conditioner and two fluorescent lights. With only two soldiers bunking in, it would be comfortable. With four, it would be jammed.

The buildings are surrounded with large earth-filled barricades to protect them from rocket and mortar fire.

The next stop is a second gym with a full basketball court, exercise equipment, a library and 70 mountain bikes that the men can sign out.

Several men, including Halloran and Manning, are excited the base has designated running trails. They have been unable to run on their present base and they miss it.

Hoffman asks about the new soldiers moving to his base. He is told they are aggressive. He says that's good because the enemy has been hitting hard and close. During the past week, there have been four vehicle bombings. People are getting killed.

Later, Hoffman says, "May is bad. We got to go offensive."

Staff Sgt. John Shimkus, of Boxboro, Mass., leader of Team 1, says, "We brought our sniper rifles. We just want to go hunting."

Lunch at the new mess hall is like an all-food Christmas. The facility is clean and bright. There is beef and pork, rice and O'Brien potatoes, fresh salad and ice cream and pastries, puddings, fresh fruit. The mess hall is run by Kellogg, Brown & Root on a contract.

The men are eating at 12:40 when there is a loud boom. The concussion shakes the building. People stand and put on their armor. Many leave. We are later told that a vehicle bomber drove into a convoy just outside the gate and blew himself up. An Iraqi soldier is badly wounded, another slightly. An American soldier is hurt.

Last night, Manning assembled his men and briefed them. Very little was said about gymnasiums and mess halls. Manning told his men he would be deliberate and give them a month to learn the area. He told them they were needed up north and he told them why.

Digital Extra: Find more reports and photos from Iraq by Journal executive editor Joel Rawson and staff photographer John Freidah, on assignment with the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment of the Rhode Island National Guard, at:

http://projo.com/extra/2005/iraq/rawson/