Spc. David Leopold, a fuel handler from Company E, 3rd Battalion 158th Aviation Regiment, stands guard outside a tactical operations center during a base force protection exercise Dec. 4. Leopold, a native of Lawton, Okla., is one of several Soldiers in Task Force XII who rarely leave the base, but stand ready in case of an attack. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Chris Seaton, Task Force XII Public Affairs) CAMP TAJI, Iraq (Jan 7, 2008) - Spc. David Leopold sat in the break room of the brigade air defense operations center. A fuel handler for Company E, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, Leopold is used to working hard. For the past few days, he'd been doing just that while manning a guard tower on his forward operating base just outside Baghdad.
It's part of the job for Soldiers of all military occupational specialties while stationed in Iraq. For days at a time, they leave their flight lines, motor pools and offices to gear up and watch a fence line.
On the inside of the fence is the Iraq they know; sand bag covered container housing units, dining facilities, rocks and mud. On the other side, an Iraqi city bustles with street vendors, children playing soccer and an ever-increasing flurry of activity signaling new life in a war-torn country.
For many, like Leopold, watching the city from a tower is as close as they'll get to life outside the FOB. For now, sitting in the break room, he and others were watching a movie between shifts.
A voice broke over the radio with a single code word that instantly told the Soldiers, "We are under attack!"
Leopold sprang to life. His body reacted before his mind could process the next steps, and before he knew it he was standing in full body armor waiting for instructions. He was sent to guard an important tactical operations center.
"When an attack happens, everybody (on tower guard duty) not manning the tower is sent to areas on base to guard sensitive property," said Leopold, a native of Lawton, Okla. "There's no set time limit for how fast we have to be in place, we just move as quickly as we can to secure the area."
This one was just an exercise. The base was still secure, and all was well at Camp Taji. But training like this is important for a lot of reasons, say those who participated.
"It's a good reminder that we're still in a combat zone," said Leopold. "The war doesn't stop on a FOB just because we put up a fence. Anything can happen."
"The attack exercise simulates what would happen if the base were overrun," said San Antonio, Texas native Sgt. 1st Class Shon Skinner, the Task Force XII force protection non-commissioned officer. "In an aviation unit, we've got a pretty important task of protecting this airfield."
During the exercise, organizers watch to see how people will react. They have goals for what should happen if a base is attacked. The exercise lets them see what actually happens.
"We put a lot of emphasis on getting it right, and I put a lot of stress on Soldiers," said Skinner. "We have to see what happens, and what their attitudes are when we start inducing stress."
Statistics in the global war on terrorism say the chances of a forward operating base being attacked by anything beyond the occasional mortar or indirect fire are low.
And Taji's brigade combat team Soldiers, who regularly patrol the streets of Baghdad, tell stories and bring back photos of reconciliation and improved security.
But insurgents in Iraq have tried the coordinated attacks on other bases. So far, none have succeeded. The idea of practicing the attack drill is to keep it that way.
"Personally, I don't see (an attack on Taji) happening, but it's comforting to know we have a plan," said Task Force XII network systems operator, Spc. Bryan Coffey, who hails from Anderson, S.C. "It could definitely save lives by getting us into place if something did happen."
"We are ready (for something to happen), and we'll always be ready," said Skinner. "If not, we'll continue to train until we are."
For Leopold, the message was clear. Whether or not he's seen it in his six months of pumping fuel in Iraq, the war that his hard work supports outside the fence is very real.
"I guess anything can happen inside or outside," he said. "We're going to be ready for either one."
