Reporting from Iraq

Saturday was the most scared I’ve been here on this trip, an observation Col. Scott Wuestner with the 4-11 Field Artillery unit called “good.”

Good, I think, because he was trying to emphasize the danger his soldiers face in this area north of Baghdad. A point he made well, thanks to the many visual aids he used in his presentation.

This northern area is unassuming, mostly rural and predominately Sunni. But as the day progressed, I just kept getting a little more on edge, salted with a few white knuckled moments.

The 4-11, even though part of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, does not have Stryker vehicles. As the brigade’s light infantry unit, they use armored Humvees. Since arriving in Baghdad, they received the newest model, with increased armor and durability.

But the prospect of riding in a Humvee, after two weeks being bear hugged by the slat armor and 360 degree protection of the Strykers, I was already apprehensive about today.

On the upside, Humvees offer a great view compared to Strykers. I got my first real glimpse of the countryside, a nice concession to the ride. Until being able to see my surroundings started to add to my anxiety. First, driving down a road called Tampa, Wuestner began pointing out blown up pieces of asphalt. That’s where improvised explosive devices had detonated. Then the large, dark stain on the road and dirt shoulder. That’s where a fuel truck had been blown up. The palm grove Wuestner pointed to seemed mundane enough, maybe almost a peaceful reprieve from the remnants of road attacks. Until he said the palm grove is just a land mark; that’s where on Jan. 29 ABC’s Bob Woodruff and Canadian cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured in an IED attack.

We continued to see remnants of explosions; burned up hulls of vehicles, filled in holes from explosions, darkened spots on the road. Near a bridge, Wuestner points out a site of another IED attack, one that killed an Eielson Air Force Base airman. Wuestner and his soldiers came upon the site that day moments after the attack.

Returning from a meeting with local leaders, we backtracked along the same road and sites, and now a new one. Three Humvees, not with the 4-11, were stopped in the middle of the road, one with damage to the front driver’s side. They had just hit an IED. There were no injuries — all the soldiers are talking and walking — and we skirted around them as I asked incredulously, “But we drove over that exact spot like an hour ago, didn’t we? Didn’t we?”

A few times we stopped, as soldiers peered through binoculars at suspicious items along the road, looking for tell-tale wires or disturbed earth. We saw a tank unit cordon off what their equipment detected as an IED just under the road surface. We skirted around that site too. Wuestner pointed out an area where shots are often fired at passing Humvees.

Eventually, we made it back to base. Wuestner seemed almost surprised we encountered no major activity today.

No worries. There’s plenty of opportunity for that today, Sunday, when I ride out with the colonel again.