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DEL.ICIO.USInfantryman out of his element
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tal Afar, Iraq — Sometimes, one little number can change a soldier’s entire life.
Take Spc. Ryan Thomas, who as a teenager joined the Georgia Army National Guard intending to specialize as a military policeman. The Army’s designation for that job is 95 Bravo.
But when he signed on the dotted line at a recruiter’s office in Columbus, somehow 95 Bravo became 96 Bravo, the code for an intelligence analyst. It’s not clear who made the mistake.
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| Louie Favorite/AJC |
| Spc. Ryan Thomas, 19, is an intelligence analyst at Forward Operating Base Sykes near Tal Afar, Iraq. |
Regardless, it made Thomas a rare breed. He’s an infantryman who is willing to sit behind a desk and study intelligence reports all day, but also a military intelligence analyst who’d rather be roughing it on foot or jumping out of planes.
So it was that Thomas, 19, went from working as a dairy manager stocking shelves at Piggly Wiggly to taking stock of classified material for the U.S. Army.
Talk about turning butter into guns.
When Fort Gillem-based Company H, 121st Infantry (ABN) (LRS) deployed to Iraq, they needed an intelligence analyst. Thomas now sits at a computer in the Company H headquarters at Forward Operating Base Sykes near Tal Afar and is the liaison between the Georgia Army National Guard’s long-range surveillance unit and the Army’s intelligence support element here.
Capt. Kenneth Hutnick, commander of Company H, and Maj. Thomas Burket, who heads up the task force under which Company H falls, rely on Thomas to keep track of both American and enemy action in the area. He records and disseminates information, like which routes are safe for soldiers to take.
Remember Radar O’Reilly from “MAS*H”? If anyone resembles that character here, it’s Thomas.
On a recent day, Company H has two important visitors —- colonels who sit higher up on the unit’s chain of command. Burket wants to make sure his guests can return safely to their home bases to the south.
For this highly sensitive task, Thomas uses sophisticated short-range surveillance techniques. He jumps out of his chair, runs out of the room and into the dirt parking lot outside, where he has a clear view of the Sykes airstrip.
“Bird is on the tarmac,” he shouts, signaling that the colonels’ C-130 transport plane has arrived.
The conversation returns to normal in the office. Thomas returns to his station in front of a dusty Dell laptop.
An infantry soldier rarely likes to engage in office drudgery. Thomas says he has been out on only two of the unit’s surveillance missions to the Syrian border, and he would like to see more action.
He is excited about donning full combat gear later today to roll out on a special one-day mission with one of the platoons.
Burket interrupts. He orders Thomas to check on the birds.
Thomas, tall and gangly, adjusts his black-framed glasses, skips outside and returns within seconds.
“Rotaries are spinning, sir,” he says.
In his other life in Columbus, Thomas spends much of his time in church activities. He is devout in his Pentecostal faith and wants one day to be a licensed preacher.
That, too, makes him somewhat of an anomaly in an infantry unit full of foul-mouthed, hard-living soldiers.
“I don’t curse. I don’t drink,” he says, holding up his can of Coca-Cola. He drinks up to five of them a day and says he could make some fine advertising if the soft drink giant would have him.
“I don’t care if they are hot or cold,” he says, bagging one in his pocket for the ride out this afternoon.
One time when he was “out there with the guys,” he came face to face with illegal border crossers from Syria. Get down, he told them. But they couldn’t understand English. He repeated the order. But they still didn’t oblige. Thomas’s adrenaline was pumping. He was frustrated and nervous. And in that frantic moment, he let the “f” word slip.
That’s what his teammates say. They tease the clean-cut boy from Columbus who, by accident, came to their company. “Honestly, I’m still denying it.”
The roar of the C-130 outside drowns the conversation in the Company H office. This time, Thomas doesn’t need to run out to do his job. “Bird’s in the air, sir,” he says.
With that final piece of intel, Thomas is on his way to put on battle dress for his day out of the office.
When he returns to Georgia, he wants the Army to switch his designation to 11 Bravo, the code for an infantryman.
This time, he wants there to be no mistake.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Reports from Iraq
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By Tracey
March 14, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this
Well if he accidentally got put in this group he couldnt have picked a finer one. They are the best. Take care of our guys!!!
By Traci Pate
March 14, 2007 10:52 AM | Link to this
This article cracked me up!! He accidently let out the “f-word”!! LOL Take care Spc. Thomas and God Bless you and the rest of the LRS! RLTW!!
By Bill B.
March 14, 2007 3:02 PM | Link to this
He sounds like one fine soldier! He took a TAFU and through his own initiative and dedication has made the best from it.
Screw-ups will happen. It’s what you do to turn them around that shows what kind of soldier you are.
I hope Spc. Thomas decides to make a career of the Army (or Army Reserve), but if not then I’m sure he’ll be a motivated and dedicated man wherever he ends up.
The Army really needs chaplains. Hopefully he will return as an officer after his ordainment.
By Cletus Snow
March 15, 2007 1:54 PM | Link to this
I can understand Ryans frustrations may cause the f word to exit his lips, It exited mine about a million times in Viet Nam.Stay safe and Godspeed.