Night mission, Night vision

We own the night, is the saying.

U.S. forces in Iraq often conduct night missions because night vision technology gives them a tactical advantage.

Every soldier is issued a night vision device that attaches to the top of their helmet. These NODs- "Night Optical Devices" allow infantrymen and convoy drivers to see through total blackness in neon-green hues.

At Fort Stewart convoys have been riding "black out" missions- driving with their Humvee's headlights off to anticipate and surprise ambushes along the route.

It's pretty scary to be driving on a dirt road through the woods in pitch darkness. But not with the "NODs" on. There's a growing debate on whether they should now be supplied to the Iraqi army.

Here's an interesting sidebar on supplying NODs to Iraqi soldiers.

Muncie man will deploy to Iraq for a third time

Ft Stewart, GA- Sergeant Larry Bilbrey, 40, has been deployed to four different combat zones over his 18-year military career. This will be his third time to Iraq.

Born and raised in Muncie IN, he’s been deployed to Panama, Honduras, Iraq- once during this war and once during Desert Storm. His last time there he did security for an airfield outside of Baghdad.

In July he was told by doctors that he has an incurable lung condition called Sarcoidosis, or Sarcoid, that could decrease his lung capacity and affect his breathing. He had already volunteered to go back to Iraq in May.

“They (the doctors) told me in two years it will put me down or I’ll beat it. I told them I’ll see them in two years.”

Bilbrey said it makes it easier that his wife is ex-military. They met when they were both on active duty at Fort Lewis, WA. She was a truck driver and he was a mechanic.

“She needed a truck fixed and needed to see me to get it fixed,” he said. “We’ve been together for 16 years.”

Bilbrey got out of Active Duty when his wife got pregnant with their twin boys. But he missed military life and decided the Guard might be a good way to see if he could still handle its rigors at his age. He proved to himself that he could.

Over a life of service he has learned some things. “Trust your battle buddy,” Bilbrey tells the younger guys, “Look out for each other. If you can’t trust the guy next to you, who can you?”

“You have your own sector of fire. You have his back, he has yours.”

Bilbrey was new to this company, but the bonds between soldiers take hold quickly.

“I tell them, I have a family at home and a family here. You guys are my family here.”

Part of his new family is a squad of seven young soldiers. Last week they were training for guard duty at Fort Stewart. Towards the end of their eight-hour shift, a delivery truck came too close to the gate. Bilbrey yelled at his guys, two private first classes, to back the truck up. It was too late. The truck exploded.

Bilbrey shakes his head. “I would have had to end up writing two letters home if it was a real situation. We need to correct it here, not over there.”

“This will be my third time in Iraq,” he said. “I’ve lost soldiers. I don’t like to lose soldiers.” He said he lost seven soldiers during Desert Storm.

Bilbrey’s current platoon, Echo 113, has only two combat vets. Inexperience will be one of the main challenges in their deployment.

When asked what he think has changed since his last deployment to Iraq, Bilbrey said, “I think we’ve eliminated the regular threat. What we have left is the smarter ones.”

Bilbrey dismisses any idea of personal sacrifice, especially given his prior experience and health condition.

“My boys,” the twins are now 12, “said Dad, you’re not a quitter.”

“This is what the Army called me to do. I do it. This is a job I’ve been good at for 18 years. I took a lot of soldiers over there. A lot came back.”

Reconstruction and relationships in Iraq

Major Stewart spent 18 months in charge of combat engineers for the Iraqi army. He helped them organize civil affairs and reconstruction missions throughout the country.

Stewart lived on an Iraqi army base that received about three hours of power a day. Usually they'd cool it down just long enough so the soldiers could get to sleep, he said.

Still he witnessed this fledgling army made up of Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites slowly making progress.

Under Saddam, Stewart said, the force was dominated by fear and corruption. Now Iraqi soldiers must learn to be responsible for making their own choices.

"It's like taking an infant," he said. "You can't give them a college curriculum right away."

Stewart had many insights from working so closely with Iraqi nationals. "I made a lot of close Iraqi friends, a lot of good soldiers," he said.

He always had at least one translator as his shadow. I relied on him to communicate what I needed, Stewart said, and he relied on me to watch and protect him.

Translators usually come from the more highly-educated Iraqi class. Many forgo professional careers for the financial opportunities of working with the U.S. forces.

For example, Stewart said that as a doctor, his translator might have made $300 dollars a month, compared to $1200 as a translator for the U.S. Army.

