"A Whole Different Tour: 2nd BCT Looks Back on Iraq" - …/menu/standard/file/2nd_bct.pdfA Bradley...

Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206

JEREMY T. LOCK/Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

A Bradley fighting vehicle with 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment moves down the road during a morning raid in the Ta’meem district of Ramadi, Iraq, in September.

A wholeA wholedifferent tourdifferent tour

1st Armored Division’s2nd Brigade Combat Team

looks back on Iraq deployment

1st AD, 2nd BCT © SS 2006 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2006 WELCOME HOME

Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206

PAGE 2 · STARS AND STRIPES · WELCOME HOME · Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206

BY KEVIN DOUGHERTYStars and Stripes

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — LosLobos may be coming to town, but the trueheadliners at Wednesday’s wingding won’tbe on stage singing.

No, they’ll be in the audience, surround-ed by family and friends, and happy to behome after a year in Kuwait and Iraq. Thatand they’ll be pumped up to have a band ofLos Lobos’ caliber occupying the highground.

“You live life differently now,” said StaffSgt. Jason Harrison of Company A, 1st Bat-talion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BrigadeCombat Team, 1st Armored Division.

Wednesday’s celebration follows weeksof re-integration training and down time.In a sense, the homecoming party in Baum-holder closes the book on a yearlong com-bat tour.

“Time will tell how we all come out ofthis,” said Lt. Col. James Danna, command-er of 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment.“What we’ve seen and what we’ve experi-enced will have an effect on all of us.”

The brigade suffered 28 combat deaths.Of the seven battalions that deployed, halfof the soldiers killed in action served inDanna’s battalion, which operated in Ra-madi and the Al Rashid district in southernBaghdad. Each location claimed seven ofhis soldiers.

Four other battalions lost men, too.When a comrade in arms dies or is grave-

ly injured, “every soldier feels pain insome way, regardless if you know the guyor not,” said Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Carter, afire support sergeant with the 4th Battal-ion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment. “Youcan take a knee and talk about it for awhile, but you’ve got to get back up.”

And roll out the gate, as many of the 2ndBCT soldiers did day after day in Iraq. Dan-na’s troops, for example, would be out on

patrol six days a week, unless there was amission surge. That seemed to happen a lot.

“Every insurgent seemed to gravitate toRamadi,” said Carter, who has spent 28months in Iraq and Kuwait over the courseof three tours. “Every day was a fight,every single day.”

Regardless of their battalion, every sol-dier interviewed for this article said this de-ployment was much different than the bri-gade’s first, which lasted about 15 months— from April 2003 to July 2004.

“The first one was not nearly as bad asthis one,” said Harrison, who suffered seri-ous head and leg injuries from an impro-vised explosive device, or IED. “It’s awhole different ballgame down there.”

The warm-up for this deployment actual-ly began a few months after the brigade re-turned to Baumholder in the summer of2004, Carter said. By the fall of that year,the brigade’s equipment had returnedfrom Southwest Asia and preparationswere well under way to repair the hard-ware and send the troops back to the train-ing range.

In January 2005, the Pentagon an-nounced that two brigades of the 1st Ar-mored Division — the 1st Brigade out of

Friedberg and Giessen and the 2nd BCTbased in Baumholder — would deploy toIraq later in the year. As it turned out, 1stBrigade didn’t depart until January 2006,and has since had its one-year tour extend-ed by several weeks.

Meanwhile, the Baumholder brigadebegan rolling up to the U.S. Army CombatManeuver Training Center in Hohenfels,Germany, in late summer 2005. By then,many of the soldiers were sporting thenewly issued digitized Army Combat Uni-form, or ACU.

In November, the 2nd BCT headed down-range. It essentially consisted of seven bat-talions: 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry; 2nd Bat-talion, 6th Infantry; 4th Battalion, 27thField Artillery Regiment; 1st Battalion,94th Field Artillery Regiment; 1st Battal-ion, 35th Armor Regiment; 40th EngineerBattalion; and 47th Forward Support Bat-talion. In all, about 3,500 troops fromBaumholder and nearby Idar-Oberstein de-ployed.

The brigade stayed in Kuwait for severalmonths, serving as a “call forward force.”Then on March 12, a task force of 700 ledby Danna left Kuwait to link up with the4th Infantry Brigade in Baghdad. Task

Force 2-6 arrived amid rising sectarian vio-lence fueled by the Feb. 22 bombing of a re-vered Shiite shrine in Samarra. Dannacalled the attack a watershed event.

