I am a Platoon Sergeant in the Army National Guard and am currently stationed in Iraq. In October of 2005 we were mobilized for duty in Iraq. We had some idea of what we would be doing, but very little solid information. After 6 months of training at Camp Shelby, MS, we departed for what would turn out to be a life-changing deployment for us all. After 2 weeks in Kuwait, we arrived at Balad Air Base (otherwise known as LSA Anaconda). The base is located about 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Upon arriving at Balad, our unit took over a convoy escort mission and split up into 14-man teams. I was assigned as the convoy commander of a team. Our mission was to escort civilian semi-trucks carrying supplies. This article is partially a testimony to the faithfulness of God and the kindness he showed us, but also serves as a warning for those who underestimate our enemy.     Every night before we would leave the wire, we put on our body armor, our Kevlar helmets and our deltoid armor. We would grumble about all that weight, but we did it anyway. Then we mounted up in up-armored gun trucks. Right after we left the security of the gate, we would turn on electronic countermeasures which were designed to afford us more protection. I never realized how much all that protection meant to me until we had our first civilian truck breakdown well outside the wire.     It was