Back In Iraq
December 20, 2007
I never expected to find myself in Iraq again, but when I heard the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade was going back, I decided to join them. Again. This time they are spread out over several bases, large and small, from Bayji to Balad. I am in Tikrit at COB (Contingency Operating Base) Speicher, and I hope to see as much of this area as possible, and visit as many bases as possible, over the next several months.
It is impossible not to compare the conditions here in Tikrit to those of Kirkuk, where I stayed with the 1st Brigade last year. On the base, life is not so different. Speicher is bigger, with three dining facilities, two PXs, and, like FOB Warrior in Kirkuk, Speicher is also home to a handful of fast food restaurants including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Subway. There is a bus that circles the base every thirty minutes, and many soldiers will be very tired of this bumpy ride a year from now, which is when they are scheduled to go home. They have been here since September, this being a fifteen month deployment. I know they felt twelve months was a long time to be away from their families last year, so this deployment will be that much more difficult.
The Salahuddin province, which includes Tikrit, Bayji and Samarra is different from Kirkuk, both in population and temperament. In Kirkuk, the Kurdish segment of the population was generally welcoming, and it was possible to feel quite safe in their neighborhoods. There is no such welcoming group here. Already the 1st Brigade has suffered several losses, already this is shaping up to be a more dangerous deployment than the last, a fact which cannot be lost on family and friends waiting back at home. Christmas in Clarksville will no doubt be bittersweet.
There are periods of calm here. The sound of progress is usually no sound at all, but sometimes an explosion is something to feel good about. After a few days of getting settled here, which meant a lot of walking around lost and a few desperate bus rides, I was able to go outside the wire (off the base) with members of the Special Troops Battalion (STB). Their mission was to escort an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team to Patrol Base Woodcock, a smaller base south of Speicher, where an assortment of munitions had been collected.
The trip to Woodcock took almost two hours. In my humvee, Sergeant Joseph Caldwell chatted with the gunner, Sandoval, and the driver, a female soldier named Garrison. I took in the sights. Our interpreter, Henry, seemed lost in his own thoughts. Caldwell, who was in charge of the mission, pointed out noteworthy spots along the way. We passed Tikrit University, and I wondered about the students. What were their hopes and dreams? Were they optimistic about the future of Iraq?
Closer to Woodcock, Garrison’s reflexes were tested. A cow wandered into the road, and she had to swerve to miss it. Not easy in a humvee.
We made it to our destination, and the EOD team examined the weapons that had been gathered. The flies had gathered too. I made a note to myself that the bathroom facilities must be crude, and thought I might stick to daytrips when it came to Woodcock.
Swatting the flies away, we gazed down at a few rockets, and then a large bag of anti-aircraft rounds was brought forward for inspection. In the light of day, in our hands and not the enemy’s, the materials did not seem so dangerous. But of course they were. The team carefully loaded the rockets and rounds into their specially designed vehicle, and the convoy accompanied them to an open field where they blew it all up. There is something satisfying about an explosion. An explosion we have orchestrated.
Whether the situation here has improved or not is difficult to judge. Weapons are still being discovered, with luck before they are used against us or innocent Iraqi people. We have more soldiers working out of smaller bases like Woodcock this time around, which brings them closer to the people and makes forging positive relationships much easier. And the better we understand each other, the better we will be able to help each other.
The trip back to Speicher was uneventful, no close calls with cows, no explosions of the unwelcome kind. It was the kind of trip you hope all of the soldiers outside the wire have all the time.
There are soldiers who are here for the first time, and soldiers who have been here two or three times already. It would be great if the people of Iraq got a taste of progress, of peace, and decided to settle for nothing less. It would be great if our soldiers could spend next Christmas at home. shelbymonroe@gmail.com
I never expected to find myself in Iraq again, but when I heard the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade was going back, I decided to join them. Again. This time they are spread out over several bases, large and small, from Bayji to Balad. I am in Tikrit at COB (Contingency Operating Base) Speicher, and I hope to see as much of this area as possible, and visit as many bases as possible, over the next several months.