“We didn’t have that level of intensefighting the last time around,” he said.

Over that first 15-month period in 2003and 2004, the brigade encountered roughly100 IEDs, many of them crude, homemadedevices, recalled Danna, who was the bri-gade executive officer for that tour. Thistime, his task force found that many in justthe first month of action.

By late May the balance of the brigadehad been summoned to Iraq in the form oftwo task forces. Both were dispatched todifferent locations around Ramadi inAnbar province, which still is the most vola-tile spot going.

“I don’t know where all these insurgentscame from,” Carter said. “They justseemed to come up out of the ground. Theywouldn’t go away.”

Despite the unrelenting attacks, therewere notable successes.

Hundreds of Iraqi insurgents and for-eign fighters were killed or captured, weap-ons caches were seized, neighborhoodswere cleared of criminals and terrorists,and reconstruction efforts continued.

“We’re trying to change Iraq for the bet-ter,” Harrison said.

And now the soldiers of the 2nd BCT, 1stArmored Division will try to get on withtheir lives. There are people to call, rela-tives to see, places to visit and things to ex-perience besides war.

“To me now, life is precious,” Harrisonsaid. “I don’t let the little things bother methat much anymore. Life is too short.”E-mail Kevin Dougherty at:[email protected]

Carter

JEREMY T. LOCK/Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

Above: Soldiers assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,1st Armored Division simulate breaching a house during a training class at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi,Iraq. Right: Soldiers with Company C, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, scale a wall during a series ofhouse searches in east Ramadi.

Home is welcome after tough tour

Harrison

MONTE MORIN/Stars and Stripes

Constant attacksgreeted 2nd BCTthis deployment

JOSHUA RAMEY/Courtesy of the U.S. Army

First Lt. Tatiana Nita, of Company C, 47th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Com-bat Team, hands out medicine to residents in Baghdad’s Ghazaliya neighborhood.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006 · STARS AND STRIPES · WELCOME HOME· PAGE 3

Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206


Composite

Composite

<$$PAGErc> <$$PAGErc>12 0606 12

Cpl. Luis E.Tejeda

2nd Battalion,6th InfantryRegiment

A 20-year-old with aninfectious smile whowas only about a monthaway from his birthday,Tejeda longed to be reunited with his familyin California. He died on Sept. 30 from inju-ries suffered during a roadside bomb blastin Hit.

Staff Sgt. JoseA. Lanzarin


This 28-year-oldTexas native was toughon the outside but quickto let friends into theworld he loved. He wasgood with advice and often helped others seethe positive in a given situation. He waskilled on Sept. 26 in Ramadi when a road-side bomb went off near his vehicle duringcombat operations.

Sgt. Allan R.Bevington

40th EngineerBattalion

Bevington, originallyfrom Pennsylvania,was a 22-year-old whowould jump into anymission that was askedof him. Comrades remembered him as thehappy-go-lucky type who had just beenmade an NCO. Bevington died Sept. 21 of in-juries suffered in Ramadi, when a home-made bomb detonated near him during com-bat operations.

Sgt. Aaron A.Smith

4th Battalion,27th

Field ArtilleryRegiment

Smith, 31, a nativeGhanaian who madehis home in Texas, wasthat favorite soldier that every unit has.He’d never stop bragging to his soldiersabout his young son, AJ. Smith died Sept. 14in Baghdad from injuries suffered when adump truck loaded with explosives went offnear a Baghdad substation he was guarding.

Spc. Jeffrey P.Shaffer


Shaffer joined theArmy shortly afterSept. 11, 2001. Before

his death, the 21-year-old had said he wasfighting in Iraq so that his two brotherswould not have to, and that he would stayuntil the mission was completed. He diedSept. 13 in Ramadi, of injuries sufferedwhen a roadside bomb blew up near his Bra-dley.

Sgt. John A.Carroll

1st Battalion,6th InfantryRegiment

Known for his senseof humor and his love ofoutdoor activities, the26-year-old Pennsylva-nia native enlisted to gain a sense of direc-tion in his life. Carroll never quite knewwhat to say when his military service wasbrought up. He felt like he was just doing hisjob. He died on Sept. 6 in Ramadi of injuriessuffered while on foot patrol.

Staff Sgt. JeffreyS. Loa

1st Battalion,35th

Armor RegimentTo hear his buddies

tell it, the 32-year-oldHawaii native was theguy in the unit who wasalways smiling and keeping spirits up. Butunderneath that humor was a deep andthoughtful man who loved his family and hiscountry. Loa died on Aug. 16 in Ramadi of in-juries suffered when a homemade bombwent off while he was on foot patrol.

