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DEL.ICIO.USSoldiers on patrol, on edge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Khalaf al-Sultan, Iraq - Although he had already spent almost eight months in the combat zone, Spc. Jeffery Campbell knew that on this day, he would be starting over.
After countless patrols into the urban squalor that is Abu Ghraib, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment’s Charlie Company had been assigned a new area of responsibility.
Campbell and other members of his platoon were about to roar out the gates of Camp Liberty once again in their armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles on patrol. He knew he would face uncertainty, as these 48th Brigade Combat Team soldiers do whenever they go on patrol.
But this would be different. This day, they would be going into an area they had not seen before, and the tension was even more pronounced.
Campbell awoke early, as he does every morning he goes on a mission. After checking his weapon and equipment, he strolled to the chow hall in pre-sunrise darkness to eat a breakfast of Lucky Charms and a cheese omelet before heading to the AT&T trailer.
Without fail, Campbell calls his wife, Elizabeth, before he goes “outside the wire,” a term soldiers use for patrols outside military compounds. He and his wife, a pharmacy technician, talked about her work day, about the life he left behind in Royston in North Georgia’s rural Franklin County.
“I think it’s a lot harder for our families,” he said. “I worry more about stuff at home than I do about what we are doing here.”
Always on alert
Outside the Charlie Company command post, 1st Lt. Jeff Moran, a full-time Guard soldier from Ball Ground who was to lead the patrol, gave instructions to his troops.
Moran’s platoon would begin scouring villages south of Abu Ghraib, an area that the regiment’s Alpha Company once roamed.
“It’s much more wide open,” Moran told the soldiers. “So the chances of a triggerman positioning himself is higher.”
A little after 7 a.m., Moran’s two Bradleys rumbled out of Entry Checkpoint No. 7.
Inside the armored vehicle, Campbell was hardly recognizable under his heavy body armor, arms pads and ballistic goggles. He played with his wedding ring, a band of white gold on his left hand. It’s his good-luck charm. It’s his motivation.
It was going to be a long day — at least 12 hours in an area southwest of Baghdad where other soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard have been hit since they arrived in Iraq last June.
Campbell had intended to go to college. He started classes at North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega. But it wasn’t for him. Then he met Elizabeth — a friend of hers had married a friend of his.
At 23, Campbell has made a life with her in a two-story house he built on 5 acres of land adjoining his parents’ property in Royston, where he was born and raised.
He makes his living working sales and installation at a building supply company. He dreams of owning his own business one day soon.
Open area a challenge
With his M-16 locked and loaded, Campbell and the rest of the patrol stood guard on a bridge overlooking what the U.S. military calls Main Supply Route Tampa, scanning the seemingly serene vista for suspicious activity.
Campbell saw date palm groves, lush green fields of crops, mud and concrete houses, irrigation canals and blue skies stretching to the horizon.
“This is so different for us,” he said. “This is the most trees I’ve seen in a while. In Abu Ghraib, there were a thousand windows. We were always looking up at the rooftops.”
Here, Campbell said, it could be easy to get hit by a sniper. But it could also be easy to get complacent.
A handful of boys made it up to the bridge in search of goodies.
“Any time you see a kid running away, that’s a bad sign,” Campbell said, handing out candy from a small pouch hooked onto his body armor.
From a military family
Campbell knew he wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy. His grandfather served in World War II, and an uncle went to Vietnam. He joined the Georgia Guard three years ago, knowing that world events mandated an eventual overseas deployment.
“I’d probably already have kids if I hadn’t been deployed,” he said, looking at the dust-covered children in front of him. “I’m glad I didn’t. It’s been hard for some of the guys here who have kids at home.”
Campbell said he always stays focused on his job, no matter the surroundings.
“My biggest fear is that someone might get hurt because of me,” he added.
For these soldiers, the mind never stops churning, the body never totally relaxes.
There are dirt roads out here in this new territory for this Gainesville unit. They resemble the country roads many of the soldiers are used to driving their trucks over at home. But in Iraq, they mean only one thing: bombs buried in the ground, known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
Moran decided to take his soldiers to check out what looked like old bunkers built in the days of Saddam Hussein. Campbell followed the rest of the crew, trudging through mounds of soft dirt.
“There could be stuff buried all over here,” he said. “It wouldn’t take but a second to dig a hole in this dirt.”
Sweating out the odds
Campbell is the only man in his platoon who hasn’t been hit with a roadside bomb, one of the biggest killers of American soldiers in Iraq. He constantly thinks about how his luck might run out soon.
