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Posted on 10/30/2003 10:01:38 PM PST by kattracks
FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) - About 4,000 members of the Army's first Stryker brigade got their formal farewell Thursday before they ship out next week for a yearlong mission in Iraq. "A year from now we'll probably return to Fort Lewis knowing that Iraq is a better place because of our time there," Col. Michael E. Rounds, the brigade commander, told the troops and their friends and relatives during a 60-minute departure ceremony.The brigade is built around the Stryker, the Army's first new combat vehicle in 20 years, which can carry as many as 11 soldiers. The brigade's 300 Strykers - eight-wheeled vehicles that can travel faster than 60 mph - were loaded onto ships at Tacoma and are in transit.
Spc. Tim Cornelius, 27, of Lakeland, Fla., will be driving one of the Strykers.
"They're pretty quick," Cornelius said. "They're a lot more fun than driving a Bradley (fighting vehicle)."
Cornelius will be leaving behind his wife of a year, Jennifer, 30.
"It saddens me that we have to deploy out," she said. "It's kind of hard to see everybody go."
The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was trained at Fort Lewis to be the 21st century's ultimate fighting force - a faster, more agile armored unit. Their unit is the first of six Stryker brigades planned by the Army.
Actual departures will begin in the middle of next week at nearby McChord Air Force Base. It will take 12 days to send off the troops and another 1,000 people - soldiers from other units and civilian support groups, said public information officer Lt. Col. Joseph Piek.
Maj. Jim Markert, 36, of DuMont, N.J., a 1989 West Point graduate and a soldier for 18 years, said he doesn't see much point in worry.
On Sept. 11, 2001, hundreds went to work at the World Trade Center "and look what happened to them," he said. "You can worry about everything."
Markert's three sons - James, 5; Sean, 2 1/2, and Tommy, 10 months - were dressed in Army uniforms.
"Sean's had his uniform on for three days," Markert said with a smile. "He wants to be a paratrooper when he grows up."
Markert's wife of 12 years, Karin, said she will be doing a lot of praying for his safety.
"A year's a long time," she said.
Sgt. Maj. Frank Leota, 40, a veteran who saw combat in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, will be separated from his wife, 1st Sgt. Vira Leota, also 40. The couple were together in Desert Storm when both were paratroopers. She will remain in Seattle.
"I think when you stay back, it's a little bit harder than when you're actually deploying with your husband," she said.
The division is to replace elements of the 3rd Armored Calvary Division in Iraq's Anbar province, the largest in Iraq. The province includes the cities of Ar Ramadi and Fallujah in the heart of the "Sunni Triangle."
That's where support for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein runs deep and where there have been daily attacks on U.S. forces.
AP-ES-10-30-03 2321EST
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Unfriendly territory.
8 Every Time the Wind Blows - Part 2 - Why We Are Here (3rd ACR in Iraq) ~ Asia Times Online | 10/24/2003
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(FYI, the link goes to the Honolulu Star Bulletin and its ongoing reportage, not of the brigade, but instead of its protestors). If you aren't sickened enough by the one article, check out back issues as well - they've had one almost daily this week.
From the Useful idiots link:
"I think we prevailed because we're right," said protester Keith Kajihiro, of the American Friends Service Committee in Hawaii, who was arrested Tuesday. "We had truth and justice on our side."
Maybe intelligence should be an option.
Sheesh! If the Army wants to play catch-up, put more TANKS in the mix.
I have a deep and abiding respect for the Army, they broke the Nazi battalions sideways.
But I have grave misgivings if the Army wants to replace Tanks with a wheelie.
Wheelies have a good place in maneuver warfare. They can outrun tanks and infantry and show up in unexpected places.
They have no place in an occupation. When occupying enemy territory (such as Iraq) we need the biggest, baddest stuff available.
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