August 16, 2004, Volume 2, Issue 15

Index of Articles

Note: Topics below are now bookmarked! Click on the underlined topic below to link to the pages on that topic.

National Guard Family Program Online Communities for families and youth:

https://www.guardfamily.org/

https://www.guardfamilyyouth.org/

TRICARE website for information on health benefits

https://www.tricare.osd.mil/

Civilian Employment Information (CEI) Program Registration for Army and Air National Guard, Air Force, and Coast Guard Reserve

https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/esgr/index.jsp (Note to those viewing this page in Word or PDF format: You must copy this address and paste it into your browser’s address window.)

Cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve who are currently on active duty

https://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2004/d20040331ngr1.pdf

Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) contains links and information about schooling, distance education, scholarships, and organizations devoted to the military family

https://www.militarychild.org/index.cfm

Militarystudent.org is a website that helps military children with transition and deployment issues.  It has some great features for kids, parents, special needs families, school educators, and more—even safe chat rooms for kids.

http://www.militarystudent.org

Disabled Soldiers Initiative (DS3)

This website provides information on the new DS3 program.  Through DS3, the Army provides its most severely disabled Soldiers and their families with a system of advocacy and follow-up.

http://www.armyds3.org

Have an article, announcement, or website that you’d like to share with the National Guard Family Program Community?  Send your suggestions in an e-mail to [email protected].

READINESS

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Roanoke Police Officers And National Guard Unit Team Up To Train

Roanoke Times & World News (Roanoke, VA)

August 8, 2004 Sunday Metro Edition

By, Robert Samuels  –  [email protected] 981-3340

Police officers rushed at members of the Virginia National Guard, armed with batons and chanting, “Move, move, move.” Police dogs barked furiously, jumping onto some of the soldiers, while horses forced them to step back.

But it was only practice. Officers from the Roanoke Police Department were showing the soldiers one of the formations used for crowd control, said Staff Sgt. Darryl Updike of the Virginia National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 116th Regiment.

“We’re supposed to work with each other, but we operate a little differently,” Updike said. “So we need to get used to how they work.”

Coordinating with the police department, the regiment and the Virginia Defense Force held a public joint training session and an open house at the National Guard Armory on Reserve Avenue. Each year, the groups meet to practice responses to civil disturbances such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

This summer, the National Guard has fewer soldiers than usual in Roanoke. About 200 soldiers were reassigned to the Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, whose members left to serve in Afghanistan, in the Ghazni province and at the Bagram Air Base near Kabul.

Even with the guardsmen in Afghanistan, training continues – but with some changes.

“The leadership is doing everything they can to keep up the intensity,” Updike said. “And since our size is smaller, the instruction that we give can be more one on one, which is a good thing.”

Additionally, the state-sanctioned volunteer Virginia Defense Force is also taking on the regiment’s duties and training to help make up for the loss of troops, said Sgt. Joanie Buckland, a recruitment noncommissioned officer. Deploying the Guard’s 3rd Battalion hasn’t affected the defense force’s recruitment, she said.

“I would like to say that we’ve seen an increase since the troops left,” Buckland said. “But it’s always a struggle to get volunteers.”

Maintaining the regiment’s readiness should comfort the public, said 1st Sgt. Vincent May. He added that many of the residents who trickled into Saturday’s open house asked him about the soldiers – the ones here and the ones abroad.

The demonstrations should have answered some of those questions, May said. In a mobile home outside the armory, one sergeant showed off some of the troops’ equipment while he was in total darkness.

The only way those attending could see the sergeant was through small, lightweight night-vision monoculars. Looking through the tool revealed a clear, green-tinted look of a guardsman and his hand gestures as he spoke.

“They’re using technology like this in Afghanistan,” said Sgt. Amos, who asked that his first name not be used. “If you want to go into a cave or find a weapons cache, you have to go at night.”

Police officers rappelled from the side of the stands at Victory Stadium, jumping from 30 rows up, as they practiced some of their rescue techniques. Rick Evans, who said he was an Air Force veteran, applauded Officer John Barker as he landed on the ground.

“It’s always wonderful to invite the public to see how people practice,” said Evans, a Roanoke resident. “You get so much of a better understanding of what they’ll go through.”

NY National Guard Keeping Most Armories; Air Bases Likely Safe

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The Associated Press

August 10, 2004, Tuesday, BC cycle

By Michael Virtanen, Associated Press Writer

Five air bases in New York will be scrutinized during the ongoing federal Base Realignment and Closure process, but National Guard armories are safe and a state official said indications are the air bases won’t be closed.

