On the first Tuesday of each month, National Guard troops from around the country travel to Fort Carson, Colo., for three weeks of training before they catch up with brigades already serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq.
Monday, another dozen Idaho National Guardsmen and women stopped by the armory at Gowen Field outside Boise for a 9:30 a.m. "showdown." They were there to check that their equipment for deployment was complete before heading to Colorado the following day. The mood on the rainy morning was subdued as the small group of soldiers gathered their gear. Part of the mood, however, was stirred by thoughts of recent violence in Iraq that has resulted in many civilian and soldier deaths.
"They each carry 70 pounds of gear," said Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, public affairs spokesman for the Idaho National Guard, who will leave the guard next month after 21 years of service to take a job with ESS to help the Ketchum-based company with their military eyewear sales. Army troops are still issued goggles with 1945 technology, Marsano said, but the 116th Army Cavalry Brigade based at Gowen Field is taking along the more protective goggles.
Soldiers joining the 116th after the original deployment in December 2004 are typically new recruits or soldiers who are recovering from medical conditions or completing other tasks. There are now a total of 1,800 Idaho Guard troops on active duty and 2,700 who remain in case of state disasters or emergencies. The total number of 116th Brigade Combat Team soldiers deployed, from some 20 states, is about 4,300, Marsano said.
"This is an opportunity not many people get to see, but I'm scarred, I'll admit it. I'm terrified," said Medic Melissa Robinson, a nursing student from Lewiston, with special training as a phlebotomist, someone who takes blood. She said with her skill, she may end up working in a hospital in Iraq.
Marsano said one of the benefits for Iraqis and U.S. troops trying to secure democracy in Iraq is that National Guard soldiers are typically older and have more life experience than the average soldiers in the regular branches of the military. The experience is useful when the military takes on projects outside its main mission of fighting counter insurgency.
"We have a magistrate judge from Emmet County and engineers helping to deal with sewage," Marsano said. The guard has helped to head up five medical assistance visits in the field, giving medical aid to some 517 civilians. "Dr. Frank Batcha (a Wood River Valley physician) has played a role in that."
Robinson joined the Army Reserves and then the National Guard for educational opportunities, which have supported her nursing career. She was put on medical hold last year for respiratory problems, and she was cleared last month by a physical evaluation board.
"I found out on April Fool's Day," Robinson said. "It is really hard to tell your friends and family on April Fool's that you're going to Iraq. They don't believe you."
Wood River High School graduate Lt. Ryan Frieder, a Navy doctor, who left for Fallujah in January to care for U.S. Marines and Iraqis on the frontlines arranged for ESS eyewear to be supplied to troops in his command this winter. The goggles have saved many soldiers from eye injuries, he said. Frieder reported, Tuesday that recently, it has been a trying time in Iraq.
Of Idaho National Guard volunteers involved in hostile fire in Iraq, 48 have been injured (39 have returned to active duty) and three soldiers have been killed, two from Oregon and one from Montana. An investigation is on-going in the death of a fourth soldier from California, who will have a funeral this week. Some 36 soldiers have suffered non-combat injuries, 26, of whom have not returned to duty.
Other essential articles, National Guard troops will carry include the Interceptor ballistic vest, which is more robust than a flack jacket, polypropylene long underwear, coat liners and other clothing, chemical gloves and suits, Camelpack hydration systems, sleeping gear, drinking cups, (mess kits are disposable with every meal and therefore not part of a soldiers list), a Kevlar helmet, gas masks and a rucksack. All told the gear fits in three standard issue duffel bags and a footlocker for personal possessions.
In addition to handing out toys and treats to children, the brigade has also provided dental care to about 76 Iraqi civilians, built water towers for potable water, checkpoint forts on the border with Iran, and schools. Soldiers have also helped fund drives in Idaho to buy school supplies and provided security at polling stations for the election in January, Marsano said. "One of our units over there has head up efforts to help revitalize the economy of Kirkuk. The Kirkuik Business Center was set up by some of our soldiers." He added that the business center is a place where entrepreneurs can discuss economic outlook and development, hold networking meetings, learn business planning, facilitate loans, get legal instruction and learn about contract opportunities
Idaho National Guard troops are connected with a base for the 42nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Kirkuk, Iraq and help staff a number of bases on the front lines. Military tasks include apprehension of suspected insurgents and supplying forward firepower or illumination rounds with Howitzers.
"I've been through this many times," said Capt. Lee Rubel, the father of eight-month-old twins. He has 16 years of military experience as a combat engineer, and serves as a long range planned and logistics architect for the National Guard. He served previously in the 1990s in Haiti. His father was an Army captain in the 1960s in Vietnam. "I don't have a problem with deploying. It's my job. You wear this uniform and you know you might go."
Staff Sgt. Gail Leiniger is making his second attempt to fulfill his duty in Iraq. During the 116 th's six month training at Ft. Bliss, Texas last year Leiniger suffered a hernia, which is now healed allowing him to be re-deployed.
"I'm going to have a terrible time acclimatizing," Leiniger said, thinking about the elevation change and dry climate for training in Colorado.
Pfc. Christina Fannon, an Idaho National Guard diesel mechanic, prepares her footlocker for deployment to Iraq. Fannon's photo collage and her standard issue duffels packed with combat gear were checked at a Gowen Field "showdown" in Boise, Monday. Fannon and about a dozen other Idaho soldiers will train in Colorado before joining the rest of the 116th Army Cavalry Brigade already in Iraq. From a military family, Fannon, who is a 2004 Borah High School graduate, enlisted with the National Guard last March. She will get to Iraq before her older brother, a Marine, who is finishing up at the Naval Academy. "I'm kind of excited," Fannon said. "I know I'm going to come back changed, hopefully for the better. Yes, I'm nervous. You'd be crazy not to be." Express photo by Matt Furber
