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Sunday, November 27, 2005
New job scatters 48th across Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Logistical Support Area Adder, Iraq — Maj. Chris Kemper calls the map his “slide of insanity.”
It’s part of a PowerPoint computer slide show he uses to brief fellow soldiers about their new missions.
The complex map has green, red, orange and blue boxes that represent units of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. It also has 21 black arrows that point to the far-flung new locations across Iraq where Georgia National Guard soldiers are now based.
Curtis Compton/AJC
Spc. Solomon West (left) of Atlanta and Spc. Shaun Robinson of Savannah, both of the 118th Field Artillery Regiment, work on their bikes at Al Asad Air Base.
Until Halloween, most of the brigade’s soldiers were relatively close to Baghdad,
fighting insurgents, hunting roadside bombs and enduring repeated rocket and mortar attacks.
Now, the 48th is scattered from Basra in the south to Baghdad in the middle of the country to the Jordanian border on the west for what is officially called a “Theater Security Mission.”
The new job involves protecting the U.S. military’s supply lines and guarding truck convoys throughout the country to ensure soldiers get what they need to fight the insurgents.
As the 48th’s plans officer, Kemper helped decide how the brigade’s more than 4,400 soldiers would be dispersed. He said his wife jokingly refers to him as the brigade’s “cruise director.”
“It’s pretty critical that we get things right the first time,” said Kemper, 34, a Home Depot assistant store manager from Lilburn. “Operations are so fluid. Things can change at the drop of a hat. With the skill sets we have and the people we have, I think we will be successful at it.”
48th inherited mission
The Theater Security Mission is not new. The Georgians inherited it from the Texas National Guard’s 56th Brigade Combat Team. Another brigade already has been selected to take over the mission from the 48th in the late spring or early summer of next year.
U.S. military leaders in Iraq ordered the Georgians to take over the mission, leaving officers like Kemper to decide where to position the brigade’s troops. It was a complex task, considering the number of different bases out of which the 48th has to operate.
Kemper said the brigade sought to keep its battalions intact and, for the most part, was successful.
The brigade headquarters, 148th Support Battalion and 648th Engineer Battalion, which were based at Camp Striker near Baghdad International Airport, were moved to Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq.
Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment had been scattered among three Sunni-dominated cities — Mahmudiyah, Yusufiyah and Lutafiyah — just south of Baghdad. Now, the battalion is back together in a much safer area at Convoy Support Center Scania in southern Iraq, a place the soldiers refer to as “Club Med.”
And the 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, which had been at Camp Taji north of Baghdad, was moved virtually intact to Al Asad Air Base near the town of Hit, in the restive Al Anbar province of western Iraq. It has added National Guard soldiers from Maryland and Rhode Island to form a task force with the responsibility of guarding truck convoys on days-long runs between the base and the Jordanian border.
Not all of the efforts to keep battalions intact were successful.
Two companies of the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment were ordered to remain in the Baghdad area to work with regular Army units from the 101st Airborne Division and 10th Mountain Division.
Kemper said those soldiers will provide extra muscle for Iraq’s Dec. 15 national assembly election with their armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
Even though some of the 48th soldiers are working with other units, they still receive their orders from their own brigade. The 118th’s 1st Battalion troops report to the Marines about their missions and the routes they travel, but still officially are under control of the 48th leadership.
Communications strong
Despite the fragmentation of the Georgia brigade, 48th officials said their communications systems enable them to keep tabs on what everyone is doing.
Some 48th soldiers are thrilled to be away from direct combat in the Baghdad area. They are catching up on sleep and playing sports again. Others are growing antsy with the downtime and say they would rather be back in combat zones.
Second Lt. Jason Royal said he led a platoon from Camp Striker on missions in the Baghdad area, arresting suspected insurgents and seizing their weapons caches. He said he went on missions outside the base more than 100 times and survived repeated small arms fire and roadside bomb attacks.
Now, Royal is stationed in part of the vast Tallil Air Base, with many amenities in a much safer part of Iraq. He said he is glad he got to come here and rest before going home to his wife and three children in Villa Rica.
He recently gave a tour of his new home, showing off the video arcade and private booths where small groups of soldiers can watch movies.
“I have more time to actually take a breath and process what happened,” said Royal, 32, a Paulding County high school English teacher.
“It’s a lot less stressful here. I’m glad I didn’t go straight from Camp Striker to home because that would be a hard adjustment.”