By November 2005, recommendations could be made to trim what the Department of Defense says is a 24 percent excess in military capacity. Active bases from all four branches of the service plus Air National Guard bases will be considered.

The guard bases New York is trying to protect are: Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia, Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton, Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse and Niagara Falls Air National Guard Base.

“Since armories are state facilities, the BRAC process is not germane,” said Scott Sandman, a spokesman for the state’s Division of Military and Naval Affairs. “The five air bases are federal facilities and could potentially be affected by BRAC. But we have no indication at this point that any of them would be affected.”

The National Guard in New York stayed close to its recruiting goals last year and plans construction projects at several armories while closing one.

Guard units are based and drill at 59 state-owned armories and the five air bases, as well as at the Army’s Fort Drum near Watertown and the Air Force Reserve base at Niagara Falls.

Over the past two years, armories in Ticonderoga, Malone, Oneonta, Tonawanda and Cortland were closed, their guard units moved to nearby armories. The Rochester facility will close also, once the armory is expanded in suburban Chili.

“That project won’t be completed for another couple of years,” Sandman said. In the next few years, construction and expansion projects are due to begin at several other sites, he said.

When armories are deemed no longer essential to military operations by the adjutant general, they are turned over to the state Office of General Services for other uses. The Saratoga Springs armory, for example, was converted into the state Military Museum and Veterans Research Center.

More than 5,100 personnel – almost one-quarter of all state guard and militia members – were on active duty in June, Sandman said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, guard units have been called to provide extra security at airports and other sites. Since U.S. forces invaded Iraq last year, units have been deployed there as well. About 1,500 personnel are in Iraq and hundreds of others heading to the war zone, including 1,200 members of the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division, who were recently sent to Fort Drum for a few months’ training before going to Iraq for a year.

The New York Air National Guard has sent some medical personnel to Afghanistan and flown transport missions there. The Air Guard deployments abroad are shorter, typically no more than three months, Sandman said.

Most guard personnel are military part-timers, who train on weekends and two weeks a summer, and who get called up for state service in storms or other emergencies or to federal duty in both combat and support units.

The New York Army National Guard, which has some 10,500 troops, enlisted 1,897 new personnel last year, compared with 2,290 a year earlier and a goal of 2,220.

The New York Air National Guard, with troop strength of about 5,400, enlisted 509 last year, 10 fewer than a year earlier and 31 below its goal.

One factor in the decline is the reorganization of the 27th Brigade into a variety of support units, which will resume recruiting with more positions open to women, Sandman said. “We’re confident the numbers will come up,” he said.

The New York Guard, which has about 1,000 troops and a purely state mandate, enlisted 169 last year, up 52 from a year earlier.

The New York Naval Militia, with 4,300 members, enlisted 80 last year, almost double from a year earlier. The militia is an added optional duty to Reserves enlistment.

‘We’re Making Progress’; Bush Wants 1-Year Limit On National Guard Tours

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Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)

August 12, 2004 Thursday

By, Michael Coleman Journal Washington Bureau

President Bush relaxed in an air-conditioned motor home after his Albuquerque campaign event Wednesday and fielded questions from three New Mexico reporters on subjects ranging from political ads to National Guard call-ups.

The president, sitting side-by-side with Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, seemed relaxed and rested as machine gun-wielding Secret Service agents scanned the scene from black SUVs parked in the blinding sun outside.

The interview, conducted by reporters from the Albuquerque Journal, The Albuquerque Tribune and Alamogordo Daily News, took place at Eclipse Aviation, an Albuquerque business that served as the backdrop for Bush’s campaign rally moments before.

Q: How long will it be before there is any relief in sight for members of the National Guard and military reserves? What is the administration doing to shorten the amount of time these men and women are serving overseas?

A: The Defense Department is trying to get the tours to be a limit of 12 months. In terms of the mission, as I said inside (at the rally), the mission will be completed and we won’t stay one day longer. The way to expedite, in my judgment and the judgment of the planners, is to get the Iraqi forces trained, equipped and prepared to take on these tough missions. We’re more than willing to help them with it but they need to be in the lead. We had a problem with contracting for a while. In other words, the bureaucracy can be quite stubborn at times. There was an equipment issue — getting equipment flowing to the mission. The Defense Department’s mission, or desires or goals, is to say to a person being deployed, ‘this is the time you are going — for 12 months.’ I appreciate the guard and reservists and I know it puts a strain on their families. But they are a necessary component of forming an all-volunteer Army.

