Glory
March 4th, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
The Taurus XL rocket that blasted off carrying NASA’s Glory satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base early Friday March 4, 2011 failed to reach orbit. NASA says in a statement that a protective shell atop the rocket did not separate from the satellite as it should have about three minutes after the launch. (AP Photo/Bryan Walton – Santa Maria Times)
Zabul Redux
October 12th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Sean Naylor and I will will be reporting again from Afghanistan in about a week, so I’ll be posting some pictures this week from our last trip that didn’t get posted last time. We’ll be retracing our steps in Zabul province, and perhaps some other districts – we’ll see as our embed develops….
___________________________________
June 6th, 2009: Spc. Derek Houser, 26, from Church Hill, Tn., a machine gunner with Bravo Company, 1-4 Infantry, runs to his bunker guard position during a rocket attack at FOB Baylough in the mountains near Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. “I heard the first one come in, and grabbed my kit and started running,” Houser said. “Your training just kicks in.” It was the first time the base had been attacked in almost six months.
Houser – whose estimates that he’s been mortared about 40-50 times -paused briefly for cover behind a Hesco bastion. “I heard the whistle of the second one, and started to watch them walk the rounds in, to see what pattern they were going in. It was about average – four rounds – but they were a pretty good team to get one inside the wire.”
Incoming Mortars
May 21st, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Pfc. Paul Liberatore, and Spc. Nick Giovanelli, from Bravo Company, 1-4 Infantry, were in the MWR and gym, respectively, when the first mortars rounds started landing near the base – and are starting to stand down after an hour wait on the sandbagged roof. It’s been almost six months since the FOB was shelled. Only one of the four Russian 105mm rockets landed on the base. Summertime’s here.