Staff Sgt. TracyL. Melvin


An avid military histo-ry buff who could pullobscure facts out of theair at will, Melvin lovedhis job so much that hetold friends he was hesitant about being pro-moted to an E-7 because he loved being asquad leader so much. The 31-year-oldWashington state native died of injuries sus-tained on Aug. 6 when a roadside bomb wentoff near his vehicle during combat opera-tions in Ramadi.

Spc. Hai MingHsia


An older soldier witha wide range of knowl-edge from politics tomedicine, Hsia, 37, wassomeone whose core goodness camethrough after just a short amount of timespent with him. Hsia, a New York native,was killed on Aug. 1 during combat opera-tions in Ramadi.

Staff Sgt.Darrell P. Clay2nd Battalion,6th InfantryRegiment

A full-time soldiersince the 1990s whocame from a militaryfamily, this 34-year-oldNorth Carolina nativewas on his third deployment to Iraq. He diedon April 1 in Baghdad when a roadsidebomb detonated while he was on foot patrol.

Cpl. Antoine J.McKinzie

4th Battalion,27th


The first Iron Bri-gade soldier to fall dur-ing this last deploy-ment, this 25-year-oldIndiana native was known as “Mack Ten”to his friends. He never complained whenthe going got rough and was always readyto listen to a friend talk out their problems.McKinzie died on March 21 in Baghdad,when his vehicle came under enemy fireduring combat operations.

Spc. Robert E.Blair


Blair, 22, of Florida,was a tough yet gentleguy who called himselfa “personal smile train-er.” He also was anavid rodeo fan who competed in Europeanrodeo events. Blair died on May 25 in Bagh-dad, when a roadside bomb blew up near hisvehicle.

Sgt. IsraelDevora Garcia2nd Battalion,6th InfantryRegiment

This 23-year-oldcalled Texas home andwas an honor student athis high school who ex-celled during four yearsof Junior ROTC. He planned to study law en-forcement and join the FBI once he got out ofthe Army. He died April 1 in Baghdad, when ahomemade bomb detonated while he was onfoot patrol.

1st Lt. ScottM. Love


This 32-year-old Ten-nessee son was knownas an accomplished andseasoned leader whospoke Arabic, wasquick to laugh and slow to anger. After re-ceiving his commission, Love was known asthe kind of leader who wasn’t hesitant to gethis hands dirty working with his soldiers.Love died June 7 in Ramadi, when a road-side bomb detonated near his vehicle duringcombat operations.

Pfc. David N.Crombie


Before his final mis-sion, which he chose togo on even though hecould have sat it out, hewrote his family about how he had beenscared after treating a soldier who had beenshot. But the 19-year-old from Nevada perse-vered. He died on June 7 in Ramadi, when aroadside bomb went off near his vehicle dur-ing combat operations.

Spc. BrettL. Tribble


The 20-year-old fromTexas joined the Armysimply looking for a bet-ter life. Once in, he en-joyed the discipline and mentorship, oncesaying that the Army is “like going to thegym and getting paid for it.” He asked thatnobody feel sorry for him if he didn’t make itback from Iraq. He died June 3 in Ramadi,from injuries sustained the day before whena roadside bomb detonated near his vehicleduring combat operations.

Capt. Douglas A.Dicenzo


A gifted and naturalborn leader, this30-year-old from NewHampshire didn’t have to push soldiershard. They followed him naturally. He alsowas quite athletic, riding his bike a long dis-tance to work and then working out with hissoldiers. Dicenzo died on May 25 in Bagh-dad, after a roadside bomb went off near hisvehicle during combat operations.

Spc. Michael J.Potocki


A selfless guy whowas known to do any-thing for his comrades,Potocki, 21, of Mary-land, had provided avoice of reassurance before his death for afellow soldier who had a seizure while inIraq. He died on June 26 of injuries sus-tained in Hit, when he was shot during com-bat operations.

Sgt. ReyesRamirez


The 23-year-old non-commissioned officerout of Texas was knownas a fun-loving guy whoalso managed to get thejob done at the sametime. Before the deployment, his squad wonthe Sapper Stakes, a competition that teststhe skill and ingenuity of engineer squads.He died in Ramadi on June 17, when a road-side bomb exploded near his vehicle duringcombat operations.