Utah Air, Army Guard Now Under Same Leadership

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The Associated Press State & Local Wire

August 15, 2004, Sunday, BC cycle

As part of a nationwide reorganization of the military, the Utah National Guard has combined its Army and Air Guard leadership offices.

Historically, the Utah National Guard has maintained separate headquarters for its Army and Air National Guard, under command of the adjutant general and the governor.

Officials announced the transition to a Joint Force Headquarters this week, a move intended to help the divisions work better together.

“We fight jointly, so we need to train and operate on a daily basis in a joint environment,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, Utah’s adjutant general. “We can transition quickly to respond to any emergency or to our community.”

In Utah, Air Force Brig. Gen. Ralph Dewsnup has been appointed commander of the Joint Forces Headquarters.

Utah Brig. Gen. Stanley Gordon said a joint staff “forces the Army and Air National Guard to understand each other and to use each other’s resources as they are needed. It requires them to think.”

Blum: National Guard Building Future With ‘Modular Bricks’

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By Darsi J Busler

August 13, 2004

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Aug. 13, 2004) – The chief of the National Guard Bureau said the Guard is “rebalancing” for the War on Terror and is becoming “virtually indistinguishable” from the active Army.

Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum addressed the Guard’s current role and also the changes within Guard units when he spoke to Association of the U.S. Army members in Arlington, Va., Aug. 11.

One of the greatest changes is that the National Guard is moving from a strategic force of the Cold War-era toward a force that closely resembles the operational active Army, Blum said.

“We need to rebalance the force for what we need tomorrow, not what we needed yesterday,” Blum said.

Part of this rebalancing involves the Army’s addition of units of employment and units of action. Under the Guard’s “Transformation to Modularity,” it will be able to create units with the same equipment, training, organization and capability as the active Army units, making them virtually indistinguishable.

“When you need a wall built out of these modular bricks, it won’t matter whether those bricks are Active or Reserve, as long as it has the same strength and capability,” Blum said.
Three National Guard brigades now in Iraq are scheduled to convert to UAs when they return. The 30th Heavy Separate Brigade from North Carolina, the 81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team from Washington state and the 39th Enhanced Separate Brigade from Arkansas will convert to UAs in fiscal year 2005.

While the Guard is moving forward in its national and state roles, its leadership has noticed changes in personnel. People leaving active duty who normally would join the Guard and Reserve are less inclined to because they realize they could be mobilized and sent back on active duty, Blum said.

“If they are willing to tolerate that, they might as well stay on active duty with a unit they’re already comfortable in,” Blum said.

The Guard has also seen many positive changes, Blum said. Re-enlistment and retention rates are higher than at any other time in the recorded history of the National Guard.
The participation rate in theater is also at an all-time high. Currently, more than 40 percent of Soldiers in Iraq are in the Guard and Reserves.

“We’ve called up almost a quarter of a million Soldiers and not one has failed to show,” Blum said.

With so many Soldiers being deployed, more than 50 percent of National Guard forces are now combat veterans. This number is expected to increase to 80 percent within two years, Blum said.

These changes have allowed the National Guard to embrace a new motto.

“We’re trying to be a READY force. We’re trying to be a RELIABLE force. We’ve become an ESSENTIAL part of the force. Now we have to make sure we’re an ACCESSIBLE part of the force,” Blum said.

DEPLOYMENT

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Governors OKs Longer Guard Tours of Duty

The Associated Press

August 9, 2004, Monday

By Charles E. Beggs, Associated Press Writer

Gov. Ted Kulongoski authorized Oregon National Guard members Monday to voluntarily extend their service beyond the usual 24-month limit, in exchange for bonus pay from the government.

But in a letter to the Defense Department, Kulongoski also said he remained concerned about the heavy use of the National Guard in the Iraq war.

Guard members are being offered an extra $1,000 a month for agreeing to serve up to an additional 12 months in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The approval of governors is needed under federal law for such voluntary extensions of duty, the Defense Department said.

Kulongoski said the lengthening of National Guard deployment “is evidence that our nation’s military is facing a significant staffing issue that must be addressed.”

The governor said with many Oregon National Guard members assigned overseas, the state is less prepared to deal with wildfires and other natural disasters.

And though the extra pay for extended service helps, Kulongoski said many Guard families are struggling financially.

Col. Mike Caldwell, deputy Oregon adjutant general, said about 90 Oregon National Guard soldiers are eligible to extend their duty and that around half of them already had agreed to do that before the bonus pay was announced.

Oregon has about 700 Guard troops in Iraq, and more have been called for duty there. The number is expected to total about 1,300 by early winter.