“It’s getting close to the end,” he said about the brigade’s timetable to go home this spring. “I think about that a lot more — that my number might be coming up real soon.”
After lunch, Charlie Company picked up an interpreter and Capt. Anthony Fournier, a schoolteacher from Augusta who commands the unit, before heading into a rustic hamlet known as Khalaf al-Sultan.
“We’re new here,” Fournier told a villager. “We’re coming out to meet everyone.”
As the captain made his rounds, listening to gripes about lack of water and electricity, Campbell stood guard, handing out more candy to children who rushed the Bradleys when the ramps opened.
“You always gotta wonder who’s worth helping and who we need to watch out for,” Campbell said.
“You can’t ever tell. One day, they are your best friend. The next day, they’re shooting off IEDs. For every thousand people, you’ll get two bad guys.”
He and the other soldiers walked through the entire village, the smell of cow dung wafting through the air. In the distance, there was the metallic clatter of AK-47 fire.
“You feel a lot like a cop,” Campbell said. “You’re walking a beat no one wants to walk. You gotta find the hot spots in your area. Here, we haven’t done that yet.”
This was a better day than others. No one was hurt.
“On bad days,” he said, “you always question yourselves. But if every day was a good day, this wouldn’t be a war.”
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Amber Bennett
January 11, 2006 12:47 PM | Link to this
I think this is a wonderful article. It reminds me how greatful I am to live in such a wonderful country and to have people that are willing to serve their country. I didn’t always take it that seriously until I met the wife of this soldier. She is one of my co-workers. When I first started working with her one of the first things she mentioned was her husband, Jeff. Since I have been here I have seen more and more of just what it is like to have a loved one so far away and just how hard it can be. She had made me realize how lucky I am to have all my loved ones here with me and I shouldn’t take any of them for granted. I really admire her for being so strong and sticking by her husband and all his decisions.
By Good Article
January 11, 2006 02:36 PM | Link to this
Thank you for an article on our soldiers. This is one of the really good ones, too. Danger exposed but safety reported. Thank God for the safe return to the camp for the soldiers of this mission. I hope this will be the message of all articles on the 48th for the remainder of their tour. I enjoy hearing good things about Baby Noor, but I really miss the articles from Iraq reporting on our soldiers. Thank you, Moni.
PLEASE GOD - BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM ALL THROUGH THE REMAINING MONTHS OF THIS DEPLOYMENT SAFELY. BLESS ALL OUR MILITARY. AMEN
By Dragon 7(r)
January 11, 2006 08:30 PM | Link to this
Hey Cat Head, and Bobby, you take good care of the boys, teach them to be the Best Killers they can be, and Come home safe. God Speed to you getting back to teaching and trash cans Dragon 7(r) Over
By Michelle from Gainesville, Ga
January 11, 2006 10:11 PM | Link to this
This is just the article I needed to read. My boyfriend is in Charlie Company and normally I get an e-mail every other day and he calls once a week. The last e-mail I got was 6 days ago and he told me not to worry that it maybe awhile before he could e-mail again because of this new sector they are patroling. He reassures me things are not all bad and I don’t watch the news or read any other papers except this blog. All we can do is just pray for our men and women that they will be all safe and that this spring they will all get to return home safely!!! I just want to say thanks to everyone for your comments on here it does help us family here at home to know there is so much support for our soldier that is defending our country! God Bless You ALL!!!
By Kathy Singleton
January 12, 2006 07:41 AM | Link to this
We are blessed to have such dedicated soldiers, my son is attached with Charlie company. My heart is with him and all the others. When we talk about praying, he always says, “pray for us all”….you can believe me, that my every waking moments are saturated in constant prayers for them all. God bless Charlie Company.
By A soldier's mom
January 12, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this
God Speed To Charlie Company - to your families all I can say is keep in constant prayer… My son is in Alpha Company and I know the fear you will feel each day that they leave the wire. But constant prayer has brought my son and his fellow soldiers through many scary moments on that same patrol area. To all soldiers but especially 1/121 Alpha keep safe and come home soon.
By Kimberly Schatz
January 13, 2006 10:03 AM | Link to this
1LT Moran was my recruiter when I transferred from the Washington Guard to GA’s, when he was an E7. Good luck, Sir! We pray for you everyday and are very proud of all you guys!
SPC Schatz, 118th PSD & HRO
By Ka Small
January 13, 2006 07:54 PM | Link to this
Like 1st Lt. Moran, my son was a student at NGSCU before beginning his tour. He is assigned to Alpha company. Our family is so proud and very thankful of the work that our soldiers have done and, like all families, look forward to their return home. We miss you “Dutch”.
Love,
mom :)