Afghanistan Firefight Heard On Voice Mail - KPTV

[Yrys]

Afghanistan Firefight Heard On Voice Mail

OTIS, Ore. -- An Oregon couple received a frightening phone call from their son in Afghanistan when he inadvertently called home during battle.

Stephen Phillips and other soldiers in his Army MP company were battling insurgents when his phone was pressed against his Humvee. It redialed and called his parents
in the small Oregon town of Otis. Sandie Petee, Phillips' mother, and her husband, Jeff Petee, weren't home at the time of the call. They returned home to find a
three-minute voice mail on their answering machine.

Click here to hear the message, posted on youtube

"His friend died a year ago in Iraq and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, this may be the last time I hear my son's voice on the phone,'" Petee said. They heard shooting, swearing
and shouted pleas for more ammunition on the phone call from their son. "They were pinned down and apparently his barrel was overheating," said Jeff Petee. "It's
something a parent really doesn't want to hear. It's a heck of a message to get from your son in Afghanistan." The three-minute call ended abruptly.

"You could hear him saying stuff like, he needs more ammo, or he needs another barrel," said John Petee, Phillips' brother. "At the end, you could hear a guy saying
'Incoming! RPG!' And then it cut off." As soon as the voice mail stopped playing, the Petees began trying to reach their son in Afghanistan. The family figured out Petee
had tried to call home earlier that day, but he didn't leave a message and the phone later redialed during battle.

They eventually reached their son. "I finally got a hold of him," Sandie Petee said. "He was embarrassed, he said, 'Don't let Grandma hear it.'"

Stephen Phillips is scheduled to return home next month, when his tour is complete, his mother said.

 

[1feral1]

Hence why personal mobile telephones should not be permitted on operations. PERSEC and OPSEC reasons are obvious. Could you imagine the terror the En could inflivt on your family if you were captured or MIA? yet alone the other numbers dialed or recieved.

Best to leave these things in your locker and keep them well away from you when you are outside the wire.

 

[CBH99]

I actually feel pretty bad for those parents.....can you imagine how dreadful it must have been to hear the RPG, and then nothing??

Good to hear the lad is okay!

 

[Shamrock]

Given the volume of call traffic, this may be an exercise in paranoia-fueled fantasy, but would there not be a concern of hostiles intercepting a call, especially given their history of attacking cellular towers?

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Having just watched and heard what the mother of the soldier got on her answering machine on the news, that must of been the worst phone call ever.
I would of thought, being a civvie, that it would be a bad idea taking a cellphone into battle.  What if he was captured and the bad guys gave his mom a dingle, now, THAT would be the worst phone call ever.

Is there not rules about cellphone use when you're outside the wire?  Can't imagine getting a call when all is supposed to be quiet, either.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Hence why personal mobile telephones should not be permitted on operations. PERSEC and OPSEC reasons are obvious. Could you imagine the terror the En could inflivt on your family if you were captured or MIA? yet alone the other numbers dialed or recieved.

Best to leave these things in your locker and keep them well away from you when you are outside the wire.

Good point. Once upon a time, as I recall, propoer battle prep drills meant that commanders used to inspect their troops before each patrol for things just like this.

 

[1feral1]

I have been to O Gps here in Australia where all mobiles are collected, switched off, and placed in another room when there is senstive material to be discussed.

Prior to deployment, INTSUM briefings we had were also a mobile free zone.

No place for mobiles outside the wire, or inside for that matter.

In Iraq several US soldiers I met had Iraqna phones they bought locally, and used to call home etc. We all steered clear of that.

 

[SigOpDraco]

Good point. Once upon a time, as I recall, propoer battle prep drills meant that commanders used to inspect their troops before each patrol for things just like this.

With lots of small pockets, pouchs, and storage on any tactical vest; combined with the small size of the cellphone, he might have forgotten it was in there in the first place.