Spc. Robert L.Jones


The 22-year-old Ore-gon native was knownfor his candor and prac-tical jokes, such as turn-ing a bunkmate’s rackupside down while heslept. Before his secondand final deployment, Jones made a point ofsetting first-time soldiers straight, advisingthem not to get overly excited and forgetabout the dangers that would come with themission. Jones died on June 17 in Ramadi,when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehi-cle during combat operations.

Spc. Carl A.Eason

4th Battalion,27th


The last brigade sol-dier to not make ithome, Eason, 29, ofTexas, was known as a consummate profes-sional who took the inevitable challenges ofwar in stride. He died on Oct. 23 after a road-side bomb went off near his vehicle.

Maj. David G.Taylor Jr.


The highest-rankingmember of the 2nd Bri-gade Combat Team tobe killed during the de-ployment, everybody seemed to have theirown special story to tell after meeting the37-year-old North Carolina native. Taylordied on Oct. 22 in Baghdad from injuries suf-fered when a roadside bomb detonated nearhis vehicle.

Staff Sgt. KevinM. Witte


This 27-year-old wasone of those noncom-missioned officers wholed by example. At thesame time, the Minnesota native believedthat soldiers make the leader, not the otherway around. Witte died on Oct. 20 in Bagh-dad from injuries suffered when a roadsidebomb went off near his vehicle during a pa-trol.

Spc. Jose R.Perez


Known as his ownman, even while fight-ing alongside his com-rades, friends recalled Perez as the kind ofguy who would stick to his guns, no matterwhat others around him were saying. The21-year-old California native also was fa-mous among his fellow soldiers for a devil-ish grin that would spread across his face be-fore he cracked a joke. He died on Oct. 18 inRamadi from injuries suffered as a result ofenemy small-arms fire.

Pfc. Shane R.Austin

1st Battalion,35th ArmorRegiment

This 19-year-oldjoined up right out ofhigh school, andworked hard at whatev-er task he was handed. The quiet and unas-suming Kansas native was proud to be partof the military’s legacy and dreamed of mak-ing the Army a career. He died on Oct. 8 inRamadi after being injured by enemy gre-nade fire.

Staff Sgt.Christopher W.

Swanson2nd Battalion,6th InfantryRegiment

Known as a highlyskilled squad leaderwhose future potentialin the Army was without limit, the25-year-old Maryland native was known tobe ambitious, aggressive, determined, andmost importantly, highly competent. Swan-son died on July 22 in Ramadi from enemysniper fire while leading his squad.

Spc. Manuel J.Holguin


Some soldiers don'twarrant constant super-vision and reminders.They just do the jobuntil it’s done. Holguin, a 21-year-old Califor-nia native, was one of those soldiers. He alsoenjoyed playing the role of the “tough asnails” soldier, but had a good and caringheart. Holguin died on July 15 in Baghdadfrom injuries sustained when his foot patrolencountered enemy fire and a homemadebomb.

Cpl. Ryan J.Clark


A baseball fanaticwho was always readyfor a pick-up game ofsoftball, the 19-year-oldCalifornia native wasalso a religious man who relied on his faithduring deployment. He died of injuries sus-tained on June 17 in Ramadi, when a road-side bomb went off near his vehicle duringcombat operations.

2nd Brigade Combat Team soldiers who died while deployed to Iraq

BEN BLOKER/Stars and Stripes

Sgt. 1st Class Terry Montang holds the dog tags of a 2nd BCT member killed during theunit’s second tour in Iraq. The brigade lost a total of 28 soldiers during this deployment.

The honor guard at the end of a memorialservice for two 2nd BCT, 1st Armored Divi-sion soldiers in Baumholder, Germany.TERRY BOYD/Stars and Stripes

Remembering Iron Brigade’s fallenPAGE 6 · S t a r s a n d S t r i p e s · W e l c o m e H o m e · D e c e m b e r 6 , 2 0 0 6 PAGE 7

Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206


Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206

Col. Robert E. ScurlockJr., commander of the1st Armored Division’s2nd Brigade Combat

Team, sat down with Stars andStripes last week to discuss the re-cent return of about 3,500 Baum-holder, Germany troops from ayearlong deployment to Kuwaitand Iraq. The soldiers were heldin reserve in Kuwait for the firsthalf of their deployment and thencalled into Iraq for the secondhalf.

