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Hollywood actors Dean Cain and Amanda Swisten express their thanks to Task Force Baghdad soldiers during "Taji Fight Night" at Camp Taji, Iraq, May 22. Cain and Swisten visited soldiers in Iraq as part of a two-week "Ambassadors of Hollywood" tour. Photo by Spc. Derek Del Rosario, USA

Superman Pays Visit to Task Force Baghdad Soldiers

By Spc. Erin Robicheaux, USA Special to American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 25, 2005 – He may not have leapt over tall buildings in a single bound or dodged any speeding bullets to get here, but Dean Cain, the former star of ABC's "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," and current host of TBS's "Ripley's Believe It, or Not," did fly by plane to Iraq with his new sidekick, actress and model Amanda Swisten.

They visited Camp Liberty May 22, signing autographs and posing for pictures with Task Force Baghdad soldiers.

The pair is on a two-week mission to meet with U.S. soldiers and to see firsthand how troops are faring.

What seemed to surprise the stars most was how much is actually happening, in relation to the portrayal by the media. "I didn't see all of the negative stuff that the mainstream media reports," Cain said. "This is war and sometimes bad things happen, but those are isolated incidents. I've seen with my own eyes that this is not the whole story."

Swisten, who has appeared in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, and movies such as "American Wedding" and "The Girl Next Door," echoed Cain's sentiments of the real stories from troops in Iraq.

"The media blows a lot of it out of proportion. The small incidents are made to seem much larger. All we hear about are the scandals, like in the (Abu Ghraib) prison. What about the other stories?" she said.

The two were well aware of the dangers of combat missions, thanks to accounts from soldiers. They visited hospitals and spoke with wounded troops, and witnessed the lengths that military medical teams take to save a human life - even if it is the life of an enemy.

"We met a soldier who was shot, ... and the assassin was shot in the head," recalls Cain. "He shot one of our soldiers and then received excellent medical care from our people."

The stars also paid a visit to Camp Taji, where they dined with soldiers and later got a front-row seat at "Taji Fight Night," the camp's weekly boxing event. The celebrities were welcomed as special guests and given a chance to share their appreciation for the troops.

"This (the tour) has given us a great opportunity to show our support for the troops," Swisten said to hundreds of Fight Night spectators. "We are going to go back to the states and tell everyone what a great job you are doing."

Swisten and Cain decided to get involved when a representative from Pro Sports Marketing Ventures and Promotions asked Hollywood celebrities to show their support for the troops fighting the war on terror. Swisten said that it was far from a difficult decision.

"I lost a lot of friends on Sept. 11, and I'm a patriot at heart. I'm an American, and this is the smallest thing that I can do to give back, to go by and say 'hi' and take some pictures with people who know me from a movie or a magazine," she said.

Swisten also said she admires the bravery of the soldiers she met during her visit. "They have more courage than anybody I know back home," she said.

Cain said the scene was different from what he initially expected. "It's not what you see in the news every day. It's a bunch of really strong, hard-working Americans who are protecting the liberties and freedoms that we enjoy at home every day, and we should all be a whole lot more appreciative of them than we are," he said.

Both entertainers said they will walk away from this experience more enlightened and feeling like they know what's really going on. "This has been really grounding to see it for myself, that everybody here is out to do good work and serve their country, even though at the end of the day, they'd love to go home," Swisten said.

Cain agreed. "Being here and living with (soldiers) is a whole different world, and you can see how tough they really are," he said. "If people were to come over here and spend the two weeks that we've spent, their entire worlds would be changed completely around."

Actress and model Amanda Swisten and Dean Cain, host of "Ripley's Believe it, or Not," smile for the cameras with Army Lt. Col. Michael Pryor, plans officer for the 256th Brigade Combat Team. Swisten and Cain spent two weeks visiting troops serving in Iraq. Photo by Spc. Erin Robicheaux, USA

(Army Spc. Erin Robicheaux is assigned to the 256th Brigade Combat Team. Army Spc. Derek Del Rosario, of the 3rd Aviation Brigade, also contributed to this article.)

Army Col. Gary H. Cheek, commander of Combined Task Force Thunder (center), and Command Sgt. Maj. Edmund Murrell, CTF Thunder command sergeant major (right), walk with Capt. John Sego, commander of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, and a member of the Afghan National Army during a foot patrol Nov. 5, 2004, in Sehla, Afghanistan, in Paktika Province. The last Combined Task Force Thunder unit will relinquish control of its sector in Afghanistan June 1 as the unit redeploys to Hawaii. Photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen, USA

Last 25th ID Unit in Afghanistan Prepares to Redeploy to Hawaii

By Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen, USA Special to American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, May 25, 2005 – After a year in Afghanistan, the soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Combined Task Force Thunder are preparing to redeploy to Hawaii.

