By Sgt. Joshua R. Ford
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs
PATROL BASE OLSEN, Iraq— Paratroopers gathered around the patrol base's pingpong table watching two of their comrades hit the ball back and forth. Others sat in the morale room down stairs surfing the Internet or calling home. More could be found at the gym working out.
This is what paratroopers based at Patrol Base Olsen do during their off time. But sometimes they are pulled away from that phone call home or that recreational game to go back to work. Sometimes a call to action, no matter the form, can come at the most unexpected times.
"That didn't sound too close," he told his roommates, certain an explosion was far-off in the distance. Seconds later another explosion would send Spc. Ryan Clark rolling off his top bunk and taking cover in between his bunk and his roommate's where just hours before he was enjoying a phone call with his wife.
Their ceiling light had crashed to the floor from the force of the blast.
Immediately Clark ran outside to see what had happened. The explosion was caused by a car bomb that targeted Iraqi security forces in Samarra.
Clark saw armored gun trucks leaving the base minutes after the explosion. His comrades were responding to the incident.
Paratroopers based at Patrol Base Olsen will tell you that anything can happen in Samarra at any time.
"After 11 months here nothing is really that surprising anymore," said Clark, an infantryman with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
"There is never a dull moment in Charlie Company," said Clark.
The light on his ceiling now hangs jerry-rigged with a thin piece of rope in case of another explosion.
Spc. Bob Shoopman, an infantryman with C Company, said situations like this are to be expected on Patrol Base Olsen.
"This is why Charlie Company is here," said Shoopman. "We're one of the best companies in the brigade because of our training and leadership."
"It's really not that bad. The first six or seven months, there's constantly something going on. The tempo of being on a small patrol base is extreme. It's bitter-sweet; it kind of makes time go by quicker, but sometimes it kind of wears down your nerves," said Shoopman.
He wouldn't have it any differently, though, because he said he is experiencing the excitement he originally signed up for as an infantryman.
"We go out looking for trouble," said Shoopman. "As infantry, that's our job, and our company's pretty good at it. We go out looking for trouble so we can get rid of it. And at the same time, we keep the city safe. Security's the number one thing. We're always aware of our surroundings."
"(Every infantryman) knows they're going to be up at the front lines when stuff goes down," said Shoopman. "Everybody here is mentally tough."
In February 2007, Spc. Ariel Rivera, an infantryman with C Company, sat in his gunner hatch on his armored vehicle when his convoy took small-arms fire.
"Our truck was in the lead when the convoy took fire," said Rivera. "(The insurgents) were about 75 meters at our 12 o'clock."
Rivera identified his targets and fired his 50. caliber machine gun at them, killing them.
"I love my job. We train for this and (in Samarra) we actually get to do what we trained for," said Rivera.
Rivera was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device for valor for his actions on the battlefield that day.
Rivera said when he is in his turret; he puts himself in different scenarios and figures out what he would do in each while staying focused on the mission.
When he is not in the gunner's seat, he is thinking about his 7-year-old son Alexander Rivera, who is currently living with Rivera's mother in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Rivera said if his son ever decided to join the Army, he would mentor him on all of his experiences during his deployment to Samarra, Iraq.
C Company platoons operate on several mission cycles so there are always paratroopers ready to go take the fight to the enemy. One mission cycle requires the paratroopers to be ready to go to the action within minutes. Spc. Michael Pierro describes that cycle to be the most exciting.
One minute a troop is playing cards with his buddies, and the next minute he's out the door chasing down insurgents, said Pierro an infantryman with C Company.
"Sometimes it's work nonstop, always doing something different. It's fun because you get a lot of contact.You're going out for a specific reason, not just to do the daily patrol or anything like that," said Pierro. "But it definitely takes its toll on you."
"Whether it's mortar fire or chasing down insurgents, it's just another day for Charlie Company," said Clark.