It is impossible not to compare the conditions here in Tikrit to those of Kirkuk, where I stayed with the 1st Brigade last year. On the base, life is not so different. Speicher is bigger, with three dining facilities, two PXs, and, like FOB Warrior in Kirkuk, Speicher is also home to a handful of fast food restaurants including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Subway. There is a bus that circles the base every thirty minutes, and many soldiers will be very tired of this bumpy ride a year from now, which is when they are scheduled to go home. They have been here since September, this being a fifteen month deployment. I know they felt twelve months was a long time to be away from their families last year, so this deployment will be that much more difficult.
The Salahuddin province, which includes Tikrit, Bayji and Samarra is different from Kirkuk, both in population and temperament. In Kirkuk, the Kurdish segment of the population was generally welcoming, and it was possible to feel quite safe in their neighborhoods. There is no such welcoming group here. Already the 1st Brigade has suffered several losses, already this is shaping up to be a more dangerous deployment than the last, a fact which cannot be lost on family and friends waiting back at home. Christmas in Clarksville will no doubt be bittersweet.
There are periods of calm here. The sound of progress is usually no sound at all, but sometimes an explosion is something to feel good about. After a few days of getting settled here, which meant a lot of walking around lost and a few desperate bus rides, I was able to go outside the wire (off the base) with members of the Special Troops Battalion (STB). Their mission was to escort an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team to Patrol Base Woodcock, a smaller base south of Speicher, where an assortment of munitions had been collected.
The trip to Woodcock took almost two hours. In my humvee, Sergeant Joseph Caldwell chatted with the gunner, Sandoval, and the driver, a female soldier named Garrison. I took in the sights. Our interpreter, Henry, seemed lost in his own thoughts. Caldwell, who was in charge of the mission, pointed out noteworthy spots along the way. We passed Tikrit University, and I wondered about the students. What were their hopes and dreams? Were they optimistic about the future of Iraq?
Closer to Woodcock, Garrison’s reflexes were tested. A cow wandered into the road, and she had to swerve to miss it. Not easy in a humvee.
We made it to our destination, and the EOD team examined the weapons that had been gathered. The flies had gathered too. I made a note to myself that the bathroom facilities must be crude, and thought I might stick to daytrips when it came to Woodcock.
Swatting the flies away, we gazed down at a few rockets, and then a large bag of anti-aircraft rounds was brought forward for inspection. In the light of day, in our hands and not the enemy’s, the materials did not seem so dangerous. But of course they were. The team carefully loaded the rockets and rounds into their specially designed vehicle, and the convoy accompanied them to an open field where they blew it all up. There is something satisfying about an explosion. An explosion we have orchestrated.
Whether the situation here has improved or not is difficult to judge. Weapons are still being discovered, with luck before they are used against us or innocent Iraqi people. We have more soldiers working out of smaller bases like Woodcock this time around, which brings them closer to the people and makes forging positive relationships much easier. And the better we understand each other, the better we will be able to help each other.
The trip back to Speicher was uneventful, no close calls with cows, no explosions of the unwelcome kind. It was the kind of trip you hope all of the soldiers outside the wire have all the time.
There are soldiers who are here for the first time, and soldiers who have been here two or three times already. It would be great if the people of Iraq got a taste of progress, of peace, and decided to settle for nothing less. It would be great if our soldiers could spend next Christmas at home. shelbymonroe@gmail.com
posted by Shelby Monroe at 8:51 PM
6 Comments:
Thank you so much for your work; my son is with the 1-327th, A Company at FOB Summerall; it is helpful to have your first hand account. Thank you.
I found your site by accident and im so glad i did. My son is with the 1-327 Inf unit stationed at FOB Speicher, patrols from PB Woodcock.
You havent posted in awhile, im hoping to see an update soon.
I too found this by accident. My son is also with the 1-327th and is now at Woodcock. I search for news on the area he is in all the time.
Thank-you for the insight...and please keep writing!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Have some good memories at PB Woodcock, My eyes have never flooded with tears so badly when we dedicated that base in Sgt. Woodcock's name.
Not sure the site is active? I was with KBR in Iraq from 2006 thru 2010. I was a Construction Superintendent that oversaw the installation of latrine and shower units on Woodcock in 2008, as well as upgrading the electrical system.
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