The first time I saw this short, grainy video clip (linked below), I thought it was hilarious, but didn’t know who it was or what he was talking about.  It just showed a highly animated Marine, briefing someone about Husaybah and the surrounding area.  Since then, I’ve slowly unraveled the rest of the story.

It shows Gunny Brian Hogancamp, probably in early March 2005, giving an ‘area familiarization brief’ to other members of 3/2.  He had been part of the ADVON (advance team) out to Gannon in late February, and had already been doing left-seat/right-seat missions with 1/7’s Baker Co, and had been blown up once.  This helps explains his emphatic presentation.

In the clip, he’s giving a very dynamic and succinct overview of the danger areas in and around Husaybah, punctuated with some Marine-standard “colorful” phrases.  ***language warning***.  I’m not entirely sure if this was an actual, briefing or it was delivered for dramatic effect (maybe someone can tell me that).  Either way, the Gunny’s briefing vividly shows the threat environment that India Co. arrived into, and would operate in.  Update: I’ve now heard from one of the officers who was in the room, and witnessed this first-hand. So it must have been an actual briefing.

Brian Hogancamp, who eventually retired as a Sgt Maj, was the Company Gunny and one of the key leaders for India Company.  He ran the effort to build up and fortify Battle Position Harman, aka ‘Trash OP’.  A while back, I interviewed him several times, and his information allowed me to write the chapter about Trash OP, which you can download from the homepage.

Anyway, enjoy the clip.  I love the last little touch, where he says, “other than that, from about 1100 to noon, this area [pointing to Gannon itself] is relatively safe.”
And again, ***language warning***

Here’s an excellent video showing a firefight at “Trash OP”, situated on the north side of Husaybah and manned by India Company.  After you view it, see my amplifying comments below (***language warning***)

I don’t know the names of these Marines, yet. Hopefully I’ll have that info soon…

There’s a few things to note here.  First, this wasn’t random firing at all. They’d just been shot at by insurgents, and returned fire.

Second, the sheer exuberance of the Marines was typical. Most grunts in India Co. actually looked forward to a rotation at Trash OP, because it was likely they’d get into a firefight. This is hard for many to understand, but it’s indicative of the aggressive attitude among Marines in combat.

Third, even though it may seem like the firing starts to get out of control, and the Squad Leader struggles for a few seconds to get his Marines to cease fire, that is very common in combat. The noise of modern firearms can easily drown out verbal orders.  Actually, he quickly gets the firing under control, gets on the radio to coordinate further actions, and the squad gets water to cool the MG barrels down, prepping for the next engagement. Even though there’s some hootin’ and hollerin’, their actions are efficient and professional.

Finally, notice that somebody suggests they leave the expended brass where it lies, to impress the next squad with the firefight’s intensity. But the Squad Leader says, no, “We’ll police it all up. We have to, we live here!”  Another sign of professionalism and discipline.

–Ajax