But they face tremendous risks.

"Their life is worse than James Bond," he said, describing how translators must disguise that they are going to work at a U.S. base. They normally stay for 10-12 days at a time, but not much longer or the insurgents in their home neighborhoods will begin asking about them.

"We lost two (translators) while I was there," Stewart said soberly.

He made lasting bonds with several of his translators. "Did I trust him 100 percent? Probably not," Stewart said of one translator he called "Tom".

But of the five translators he worked with, he said he's sponsoring two to come to the States.

A special sponsorship program allows foreign interpreters to come to the U.S. after a lengthy application process that in this case included a recommendation letter Stewart was able to procure from a brigadier general.

"Tom will be coming to my home in Florida in two weeks," Stewart said. "I will help find him a job, a place to live, a car, insurance."

"We're doing a lot of good for them, and they're doing a lot of good for us," he said.

Stewart said that even some senior Iraqi officials he met were frantically trying to save $300. That is the cost of paperwork to move their families to a safer country.

"Just to save their family," he said with a mixture of sympathy and admiration.

Riding through mud

Eight hours slogging through muddy trails that made pick ups turn back. Inside a leaky Humvee with Alpha company of 293 Infantry. The purpose- seven days of guarding convoys, firing back when the enemy fires and speeding past improvised bombs.

All under the mentorship of a 1st Army advisor who referees who "lives" and "dies" based on how well the Alpha soldiers react to the incoming threats.

Accelerating, sliding into ruts, from the passenger side the commanding sergeant taps on the touch screen to plot our convoy’s movements while the gunners face out the top turret, gripping the handles of their .50 caliber machine guns and trying to see through the constant rain and wind.

The driver has to keep his foot on the gas and both hands tight on the wheel or even these wide-bodied beasts could bog down or flip.

The constant crackle of radio communication between vehicles. The close boom that makes me sit up straight. Concentration that comes from lives depending on it.

Eight hours later, debriefing- the company's reaction time and return fire accuracy- excellent. The best indicator of this- no "casualties".

Still unloading trucks and cleaning weapons at 10pm, missing chow and the severe need for a shower. Tomorrow another mission.

Combat medic looking out for soldiers

Specialist James Davis is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. And he will save lives in combat.

He’s a trained combat medic with Echo 113th of the 76th Indiana National Guard set to deploy to Iraq soon.

Though strapped with rifle and body armor, Davis, exudes a calm and caring beyond his 21 years.

“I wanted to be a medical professional,” said the Kokomo, IN resident who was born and raised in Tipton. “There’s nothing better than taking care of soldiers. There’s just one medic right now- me.”

Most companies have two medics per platoon with six to 10 assigned per company. Davis said he carries up to 80 pounds of life-saving gear in the field. He must maintain both state and national Emergency Medical Technician certificates.

He trained for 16 weeks at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX where he received the latest in critical care pertaining to the war in Iraq.

Burns and amputations from Improvised Explosive Devices have proven to be the most traumatic injuries to date. While blood loss is the number one cause of death, Davis said.

His second priority is to look for signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. “I’m more trained to recognize them,” he said. “A lot of people don’t consider their effects on marriages and families.”

Davis has been an EMT for three years in civilian life and a combat medic for one year. The big difference he said is that as a combat medic he treats more trauma, and can give prescription medicines to soldiers in need. “It’s a larger scope of practice,” he said.

A practice that can be as simple as reminding guys to stay hydrated in this Georgia heat that simulates the effects of dehydration they could face in the Middle East.

Davis who leaves behind a three-year old, Raegen, said when he was called up he welcomed the chance to deploy with his fellow soldiers. “It’s my passion to give the best care they can get and make sure they come home.”

He also encourages his fellow soldiers to have “strong spiritual fitness” no matter what faith they believe in.

A Protestant by choice, Davis said he was raised with spiritual values. “I pray for my troops. I do understand the importance of spiritual strength.”

And he’s already putting his life-saving skills into practice. Just yesterday one of the sergeants in his company was experiencing chest pains. Davis recognized the signs as a possible heart attack and was able to administer primary care on the scene. Later he helped explain what he had observed to doctors in the ER.

As with many National Guard soldiers, the benefits of joining the Guard go together with his vocation and future goals. “I originally joined for the GI Bill to help as many people as possible as a Physician’s Assistant.”