A total of 28 service members with close Oregon ties have died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait since hostilities began. Three Guardsmen were killed in a June 4 ambush in the worst single loss for the Oregon National Guard since World War II.

Also in the letter to Charles Abell, principal deputy in the under secretary of defense’s office, Kulongoski asked for a “full review” of a newspaper report that Oregon National Guard soldiers were ordered to abandon an effort to prevent Iraqi jailers from abusing prisoners.

The Oregonian newspaper reported Sunday that Guard members saw Iraqi prisoners being abused on June 29, the first day after the United States transferred for power to the country.

Kulongoski asked that findings be reported to him and Brig. Gen. Raymond Byron, Guard chief in Oregon, “as soon as possible.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also asked for an investigation of the report in a letter Sunday to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Guard Fans Out Across 9 Counties

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Orlando Sentinel (Florida)

August 15, 2004

By Bob Mahlburg, Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — Thousands of Florida National Guard troops were called out Saturday to assist with security, rescue and cleanup efforts after Hurricane Charley.

More than 2,000 troops were working by Saturday afternoon, and that number was expected to double by late Saturday, National Guard officials said.

“We’re going to go to 5,300 by tonight,” said National Guard Legislative Director Glenn Sulphin.

The guard is using seven Black Hawk military helicopters and may bring in additional equipment from as far away as Texas, Pennsylvania and other states, National Guard Col. Don Tyre said.

Duties will range from ensuring the safety and security of residents and their property to clearing large debris and preventing looting. Guard officials said they had heard no reports of looting as of late Friday.

The Guard troops were working mostly in hard-hit southwest Florida where Charley made landfall. But they were to be spread across nine counties that suffered damage from the storm, officials said. Guard aircraft were checking damage from the air, including inspecting a damaged nursing home in Lake Wales. In addition, heavy equipment and chain saws were used to remove downed trees, Tyre said.

“They’re also involved in recovery operations — getting people and property secured,” Sulphin said. Guard forces in Orlando were mostly doing administrative work, he said.

Gov. Jeb Bush praised the Guard at a press conference after surveying damage by air in southwest Florida.

The hurricane disaster duty comes while other Florida National Guard troops are fighting in Iraq, he noted.

“We have been planning for this dual responsibility,” Bush said. “The primary responsibility of the National Guard is to provide support to the military and to be part of the team of the war on terror, and we have thousands of brave guardsmen and women who are doing that — but never at the expense of the domestic mission, which is vital as well.”

Adjutant Gen. Douglas Burnett, commander of the Florida National Guard, traveled with the governor Saturday to survey damage, and called the current level of troops adequate, state officials said.

“Fifteen hundred [guardsmen] are here that are active,” Bush said of the troops in southwest Florida. “And there’s 5,000 that have been called up. We have the capability of up to 10,000 guardsmen.”

GUARD IN IRAQ

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What Was It Really Like In Iraq?; Wisconsin Soldiers Describe Their Experiences As Nation Builders; Tales From The Front

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)

August 8, 2004 Sunday, ALL Editions

By Lisa Schuetz Wisconsin State Journal

By the time the 32nd Military Police Company arrived in Iraq in June 2003, the invasion was over and the nation building had begun.

Over the next 13 months, the 157 Wisconsin Army National Guard soldiers worked security at several neighborhood police stations in Baghdad, drove U.N. officials to meetings and trained Iraqi police — called IPs — to take over when the soldiers left.

Most in the company never fired a weapon, but they saw people die in roadside and car bombings or sniper attacks.

Five men and women shared their experiences, including memories from a harrowing week in April that included a barrage of attacks against U.S. soldiers culminating in the death on Good Friday of Michelle Witmer, a soldier in the 32nd.

Spc. Danielle “D” Robinson, Madison

Robinson, 24, expected Iraq to resemble a war zone from the movies.

Mostly, it didn’t.

When the company left Kuwait after five weeks there and headed into Iraq, the vast expanse of dessert was disturbed only by the road or tiny huts in which people lived. And there were children who begged for candy.

“They don’t waste anything,” she said of the Iraqis who would dig through trash to find food, paper and other items. “Just seeing how they lived made me appreciate what I came from and what I have.”

Robinson liked learning the language. She’d take a tape recorder with her and point to things and then tape the Arabic word for the item pronounced by an obliging Iraqi police officer.

The company cookout in April, held shortly after Witmer’s death and the company’s stay was extended for a second time, is among her favorite memories. Brats, hamburgers, steak, cole slaw and potato salad and soda were a nice change from the school-cafeteria-hot-lunch-type meals normally served.

