BOOM
A mortar landed pretty close today. Right in the middle of the housing area. Not the first time this has happened. Just the first time it has happened while I was there. Pretty surreal. I actually heard this one come in. Within 3 seconds it went like this:
I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep. I heard two booms which were two mortars landing a bit off in the distance. That is not too uncommon. The first one seemed a little further away than the other.
As I started to regain full consciousness - in a matter of 2 seconds - I heard a whizz, like the sound you hear when a rocket or missile leaves a plane in a movie. Much less than a second later the klaxon went of followed immediately by the INCOMING INCOMING INCOMING computerized voice over the Giant Voice (1).
During the second utterance of the word INCOMING I heard a very close and very loud boom, the window in my pod shook and I found myself checking out the pattern on the underside of my mattress. Nice tulip model in white on a blue background.
I lay there thinking “So now what… I really doubt this bed will provide adequate protection against a direct hit” which is about the only thing that would really expose me to shrapnel while in my pod - thanks to the fortress around the pods. “So I might as well get up… OK…. I’m getting up now…”
About 5 minutes later - after the All Clear over the Giant Voice - I got up. I went out to smoke a cigarette (I hear cigarettes can kill you) along with about 60 other people that I have never seen in the smoke pit before. Most were talking about the mortar and it’s proximity, I just hung out in the shadows and observed.
That was the closest one for me by far. I have some pictures if you are interested. I will not be putting them on GallerSKi any time soon, so if you want to see the results of that one email me and I’ll hook you up.
~SKi~
(1) Giant Voice is the term coined for the Public Address (PA) system used on Air Force bases. Here, there is a proximity sensor covering the base that is connected to the Giant Voice. When something enters the proximity of any given sector, the Giant Voice in that sector alarms to let everyone know it’s time to put their head between their legs.
The Command Post also uses the Giant Voice to make announcements like “Type 0- blood needed at the Air Force Theater Hospital” (AFTH - Think MASH).