There’s no doubt you would want to have specialist Davis by your side when going into a war zone.

Combat linguist trains soldiers on all things Arab

Sgt. Rida Sihabmansour, 25, speaks English, French and five dialects of Arabic. His first name, Rida, means God’s forgiveness in Arabic.

Now Sgt. Sihabmansour, a native Moroccan, is helping teach soldiers of Indiana's 76th on Arab customs and basic Arabic phrases.

He joined the military as part of a new combat linguist program started in 2003. Sihabmansour and 27 other native Arabic speakers were trained in a six-week program out of Fort Jackson, S.C. So far 427 Arabic speakers have signed on.

“We were trained to be soldiers first, then interpreters, then cultural interpreters.”

It is the only military specialty guaranteed to go to Iraq, the recruiter told him.

Sihabmansour, who is married to an American from Greensboro, N.C. agreed to sign up. "I want to earn my citizenship. This is the one thing I’m doing for my country.”

“I have 24 friends from my class now in Iraq,” he said. They are interpreting, translating documents, intelligence gathering and interrogating.

Assigned to the 76th brigade, he is one of three combat linguists. Sihabmansour trains soldiers on Arabic customs. For example during Ramadan, a holy month when devote Muslims fast during the day, how it is rude to eat in front of them or offer food.

He teaches soldiers that they shouldn’t talk to women without first talking to their husbands, nor should they do a “double take” in public if they see a pretty woman.

As for the Arabic language, all members of the 76th must spend 28 hours in an Arabic language lab set up here at Ft. Stewart. They must also pass a test on 15 essential phrases like: my name is, do you need medical attention, I need directions.

Sihabmansour helps to supplement the computer course with say and repeat language drills focusing on pronunciation.

“I know how glad people over there will be to hear the soldiers speaking a few words in Arabic.”

He says it’s a sign of great respect.

As his instructor at combat linguist school told him, “We learned that when we tried force, it didn’t work. Now we’re trying to build bridges.”

In fact more and more Arabic speakers are joining the U.S. Army because it puts them on a fast track to U.S. citizenship. In just over a year Sihabmansour should have his citizenship, where as the green card process normally takes four to five years.

Still Sihabmansour didn’t just join for the fast track to citizenship or for the incentive pay. “I love being a solider,” he said. “I want to make a career out of it.”

A conversation with the Lieutenant Colonel

“Our mission is to do a job, not to bring everyone back," said Lt. Col. Burt Owens. "But if we can bring everyone back, we want to."

Violence is down in Iraq. The 76th’s mission is shaped by these changing security needs. The brigade will be broken up into units of about 100 soldiers to provide security for convoys and guard towers at bases.

40 percent of the 76th ICBT is on its second deployment, Owens said. All of the leadership has prior deployment and a lot the non-commission officers are on their second deployments.

"This is good training," Owens said, comparing it to his training when he was deployed to Afghanistan. "The level of training has improved. Non-commissioned officers are making the difference. Good NCOs run missions. They’re the ones out there."

The training is more realistic given the lessons learned in Iraq. “More gun time, not to be a warmonger,” Lt. Col. Owens said. “Weapons are tools. An apprentice has the same tools as a journeymen, but less confidence in how to use them.”

“You can kill yourself just as much as you can kill others.”

Drilling will give confidence, less panic, less mistakes. These guys are more confident now, he said. “All redundancy creates muscle memory. The reaction itself will save soldiers.”

He expounded on the Army's new philosophy-- Interact first, shoot second.
“Every time we kill someone, we create enemies. We’re here to make friends.”

“This is not a meat grinder war,” he said. “Look at how many soldiers are killed compared to the casualties. The sheer numbers there will cause you to take some hits.”

“I was outside the gate every day in Afghanistan, and I came back fine.”

Training at Ft. Stewart

The 3,200 soldiers of the Indiana Infantry Brigade Combat Team have been split up into special task forces with separate missions mostly centered around convoy security and base protection. It's part of the new Army philosophy of "warrior training" putting the priority on infantry missions and skills for every soldier.

Echo company were originally the cooks and maintenance people, but they've been reassigned to do recovery force protection. If any vehicle goes down outside the wire, an Echo team will provide the security for the recovery mission to repair or tow that vehicle back to base. They also will man entry checkpoints on the huge Forward Operating Bases in Iraq.

