I can not begin to adequately convey the total chaos, devastation,
sadness and anger that has blanketed the 172nd Stryker Brigade family
over the last 24 hours. Mere DAYS from homecoming, CNN made an announcement
that our soldiers were being extended in Iraq for an unknown period
of time. The media knew about this BEFORE THE FAMILIES DID!
A friend of mine was making a "Welcome Home" banner with
her children when she saw the report on television. Can you even
imagine finding out that your husband is not coming home in two
days - as expected - and instead as been extended indefinitely?!
Why in the world were we not told before the news media announced
it to the world? The soldiers had no clue either - and many were
told by their WIVES! Some of those soldiers were assembled in Kuwait
- waiting for the plane that would bring them home to their
families.
172nd Stryker Brigade tour extended amid Baghdad violence
By Sean D. Naylor
Staff writer
In a reaction to worsening violence in Baghdad, the Defense Department
is extending the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s tour
in Iraq for up to 120 days.
The move is a blow to morale of the unit’s soldiers and their
families back home at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, but it is an acknowledgment
that the brigade’s experience and combat savvy are badly needed
in the Iraqi capital.
The 172nd has spent the past year headquartered in Mosul, and had
already begun its redeployment to Alaska when word came of the redeployment
to Baghdad. The move to extend the brigade was leaked by Pentagon
officials to the Associated Press and confirmed by officers in Iraq.
The decision throws into turmoil plans that the brigade’s
approximately 4,000 soldiers had made for their return.
“How is the spouse going to tell the kids that Dad isn’t
going to be there for the first day of school?” said one senior
enlisted member.
Weddings and vacations must now be postponed. Some soldiers who
were due to move to new assignments elsewhere upon their return
to Alaska will find that the Army isn’t willing to wait for
them to get back from their extended deployment, and the job they
had their heart set on will go to someone else.
Officers said it was unclear whether soldiers whose families had
booked vacations in anticipation of their return would be entitled
to a refund for money spent on plane tickets. “That’s
going to be a challenge,” a battalion-level commander said.
The blow to morale was compounded by the fact that many
172nd soldiers and their families learned of the extension via news
reports from the U.S., rather than through command channels.
“I’ve got reports that some wives found out before
I even knew, and that’s just the reality of the story being
leaked to the press,” the battalion-level commander told his
troops.
A small portion of the brigade has already returned to Alaska.
Officers said it was unknown whether those soldiers would be ordered
to bid farewell to their families again and fly back to the combat
zone.
Several 172nd soldiers seemed unfazed by the announcement that
their return had been put on indefinite hold.
“This my third tour over here, so it doesn’t bother
me,” said Staff Sgt. David Cowin, a communications NCO in
the 172nd. “For my guys, they’re a bit upset because
they had plans.”
“I’m okay with it, because I’ve got nothing better
to do,” said Capt. Neal Prendergast, a signals officer who
is unmarried.
However, he said, the late notice had vastly complicated the business
of reorganizing his unit’s signals equipment for the fight
in Baghdad. “If we could have found out just a week earlier,
it would have been much better,” he said.
The battalion-level commander gathered about 50 of his officers
and noncommissioned officers in the unit chapel to steel their hearts
and focus their minds on the mission ahead.
“The word is, our nation has asked us to stay and fight,”
he told them. “Baghdad has some problems and they need the
172nd to go in and clean house.”
The commander acknowledged that some soldiers would be “challenged”
by the fact that they are being sent into the heart of Iraq’s
simmering civil war between Sunni and Shi’ite militias at
a time when most expected to be arriving back in the welcoming arms
of their loved ones.
“The reality is that this is what we do,” he continued.
“We’re soldiers. We fight our nation’s fights,
and this is the fight we got going on. They know they can count
on us. …They’re sending in the A-team, and the A-team
is the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.”
Speaking later to a smaller group of leaders, the same commander
underlined the importance of the mission being handed to the brigade.
“We can’t afford for Baghdad to go down the tubes,”
he said. “If Baghdad goes down the tubes, Iraq goes down the
tubes. It’s time to move on and focus on the next mission.”
The Defense Department “recognizes the continued contributions
of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and their family members,”
Pentagon officials said in a statement. “This extension reflects
the continued commitment of the United States to the security of
the Iraqi people.”
It is expected that those soldiers who have already returned home
(we had the first group of the main body of soldiers arrive just
two days ago!) will be sent back to Iraq - Baghdad specifically.
Steve has already told me to prepare for his redeployment to Iraq.
All plans for retirement are on hold. Orders that have been cut
for soldiers in the brigade have been deleted. Block leave (vacation)
in September has been canceled.
I don't know what comes next. We had an appointment this morning
to talk to a real estate agent about buying a house. Now we have
no clue if Steve will even be able to retire. If he can't retire,
we could end up being sent somewhere else. Everything we have talked
about and started planning for was wiped away with a stroke of Rumsfeld's
pen. Yeah, I'm bitter.
Right now my heart is with my friends. I helped Rachael hang up
a Welcome Home banner last night, just before CNN leaked
the announcement. I can only imagine the sadness and anguish that
she and my other friends are feeling. By the same token, I'm selfishly
giving thanks that I had the opportunity to hold my husband each
night for the past 5 weeks. I hope I have him for a little longer
- at least until I come back from Philadelphia.
