A Stryker sendoff

Over the years, soldiers from Fort Wainwright have done the nation's military work in Vietnam, Haiti, Bosnia, the Middle East, and, more recently, Afghanistan and Iraq. They've gone in small and large numbers, but not since the days of Vietnam have they left their home base on such scale as they will in the next few weeks.

The 3,800 personnel of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which constitutes most of Fort Wainwright, have trained long and hard to prepare for the deployment that they have always suspected was coming. They go into Iraq as one of the U.S. Army's most-innovative type of units, which consist of the medium-weight eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles. Those Stryker vehicles, which have received generally good reviews from soldiers in the other Stryker brigades in Iraq, are likely to be homes for many of Fort Wainwright's soldiers for much of their tour in Iraq.

The thousands of people of the 172nd and their support units will be in Iraq at a critical time for that country and the effort to establish democracy there and perhaps elsewhere in the region. The brigade, similar to U.S. forces helping ensure a safe vote for the Iraqi National Assembly last January, is expected to be in the country for the historic votes later this year on adoption of an Iraqi constitution and the filling of seats in the government established by that document.

As those events unfold with success, as they likely will, Alaskans will have further reason for pride in their soldiers on the ground.

But as in most U.S. wars, there is dissent. That dissent, while allowable in a free society, surely can be put aside for a day marking the 172nd's deployment.

Thursday, the day of the ceremony at Fort Wainwright, should be a day about people, not politics. It should be a day about the men and women who have chosen a job that most of the rest of us would prefer not to do and yet must be completed. It should be about their courage and about the strength they have acquired in order to endure the coming hardship. It should be about the families who will be separated--husband from wife, father from daughter, mother from son.

It should be a day, too, in which there is acknowledgment that the men and women of the 172nd will arrive in Iraq and find people like 53-year-old Shamal Hekeib, who, after voting in January, proclaimed "I am doing this because I love my country, and I love the sons of my nation. We are Arabs, we are not scared and we are not cowards."

People like Mr. Hekeib are just one of the reasons that the people of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team are headed to Iraq. But they are the reason that most Americans, regardless of their differing views of this war, can readily identify with--a desire to be free.

Note: The deployment ceremony at Fort Wainwright is open to the public. It will occur at 2 p.m. and run about 90 minutes. People are asked to arrive early to obtain a visitor's pass at the main gate, located at the end of Airport Way.

A final farewell to troops

By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER

, Staff Writer

Officials touted Thursday's deployment ceremony for the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at the Fort Wainwright Army Post as the final farewell for the 3,800 soldiers who will begin leaving this weekend for a yearlong tour in Iraq.

But for some, the ceremony was a turning point after 18 months of preparation and worry. In 12 months, the brigade should begin returning to family and friends.

"We don't have to talk about him leaving anymore," Jacqueline Moore said of her husband, a staff sergeant with the brigade. "Now we can talk about him coming home."

Moore was among 2,000 to 3,000 family, friends, dignitaries, community leaders and members of the public who ringed the brigade as its members stood in formation for the ceremony. In all, more than 6,000 people were on hand to mark Alaska's largest deployment since the Vietnam War.

Moore and her three children are moving to Nashville, Tenn., to be near her mother. The move is partly for support while her husband is gone, but also because Moore is a member of the Army Reserves and anticipates being deployed in the next year.

"I just know I have to be prepared and get my family settled," she said.

Moore's husband was stationed in Korea for a year, so the family has been apart before. But Moore said the severity of military operations in Iraq makes this deployment more stressful.

"This is a little different," she said. "A little harder."

Many of the military families found the ceremony bittersweet, steeling themselves against the solemnity of the ceremony but maintaining a strong front in the face of the soldiers' departure.

Sandra Mitchell brought her two young children and four others she baby-sits whose fathers are part of the Stryker Brigade. The children each wore a shirt with the handwritten words, "Keep my daddy safe."

This is the first deployment for the Mitchell family, although Sandra Mitchell said she is keeping her composure about the absence of her husband, Staff Sgt. John Mitchell.

"It'll be OK, it'll be fine," she said with a deep breath. "I got faith."

For the troops, the ceremony marked a mental readiness. Capt. Michael Blankartz said the ceremony provides closure to the buildup toward deployment for soldiers and families. But he said for the Strykers, the extensive training and preparations have given them a confidence that they are ready for whatever awaits.

"I've been in the Army for 18 years," Blankartz said. "I've never felt more prepared. Never."

During the ceremony, each battalion cased its colors, a tradition of sleeving the flag representing each battalion. The flags will not be uncased until the troops arrive in Iraq. Brigade commander Col. Michael Shields was also presented with an Alaska flag from city of Fairbanks Mayor Steve Thompson and Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker.

Commanders reviewed the troops using modern means: Shields, U.S. Army Alaska Commander Maj. Gen. Charles Jacoby and commander of troops Lt. Col. Shawn Reed rode in a Stryker vehicle to circle the troops during inspection.

Commanders, including Jacoby, Shields and commander of U.S. Pacific Command Admiral William J. Fallon addressed the troops, warning the enemy they will face will be persistent but asserting U.S. troops will persevere.

"Your enemy is tough, committed, not just a one-dimensional picture on TV," Jacoby said. "He is absolutely beatable. Don't underestimate him, but remember he bleeds and your values ... and skills are better than his."

Jacoby also gave a nod to the veterans in the crowd like 84-year-old Morris Morgan, who served in World War II and the Korean War. Morgan attended to honor family friend Lt. Col. Tom Lyngholm, who is deploying with the Strykers. Morgan said he served 31 months in the Southwest Pacific theater and knows, even generations later, what the troops and families are facing. Jacoby also recognized that.

"Today's soldiers stand on your strong, broad soldiers," Jacoby said.

As the ceremony ended, troops fell out of formation and families converged on the airfield to greet them. It was similar to the scene the troops and families are now looking forward to in about a year when the brigade returns.

In Shields' closing remarks, he commented on the appropriateness of the brigade's mascot name--The Arctic Wolves. He said it is a symbol that applies to soldiers, the brigades and their families in many similar ways.

"The strength of the pack is in the wolf," Shields said. "The strength of the wolf is the pack."

Staff writer Margaret Friedenauer can be reached at 459-7545 or mfriedenauer@newsminer.com .

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