Currently they are in the middle of an eight-day, 24-hour training exercise here at Ft. Stewart. The idea is to put as much stress on the units, to overload them with more problems than they could possibly face in one day. Yesterday the situations included a suicide bomber, civilians trying to photograph the command center, mortar attacks, the planting of an IED in the road, and stopping a "known" insurgent car.

When I first walked into the command center one of the soldiers approached me suspiciously. I was dressed in civilian clothes, including a long coat. The "suicide" attack had happened just that morning and their ears were still ringing from the simulation blast. I could have been another insurgent "inject", but I was just a somewhat bewildered reporter.

Day one

Arrived in Savannah. See Master Sergeant Murray who has been sent from Fort Stewart to pick me up. I wait for my black duffle bag to come through the baggage claim. The baggage claim stops. My black duffle has not come through. I wait in line to get a lost baggage number.

Msg. Murray drives the van toward Ft. Stewart. We are in Georgia, marshy landscape populated by stripped pines. Eerily beautiful. We enter Ft. Stewart territory. More of the same serene, misty landscape interrupted by the occasional MP car.

Ft. Stewart is the 2nd largest base in the U.S. in terms of acres, according to Murray. About 20,000 people at any one time, he estimates. Over 3,000 of the soldiers here are from the 76th Indiana Brigade Combat Team, with whom I will be embedding. Most of them have been here over a month.

My body armor has not yet arrived, nor my sleeping bag. The Army offices are dusty, concrete rooms with old desks, laptops with ethernet cords. The soldiers manning them smile and repeat my name. Foley… like Axl?

Murray and I drive a switchback road through razor wire to the first concrete blockade. The soldiers wear helmets and body armor. They carry M-4 rifles, their barrels capped with yellow locks. They look at both our IDs and send us through.

We are in a large compound, a simulated Forward Operating Base made up of uniform barracks and guard posts. Armored vehicles zip back and forth. The 76th is engaged in constant drills designed to condition them to the threats they will face in Iraq. Soldiers straddle the doors of running Humvees while others study maps spread against the hood. There is an atmosphere of constant readiness. Training. Train to failure.

Inside a large communication tent, I meet Captain. Kopczynski, my one contact to the 76th. She introduces me to Seargant Newport who has been a Public Affairs Officer with the National Guard since 1980. This is his third deployment. Somewhere I admit I’m not actually from Chicago, but New England. Bad idea. Hoosiers instinctually hate the Patriots. I hear repeated comments about the Manning brothers.

Newport and I go in search of a sleeping bag for me. I’m not sure if I need one. But I do.

Before we enter any building a soldier must unload his rifle's magazine and clear the chamber while pointing the muzzle towards a sand-filled barrel as a precautionary measure in case there's still a round inside. When exiting the barracks, they reload the magazine. All the magazines currently hold blanks. You can tell by the shape and serrated edges on the head of the bullet.

I sign out a sleeping bag, a bed pad, a borrowed Kevlar helmet and heavy body armor. (see photo). I'm assigned my own room in a barracks of separated rooms. This is something special. I assume it's reserved for is for journalists and officers. My room consists of two spring bunks, two stripped bureaus and some dusty pillows in a box marked Georgia correctional industries.

Newport takes me to the PX for replacement toiletries that have been lost with my baggage. The PX is a long trailer rig. For some reason the cashier is vomiting off the back as we approach. I get a tooth brush, tooth paste, soap, a couple Slim Jims, bottled waters, and cheese and crackers, all for $12.

We go to Chow. Chow line is burgers or Thanksgiving. I take Thanksgiving- a slab of turkey with real stuffing and mash potatoes. Not bad, but I forgot the gravy.

By the way, we eat standing up. Soldiers can’t sit down so well while strapped with body armor and rifles.

It is already 8p.m. and I’m losing focus. Fortunately there’s mud-thick coffee in the communications tent. Yet another meeting is going on.

I'm led back to my barracks. We keep busy, Newport says, I’ve been here two months and time has gone by quick because I keep busy. That’s good for the older guys like me. The younger ones play video games.

Everyone seems to be on an extending training exercise. Twelve hour shifts seem to be the norm.

I get my bedding set up and leave the barracks in search of a port-a-potty. I can’t find the ones I saw outside the mess hall before. All the barracks look the same from the outside. I make my way back to my building in the dark. Then I realize the facilities are right down the hall. Flushable toilets, sinks with soap, plenty of Muscle car and Lowrider magazines. Hot showers.

Taps plays at 11 o’clock.