Wednesday, September 28, 2005

'It is still pretty dangerous out there'

Navy doctor reflects on service in Iraq


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Lt. Ryan Frieder treats an Iraqi girl with respiratory problems and a fever. The medical assist mission was with a Marine Corps line company northeast of Fallujah, Iraq.

Lt. Ryan Frieder, a Navy doctor serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq, returned home on leave this month to visit with family, friends and classmates of Wood River High School's Class of 1993.

Frieder, 30, has been serving just east of Fallujah, Iraq. He arrived there in January, following a major offensive in the area that occurred on Nov. 4, 2004.

"Since January 2005, the camps have been fairly safe. Out on the roads it is still pretty dangerous out there," he said in an interview between mountain bike rides with his brother. "We had about 45 of our Navy hospital corpsmen leaving the base on a daily basis to do patrols, re-supply, re-stock, recover vehicles that had broken down—a wide variety (of tasks) in addition to triage and care of Marines and Iraqi civilians."

Frieder, who is serving as a Navy doctor with the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment, said one of the big problems was when insurgents fired at the U.S. military or Iraqi forces, the mortar rounds and other ordnance often would cause civilian casualties. Frieder said soldiers and civilians alike would be brought back to the base where trauma experts could treat them.

"We would go through lulls with only minor shrapnel wounds, ruptured eardrums or broken bones."

Then, he said, there were weeklong periods with numerous fatalities.

"They coincided with us pushing into a community," he said, explaining that although his group was largely responsible for securing Al Karmah, a city about the size of Twin Falls northeast of Fallujah, the military would push forward to establish new bases, which would cause increased pressure on insurgent groups.

"Our policy was anybody we injured we helped," he said, explaining that he is not scheduled to return to Iraq. In fact, following his current leave, he will be preparing for a tour of the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf as part of a Marine expeditionary unit, which is trained to respond to any type of mission when called.

"I have a little sense of relief," he admitted about not going back to Iraq. "But, I'm not going to pat myself on the back until it's all over."

Before his deployment to Iraq, Frieder served in Haiti, where he carried out missions to give health care to children.

"Our Marines didn't have to worry about security as much down there, so they were more feasible," he wrote in an e-mail last spring in a dispatch that he sent after having a rare opportunity to care for some of the children.

Frieder said much of the success for the Marines has been based on intelligence tips from locals.

"We apprehended about 550 people. For 350 we had sufficient evidence to send them to Abu Ghraib Prison," he said, explaining that sometimes the military would fly Marines to Baghdad to testify.

Frieder said that there were about 700 Iraqi troops assigned to his battalion.

"They were divided amongst our line forces," he said, hopeful that eventually Iraqi troops will be able to maintain security at least in the area around Fallujah. "The Iraqi soldiers did a great job. The Iraqi public is more willing to cooperate with them. They are able to pick up on different dialects, accents. It was very beneficial to have those guys. Marines are pretty close to the Iraqis—a lot of them live on the same bases. They patrolled together for seven months. They made huge steps forward in our area. We've seen they can have a huge impact on the battle space."

Frieder said the Iraqi soldiers carry the same gear as the Marines, but that they typically carry AK 47s confiscated from insurgents rather than the standard M16s used by U.S. troops.

Frieder still has two years of required military service, and the battalion he is serving with next will be trained to mobilize rapidly where needed. In Iraq, his job was to supervise some 60 enlisted Navy corpsmen, who, like Army medics, tend to ailing troops on the front lines.

Sometimes called a "Med float," Frieder considers his next tour considerably lighter duty compared to his Iraq experience. He estimated that 75 percent of his Marine colleagues were involved in some type of roadside action or mortar attack.

"Some of the guys had multiple close calls," he said, adding that he could count at least 100 combat-related injuries to U.S. soldiers. He said about six of the medics working under him received Purple Hearts. "There was one who lost his right leg below the knee and one who suffered severe inhalation injuries."

Frieder estimated that his Marines suffered eight combat fatalities. He remembered also that during his tour of duty a Department of Defense interpreter died from drowning after a Humvee crashed in a canal road.

Frieder said there are a number of soldiers currently being treated at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and others in San Antonio, Texas.

"They are definitely in a recovery process," Frieder said, explaining that many of the injured resist being medically separated from service. "Most of these guys want to stay in."

Frieder said he was hopeful that in his area in another year the Iraqi soldiers might be able to maintain stability, but he said in other parts of Iraq the battle is very difficult.

"My personal belief is that without a ruler there, I think it's a power vacuum. Dozens of factions are vying for power. A lot of innocent people are dying when insurgents are trying to attack us."

Frieder said in his opinion the need is to help people get to the negotiation table and substitute violence for political power.

He said the Marines decreased the level of violence 75 percent around Fallujah. Violent incidents dropped from 160 incidents per month to 40 incidents per month by July.

Frieder said that from a professional standpoint his experience in Iraq has been a good lead to anesthesiology training he has planned when he gets out of the military. On a personal level, he said he looks forward to traveling during peacetime, but he has little interest in going back to Iraq unless conditions change. "It would be awesome to visit Baghdad someday. But, conditions now are not amenable to sightseeing."

Frieder said one of the greatest things about his military experience has been the support he has felt.

"People have such a great support for the troops, regardless of their position on the war or the Bush administration," he said. "Most of the troops over there are 19 to 21 years old. It is a hostile environment. It's nice for them to go home and have people support them. They will flat out say this is awesome."

He said the most frustrating part of combat for the Marines was not being able to see the enemy.

"Losing your cool is not going to win this war. Being calm is what is going to do it," he said. "This is an information-driven war. Time will tell whether or not it was the right thing to do."

For now, Frieder is looking forward to his duty at sea and not returning to Iraq.

"There is a slight chance if all hell breaks loose I might have to go back."




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