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Saturday, September 10, 2005
Families walk the walk for the 48th
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Deborah and Steve Johnston get to talk to their son, who commands a team in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Iraq, about once a week.
Of course, they think about him all the time. And when they walk together or with friends, that’s a special time to think about their 24-year-old son, 2nd Lt. Stephen Johnston.
Like many National Guard families across Georgia, the Johnstons have been keeping track of how many miles they’ve walked in honor of their soldier. Families and others with a loved one in the 48th Brigade Combat Team are striving for a total of 6,695 miles â€â€? the distance between the brigade’s base in Fort Stewart and their current assignment in Baghdad.
On Saturday, the Johnstons drove two hours to Pharr Elementary School in Snellville to join other families in a Walk to Baghdad event.
“Fellowship is always good,” said Deborah Johnston. “We’re from Rome and we don’t have much contact with the folks here … and even something like this, even though it’s symbolic, it makes you feel like you’ve contributed in some way or supported.”
The couple logged 8.1 miles each on Saturday and recorded a total of about 700 miles that they and friends have walked since July.
Some walkers have found sponsors to donate money for each mile they cover and others have sought donations from friends, co-workers or church members. Organizers hope to use the proceeds to buy needed items for 48th Brigade soldiers and their families, and to help the families of Louisiana Guard families affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Groups also walked Saturday at the National Guard Armory in Canton and in Albany.
Kimberly Keene organized the Snellville walk for members of the 1/121st Infantry Regiment’s Alpha Company, which is based in Lawrenceville.
Keene, leader of Alpha Company’s family readiness group, said 48th Brigade families have hit the halfway point for their mileage.
When they reach their goal, they’ll start all over again. Then, Keene said, it will be the symbolic walk home.
48th draws safer assignment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camp Striker, Iraq � The 48th Brigade Combat Team will change bases and be assigned less risky missions in the next few months, National Guard officials confirmed Saturday.
While there are no clearly distinguished front lines in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, commander of the 48th, said his soldiers would be moving away from direct combat operations. Since the brigade arrived in Iraq in early June, 18 soldiers have been killed, 14 in insurgent bomb attacks.
“Sometime in the next couple of months, we are anticipating a mission change that will change our territory and our mission posture,” Rodeheaver said. “We’re going through [an] analysis to determine our mission requirements.”
Rodeheaver said the change was anticipated and is part of normal U.S. military maneuvering in Iraq. He said the new tasks would suit a large brigade such as the 48th, which has about 4,500 soldiers.
The brigade’s size is likely to increase as it moves out of Camp Striker near the Baghdad International Airport and into other bases. Rodeheaver said units already in Iraq as well as other troops from the U.S. would likely be attached to the 48th Brigade and fall under his command.
The new assignment will not cut short the yearlong tour in Iraq for Georgia Army National Guard soldiers, who are not scheduled to go home until May or June 2006.
“Our deployment dates are still the same,” Rodeheaver said.
Rodeheaver described the brigade’s new role as more of a combat support and security mission that “probably will not be as intense.”
He declined to provide details or specific move dates because of security issues.
“The operation tempo will still be high,” he said. “However, the most likely threat of conducting full spectrum combat will be reduced.”
Bigger territory
Georgia soldiers now operate in about a 115-square-mile area southwest of Baghdad. A majority of them are based at Camp Striker.
The 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment is spread out among three temporary forward operating bases in Mahmudiyah, Lutafiyah and Yusufiyah, towns in a mostly Sunni area known as the Triangle of Death. The 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment is stationed at Taji, north of Baghdad, and in Mahmudiyah.
The new mission will stretch the 48th’s territory throughout Iraq from the Syrian, Turkish and Kuwaiti borders. Soldiers will be based at U.S. military camps scattered across the war-ravaged nation.
“The brigade will be given multiple missions throughout the country,” Rodeheaver said. “I’m excited. With the new mission, I will see the whole country. That will be a big plus.”
In its new mission, the 48th will no longer fall under the command of the of Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division, which is due to return home in January.
Soldiers happy
Many of the 48th soldiers welcomed the shift, especially those in infantry units that have been patrolling and conducting ambushes in treacherous areas.
“I can’t wait to get out of here,” said Sgt. Bill Jones of the 121st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, which lost eight soldiers to bombs planted in roads near Camp Striker.
Others are looking forward to improved living conditions. Striker, a vast, dusty tent-city, was designed as a transitional camp for soldiers on their way in and out of Iraq.
But the 48th Brigade was asked to stay in the area because of security needs, Rodeheaver said. He said the 48th made several improvements to Striker and requested trailers similar to ones at larger camps such as Liberty and Taji. They are scheduled to start arriving within days.
Many 48th soldiers, especially those at the three forward operating bases, have complained of austere conditions and lack of basic amenities.
“Some soldiers have been in difficult conditions because of combat mission requirements,” Rodeheaver acknowledged, adding that their comforts are sure to grow in their new assignment.
Note to readers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The latest installment of “One Town’s War,” a series documenting the deployment of National Guard soldiers from Dublin, can be found here.
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