U.S. troops resolute after 5 years in Iraq

FORWARD OPERATING BASE NORMANDY, Iraq — At the five-year mark since U.S. troops entered Iraq, warriors here continue fighting and dealing with the consequences.

It is doubtful that Army Capt. Vince Morris, a hard-charging company commander with the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment normally stationed in Vilsek, Germany, is tracking the anniversary debates. He is in a military hospital recovering from the severe concussion he suffered when his armored vehicle exploded immediately outside the entrance to this base, northeast of Baqouba.

Sgt. Rob Robertson will be working from his combat operations post — without television, radio or newspapers — in the town of Himbus, in Diyala’s “breadbasket.” He will be conducting foot patrols and searching for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), weapons caches and terrorists who went into hiding after a major U.S. and Iraqi push into the region in January.

When he is not on combat duty, he and other men of Iron Company will comb through scores of applications from people in his area wanting to join Concerned Local Citizens groups, the armed neighborhood-watch units renamed Sons of Iraq, which are viewed as a major contributor to increased security in parts of the country.

“What about this one, this Ahmed guy?” he asked a colleague recently while sitting in his tent. “He was a sergeant in Saddam’s army.”

Ahmed was photographed, questioned and fingerprinted during a recruitment drive. If he passes initial vetting, he could be given a midlevel leadership spot in a Sons of Iraq unit at $450 a month.

Capt. Matt Ross and Lt. Andy Teague of Golf Company are absorbed elsewhere. They are trying to persuade Sunni residents forced from their village by Shi’ite Mahdi militiamen — who also are thought to be members of the local Iraqi police force — to identify the culprits so they can be arrested.

“I showed [one of the displaced families] the book of photographs of the IPs,” Lt. Teague told the captain, referencing the records of Iraqi police.

“They picked 10. When I told them I needed statements to see about arresting the guys who forced them out they suddenly picked every Shi’ite IP they could recognize. I don’t know what’s true. How do we sort this out?”

“Joes,” as soldiers call themselves, will be immersed in other, usually monotonous, duties elsewhere across Iraq. They will show their presence in the streets of villages, towns and cities to enhance a sense of security for the locals and to gather information on al Qaeda and nationalist insurgent groups. They will turn wrenches to keep aircraft aloft and armored vehicles running. They will push the piles of paper that coordinate with deployment and operations.

It is dangerous out here. Every journey off a forward operating base or combat operations post risks an encounter with a mine, a vehicle packed with bombs or a terrorist wearing an explosive vest.

Nearly 4,000 Americans have died in Iraq since 2003, most as a result of hostile action. In the past year, the majority of deaths have resulted from IEDs, U.S. military officials say.

About 160,000 Army, Marine, airmen and Navy personnel are serving in Iraq this year, many back for their second or third tours.

Those working “outside the wire” — nonadministrative or nonsupport personnel — are less likely now to be assigned to kick down doors in search of the enemy. Their duties involve peacekeeping: mediating community disputes, helping rebuild infrastructure, fostering projects to create local jobs and mentoring their Iraqi counterparts.

All of those 160,000 know how many months they have left in their 15-month deployments, and as departure nears it becomes an exact number of days.

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