The headquarters is currently conducting a "relief in place" with 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, and will relinquish control of eastern Afghanistan during a transfer-of-authority ceremony scheduled for June 1.

Initially, the headquarters wasn't even slated to deploy. While nearly the entire 25th Infantry Division (Light) received deployment orders to either Iraq or Afghanistan in late 2003, HHB was left out.

That changed when a decision was made to stand up a new brigade in Afghanistan, and Division Artillery was tabbed as the headquarters. More than 100 people from the headquarters deployed to Afghanistan last June, and since then, it has run one of the largest and most diverse commands in Afghanistan.

For the last year, CTF Thunder oversaw Regional Command East, which covers 16 provinces in eastern Afghanistan along the country's border with Pakistan.

The task force included infantry battalions from the active-duty Army and Marine Corps, and Army National Guard. It also included eight provincial reconstruction teams, with a ninth currently being stood up.

Sgt. Roger Amposta, a fire direction specialist for CTF Thunder, is one of the soldiers who will return to Hawaii in the beginning of June after a year in Afghanistan.

The 26-year-old native of Cavite, in the Philippines, spent the deployment working in the brigade headquarters at Forward Operating Base Salerno. In addition to tracking the brigade's artillery assets, he's also helped to track air support.

Before deploying, Amposta was strictly artillery, but now can call for close air support. He said the whole deployment was a good learning experience, particularly when it came to doing things he hadn't done before and working with other units and services.

"Even though sometimes you might get into an argument, but when it comes to the job, people always come together," he said

This was the first deployment for Amposta, who had spent the previous two-plus years in Korea and volunteered to move to Hawaii so he could deploy.

"I was in Korea for two and a half years and I was ready to deploy, and I said, 'Yeah, I'll go to Hawaii. It doesn't matter to me that they're deploying,'" he said

Calling the deployment an "eye opener," Sgt. Allison Urbatsch, a human-resource specialist for CTF Thunder, said it taught her to be grateful for what she has.

The 23-year-old Rock Springs, Wyo., native said one of the highlights of the deployment was going out on five combat patrols with the infantry. During these patrols, she would guard and search Afghan women since the local culture prohibits male soldiers from doing so.

"It was fun," she said. "It was a different world out there, different from staying at camp."

Urbatsch said that before deploying she hoped she would get the opportunity to do something like that, but she never thought she actually would.

"Overall, I'm glad it's over with, but it was a good experience, and it made me realize we should be grateful for what we have," she said.

For Capt. Eric Johnson, commander of HHB, the deployment involved several different aspects. He arrived in country on April 25, 2004, as the commander of Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, then became a brigade plans officer at CTF Thunder for three months before assuming command of HHB.

He spent a month in Ghazni, two months in Tarin Kowt, two months at Bagram Air Base and the rest of the time at FOB Salerno.

Johnson, 31, a native of Port Huron, Mich., said that although it was an exciting year, he's ready to head back.

"As with anything that lasts this long, you're sad to see it end, but you're happy to see it over," he said. "We're excited to go home, but we're excited to finish the mission strong and hand the mission over to the 82nd better than we found it."

More than 5,500 25th ID soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, including the division headquarters and 3rd Brigade, but DIVARTY is the last division unit to remain in the country.

For Urbatcsh, watching the rest of her fellow "Tropic Lightning" soldiers leave helped her to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"It was nice to see them leaving because I knew it was a step in the right direction for us that we were on our way out too," she said

Johnson said it's a special honor to be the last unit from the 25th ID in Afghanistan, especially considering the complexity of the mission it had to perform here.

"This unit was notified late of its deployment after most of the division had either been deployed or was in the midst of deploying, and to bring it back after doing what we've done here is a great honor," he said.

After a year performing a unique role in Afghanistan, DIVARTY will soon reach the end of the road in more than one sense. The unit will be deactivated within weeks of returning to Hawaii.

As the 25th ID moves toward a more deployable, brigade-centric unit, DIVARTY, along with the 25th Field Artillery Detachment and Battery F, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, will be deactivated June 15 during a ceremony at Schofield Barracks.

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Combined Task Force Thunder leads other units participating in the Great Aloha Run Jan. 30 at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan. The last Combined Task Force Thunder unit will relinquish control of its sector in Afghanistan June 1 as the unit redeploys to Hawaii. Photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen, USA

"As is appropriate for an artillery unit, we're definitely going out with a big bang," Johnson said.

(Army Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen is assigned to Combined Task Force Thunder.)