Posted on 07/30/2004 9:12:00 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4
When the 7th Cavalry, "M" Company, meets at Fort Abraham Lincoln this weekend, one of the Army privates in the 7th Cavalry will bring a whole new knowledge of combat cavalry operations to their historical reenactment unit.
Erik Albertson began his "historical" army career in the 7th Cavalry while he was a junior at Surrey High School. When he suits up on Friday in that United States Army uniform as "Private Albertson," there will not be as much difference from his regular "day job" as there is for most of the historical reenactors. "It is cool because in the modern Army, we are the modern cavalry," said Specialist Erik Albertson of Charlie Company, 2-37th Armor, 1st Armored Division.
In the modern cavalry, the crossed sabres symbol is very much like the one on the old Army hat and the dress spurs are still awarded to soldiers.
>p>There are some real differences, however. The cannon used in the old army reenactments fires cabbage heads instead of cannon balls. Albertson's real cannon is an entirely different story.
Albertson was a tank driver in Iraq for the past fifteen months, with their unit involved in heavy fighting. His company became the most decorated company for valor in the war. "From April 4th to June 5th, we fought every single day," said Albertson.
Albertson received three Army Commendations with valor, and the unit got six silver stars with valor, about 15 bronze stars with valor, and many other commendations, said Albertson. "We were informed we became the most valorous company in the war," said Albertson.
"On April 4th, we were supposed to be done," said Albertson. They were at Sadr City in Iraq. "It was supposed to be our first day off."
Although they were supposed to now be "off duty," they did not hesitate when they heard screams coming over the radio.
There were about 20 guys that had survived an ambush, now trapped in a building, and they were under heavy fire. "We knew Sadr City like the back of our hands," said Albertson.
The rebels had blocked the roads with debris, burning tires, and even stairwells pulled out of buildings. "A Humvee could not get through, but a tank can get through anything," said Albertson.
"It took us about four hours to go about half a mile," said Albertson. "I was running over just about anything you can imagine."
The Sadr army was in full revolt. "My tank was the lead tank on the third and final rescue attempt," said Albertson.
They made the rescue while under heavy fire, loading up the survivors, and bringing back the dead and wounded. "There were about 40 wounded on that day," said Albertson.
That was the day they lost their first member of the company.
Charlie Company lost Sgt. Michael Mitchell on April 4. Then on May 30, Charlie Company lost 1st Lt. Kenneth Ballard and Specialist Nicholaus Zimmer. The 20-year-old Zimmer was Albertson's best friend. All three of the soldiers killed were the only children in their families.
A combat unit is a true band of brothers, said Albertson. "When you lose one of your brothers, you lost a family member," Albertson said.
"We were out for vengeance after that," said Albertson.
The fighting remained heavy at Sadr. They would fight for about fifteen hours, then rotate back and rest for about four hours, then rotate back to the fighting, said Albertson.
When Sadr City was under control, they moved on toward An Najaf. "We were ambushed and lost three soldiers," said Albertson.
Ambushes became almost predictable in Iraq. The Iraqis used many guerrilla tactics, said Albertson.
If they were driving along and there were no people out and about on the roads, they knew something was about to happen. "They wanted to take out the tanks really bad," said Albertson. "The Iraqis hated tanks."
RPG 18s targeted the tanks constantly, said Albertson. "They cannot penetrate the turret, but they can go through the hull," said Albertson. "The tank is the best armor in the world. On April 5th, I was hit with three RPGs at one time and it did not do anything."
"We were on the streets every single day," said Albertson. "When something was about to happen, we'd be coming down the road and the people would start to run."
At that point, the soldiers always knew an attack was imminent. They were attacked by mortar fire from a cemetery next to Kouffa Mosque, while snipers on the roof of the mosque fired on them with RPGs. "We could not attack the mosque, even though we knew they were in there," said Albertson.
Their tank division became one of the only tank units to ever be jumping out of helicopters in the war, said Albertson. At one point, there was not a sturdy enough bridge they could use to cross the river with the tanks, so they found themselves using Blackhawk helicopters for troop insertion. Albertson said that he enjoyed the helicopter rides.
He is not ready to trade his tank in for a helicopter, however. "My tank is my horse. 1500 horses, in fact," said Albertson.
His tank is named Chong. "My wing man is Cheech," said Albertson. The wingman is the tank next to you, said Albertson, noting that the tanks travel in pairs.
Chong was a brand new tank about eight months before they went to Iraq. "When we left, it had 6,500 kilometers on it," said Albertson.
"We worked on our tanks every single day. Maintenance is the big thing," said Albertson. They got so good at changing the tracks on the tank, this job that is supposed to take from eight to ten hours could be done in three hours from start to finish, he said.
After fifteen months in Iraq, the company returned to Germany. They were offered the chance to apply to join the Special Forces. "We worked a lot with Special Forces and with Delta Force," said Albertson.
Albertson chose to stay with his tank. "I love my tank. As long as I am in the Army, I want to stay on my tank," said Albertson.
ping
Cool.
Try to see a Stryker drive over everything.
*chuckle*
If this reflects the current ROE, somebody high up, possibly very high up, needs to get their head out of their @$$. Mosque's should not be attacked or invaded on suspicion, but if one is taking fire from the Mosque or it's environs, then those doing the firing have violated the Mosque, not those who return fire.
http://www.frenchandindianwar250.org
For those interested in reenactments, here's a link to French and Indian war reenactments. (You remember "Last of the Mohicans". This was the war in which a young officer named George Washington learned what he was made of.)
Gotta love 'the ultimate off-road vehicle'.
American Legacy Exposition
July 30-Aug. 1
Mandan
Journey to Fort Abraham Lincoln to live an exciting 1800s weekend. A history symposium is planned from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 30 with authors, scholars and oral interpreters. Saturday and Sunday participate in Frontier Army Days and the Nu’eta Corn and Buffalo Festival from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition there will be Native American artist and craft demonstrations and concession stands.
Information: 701-667-6380; Web site: www.fortlincoln.com
Unfortunately, many of us are now between 50 and 60 years of age and all weekend on horseback is a little harder to get over than it was twenty years ago.
The older I get, the more I appreciate winches on gun trailers.
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