In The Shooting Gallery: Security Contractor in Iraq
by Jim Williamson
Roving Editor
The plains north of Baghdad are inhospitable, made less so with hulks of wrecked vehicles, squalid dwellings, and the random heaps of debris comprising the detritus of war. The heat assaults the senses, baking mind and soul, transmitting mirages as the only entertainment for the convoy of supply trucks headed for a police post near the Kurdish border, where the weather will be cooler and the land greener.
A signal halts the column, and a driver dismounts to tie down a loose tarpaulin before any of his precious cargo can escape. Some men aboard the trucks dismount to stretch weary muscles. Others lift bottles of water, ever conscious of the need to remain hydrated in this arid sunscape.
Suddenly, several men screech to a halt some 200 meters distant, taking cover behind a litter of abandoned 55-gallon oil drums. Their voices drift down on the wind, a guttural cacophony of angry Arabic, the syllables lost in the breeze and the distance. Words are soon replaced by the crash of gunshots as they open fire on the column.
The convoy returns fire as men scramble aboard their vehicles or take cover behind them. One defender is a 28-year-old Texan, a veteran of the 2003 war against Saddam Hussein. He notes that one attacker is bobbing behind three of the rusty drums, exposing himself only to shoot at the government convoy and its American guardians.
The Texan wants to see an extremity that he can hit, perhaps making the wounded terrorist expose himself further. But he is carrying a 5.56mm M-4 carbine today, fitted with a laser sight that affords quick target acquisition, but which offers no magnification. He wishes fervently for a telescopic sight and the 7.62mm HK rifle that he left back at base. Seeing his bullets fare badly against the steel drums, he changes magazines, loading one topped off with Armor Piercing bullets. He holds center on the drum the “bad guy” is behind, and squeezes off three careful shots that center the barrel. His target leaps up and falls in a spastic shudder. His legs extend beyond the drums and he moves no more. His comrades have now also left on what they undoubtedly hoped would be a journey into their concept of Paradise. When possible, attackers are killed to the last man.
“Let’s go!” shouts the convoy commander. “Saddle up!”
Men scramble aboard the trucks and roar off across the desert before more insurgents arrive. It is business as usual for the Americans and their charges. This sort of thing happens to them several times a week. It is one of the ways in which a foreign security contractor dies every few days in this tortured land.
The contractor who shot the man behind the barrel is my son. For security reasons, we’ll call him Spook, the name under which he posts on an Internet sci-fi forum. This is his story.
Spook was first in Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Third Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Though assigned to a staff post, he found time to lead patrols covering the flanks of troops seeking Saddam and his main henchmen. He saw considerable action at this time.
When not preparing Battle Update Briefings (BUB’s) for his general, he sometimes also escorted foreign journalists in Baghdad, allowing him to visit arms caches and other places of interest. At such times, he was able to interface with other Coalition troops and compare notes on weapons and tactics.
He and another officer were billeted in a palace that contained ornate furnishings with marble walls and floors. The garage even had horse-drawn coaches similar to those in which Cinderella or Queen Elizabeth might ride, the doors of one inlaid with pearlescent scenes of what appear to be Islamic religious figures.
The arms caches might contain almost any firearm produced over the past 100 years. Rifles ranged from Lee-Enfields and Mauser ’98s to modern AK-47s. The most ornate items were HK MP-5 submachineguns that were engraved, gold-plated, and fitted with ivory grips and forends. Some of these had nice cases, too.
The enemy used principally small arms of types associated with the former Soviet Bloc, with Kalashnikov assault rifles being ubiquitous. Pistols were often Tokarevs or Iraqi copies of Beretta M-951 9mm and M-70 .32 ACP pistols. These were called Tariqs, after the city where they were made.
Civilian Security
In 2005, no longer on active duty with the US Army, Spook returned to Iraq as a civilian security contractor. His main duty was escorting truck convoys to remote police posts and other high-risk destinations, although his employer also provided protection for various dignitaries not furnished with US State Department security agents.
Both of these assignments are very hazardous and several contractors are killed every week. Others, like Spook, are wounded. His injury came from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that a terrorist detonated as Spook’s convoy passed a slower US Army convoy headed in the same direction. An Army Humvee took the brunt of the blast, but Spook nonetheless suffered burns, metal fragments, and a dislocated shoulder. His Peshmerga (Kurdish) machinegunner, sitting in the back of his vehicle, also suffered burns, a broken arm, and fragments. They were treated at a nearby field hospital and soon returned to duty. Spook was even able to join his wife in London on vacation a few weeks later.
The “Pesh” gunner wasn’t as lucky: he was stabbed in the leg soon after, while sitting in a truck. An Iraqi simply walked up and thrust a knife into him. He had to leave the job.
Spook was sorry to lose him. The Pesh had been a good friend, helping Spook with his Arabic and showing him the sights in Baghdad when they were off duty. And he and other Kurds had negotiated with roadside food vendors on behalf of the Americans. This not only lessened the chances of the contractors being cheated because they weren’t familiar with local prices; it was safer. The Iraqis knew that if they poisoned anyone, the Pesh might well return and kill them with all the emotional detachment of a striking cobra.