“It was everybody coming together, everybody’s spirits were up. People were throwing people in the pool, we had good food and good music.”

At first, Robinson read James Patterson books and relied on contact with friends and family for support. Then, in a camp where there wasn’t much to do, the 13 women who shared a room bonded.

“Most of the time it was just us girls,” she said. “Some of us would go to the roof, look at stars and just hang out. That’s the best that you can do in Iraq.”

She usually slept with earplugs, not just because the occasional mortar fire and generators were noisy, but because people snored or made noise that would wake her.

She’ll decide, depending on the world and her life situation, whether to re-enlist when her contract is up in 2007.

Now, she needs space from the military and the friends she made in Iraq. “I just want to go back to my civilian life.”

Sgt. James Ewing, McFarland

The strict rules of engagement — protocol for shooting a weapon or attacking Iraqis — made Ewing, 26, anxious.

“I was more worried about facing a military jury than defending myself,” he said. “I was lucky. The whole time I was out, I never fired a round.”

Ewing was too busy when he arrived in Iraq to notice he was in a strange country.

“We were working 12-hour days at the police stations,” Ewing, 26, said. “That didn’t include getting ready and going out there. We were exhausted for the first two months. There was no such thing as a weekend. It took a toll on us.”

Ewing was at the al-Shaab police station in Baghdad the night Witmer was killed. His squad leader broke the news and the platoon returned to Mustang Base, their home in a bombed out vice presidential palace.

His platoon kept to themselves that night.

“It really took me aback. You kind of thought every time someone was injured from (roadside bombs) they would get sewn up and released. I never really thought anyone would die.”

A Kurdish security force member who worked among the Iraqi police impressed him.

“I was proud of him. They (Iraqis) don’t really like Kurds too much, but he seemed to fit in there pretty well. He didn’t seem to mind any hostilities.”

Ewing chuckled. “I joked around with other IPs. I’d say, ‘Kurdish good,’ and give them the thumbs up, and they would say, ‘No, no, no, no.'”

Despite some positive experiences with Iraqis, the longer he stayed in Iraq, the more skeptical he became that anything will change there.

“I don’t think they really want change. I don’t think they have really changed in the past 2,000 years.”

Ewing is getting married in November — a date delayed by his time in Iraq. When his contract is up in December, he won’t re-enlist with the National Guard. He’s done his duty, he said.

Spc. Ron Bearce, Pell Lake

The day a car bomb exploded at the al-Shaab police station was Bearce’s worst day in Iraq.

“We were going all over, to the different police stations that our company took care of

. . . when we heard the car bomb had gone off. We were the first ones on the scene. Fire and smoke was coming out of the building. We heard that people from our company in our platoon had got hurt, some pretty bad, but nobody got killed.”

The Iraqis didn’t want the Americans’ help getting their people out of the fire. Bearce said the Iraqis were very, very upset. “They blamed the Americans. If we weren’t there, then the car bomb wouldn’t have gone off.”

The squad tried to get the Iraqi crowd pushed back so an Iraqi fire department could put out the fire, but it was difficult. Bearce, a firefighter, wanted to help take victims from the building, but the Iraqis wouldn’t let him — they’d start yelling if he made a move toward it.

“I don’t know what the reasoning was. As a fireman I wanted to get in there and help them. It was hard for me not to be able to help people.”

An American news team showed up and Bearce turned them away. The crowd surged after them and for a moment he worried there’d be more violence, but they only threw rocks.

More than one time he was nearly tempted by anxiety or frustration to shoot someone. He’s thankful the rules were strict, preventing him from making a mistake.

In one way, he’s grateful for Iraq. Two days before he left, his wife asked for a divorce. The intervening 16 months allowed him to cool off and be a better co-parent to their three children, ages 5, 3, and 1.

“We’re both great parents, but it just wasn’t working out between us. That separation helped. If I had been home and she would have told me, I probably would have lost it and it wouldn’t have been good.”

Bearce said his National Guard contract is up next year. “I’ve been in for 14 years. I’m staying in until they kick me out.”

Spc. Stacy Nelson, Rio

The country of Iraq awed Nelson, 22.

“It’s amazing to travel to a country to see them living out of these dirt huts. They live in the middle of the field. You only see this on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel. It’s not something you associate with living.”

She hated the flies that came with the heat. You couldn’t avoid either.

She was bored by rooftop duty guarding a police station for hours on end. “I thought it was never going to end.”

