Face of Defense: IED Fails to Deter Chief Warrant Officer

Face of Defence ^ | Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix, USA

[SandRat]

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 28, 2008 – Army Chief Warrant Officer Sammy Rodriguez has a job that isn’t exciting until things go wrong.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Sammy Rodriguez, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, makes quick work Jan. 23, 2008, of preparing a damaged vehicle for recovery to a forward operating base in the Korengal Valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix, USA  
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Rodriguez, a native of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, is the battalion maintenance technician for 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment. On a routine mission Jan. 23 to deliver supplies to the Korengal Outpost here, one of the vehicles in the convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device.

Luckily, no one was injured. The vehicle wasn’t so fortunate. The explosion ripped through the engine compartment, bent the chassis frame and blew out a tire. Rodriguez knew immediately what he had to do to recover the vehicle and get the convoy moving again.

“I took a look at it, and it took about a minute,” he said. “I told the commander, ‘We can do this.’”

One of the first things he thought when he saw the vehicle was that it had to be retrieved, Rodriguez recalled. “I remembered the commander telling me about a time he saw local villagers dancing on a burned-out chassis and how angry it made him,” he said.

Damaged vehicles left behind can be used in enemy propaganda to proclaim a victory over U.S. forces. Every effort is made to make sure the enemy does not have this opportunity. “A standard wrecker can’t make it up the road, so I usually send a mechanic on the patrol,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez had to work as quickly as possible while the rest of the convoy’s soldiers secured the site.

“I had to cut off the remainder of the blown-out tire with my knife to free up some room,” Rodriguez said. “We had to pry the chassis outward from the cab because it was bent up, but it was enough to fit a tire on it.”

Rodriguez didn’t have to work alone. Three of the Afghan drivers who regularly run these patrols with the company immediately offered their assistance. They came running up with hydraulic jacks and pry bars and set to work. “We did greatly appreciate what they did; it was amazing,” Rodriguez said.

Once the crew had the spare tire on the vehicle, they could tow it the remaining short distance up the road to the base, where Rodriguez talked about the Humvee. “I didn’t think the tires were going to hold out, but it’s an amazing piece of machinery,” he said. “The armor definitely saved the lives of the occupants.”

“Chief Rodriguez knows his stuff,” said Army Capt. John Thyng, Company F commander for the 2-503rd. “When I talked before about the need to make sure we recover absolutely everything to prevent the bad guys from getting hold of it, he really took that to heart.”

(Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix serves with 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)

Related Sites:
Combined Joint Task Force 82
NATO International Security Assistance Force

	Army Chief Warrant Officer Sammy Rodriguez, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, assesses a damaged vehicle Jan. 23, 2008, to determine how to best recover it to a forward operating base in Kunar province, Afghanistan. None of the vehicle's occupants were injured in the incident. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution
	Army Chief Warrant Officer Sammy Rodriguez, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, and Afghan truck drivers work together to prepare a damaged vehicle for recovery in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 23, 2008. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution
	Army Capt. John Thyng discusses a vehicle recovery operation Jan. 23, 2008, with Army 1st Lt. Adam Van Lear on a road in the Korengal Valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!
If you would like to be added to / removed from FRWN,
please FReepmail Sandrat.

WARNING: FRWN can be an EXTREMELY HIGH-VOLUME PING LIST!!

[kbennkc]

WOPA lives .

[Grimmy]

OOHRAA! Army! Well done Soldiers.

“Rodriguez didn’t have to work alone. Three of the Afghan drivers who regularly run these patrols with the company immediately offered their assistance. They came running up with hydraulic jacks and pry bars and set to work. “We did greatly appreciate what they did; it was amazing,” Rodriguez said.”

Looks like some of our Yankee Ingenuity habits are starting to spread to some of the Afghans.

The Inshah Allah being replaced with an Ah Hell, We Can Fix This.

[AmericanVictory]

can do wins wars; that goes back a long way with us, good to see it spreading. Who gave Stonewall the idea to use those soaked cotton bales, anyway?

[Chgogal]

173rd Airborne...one of the best!!!!

[cll]

Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.

[cll]

Warrant Officer Protection Association?

Dang it’s been a long time since I’ve heard that.

[kbennkc]

173rd Airborne...one of the best!!!!

I loved it when Turkey did not want to grant access . 173rd says no problem we will just drop on in . The trump card of all war stories begins with " There We were jumping in" .

[Chgogal]

The 173rd in action in Iraq!

http://www.173rdairborne.com/menuiraq.htm
http://www.173rdairborne.com/iraq.htm

[kbennkc]

Thanks those pictures are great . I flew missions for 173rd , 101st and 82nd . Airborne troops mean a lot to me . God bless .

[Chgogal]

How wonderful! When did you fly missions for the Airborne?

[kbennkc]

Viet Nam 1967-68 69-72

[Chgogal]

You were in the thick of things. The 101st did some amazing fighting. They all did. Wow! Thank you for your service. Our Military is the best. Brityank has an touching profile (Thank you brityank). It says the following:

England ‘s Prime Minister Tony Blair’s words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said:

“A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in ... And how many want out.”

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.

[MPB]

FYI, I think this is the IED that hit the makers of the film "Restrepo" which aired on NatGeo last night. The date in late January 2008 would match up, and the mechanic Rodriguez mentioned in this article is the same one who helped clear up the one in the movie.

(the author of the article, Eric Hendrix, is my brother by the way... thanks for your service bro!)

Eric met Sebastian in Afghanistan, and until he said we might want to check out "Restrepo", I didn't think that maybe this was the same incident he was involved in. Knowing that, it was eerie to watch that scene.