Lunch is sometimes the only break you get in Iraq, members of Louisiana’s 1086th Transportation Company said.

That’s why Tuesday’s news of rocket attacks on a mess tent in Mosul was more disconcerting than other reports. Twenty soldiers starting their meal were killed, 19 Americans. Sixty others were injured.

&uot;Usually when you are in the mess hall, you don’t have your guard up,&uot; Sgt. Robert Bailey said. &uot;You are eating in a secure area, you have your weapon beside you, but that’s the last thing on your mind.&uot;

Bailey said during his nine months in Iraq last year he considered the mess hall and the chapel to be the safest places.

&uot;You are constantly being attacked, but when you are in the mess hall, you are eating,&uot; he said. &uot;You want to take a break. You need a break, mentally at least. You take five or 10 minutes to eat.&uot;

Sgt. 1st Class Ben Tucker of Ferriday said though he always kept himself on guard, he always felt safe.

&uot;When you are in a supposedly secured area your guards are pretty much down,&uot; Tucker said. &uot;The situation is a little different now than when I was there. With the insurgents in there, it’s a threat everywhere now.&uot;

Tucker said the majority of his meals were eaten at a base station in Kuwait, but he never feared attack during meals eaten in Iraq either.

Mess halls are located within the borders of camps, Spc. Thomas Tarver said. The perimeter of the camp is secured, but each individual unit within it does not have personal security.

Tarver said he was very aware of the danger at all times, even meals.

&uot;You know when those mortar attacks happen they can fall anywhere,&uot; Tarver said. &uot;Whether you are in a mess hall or a tent, you had no idea where they’d fall. You knew they were out there.&uot;

Bailey, who said he participated in some missions near the area of Tuesday’s attack, said the current situation in Iraq was one that frightened him. He said the rules changed once the war was over, putting the soldiers at a greater level of risk.

&uot;I really wish they would change the rules of engagement,&uot; Bailey said. &uot;Troops are dying because unless you are shot at you can’t shoot back. They need to step up and give them more initiative to do their jobs.&uot;