Other times, Nelson would guard the gate outside the station, a job most would dread because of the possibility of attack or roadside bombs. She dreaded it because she’d have to deal with people complaining or search people coming in and ask to see their badges.

Normally soft-spoken and easygoing, she learned to be more assertive while in Iraq.

Nelson had to be authoritative when dealing with a culture in which women aren’t traditionally respected. She noticed she’d changed one day while securing an area after a humvee was ambushed.

“I just remember trying to control the traffic and these people don’t listen to you. Wow. I was actually yelling at people and telling them what to do. I felt good about it. I actually felt like I was finally doing my military job.”

In many ways she had to forget she was a woman. She used deodorant and shampooed her hair with a shampoo and conditioner combination, but not her preferred brands. She’d only occasionally shave her legs or underarms and didn’t pay attention to her hair or eyebrows at all. She did use lots of lip balm. It was like camping, she said.

“It’s nice to be back to normal.”

During off time, she’d hang out with a group of friends — sometimes bicycling along the Tigris River or playing volleyball.

“Some days we’d find some stupid stuff to do. It’s hard to explain. We were pretty inventive when you had a pen and some paper and that’s all you have. We went down to al-Kut and we made up a pictionary game.”

Staff Sgt. Steve Pepper, Fond du Lac

Pepper, 38, didn’t care for the confusion in Iraq about whom one could trust.

He’d been in the Gulf War, but this was different.

“It was worse this time because there was no really safe zone,” he said. “You don’t want anybody behind you and you don’t want to open up too much (to Iraqis). You didn’t want to get personal with anyone, even the interpreter.”

He did respect several Iraqis he met, including a “Col. Ali.”

“From what I can tell, he was very brave. He never backed down. There was an assassination attempt on him a few times and he kept going. He wanted to be trained. When we had left, he had been shot one more time, and I believe he was working in a different part of the Iraqi police force.”

His worst day was May 7. His younger brother, Jason, 27, was wounded by a blast that imploded his eyes. Pepper tracked down his brother at a medical unit hours after his injury. Pepper cried that day.

“That was just the culmination of everything bad. Our dog was put to sleep. I had problems with my ex-wife. Michelle Witmer had died.”

Pepper didn’t seek revenge for his brother, but he was mad, he admitted. He’d have no problem using his gun, if needed. It never was.

At 11 p.m. April 9, when Witmer’s squad was attacked, Pepper was on duty at a Qudous police station. His squad was waiting to be relieved by her squad.

“We were listening to the radio traffic. We’d heard them leave the compound and do the radio check as they came out and them talking on the radio when they were under attack. I was in charge of the police station at the time. . . .They were able to tell me that she had passed away probably an hour and a half after she died. I kind of knew beforehand.”

Witmer’s death made him sad; she’d been in his squad for a little while. But death was always possible. It didn’t change him except that he felt more concern and had soldiers crouch lower when in the gunner’s turret.

Now that Pepper is home, he’s getting used to smooth traffic flow again. He’s almost stopped looking behind him. He’s happy to be able to go somewhere without eight other people and two other vehicles tagging along. And flushing toilets are nice.

But if he had to, the 20-year military man would return to Iraq.

“My family would hate it. My brother would hate it. I’d miss my son and my wife. But my wife understands that this is what I do. It would be a hard first step on the plane, but I know that it’s what I signed up for.”

Contact reporter Lisa Schuetz at [email protected] or 252-6143.

Mission: Iraq; Medics Manage ‘Chaos’

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SUNDAY TELEGRAM (Massachusetts)

August 08, 2004 Sunday, ALL EDITIONS

By Douglas Grindle; SPECIAL TO THE T&G

– This medical clinic staffed by Massachusetts National Guard soldiers lies just inside the gate of Camp Cooke, about 20 miles north of Baghdad.

Treating wounded soldiers is a way of life here. The main highway from Baghdad to Mosul in northern Iraq runs by the gate. If a convoy is attacked and soldiers are wounded, the sleepy little clinic is transformed to bustling activity as all hands gather to help the incoming soldiers. The soldiers will be treated before being sent to a hospital in Baghdad.

Several days may pass between major events.

”You get a little complacent,” says Spc. Amy Lynch, 27, a medic from Sturbridge. ”It’s just something in the back of your mind until something happens, and then you’re like, ‘Oh shoot.’ ”

The wounded come through once or twice a week. Counseling sessions are held after a big event. A car bomb outside one of the camp gates on June 6 killed 45 Iraqis. The scene at the clinic was ”controlled chaos,” according to the medics.

