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 Gut check time for troops
By Martin Savidge
In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and newsmakers around the world. KUWAITI DESERT (CNN) -- The troops and those of us assigned to cover them are poised to enter Iraq and have heard President Bush's words. Things are close. It's gut check time. Marines here who say there isn't a little bit of fear are crazy. My thoughts fluctuate between good and bad scenarios. Iraq will be liberated with hardly a fight or it will be a grueling, long campaign with a heavy cost. I had a hard time sleeping last night. Restless I guess. It's not uncommon for me in places and situations like this. Around 3 a.m. I left my sleeping bag and went for a walk. My eyes focused on the sky. The nearly full moon sailed overhead, pushed along by the illusion created by the moving clouds. Big thick fluffy clouds. Not the sort you usually see here if you see any at all. For an instant I wanted to keep walking. Walk out of the desert and all the way home. Away from here and what might come. I wanted to walk up my driveway and into the arms of my family. I could do it, I thought. As I passed other tents, I couldn't help but think that many here were having the same thoughts the same dreams. But the moment passes. I volunteered to be here. So did the Marines. They will stay and I will, too. This morning I watched a training exercise by Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. Paintballs were their ammunition as they assaulted a farmhouse with simulated enemy soldiers and civilians inside. It was a rough go. In the initial attack, 90 percent of the assault team went down. The Marines kept coming, dragging their simulated dead and wounded out of the way. In scenarios such as this, the defense always has the advantage. A two-man team moved up to clear a nearby outbuilding. The lead man takes a quick peek around the corner then staggers back. A paint bullet hit him in the head. He falls down. Seconds later his partner is also on the ground. More support teams are called up. Their guns clack as they charge ahead, laying down suppressing fire as they close on the main objective. Inside, Marine snipers play the enemy and play it well.
As I follow up with Scottie McWhinnie, my cameraman, we find Marine casualties all around the entrance. More Marines come up to take their positions and fight on. When they enter the house, the simulated fighting is close and chaotic. Orders are shouted. Curse words ring out with the gunfire along with a solitary cry for help. After the 30 minutes the exercise ends. Nearly half of the Marine platoon, 14 of 34 men, lay dead or dying. I've been told in urban combat inexperienced troops can commonly suffer casualty rates of 70 percent to 80 percent. Minutes later the dead are walking again. The only real casualty is a Marine hit in the head; the paintball opened a gash that bled profusely. He learned a lesson, as did many. Walking home is not an option. They know it. I know it.
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