Well Stocked Armory
Not allowed to bring his own weapons, Spook was pleased to find a well-stocked armory. Contractors typically “drew” a pistol and two or three shoulder-fired weapons. In his case, the guns were a Browning Hi-Power 9mm, an HK MP-5 submachinegun, a Bushmaster M-4, and an HK 7.62mm rifle, which he bought.
Ammo bags contained numerous spare, loaded magazines, and in a bad firefight, as many as 15 of them might be fired. Some hotter engagements lasted as long as an hour.
Photos of others in Spook’s company of adventurers show similar weaponry, although some carried true machineguns. The FN GPMG/MAG (now used as the M240 by US forces) was common, with many Russian PKCs also in evidence.
There were some Colt .45 autos for those to whom Jeff Cooper remains the supreme oracle of handgunnery, but Spook rejected them on grounds of few spare magazines and inconsistent ammo supply. Glocks were perhaps most popular, but Spook chose the Browning, with which he has been familiar since his early teen years. He prefers the traditional steel construction and nicer appearance of the FN pistol to most of the new generation of “wondernines,” especially those with synthetic frames.
Many disparage the 9mm’s stopping power, and knowing that only military “ball” ammunition was available, I asked if this had been a problem. Spook said that it hadn’t. He knows what some of the gun magazine chest-beaters claim in print, and admits that he hasn’t shot any blocks of ballistic gelatin. He has shot eight men with the nine, though, and all went down with center thorax hits. One or two shots sufficed, if well placed. Spook knows that others have complained about the nine, and wonders where they hit their opponents. He has talked with a couple of tank crewmen who shot Iraqis off their huge armored mounts, and they seemed satisfied, too. The Browning worked fine, and so did the Beretta M9 that he wore in 2003, provided that one used only genuine Beretta magazines. Cheap spare magazines from other manufacturers might fail.
Pistol Fits Situation
Spook liked the pistol. It saved his life on several occasions, including one engagement in which he had emptied his M-4 carbine’s magazine. He was trying to reload when an attacker ran past the trailer of an “eighteen wheeler” near him, trying to break into the little fortress of trucks. Spook leaned under the trailer and shot him in the leg and waist. When the terrorist dropped into better view, he finished the job with a shot to the chest from the Browning. Such events happen in this conflict. The pistol was also handy to carry in town when sightseeing while off duty. Baghdad is not a good city for unarmed tourists to visit.
In all, he shot six men with that FN High Power, and two more with a Beretta M-9 in 2003. He feels that the cartridge will usually suffice, and no one that he shot argued the issue with him. Nevertheless, he would have felt somewhat more confident with a heavier caliber. The ammo supply just precluded that being a practical issue.
Kalashnikov assault rifles were in abundance, used by both sides. Those in the know vastly preferred Russian or Czech ammo for them. Iraqi-made 7.62X39mm fodder is of such poor quality that some batches have 50% misfires. That is due to manufacturing quality; he emphasized, not an issue of poor storage, although that can also occur.
Iraq today is a nation in intense turmoil, and its future path simply cannot be predicted with any real degree of certainty. Spook knew many there who rejoiced that the Americans had come and deposed Saddam’s brutal regime. Roughly half of those with whom he spoke (or overheard) like Americans, and don’t want us to leave until matters stabilize. Another 35% seem generally indifferent, and the remainder is openly hostile. A very strong percentage of the enemy is of foreign origin.
These people are most often Syrian or Saudi, although they can be from virtually any Muslim country. Spook says that religion is the usual excuse for their presence, but many seem to just hate Americans. Some are outright bandits, hoping to profit from unsettled conditions. Still others are paid to enter Iraq and cause trouble.
The two basic Muslim factions (Sunni and Shiite) have issues with their Kurdish countrymen, who were so horribly oppressed by Saddam. It will be very difficult for these people to cooperate among themselves and forge a viable nation that will be tolerant of women’s rights and allow religious freedom. Such temperance is not typical of the region, although Saddam’s secular regime was the most open among Arab countries.
One thing is certain: too many good men (sometimes, women) have lost their lives or suffered grievous wounds to depose a vicious dictator and replace him with a viable, reasonable government. A safer, more tranquil future is still in doubt.
Spook grieves for those who have fallen in a noble cause. They include his own best friend in Iraq, slain by a sniper’s bullet that tore out his throat. A Peshmerga companion was taken from his home near Fallujah and beheaded by men posing as policemen. When found, his body had a note pinned to it, warning against working for American companies.
Whatever happens, Spook has seen history in the making, and done his best to protect US interests and to offer Iraqis a chance for better days. He hopes that those who read this will find it of interest and will support our troops and others who struggle daily to achieve stability in an unstable land. He is actually a very articulate writer, himself.
I asked him to pen this story. He declined on grounds that some things are still “too close” to recount in his own hand. This is often the case with recently returned veterans, and it was only with effort and repeated conversations that I obtained the account that you read now. I hope that in time, painful memories will ease, and he will undertake to provide additional material under his own byline. I am quite sure that his story would be worthwhile. By then, we may know the outcome of the present conflict.
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