The alarm red signifies that we are under attack. When you hear the alarm red siren, one must seek shelter and don the helmet and body armor. We have had around 20 of these events in the past month. So far no personnel have been harmed during this rotation but in the past there have been injuries. Sometimes you can hear when the mortar hits and other times you can’t. The base is very large and sometimes the mortars or rockets do not make it all the way to the base and fall short in the surrounding field. Sometimes you feel the concussion move through your body and other times it just sounds like someone slammed a door.

There are also days when the explosive experts set off the explosive devices or bombs that have been discovered. They let us know when these are going to occur by email. If you don’t check your email, it is often impossible to tell what is a controlled detonation and what is rocket or mortar attack.

What I have noticed in myself and others is that when a door slams or loud sound is heard everyone stops and looks around. A whistling sound will have people looking skyward. You can imagine how many everyday sounds can alert those of us who have been conditioned by 20 alarm reds.

A couple of months before I came to Iraq, I was in a mother’s room who just delivered a baby with significant heart defect. I was explaining what needed to be done for the baby in the next couple of days in order for the infant to survive. It was about 0500 and the father was asleep in the chair. There was a classic Texas thunder storm occurring outside the window. While I was talking with the mother a loud thunder clap went through the room. The soldier who was previously asleep jumped up from the chair, eyes wide open. He looked around dazed, like not sure where he was. His wife spoke with great compassion as she said, “He just got back from Iraq.”

After only a month in Iraq I now know how he felt. I wonder how long it will be after I get home that a closing door or a car backfire doesn’t send me to thoughts of mortars and rockets.

This is a very unnatural busy we are engaged in. I can see why people who have been in combat are never quite the same after they come home and why people who have not been there can never really understand. There are many different reactions to the alarm reds. Some cry and others find them annoying. Some never take off their body armor, some will not put it on unless ordered to do so. I do not worry much about the mortar attacks and I think that is because I feel God’s will will be done whether I am in Iraq or Texas. In Jeremiah 10:23, it says, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for a man to direct his steps.” I truly believe that God can lead me to a mortar if that be His will or He can lead me away. He will direct my steps.

Job shows a trust I desire to have, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.” Job 13:15.