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TOC back up after Iraqi missile hit

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, April 10, 2003) - As the battle for Baghdad raged April 7, a brigade tactical operations center of the 3rd Infantry Division took a direct hit from an enemy missile, killing two soldiers, two civilian journalists and wounding 17 soldiers.

Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, headquartered at Objective Spartan, 18 miles south of Baghdad, reassembled the TOC and were back to work in less than an hour, supporting the battle in Baghdad.

"It didn't stop a darn thing. It's not as disastrous as it seems," said 2nd BCT Executive Officer Lt. Col. Eric Wesley from Colorado Springs, Co.

"We were totally blessed - it's a tragedy to lose four people, but after walking through that place, which looked like a holocaust, we are fortunate to not have lost more (personnel)," he said.

The missile, which hit at about 11 a.m., caused significant damage because the TOC was in an enclosed compound, Wesley said. The TOC soldiers had moved into the compound the day before.

The Spartans lost 16 Humvees and 2 1/2-ton vehicles, six trailers, and miscellaneous gear in the attack, according to Wesley.

Once the smoke cleared, soldiers collected as much gear as they could. They didn't want the enemy getting their hands on soldiers' personal and professional belongings, Wesley said.

The battle raged on in Baghdad, still supported by the Spartan TOC - shaken but undaunted.

Brigade Chaplain Maj. Patrick Ratigan said, "It was a tragedy, but think about how much worse it could have been. We lost four good men, but we could have lost 20."

Division Mental Health arrived at the TOC to see how the soldiers were feeling. Sgt. Luke Henry, a DMH soldier said, "I think, under the circumstances, they're handling it very well. They're doing better than my training taught me to expect. (coping) is never easy, but they're doing it."

Pvt. 1st Class David Sirabella, a 2nd BCT Headquarters and Headquarters Command soldier from Winthrop, Maine, was friends with the two soldiers who died. He was talking with them minutes before the missile hit. "It shouldn't have happened; they were good people," he said.

(Editor's note: Spc. Mason T. Lowery is a member of the 50th PAD, traveling with the 2nd BCT of the 3rd Infantry Division.)