The 2nd BCT included threetask forces of roughly 750 sol-diers each. Task Force 2-6worked southern Baghdad whileTask Force 1-6 and Task Force1-35 were in Ramadi. About 1,400soldiers were with the 2nd BCTheadquarters in northwesternBaghdad. Save 28 soldiers whodied during the deployment, allthe units (except one that was ex-tended with the 1st AD’s 1st Bri-gade) are back in Baumholderand ready for Wednesday’s wel-come home ceremony. Below areportions of the interview withScurlock.

First off, welcome home.How’s it feel to be back in Baum-holder?

It really feels great. The com-munity and the families, the sup-port they provided while we weregone was fantastic. One of thegood things too was I got to comeback (in early June), and I gavethem a town hall brief on prettymuch where everybody was,

what we were doing and why wewere doing what we were doing.

How did the soldiers of the 2ndBCT perform?

Fantastic. The mark of disci-pline and professionalism was no-ticeable. When they would moveinto an area, the comments I gotfrom the leadership were out-standing.

Talk about some of the chal-lenges about being the theater re-serve forces, staying in Kuwaitfor a few months and then push-ing into Iraq.

The challenge was you go backin time and see what was happen-ing when we were preparing to de-ploy. We were leading up to theelections. There was a lot of mo-mentum towards stability, theview of what was going to be sta-bility.

The leadership decided if wekeep you in Kuwait and some-thing goes wrong, you’re rightthere and we can employ you. Itwas not just for Iraq. As the the-ater reserve, our main planningeffort was Iraq, but we also hadAfghanistan, the Horn of Africaand anything else that went on inthe region.

Talk about the heroes in thebrigade who made it back toBaumholder and those who unfor-tunately did not.

No matter where you were inIraq, you had a contribution tothe mission. In my book, they’reall heroes. It takes a lot to volun-teer to serve your country in that

type of environment, and all ofthem did. … The thing that youdon’t see a lot of is the successes.

Talk about those successes.As the brigade, we went in and

worked (Operation) Together For-ward. The intent there was you goto the areas where the violencehad risen to a higher level thananywhere else in Baghdad. It’sthe center of their government. Itis what now has been determinedas: so goes Baghdad, so goes Iraq.

We went in. Our area, the ini-tial we had was Amariyah. Wewere able to isolate and clear thatwith the Iraqi army. This was acouple battalion operation.

The isolate, clear, hold andbuild strategy?

Correct. Three weeks afterthat, there was no murder after ithad been at such a high level. Itcame back over time, but not in-side where we had it isolated.What they would do is they wouldkill them somewhere else and tryand drop them inside to intimi-date the people. We were able topretty much stop that. And then itcame back because the way theywere doing things. If you have thecriminal element in there, whatwe found was a lot of it was young-er kids who had been paid to dosome of the hits…

Some of the soldiers, the onesthat would lose a buddy, they’d beout the next day. They’d be goingout. They maintained control andcomposure. They didn’t take itout on the Iraqi people. They un-derstood that’s what the enemy

wanted them to do, and theydidn’t do it. Takes a lot of re-straint.

How would you judge the oper-ation while the 2nd BCT was inBaghdad?

I think we had a tremendous im-pact. Not only in the Amariyah,Ghazaliyah and Shulah area, butas you moved into those areas inthe areas in between, violencepicked up. We had to provide se-curity and do operations in thoseareas as well. We also had thearea to the west, the Abu Ghraibarea. We turned the Abu Ghraibinternment facility over to theministry of justice. … We had theinsurgents coming from Ramadiand Fallujah, trying to get intoBaghdad. We had to cut the flowof weapons and insurgents. Thisis all the same time Together For-ward’s going on.

How do you deal with the lossof the 28 soldiers who did notmake it back to Baumholder?

Every one of them’s tough.Every one of them. In the majori-ty of the situations, soldiers areout doing the right thing, doing ex-actly what they were trained todo, and the enemy got the best ofus in that situation. You’re notgoing to beat him every time. Thesoldiers — every time they leftthe camps — they knew theenemy was out there trying to killthem. Somewhere.

All you can do really is reflecton how they touched the people’slives they worked with, the contri-butions they made and just praythat their sacrifice was not in vain.

At an August 25 press confer-ence, you told reporters, “Ulti-mately, the only solution in Iraqis an Iraqi solution. The people ofBaghdad will have to come to-gether, reject acts of violenceand support both their govern-ment and their security forces.”Based on your experiences, canthe Iraqis achieve this solution?

Yes. I strongly believe theycan. They are very proud people.The government is young. It tooka while to form. That’s what caus-es some of that void, but they’vegot to gain the trust of the people.They’ve got to show them thatthey can do the things they needto be successful, and they’redoing that. While we were there,we saw the fuel distribution go up… schools were operating. Westarted getting elements out inthe community for job programs.Interview by Steve Mraz. E-mail SteveMraz at: [email protected].

