The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

At the heavily fortified Hilla camp, CPA security debriefed Grace, Rick and me while we were still fresh. I called my wife Alison in North Carolina, catching her at her office. We prayed together for the rest of the team to make it safely to Hilla. Almost immediately after I hung up, Lionel led our three vehi- cles onto the compound. It turned out that shortly after we had driven off, an MP patrol had come on the scene, securing the perimeter along with the Signals team until the tires were changed. So they had been in good hands. Lessons Learned We started slapping backs and counting the bullet holes in all three vehicles. The ones in the “soft” cars should have disabled the drivers and caused everyone’s death; somehow, they had struck glancingly or buried themselves in the doorframes or roofs. One had hit the passenger door of the hard car head on and been stopped by the armor. Had the vehicle been unarmored, it would likely have hit the person sitting there, who happened to be me (though I may have already been on the floor by the time that bullet hit). Besides poor Iraqi marksman- ship, I see two other reasons we sur- vived the attack. One was the sheer speed and firepower we demonstrat- ed —more than the enemy was used to from a CPA convoy. Needless to say, Lionel and Mike far exceeded their work requirements as contract admin staff, and Rick nominated them for Civilian Service medals. He also nominated the Salvadorans for the Bronze Star, one of America’s most distinguished decorations. But in my view, the most impor- tant factor was divine intervention. Either you believe in this or you don’t. I do. I also offer the following lessons for the 21st-century diplomat based on our experience: 1. If you are ever offered fire- arms training, take it. Then go find a range and practice. 2. If you are ever offered evasive driving training, take it. To my utter amazement, somebody decided that J U N E 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 31 I have been counseled that my pink, Foreign Service-issue, button- down dress shirt is not a traditional choice for battlefield camouflage.