After serving 12 months in Iraq, U.S. Army Sgt. Ryan Hickmott can’t understand young people who ‘can’t wait to get out of Oxford.?
‘Oxford’s great,? he said. ‘It’s so good to be home. Going over there and coming back, you appreciate everything so much more.?
Hickmott, who returned home Oct. 1, just spent the last year riding in truck convoys all over the war-torn Middle Eastern nation from the Syrian and Turkish borders to 20 miles away from Iran to 120 miles south of Baghdad.
On the road, convoys encountered Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), rocket propelled grenades, mortars, antitank mines and gunfire from insurgents.
‘You name it, we saw it,? said Hickmott, a 2000 Oxford High School grad.
His convoys came under attack 21 times during his tour. ‘It’s like twice a month, you come under attack,? he said.?
The job
As part of the 454th Transportation Company out of Columbus, Ohio, Hickmott spent his first nine months in Iraq stationed in Q-West ? a Forward Operating Base located 300 kilometers north of Baghdad ? riding in supply convoys consisting of semi-trucks and tankers that were ‘hauling pretty much anything.?
‘I did more missions in the platoon than anybody else as the assistant convoy commander,? Hickmott, who joined the Army Reserve in September 2000.
As second-in-command it was Hickmott’s job to ride in the passenger’s seat with a computer and two radios, ‘communicating with everybody in the convoy, headquarters, battalion, whomever.?
‘I didn’t do much on the convoys (unless the commander) got hurt or his radios went down, then I was in charge,? he said. ‘That didn’t happen too often. The majority of the time there I was just sitting there riding shotgun and being second in control.?
For his last three months, Hickmott was reassigned to the Logistics Support Area known as Anaconda near the city of Balad.
Hickmott was promoted to Truck Commander of a gun truck. Each convoy of approximately 25-30 supply trucks is protected by seven heavily-armored gun trucks equipped with a .50 caliber machine guns and grenade launchers.
At the head of each convoy is a scout gun truck, which serves as the ‘pathfinder.?
‘They get us where we’re going,? Hickmott said. ‘I was in the lead, the truck behind them. The two most likely places to get hit in a convoy are the scout and lead trucks.?
As the lead gun truck, it was the responsibility of Hickmott and his crew, which consisted of a driver and gunner, to ‘find the IEDs, make sure we’re on the right path, control the convoy speed and make sure we have everybody with us.?
All convoy missions were run at the night when it’s safer because of the curfew for Iraqis. ‘We pretty much work from 7 (o’clock) at night until 7 or 8 (o’clock) in the morning,? Hickmott said. ‘If we see a vehicle on the road, automatically its suspicious.?
On average, Hickmott spent 15-16 nights a month on the road doing missions, ranging from three to 14 hours.
‘In the month of April, I was on the road 27 days,? he said. ‘That was by far the most.?
Hickmott’s second convoy assignment was definitely more dangerous than his first.
‘We had more people injured in three months than we did in nine months,? he said.
Lucky guy
‘I’m one of the luckiest people you’ll meet,? said Hickmott. He got a hole-in-one his first time golfing. He once fell off a motorcycle going 70 miles per hour and was fine.
Fortunately, that lucky streak extended throughout Hickmott’s time in Iraq.
‘Out of the 21 people in our original gun crew, 17 or 18 of them took a direct blast from an IED,? he said. ‘I never took one.?
The closest Hickmott ever was to an IED detonation was ‘maybe 80 meters.?
‘It’s close enough, but nothing’s going to puncture your vehicle from 80 meters away,? he explained. ‘If you’re inside, you’re fine.?
On April 5, Hickmott was in a convoy hauling supplies from Q-West to Balad when his truck was fired upon by insurgents armed with AK-47 rifles.
‘There were insurgents on both sides of the road, about 250-300 meters off,? he said.
Because the trucks are bulletproof, Hickmott said he wasn’t scared. It was more of a ‘surreal feeling.?
‘They can shoot that window with an AK probably 20 times and it’s not going to come through,? he said.
Incoming!
Although bases like Anaconda are generally pretty safe, they can still be dangerous.
On April 6, Hickmott was sitting outside in his motor pool area reading a book, when the siren went off blaring the words, ‘Incoming, incoming, incoming!?
‘We get mortared everyday at Balad, so it’s nothing new,? he said.
Considering Anaconda has approximately 32,000 soldiers on it and is about 12 miles around, Hickmott said, ‘The chances of a mortar landing right next to you are slim to none.?
Just as he picked his book up and started reading again, an 82 or 84-mm mortar shell landed 21 yards away from him. ‘Ten guys were within 30 yards of where it landed,? he said.
Hickmott grabbed his weapon and a wounded soldier and headed inside a bunker. There, he used their shirts to temporarily bandage the soldier’s face and arm, both of which had taken shrapnel.
Two soldiers in Hickmott’s motor pool area took shrapnel while a third received a concussion, a result of being only 8 yards from where the mortar shell landed. No one was killed.
