Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Friday, March 11, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq — Members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team’s reconnaissance unit encountered three direct fire inci dents, two indi rect fire attacks, six roadside bombs and one car bomb on a recent mission, but all returned uninjured.

"Our guys have been really fortunate," Maj. Jimmie Cole, the unit’s commander, said. "A lot of things seemed to happen before we got there or right after we left."

Although Regimental Recon, short for reconnaissance, completed its mission with no U.S. military injuries or deaths, one civilian contract driver died from injuries suffered after a roadside bomb destroyed a truck, Maj. Cole said.

Two other contract civilian truck drivers suffered minor injuries in a traffic accident, he said.

This company-sized unit with the 278th Regimental Combat Team returned last weekend from a nearly seven-week mission providing security escorts for convoys of soldiers hauling their equipment out of Iraq to begin the journey home.

Unit members said they put about 6,000 miles on each of the roughly 60 gun trucks used to go back and forth from Iraq to Kuwait helping the 1st Infantry Division, which recently was replaced in Iraq by the 42nd Infantry Division. The 42nd now oversees the area encompassing the 278th’s three bases.

The assignment took the Tennessee-based National Guard unit across Iraq and Kuwait. Soldiers traveled as far north as Mosul and Kirkuk, as far west as Fallujah, as far east as Baqubah and as far south as Kuwait City. The reconnaissance soldiers almost lived in their Humvees, often sleeping inside, beside or on top of the vehicles under the stars with a pre-packaged military meal, or MRE, in their stomachs rather than the cooked food commonly found inside bases. Sometimes they could grab only a wink or two slumped over the steering wheels of the vehicles during the occasional convoy delay.

"You got just enough sleep to make you mad when they woke you up," said Spc. James Hodnett, 31, of Clarksville, Tenn. "I’ve got more respect for truck drivers back home that do this for a living."

The soldiers worked 14- to 15-hour days, according to Spc. Eric Tinkham, 35, of Harrison. Each team had a 24-hour recovery time to rest and perform maintenance on their vehicles before heading back out on another convoy.

"If we got paid by the hour, we’d all be making real good money," Spc. Tinkham said.

SEEING THE COUNTRY

Called Task Force Vigilant Guardian, the security assignment divided the unit into 14 teams that conducted a total of 78 convoy missions, each lasting from six to 10 days, according to Maj. Cole.

The unit moved just under 5,000 pieces of equipment out of the country including Bradley Fighting Vehicles, tanks and support trucks filled with supplies. The convoys took the unit to about 12 bases throughout Iraq.

Reconnaissance unit members said the 1st Infantry Division soldiers finishing their deployments couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces, and they enjoyed giving the exact number of days they had left until that family reunion a year in the making.

Members of the unit, back at Camp Caldwell and receiving mail for the first time since their mission began, said they have seen so much of this country through the windows of their Humvees they probably could get jobs as taxi drivers or tour guides.

Spc. Tinkham said Iraq has much more diversity than the deserts it is known for, with trees and palm groves as well as wetlands common throughout the countryside.

Still, Sgt. Jesse Yawn, 25, of Cleveland, Tenn., said poverty pervades Iraq, as evidenced by the mud huts held together by twigs and the cows rummaging through garbage piles in several cities the unit passed.

Sgt. William Newman, 35, of Henderson, Tenn., said the children along the roads would fight over any food tossed their way by passing soldiers. He said one girl of about 4 shook her fist at his convoy after soldiers threw her a bottle of water instead of something to eat.

"If they are old enough to stand up and walk, they will tell you that they want food," Sgt. Newman said.

The soldiers said they observed rudimentary capitalism at work. Children would congregate around convoys and hawk items such as drugs, pornographic magazines and old Iraqi money with ousted dictator Saddam Hussein’s face printed on the bill.

"They are hustlers," Spc. Tinkham said.

Spc. Jesse Wright, 22, of Chattanooga, said the contrast between poor and rich here is revealed through sights such as a man in a pressed suit walking in areas piled with uncollected trash.

Staff Sgt. Timothy B. Prince said he saw a clash of cultures with young women sporting long hair and jeans passing alongside older women garbed in the traditional clothing covering their entire bodies in black.

RULING THE ROAD

The reconnaissance soldiers had to juggle tasks. They looked for possible hostile forces in nearby vehicles, used the radio to keep tabs on what was happening ahead and checked maps to make sure the convoy wasn’t lost.

Driving along two-lane roads that the Iraqi drivers treated as eight-lane highways with no enforced speed limits was a challenge, Staff Sgt. Prince said.

"Traffic laws are a myth over here," he said.

Soldiers, used to ruling the road here, said they are afraid of being stopped for traffic violations once they return home.

"The police officer back home isn’t going to understand that we had no speed limits in Iraq," Sgt. Newman said.

U.S. convoys here rarely halt at stop signs and do not let civilian vehicles enter the convoys as protection against possible car bombs. Sgt. Yawn said a vehicle’s gunner once had to fire a couple of rounds into the back of a truck to get the driver’s attention to move over.

Spc. Wright bought himself a T- shirt printed with the words "Cruise the Iraqi Autobahn." At the bottom it says "No Speed Limit. ... Operation Iraqi Freedom Motor Club."

The 278th soldiers said they saw the international flavor of the forces here in Iraq along the highways where they passed Polish, Italian, Georgian, British and El Salvadoran soldiers. The reconnaissance team now is catching its collective breath before its next mission. It may involve escorting Iraqi army soldiers from base to base, something they did prior to Task Force Vigilant Guardian, Maj. Cole said.

But Staff Sgt. Prince said he hopes any future task doesn’t involve more long miles.

"I’ve already told my wife, ‘When I get home. you’re driving,’" he said. "After all this, I don’t need to be doing it anymore."

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

ON THE WEB Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/kp

Contributed Photo - A soldier with the 278th Regimental Combat Team’s reconnaissance unit sits atop a vehicle at sunset. Regimental Recon soldiers logged thousands of miles traveling back and forth from Iraq to Kuwait helping the 1st Infantry Division on a recent mission.

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