The strain takes its toll on the people who work here. The first time a dead U.S. soldier was brought in, back in February, it was a shock. ”Seeing a dead soldier in uniform is like seeing your brother or sister,” says 1st Sgt. Robert Harrington, 41, of Winchendon. Many in the unit took several days to recover.

The soldiers at the clinic also face the constant threat of being maimed or killed in rocket and mortar attacks on the camp.

Iraqi civilians are treated here, too. Mastafa, an 8-year-old boy scalded by hot tea in his nearby family home, receives care for second-degree burns from five medics. It’s his second trip to the clinic. The dead skin on his chest is cleared away, and the wound is bandaged. The Iraqi doctors at the local hospital were either unwilling or unable to help 8-year-old Mustafa, and sent him home. Without care, the boy would never again have been able to fully lift his arm. The medics say he will be completely recovered in three months.

It’s against the rules for the medics to treat Iraqis unless life or limb is in danger. But the rule is regularly broken at the clinic, where Iraqis who work to upgrade the base are routinely treated for minor injuries. The same principle applies to insurgents who attack the convoys and are in turn wounded. It’s hard for the medics to reconcile themselves to treating those dedicated to killing Americans, say the soldiers, but they do it.

The men and women of Company A, 118th Area Support Medical Battalion have been here since February. They will go home next February, unless their tour is extended, which is unlikely but possible. Soldiers receive two weeks’ leave during their year in Iraq. To get home, they must travel to Baghdad International Airport 20 miles away, and then on to Kuwait, and from there, home. Many fly to Baghdad on helicopters to avoid the risk of being hurt in an attack on a road convoy.

Soldiers call life here ”Groundhog Day,” in reference to the Bill Murray movie in which the same day repeats over and over. Days run together. Time is almost irrelevant, dictated only by the date for leave or the date for the final flight home.

Soldiers say staying in Iraq has made their outlook on life much more serious. When they get home, many of the younger ones say they intend to apply to college or get jobs in the medical field. Others have found medicine is not for them. Few are unaffected by the experience. ”I’m just going to look back at this and say ‘My God, I was there. I was in Iraq. I never thought I’d be there,’ ” says Spc. Tracey Burke, 24, a medic from North Quincy.

A soldier walks into the clinic. His wife has just written him a ”Dear John” letter. He can’t sleep and is feeling suicidal. The doctor decides to keep him sedated for a day, to give the soldier some rest before he faces this crisis. A medic leads him to a small back room with cots lined up against a wall.

Because the strain is constant, the officers and senior noncommissioned officers keep a close eye on their people, looking for listlessness, isolation and over-fatigue. This war without front lines is likely to have a lasting effect on them all.

1st Sgt. Harrington is the senior NCO, responsible for the welfare of every enlisted man in the unit. ”Every soldier has scars that they’re going to bring home from the war,” he says.

HOMEFRONT: DEALING WITH AFTERMATH

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Military Dads Must Readjust To Families

The Tallahassee Democrat

August 10, 2004 Tuesday

By Aline Mendelsohn; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

When Army Staff Sgt. John Howington left for Iraq 18 months ago, his son Logan was just forming his first words. When he returned a year later to Daytona Beach, 3-year-old Logan was speaking in full sentences.

Howington didn’t see as dramatic a change in his older son, John. Still, the 11-year-old was guarded, and “there was more of a distance between us than there had ever been before,” recalled his dad.

It would take weeks for Howington, 32, and his children to rebuild their relationship.

Like Howington, military dads across the country are coming home to find that their kids have grown up – without them.

Extended separations, particularly military absences, can change the parent-child dynamic. After deployment, returning to normal is rarely simple. Families go through an adjustment period that can take weeks or months.

“There’s no picking up just where you left off,” said Shelley MacDermid, co-director of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University.

War is unlike any other separator.

Families must cope with the fact that their loved one is in a combat zone – an inherently dangerous place.

Briann Spielmann, 14, sometimes cried at night after her dad, Chief Master Sgt. Fred Spielmann, left their Longwood home for Oman in December 2002. He was serving in the 202nd Red Horse unit of the Florida Air National Guard.

“It’s very scary seeing your father go to war, not knowing if he’ll come home alive,” Briann said.

When a parent goes to war, older kids tend to grow up faster because they take on more responsibilities, MacDermid said.

Sometimes that means freeing up Mom to take care of tasks Dad used to do.

Briann pitched in around the house, helping with cleaning and laundry.

“All members of the family change while the service member is away,” said Mady Wechsler Segal, associate director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland.

