Jul 08
12
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Bravo Battery headed to Yakima before Iraq deployment
Longview Daily News, WA - 6 hours ago
He said the reduced numbers of casualties suffered by US soldiers in Iraq in recent months is “definitely” due to use of the new equipment. ... |
Bravo Battery soldiers will be based in a northern Iraqi city such as Mosul or Kirkuk this fall, its top full-time commander said Thursday. About 75 members of the Longview-based unit, part of the U.S. Army National Guard’s 81st Armored Brigade, leave for annual training in Yakima on Saturday morning. They’ll gather at the armory along Vandercook Way at 8 a.m., then leave in a small vehicle convoy with commercial buses around mid-morning, said Sgt. Chris Bailey. The unit will return Aug. 8 for about a week, then board a C-17 transport plane for Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. From McCoy, it’s on to the Middle East. Bailey declined to say exactly when or to be more precise about where in northern Iraq the unit will be stationed. The unit will be doing risky, on-the-ground infantry duties such as guarding convoys and clearing buildings. “The tour is for a year from airplane to airplane,” Bailey said. Unless their tour is extended, the soldiers will be back by August 2009. The unit is shifting into “third gear” heading into Yakima, Bailey said. In recent months, the unit’s training has been focused on individual soldiers. In Yakima and Wisconsin, platoon-level exercises will take precedence. “When you start to build teams, there’s a lot more variables,” Bailey said. “People don’t play well together.” Once in Iraq, Bailey will command one platoon of about 40 soldiers, Sgt. Tim Durr of Vancouver will command a second, and a Texas-based platoon will be added with its own sergeant. Bailey said each platoon will work with a contracted Arabic interpreter, and soldiers are being required to learn a “sizeable” list of Arabic phrases like “show me your hands” and “thank you.” The battery’s full strength will be about 130 soldiers, about as large as it’s been in its history, which dates back to before World War II. The Iraq mission is geared towards the squad level, Bailey explained. He said changes ordered by “Big Army” call for squads of about 15 members and five vehicles — larger than the nine-man, two-vehicle squads of the past. Sgt. Bailey sounded an upbeat note when asked about the new “Guardian” armored vehicles, body armor and close-range combat M-4 rifles the unit will be equipped with in Iraq. He said the reduced numbers of casualties suffered by U.S. soldiers in Iraq in recent months is “definitely” due to use of the new equipment. “Our guys are more than pleased that we’re getting (Guardians) — as are their families, I’m sure.” The Guardian’s V-shaped hull is designed to deflect the blast from ground-level improvised explosives, protecting its occupants from the blasts that have caused many of the 4,116 U.S. casualties the Associated Press has counted in the war to date. Reintegration and challenges Bailey said he’s already looking a year down the road at the unit’s return from Iraq — even though he himself has yet to pack his own bags. “We’re already talking to the guys that are replacing us (in Iraq),” Bailey said. One key concern after return — especially given the dangerous stressful nature of the mission — will be reintegrating into family and work life, what Bailey called “Big Army back to state status.” Bravo still has individuals on “medical hold” from the unit’s first Iraq War tour in 2004, Bailey said — a safer mission in which Bravo helped patrol four bases in Saudi Arabia. Medical hold means individuals suffered physical or psychological injuries. Recent studies have found a high percentage of soldiers returning from Iraq — as many as one in eight — have psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. When they get back to Southwest Washington, Bailey said, Bravo soldiers will in most cases crave a return to “normal” life: day job, family. In some cases, that might mean overlooking lasting effects from the war. “Because he wants it, he’s going to claim that he’s okay,” Bailey said. “If a guy has a broken leg, that’s easy to see. If his mind is broken, that’s easy for him to hide.”
