Posted on 02/05/2010 3:32:02 PM PST by SandRat
DIYALA – "This is way easier than my last deployment," said Sgt. George Applegate, from Evergreen, Colo., while pulling security beside his Stryker vehicle near the Iraqi Police's 7th Battalion Emergency Reaction Force headquarters in Muqdadiyah, Jan. 31. Applegate, a fire team leader with 2nd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and the rest of 2nd Platoon were conducting a night patrol there, searching for possible improvised explosive devices.
A couple years ago, Applegate wouldn't have been engaged in such a casual conversation while pulling security, because the threat of violence was much more prominent.
"This country differs greatly," said Applegate, who was last deployed to Iraq from August 2006 to November 2007 with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, stationed just south of Baghdad.
On his last deployment, Applegate operated as part of a combat force in a light infantry unit, encountering violence on a regular basis. There were no combined operations back in those days.
"We were basically a quick reaction force for the entire country," he said. "We were able to be deployed anywhere in a heartbeat."
Moving around quite a bit and going out on continuous missions, Applegate found himself living in quarters that are unheard of in today's Iraq. He has repeatedly slept in storage containers placed at strategic locations or set up camp in empty houses, whose original occupants evacuated to escape sectarian violence.
"It's a much better Iraq now," he said.
At the tail end of his first trip to Iraq, Applegate started to see the Iraqi Army and Police take form. They weren't equipped with the best weaponry or tactics, but they were willing to make a difference.
"After the Iraqi Security Forces started taking action, it was like flipping a light switch," he said. "The violence seemed to immediately stop, shops opened back up and people started to live normal lives."
Now, he finds himself as part of an assistance team with 2nd Platoon, conducting joint operations and training with the IP and the IA, working as a teacher and mentor as opposed to kicking down doors.
"We're doing a lot of training with these guys; we're even doing PT [physical training] with them," he said.
During this deployment, 2nd Platoon has worked a lot with their primary partners in the Iraqi ERF, conducting training and combined operations with them at least twice a week. When they first started working together, the ERF were inexperienced. After the partnership started, the U.S. Soldiers noticed an instant difference.
"Seeing their improvement in the first two weeks was impressive," exclaimed Applegate.
Gearing up for this deployment, Applegate was nervous. With the last deployment fresh on his mind, he expected the same for this adventure.
"Everyone that had a previous deployment was pretty uptight," said Applegate while talking about getting ready to deploy with 2/3 Inf., 3SBCT.
When he and the Soldiers of 2nd Platoon set boots on the ground, they started conducting operations that involved working more with the people of Iraq than he had before.
"We started to get used to the people in the area. The interaction with children and people in the area is much better," Applegate said with a smile.
Throughout his experience in the Army, Applegate has seen Iraq change so much that he finds it hard to believe it's the same place. To him, it's like he has been deployed to two different countries. He left an Iraq that was ravaged with violence and came back to find a nation finding its feet, with a much more competent infrastructure.
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