Q&A: Veteran reflects 
on service in Iraq

By Rosalind Bentley

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It has been almost nine months since Army Sgt. Elias “Eli” Nagle was discharged after serving nearly five years in Iraq.

As a former member of the Army’s 3rd Brigade Heavy Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, he has fought in Baqubah, Baghdad and Yussefia, among other hot spots. Two years ago, he was part of President George Bush’s “surge strategy” to quell rising insurgent violence. For a time, Nagle, 28, was a sniper in his unit. But Nagle is the son of North Georgia artist Libby Mathews and he picked up a talent for sketching from her. So part of Nagle’s job in Iraq was sketching the theater — a neighborhood or street — for his unit to use for surveillance or to plan attacks. Now back home in Atlanta and working a civilian job, Nagle talks about war, art and coping.

Q: You were in the so-called “Sledgehammer Brigade,” the Army’s 3rd Brigade Heavy Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division?

A: Right. They just redeployed back to Iraq.

Q: Why didn’t you go back?

A: Well, my total time in service was about five years and I had every intention of being a lifer, but I was politely advised by Army personnel [managers] that I had pulled [the extent of] my service because my body had seen certain amounts of wear and tear and I was starting to spend a lot of time in the troop medical clinic. So it was in my best interest to step down and find something a little bit more easygoing.

Q: Were your injuries physical?

A: I was not directly wounded by shrapnel, but I went through my fair share of IED [improvised explosive devices] blasts. I’m not all too comfortable talking about it, but I guess you could chalk [not re-enlisting] up to a lesser form of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder].

Q: I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine.

A: You get used to it. The last bomb that went off on our Bradley blew the tracks off [it]. Actually, we were all sitting in the back [of the tank] just laughing because we realized that we had just made it through it. Our commander had to swing open the hatch and he was yelling at all of us to calm down. Eventually he realized that we were laughing and not screaming.

Q: You were a sniper for a while over there, but also a sketch artist? Those seem like more different disciplines for sure.

A: I was attached to a sniper unit for a while. Then I moved back to a normal infantry company to serve as a rifle team leader. We were basically going out and conducting raids and humanitarian missions. And we do sector sketches, pretty much a detailed sketch of the area you’re supposed to watch. It’s a quick reference point for you and the tactical operations command which also has copies of your sketch.

Q: So how did you wind up with that job?

A: I guess it came natural to me from my mom being an artist. I started keeping detailed sketches during my first tour. Some days I’d be so exhausted that [I] couldn’t write home but I’d do my little doodles and some of my fellow soldiers saw that I could actually do pretty good detailed pictures. So when it came time to start doing these sector sketches, somebody said, “Hey, I remember this guy, he could draw really good, let’s get him to do it.”

Q: Since the Civil War there have always been combat artists. And for decades the Army has trained artists to visually record the war experience. Were you trained that way?

A: No. But I did do sketches of these little towns to pass along to units that were going to replace us. More often than not we’d use the best available means to pass on intelligence, so if we had an overhead photo or Google Earth or something, we’d use that. But when they needed more detail than those things provided, then my [sketches] were used.

Q: Is it easy to look at those sketches now, the ones you got to keep?

A: Oh sure. Good memories of bad situations.

Q: What’s good about them?

A: By no means is everyday a firefight or raid or kicking in doors. A lot of what we did was humanitarian missions. My company helped rebuild a couple of schools since the heat of the battle had drawn down a little bit.

Q: Is it possible that for some people the experience of fighting in a war has its own sort of pull? That for some people their actions in war have more meaning than doing relatively mundane things here?

A: I wouldn’t say it’s addictive, but it is interesting and exciting. For soldiers back here in the states, we’re perpetually training to do the job, but over there we’re actually doing the job.

Q: Some people say if you criticize the war in Iraq you’re not supporting the troops. Others say supporting the troops means bringing them home immediately. How do those arguments strike you?

A: Honestly, we really don’t spend a lot of time worrying about the politics of it. It is a little bit disheartening hearing people say, “Bring our troops home,” when in fact we have an all-volunteer Army. All of us that signed up for military service knew that we were going to go over and fight the war. We didn’t ask to be brought home. We asked to go over because we wanted to serve.

Q: President Barack Obama has reportedly said he’d like to see combat troops out of Iraq by next summer. Does that seem doable to you?

A: Last time I was there, things were starting to look pretty good, but I don’t think [Iraqi] infrastructure is at a point where we could do a complete and total withdrawal without the possibility of everything collapsing. If that happened, that would come close to negating many years of effort on our part, and a lot of lives. So I would like to see the job well done and completed.

Q: What are you doing now?

A: Pretty cool job in Buckhead. Essentially it’s in sales. It allows me the opportunity to get back in touch with the civilian side of things.

Q: How has your readjustment to civilian life gone so far?

A: I wouldn’t say it’s easy by any means. But it’s doable. It might take a little bit longer than you expect, but it’s doable.