Sgt. Sanford Dixson’s 12-year-old daughters, Ebony and Ariel, started making their own lunches while their father was serving in Afghanistan.

“They became more mature, more self-reliant,” said Dixson, of Orlando, who served in the Florida National Guard Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion of the 124th Infantry Regiment.

But younger children don’t always understand the implications of the parent’s absence. Logan toted around a snapshot of Howington while he was away. When the child saw soldiers on the news, he would put his hands on the TV set – and cry.

The first time he saw his dad in uniform after Howington returned from Iraq, Logan clung to him, saying, “You can’t leave, Daddy.”

Even now, the sight of his dad in camouflage – Howington sometimes wears his uniform for special events – frightens Logan.

Before a reunion, it’s common for all family members to feel anxious. Soldiers must adjust to civilian life as well as family life.

For instance, Howington had to re-establish his role as the disciplinarian.

“I had to be the bad guy sometimes,” Howington said.

Parents can change just as much as kids during a separation caused by military service.

When Chief Warrant Officer Kyle Repp returned from serving with the Army Reserve at the 801st Combat Support Hospital near Talil, Iraq, in April, he had become blonder – and shorter.

At least that’s what Repp’s three kids noticed the first time they saw him after his 16-month deployment.

Repp’s hair was bleached by the desert sun, but he certainly hadn’t shrunk. It just seemed that way to his children, who had grown taller.

Alex, 17, hovered an inch over Repp; Adena, 14, shot up 8 inches to 5 feet 2 inches- “not like the little kid that I left,” Repp said.

Other things changed: Alex now carried a driver’s license in his wallet, 16-year-old Marina had braces, Adena’s voice had matured.

“They kind of had their own life,” said Repp, of Longwood. “I was worried they wouldn’t have time for me.”

As it turns out, they do have time for Repp – and are even helping with his junk-removal business.

Howington, who served with Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment of the Florida National Guard, also has spent lots of time with his kids, including fishing trips and visits to his workplace. He has gained a new perspective on family life.

“I appreciate my family more than I ever have before,” Howington said. “I try to make the best out of every minute.”

GENERAL

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Some Military Voters Had Trouble Getting Ballots

 The Associated Press

August 9, 2004, Monday

By David A. Lieb, Associated Press Writer

Some Missouri soldiers stationed in Iraq were unable to vote in last week’s elections because of trouble getting absentee ballots.

As a result, Secretary of State Matt Blunt’s office said Monday that it is exploring whether overseas soldiers could e-mail their ballots for the Nov. 2 general election. Blunt is awaiting a determination from the Department of Defense, spokesman Spence Jackson said.

The possibility of e-mailed ballots was brought to Blunt’s attention by Rep. Jim Avery, R-Crestwood, a combat engineer stationed in Iraq with the National Guard’s 1140th Engineering Battalion.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Avery said none of the 21 soldiers in his squad received absentee ballots in time to vote in the Aug. 3 primary elections. Some never received ballots at all, he said. The few who did had no access to a fax machine and not enough time remaining to mail them back, Avery said.

“I feel like I was disenfranchised as a voter,” said Avery, who got his ballot about a week before the election and never sent it back. “I’m keeping it as a souvenir, as a reminder to me when I get back of the legislation that needs to be filed to take care of the situation for the future.”

Avery is from St. Louis County. Of the 795 military absentee ballots mailed out from St. Louis County, just 317 were returned by election day, said David Welch, a county election director, who did not know the reason for the response rate.

Many of the other soldiers in Avery’s Farmington-based squad are from St. Francois County.

St. Francois County Clerk Mark Hedrick said absentee ballots were mailed about a week later than usual because of the uncertainty over whether an amendment banning gay marriage would appear on the August ballot. The Supreme Court eventually said it should.

Hedrick said his office mailed 13 absentee ballots to Iraq, but none were returned with votes. Eight were returned to the clerk’s office as undeliverable, and Hedrick then was told to send the ballots to the unit’s Farmington office – but only a few days remained until the election.

Missouri National Guard Maj. Steve Brooks said he was unaware of any specific instances of soldiers being unable to vote.

But “I think the reality of the situation over there is a unit may have word that they’re going to be at a certain base or location, and then they end up going somewhere else and that mail gets returned instead of forwarded,” Brooks said. “Unfortunately, I think that’s probably the nature of the mail system over there.”

Other than Avery’s e-mail, the secretary of state’s office had not received other reports of military members unable to vote, Jackson said.

“Fortunately, we do not think this was a widespread problem,” Jackson said.

On the Net:

Secretary of State: http://www.sos.mo.gov

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