Kaboom Read online

  combat outpost at(photo)

  complaints in

  described

  Fadl and

  and Hussaniyah compared

  IEDs in

  leaving

  market in(photo)

  microgrant projects in

  money in

  patrols in

  photo of

  return to

  Route Maples and

  Shias in

  Sons of Iraq in

  Sunnis in

  Sabah Qasar

  photo of

  Saddam City

  Sadr City

  uprising in

  Sadrists

  Safety

  terps and

  Sahwa

  checkpoints

  Iraqi government and

  program

  Sons of Iraq and

  Saif

  Salon (magazine)

  Sandstorm, photo of

  Schwarzenegger, Arnold

  Second Brigade (Twenty-fifth

  Infantry Division)

  Secret Agent Man, Sergeant

  HUMINT and

  Las Cruces and

  leads/tips from

  Sections, function of

  Security

  fliers

  meetings

  peace and

  sweeps

  Security firms

  September 11th

  Shaba, Mohammed

  Shakespeare, William

  Shakur, Tupac: Notorious BIG and

  Sheep, photo of

  Sheikapalooza

  photo of

  Sheiks

  Arab culture and

  meeting with

  Shia United Iraqi Alliance

  Shias

  elections and

  extremist

  holidays of

  Husayn and

  Hussaniyah and

  Sons of Iraq and

  Sunnis and

  Show-of-force missions

  SITREPs. See Situation reports

  Sitting Bull, Staff Sergeant

  Abbas and

  Ashura and

  Eddie and

  HUMINT and

  leads/tips and

  Orlando and

  source network of

  Situation reports (SITREPs)

  Skerk, Lieutenant

  microgrant program and

  stress for

  Slum City

  Smitty, Private First Class

  Banana-Hands and

  children and

  Haitian Sensation and

  Haydar and

  Hot Wheels incident and

  IP attack and

  mosque raid and

  Phoenix and

  photo of

  rockets and

  shootout and

  Soldier’s Medal for

  Spice Girls and

  stealth and

  Sniper rifles

  Snipers

  Snoop Dogg

  Snow patrol

  Soccer field, rockets at

  SOFA. See Iraq Status of Forces Agreement

  Soldier’s Medal

  Somers, Suzanne

  Sons of Iraq

  checkpoints of

  rocket men and

  Sahwa and

  sheik council and

  Shias and

  Sunni

  talking to

  Sons of Liberty

  Spade, Staff Sergeant

  Beanie Babies and

  Daraji and

  Gravediggers and

  in Hawaii

  microgrants and

  mosque raid and

  night patrol and

  photo of

  rockets and

  sheikapalooza and

  shootout and

  traits of

  Spice Girls

  Sportscenter (ESPN)

  Spot, Corporal

  Daraji and

  photo of

  rockets and

  sniper rifle and

  translation by

  Stars and Stripes

  Steel platoon

  Stereotypes

  Steve (special ops captain/major)

  Sticky bombs

  Stop-loss program

  Stove Top, Private First Class

  photo of

  Strykehorse

  Strykers

  as ghost tanks

  parking

  patrols in

  photo of

  repairing

  as shields

  Stuart, Jeb

  Stun grenades

  Suicide

  Sunnis

  elections and

  Iraqi republic and

  mosque raid and

  problems for

  Shias and

  Sons of Iraq and

  Super Bowl

  Super Mario

  translating by

  Swords of Qadisiyah

  Syrians

  T-72 tanks

  Tactical operations center (TOC)

  photo of

  Taji Provincial Community Center

  Tamimis

  Task Force Cobra, mosque raid and

  Tattoos

  Ten Bears, Captain

  Bassam meeting and

  frago and

  Haydar and

  recommendation from

  rocket attack and

  Suge and

  Trash Village and

  working with

  Terps

  field-grade officers and

  masks for

  safety and

  work of

  Terrorists

  Thanksgiving

  Third Brigade (Fourth Infantry Division)

  TOC. See Tactical operations center

  Training

  barriers to

  cold-load

  Trash Village

  Triple Canopy

  Tunnel, Specialist

  Daraji and

  Doc and

  Haydar and

  IP attack and

  locals and

  mosque raid and

  photo of

  Turkey Bowl flag-football game

  Turner, Tina

  Twenty-fifth Infantry Division

  2-14 Cavalry

  photo of

  Ugandans

  Uniform Code of Military Justice

  U.S. Constitution

  U.S. Department of Defense

  U.S. Postal Service

  U.S. State Department

  Van Wilder, Private First Class

  Big Ern and

  Iraqi women and

  night patrol and

  photo of

  Rip Its and

  translation by

  yarns by

  Vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs)

  Veterans

  Vigilantes

  VIPs, dealing with

  Virginia Slim, Lieutenant

  on constitutional rights

  Gravediggers and

  Vote

  military

  W, Sergeant First Class

  toy RPG launchers and

  War for peace

  Warfare

  conventional

  decentralized

  irregular

  maneuvers

  nonconventional

  recentralized

  Washington Post

  West Hussaniyah

  Whiteback, Captain

  Banana-Hands and

  Bassam meeting and

  blog piece and

  finances and

  frago message from

  Haydar and

  mosque raid and

  rockets and

  ROE and

  security meeting by

  security sweeps and

  Shaba and

  sheikapalooza and

  shootout and

  XO status and

  Wild Tigers

  Wildebeest, Specialist

  Abbas and

  HUMINT and

  leads/t
ips from

  Orlando and

  Wolfhounds

  Abu Abdullah and

  joining

  Turkey Bowl and

  Women

  dress of

  problems with

  soldiers

  talking to

  XO. See Executive officers

  Yusef

  Zuhayr, Lieutenant: shootout and

  Zaydan, Sheik

  1 Note: not their official name or unofficial call sign.

  Copyright © 2010 by Matt Gallagher

  ALL THESE THINGS THAT I’VE DONE

  Words and Music by Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning,

  Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci

  Copyright © 2004 UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING LTD.

  All Rights in the United States and Canada Controlled and Administered by

  UNIVERSAL - POLYGRAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING, INC.

  All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Gallagher, Matt.

  Kaboom : embracing the suck in a savage little war / by Matt Gallagher. p. cm.

  Includes index.

  eISBN : 978-0-306-81898-1

  1. Gallagher, Matt. 2. Iraq War, 2003—Personal narratives, American. 3. United States. Army—Officers—Biography. I. Title.

  DS79.76.G343 2010

  956.7044’34092—dc22

  [B]

  2009044519

  Published by Da Capo Press

  A Member of the Perseus Books Group

  www.dacapopress.com

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