Beep, beep, beep.
For six months Clark, a Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar systems operator, watched the skies above Contingency Operating Base Basra for indirect fire attacks. For months there had been nothing. Now the system was alerting him to the fact that someone, somewhere, was firing rockets towards COB Basra.
“Now it’s time to do my job.”
Within seconds he acquired the projectiles and tracked them. After sounding the general alarm for the Soldiers throughout the base, he turned to his peers and alerted them to the incoming rounds.
This was not a drill. Clark, a Dayton, Ohio native, is a member of Echo Battery, 4th Batallion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, C-RAM, out of Fort Hood, Texas. He and other C-RAM systems operators provide 24-hour coverage against mortars and rockets across Multi-National Division-South.
Pfc. Dustin Clark, a Dayton, Ohio native and a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar systems operator, adjusts the sights on a radar system in Contingency Operating Base Basra. Clark and other members of Echo Battery, 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, C-RAM, out of Fort Hood, Texas, go out every day to make sure that the C-RAM systems will be able to detect indirect fire attacks like mortars and rockets.
“We man the duties of watching the skies here,” said Staff Sgt. Queston Newell, section sergeant, 2nd Platoon. “The bad guys shoot their weapons at us. We use our equipment to see them shooting at us. And then we tell people they’re shooting at us using an alarm. “
“It’s a two-fold mission,” said Newell, of Lubbock, Texas. “We actually sense that the round is coming. We know where it’s going to land, and where it came from. Of course, our priority is to protect our Soldiers, but the second part is very important; to find the guys who are doing that.”
“We’re very accurate,” Newell added.
Much of C-RAM Soldiers’ day is spent either monitoring against hostile activity or maintaining and calibrating their equipment.
“The maintenance is the biggest part. We have to test speakers pretty regularly,” said Newell. “We have to make sure everyone can hear the speakers. We have to maintain our radar equipment, make sure it’s calibrated correctly.”
While the hours may be long, the C-RAM Soldiers take their mission to heart, Newell said.
“They know people’s lives depend on them. Without them, people would have to wear their full battle rattle armor all the time,” Newell said. “We allow them to relax a little, enjoy some volleyball and football. This team gives people in Basra peace of mind knowing we’re protecting them from IDF attacks.”
It’s this kind of commitment that allowed Clark to make the calls he did the night the rockets came in. After sounding the alarm, Clark stood by and tracked the projectiles before and after impact.
“We didn’t have any injuries that night, which is a spectacular tribute to both the Soldiers here on the ground doing what they’ve been trained to do during an attack, and a tribute to the Soldiers who are manning shift and making sure that the area is protected,” said Newell. “If our alarm saves only one life, we have succeeded in our mission.”
