Recollections of Iraq: Humvee Driver

During the invasion phase of the Iraq war Marine infantry units traveled in AAV's through southern and central Iraq; after Baghdad was secured those infantry battalions were each assigned cities in which to patrol and occupy, 3/5 was assigned Diwaniyah, a city of over 400,000 residents and some 80 miles south of Baghdad. During our occupation of Diwaniyah I was "promoted" to the position of team leader of first fireteam, second squad, third platoon; I was a private first class at the time and was responsible for three other Marines, I was also chosen to be one of the designated Humvee drivers within our platoon.

The majority of our patrols in Diwaniyah were squad-sized patrols conducted on foot through different neighborhoods, both during the day (really hot!) and at night (really quiet!) with two Humvees for our three fireteams; in addition to being 1st fireteam leader I also drove one of the Humvees on our patrols with my fireteam riding along with me. Our squad would drive to a particular area and dismount, then patrol on foot in a tactical formation while I and the other Humvee would creep along slowly at the middle and rear of the formation.

Driving the Humvee had some benefits, the most obvious being that I got to ride instead of walk which was especially nice on a hot daytime patrol; another perk was the "freedom of expression while driving" that we exercised as liberators of Iraq: imagine twelve young Marines riding high on the adrenaline of invading a foreign country, all either in their teens or early twenties, with two beastly Humvees to play with. We were certainly not "driving Miss Daisy" as we drove throughout the city; there was one instance where we actually topped out the speedometer at 55 mph on a highway leading out of the city, which is a big deal for an old humvee. I witnessed one driver slam on the brakes and execute a "J-turn" on a side street, much to the disapproval of one Iraqi woman in her black burqua, who quickly walked away from the street, turning back to stare in searing indignation. Two sergeants, who shall remain anonymous, got drunk on bootleg liquor purchased from an Iraqi peddler and attempted to "off-road" their Humvee and only succeeded in wrapping a long, very unyielding piece of rebar around the rear axle.

Aside from the "freedom of expression" that we exercised from time to time, we used the Humvees very effectively in Diwaniyah. Humvees were to Iraq what helicopters were to Vietnam: tough, durable, and seemingly everywhere.