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DEL.ICIO.USWatch duty in Iraq fires out cultural lessons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Moni Basu/AJC
Sgt. George Kofa of Georgia's Army National Guard helps train Ugandan Guma Kayondo David (left) in Baghdad.
Baghdad, Iraq — Guma Kayondo David and Erimu Moses scanned the date palm groves and dirt roads from high in their watchtower.
Southwest Baghdad is far different from their home in Kampala, Uganda, where warm, tropical climes keep the landscape lush.
The two Ugandans were scared when they first landed at Baghdad’s airport in late February. Not that war was new to them — they had seen warfare and atrocities in their native land — but because the temperatures were so chilly then.
“It was shocking to us,” said David, 26. “Everyone was shivering. I have never been out of Uganda. I have never seen a desert before.”
The two former Ugandan army soldiers are more comfortable in Iraq now that the weather has warmed. They stand guard on 12-hour shifts at one of many watchtowers that surround the Camp Liberty complex.
Late last week, they took over the watchtower duties from Georgia Army National Guard soldiers who have been training the newcomers the past few days.
“They are very motivated,” said Sgt. George Kofa, 32, a Morehouse College student who serves in Charlie Company of the 48th Brigade Combat Team’s 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment. “They are doing good.”
The Ugandans are contract workers for the EOD Technology, a Tennessee-based company that specializes in unexploded ordnance cleanup and security services for the military. Putting them on guard duty frees American soldiers for missions outside the base.
The Ugandans said their initial contract is for six months, but many of the 400 former soldiers would like to stay longer. David said most took the job in Iraq for the attractive salaries.
“If possible, I would like to stay here,” said David, who runs a small retail shop in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
David left his home during the Ugandan elections in February that kept President Yoweri Museveni in office for a third term. Since Museveni grabbed power in 1986, rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army have been fighting a brutal war in the northern part of the country that has displaced 1.5 million people.
Both David and Moses were deployed to northern Uganda during their army days.
“Iraq is a dangerous place,” said Moses, 32. “But we don’t fear.”
The Georgia soldiers have been training the Ugandans to use M-16 rifles instead of the AK-47s they are accustomed to. They have been taught how to scan the area, radio in what they see and fill out official reports. The Ugandans were curious, too, about the relationship between U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts.
Occasionally, mortar attacks or roadside bomb explosions shake the area.
Gunfire near the walls of Liberty made David do a double-take recently.
“Whoa,” he said, thinking there might have been an attack.
The Georgia soldiers assured him it was the Iraqi Army firing out, not insurgents firing in.
For Kofa, a native of Liberia, hanging out with the Ugandans has been an interesting experience. He said they spent hours discussing African politics and differences between East and West.
“People from New York and L.A. don’t look at life with the same perspective,” Kofa said. “The same with people from West Africa and East Africa. I’ll miss talking to these guys.”
The Ugandans have also been eager to learn about American culture.
“Things in Uganda are quite different. For example, we have bride pay,” said Moses, referring to the three cows, the wad of cash and the house he built in order to marry his wife.
“You pay much because you need her,” he said with a laugh.
Then, there are the differences in culinary tastes. David said he misses eating cassava, bananas and traditional Ugandan dishes.
Instead, they have been adventurous in the mess hall, feasting on hamburgers, French fries and barbecued chicken for the first time.
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