‘We were very fortunate,? he said.
Doing the math
The possibility of dying is something Hickmott said he ‘really didn’t think about too often.? If the thought ever did enter his head while traveling out on the road, he just ‘played the math game.?
Hickmott explained he might see one or two IEDs during a convoy mission and with 30-plus trucks he would think to himself, ‘What are the chances they’re going to hit me??
And if an IED did hit, what were the chances of it penetrating the truck?
‘The armor on our vehicles had only been penetrated two or three times out of all the IED blasts we’d taken,? Hickmott explained. ‘So, I really felt pretty safe.?
Mission far from accomplished
‘I don’t know how a lot of people felt, but I didn’t really feel like I accomplished that much as far as putting an end to the insurgency,? Hickmott said.
Looking at the U.S. soldier death toll, ‘the numbers went up every month,? he said. ‘Pretty much every month I was there was the deadliest month in Iraq.?
‘It’s really not getting that much better,? Hickmott said. ‘We run up and down the roads doing the same thing every day. Taking the same people back and forth. You don’t see change happening.
‘We’re coming up towards the prison. Yeah, we’ve been hit by an IED the last three times we’ve come through there. We’re probably going to get hit again.?
Hickmott admitted the ‘surge? of increased U.S. forces in Baghdad is ‘changing stuff a little bit because the main insurgency was there.? But the surge is simply pushing the insurgents out to other cities like Tal Afar, Kirkuk and Mosul where attacks are now on the rise, he explained.
‘They’re getting hit a lot harder than they used to,? Hickmott said. ‘In Baghdad, they extinguished a huge flame for seven smaller fires.?
Time to relax
Finding stuff to do in the middle of the desert is tough, but the soldiers do create some inventive ways to pass the time.
‘On Thanksgiving, we had a jousting competition,? Hickmott said.
The troops used 6-foot metal fence poles with pieces of wood affixed to the ends to create makeshift lances.
Hickmott and another soldier put on their individual body armor, got on a couple of old bicycles about 40 yards apart and then ‘rode straight at each other.?
‘We’d do just about anything to have fun,? he said.
Boulder Pointe Golf Club in Oxford sent Hickmott a big box of about 20 or so sand and pitching wedges and two boxes full of golf balls.
Some soldiers decided to dip the balls in a luminescent chemical, so when they teed off they could watch them soar into the night.
Band of brothers
Of his comrades, Hickmott said, ‘I will never have friends like that again.?
‘Nobody knows as much about me as the guys that I was in Iraq with,? he explained. ‘You have nothing to do, but sit around for hours and hours and you just talk about stuff.?
Here people are fond of saying they can trust this person or that person with their life, but Hickmott said, ‘You don’t know that.?
Hickmott had a roommate at Central Michigan University that he lived with for three years.
‘I can’t say that if I was missing my leg and I needed to be dragged back to our vehicle, he’s going to come get me because I don’t know,? he said.
He can say that about the guys he served with in Iraq. ‘I can’t think of a time that I’ve ever really trusted anybody more than that,? Hickmott said. ‘You get close.?
Mail call
Hickmott was extremely grateful for all the support he received from the home front in the form of letters, cards and packages.
‘The support was unreal,? he said. ‘There was only one person in the company or platoon that got more mail than me.?
Besides his family and friends, Hickmott received ‘a ton of support? from Oakwood Community Church, Christ the King Church and Strategic Financial Services, the Troy company he works for as a personal financial adviser.
A bunch of anonymous neighbors from Oxford got together and sent Hickmott ‘seven big boxes full of stuff.?
‘It’s so nice to get mail,? he said. ‘I wish I knew who everybody was that sent me stuff because I’d like to tell them thank you.?
But not everybody was as fortunate as Hickmott. There was one female soldier who had been there for three months and didn’t receive a single letter or package from home.
‘That’s terrible,? Hickmott said. ‘I don’t know how people make it through over there without a support system.?
When Christmas was near, Hickmott decided to help these forgotten soldiers so he asked everyone on his e-mail list to send stuff to about seven or eight of them.
Dave Parker, owner of Industrial Rotating Products, Inc. in Orion Township, gave his sons ? Chris, Jeff and Jon ? $1,000 each to buy stuff for the troops.
On Christmas morning, a 5-ton truck arrived at the base loaded with packages.
The female soldier who had received no mail, ‘she got like nine big packages,? Hickmott said. ‘Everybody I put on the list probably got at least 9-10 packages or pieces of mail. One guy got 17 packages.?
Back home
Although he admitted he’s ‘still a little bit jumpy? when it comes to loud or unexpected noises and movements, Hickmott said, ‘Coming back home does not take long to adjust.?
Since his deployment lasted 14 months, 22 days that’s how long it should be before he’s eligible to be sent back.
However, Hickmott said, ‘I know situations where the Army breaks their own rules.?
‘If I get told I’m going back, then I’m going back, but I’d rather stay here,? he said.