2nd BCT commander talks about the yearlong Iraq deployment

BY GEOFF ZIEZULEWICZStars and Stripes

Sgt. Berny Bernard quickly saw the newface of the Iraq war during his second de-ployment with the 1st Armored Division’s2nd Brigade Combat Team.

What surprised him wasn’t so much thatCpl. Antoine J. “Mack Ten” McKinzie hadbeen killed in March of this year, said Ber-nard, a 25-year-old with the 4th Battalion,27th Field Artillery Regiment. That is anunfortunate and tragic reality of being inthe military during wartime.

What surprised Bernard, just a fewweeks after crossing in from Kuwait, washow his fellow 4-27 comrade had beenkilled.

“We always lose soldiers, but it was justhow strategic it was,” Bernard said of thefatal attack. “It was an IED attack and thenhe got hit by sniper fire.”

Right then, Bernard realized this wasnot the enemy that the Iron Brigade’s sec-ond-timers had seen during their first de-ployment in 2003 and 2004.

“Bless his soul, he passed away,” Ber-nard said of McKinzie, the brigade’s firstfatality. “As soon as we got there, soldiersgot a rude awakening.”

While every soldier’s story is different,returning 2nd BCT personnel like Bernardprobably experienced the same kind of ma-cabre wake-up call during this recentlycompleted deployment.

Since they’d been gone, roadside bombshad become the main tool of a dangerousand largely unseen enemy. The battlefield

had changed. And for those who had donethis all before, the similarities and con-trasts soon became apparent.

The brigade replaced the 3rd InfantryDivision following the invasion in spring of2003, leaving in the summer of 2004. Thatmight as well have been a whole other war.

“The first deployment, it was more am-bushes, a couple insurgents trying to getpotshots in there and then taking off run-ning,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Smith, also ofthe 4-27.

But while the insurgent tactics changed,

the brigade changed, too. Before this lastdeployment, soldiers trained in Germanyto prepare themselves for those new reali-ties on the ground.

And while serving as a reserve force inKuwait, the training continued.

“We were better equipped and preparedfor this one,” Bernard said.

This time around, artillerymen such asBernard and Smith found themselvesdoing more infantry style duties.

“Last time around, it was more of aground war,” Bernard said. “Everyone

was still doing their jobs, per se. This timearound there was more of a mobile war. Itseems like as we grew and adapted to oursurroundings, the insurgents almost didthe same thing.”

Bernard and Smith said they encoun-tered more Iraqis who would tip off Ameri-can forces this time, and there was more ofan Iraqi presence in military and police op-erations.

“The Iraqi people seemed more willingto help,” Bernard said. “Last time, it wasonly a small turnout when it came to theIraqi police and the army, where as thistime there was twice as much or more.”

While the insurgents had altered theirtactics, and the brigade was fighting an un-conventional enemy, Bernard said he alsonoticed better amenities for the troops dur-ing this second deployment.

“There was more stuff to keep the sol-diers relaxed, and the billets were differ-ent,” he said. “Instead of always staying inblown-out buildings, we had rooms.”

But all those extra perks also stretchedout the deployment in some ways, he said.

“It felt longer for my wife this time,” hesaid. “We communicated a lot more thanlast time, so she was still with me all theway. But that gave me strength to carryon.”

While the Iron Brigade had experienceda 120-day tour extension during the last de-ployment, and many spouses said this sum-mer that they expected an extension thistime as well, it didn’t happen, and most bri-gade soldiers were back in Baumholder,Germany, by November.E-mail Geoff Ziezulewicz at:[email protected]

Soldiers of 2nd BCT encounter a different war on second downrange tour

A disciplined and professional mission

Col. Robert E. Scurlock Jr.

Iraq: A changed battlefield

MONTE MORIN/Stars and Stripes

Spc. Loren Keely, 21, of Eureka, Calif., and a member of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1stArmored Division, patrols a neighborhood in Tal Afar, Iraq, as a young Iraqi boy looks on.


Composite

<$$PAGErc> 1206


"A Whole Different Tour: 2nd BCT Looks Back on Iraq" - …/menu/standard/file/2nd_bct.pdfA Bradley...

Documents

Transcript of "A Whole Different Tour: 2nd BCT Looks Back on Iraq" - …/menu/standard/file/2nd_bct.pdfA Bradley...