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Two TV stations
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A UH-60
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The entrance to Camp
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Concession stand built
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The 1413th completed
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EDINBURGH, IND. -- Indiana National Guard Sgt. Fred Arnold is packing his bags for Afghanistan, not Iraq. But to him, war is war. "One place is as bad as another," Arnold, 36, said from his barracks at Camp Atterbury, a major Midwest mobilization station for Guard and Reserve units heading to the Middle East.
For soldiers deploying to Afghanistan as part of the largest U.S. troop rotation since World War II, the assignment is a mixed bag. Some would rather be in thick of the action in Iraq. Others are relieved because Afghanistan _ while still a war zone _ is seemingly safer than Iraq. More than 700 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq war, compared to about 100 in Afghanistan since the United States invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"I'd rather go to Afghanistan. It seems pretty hot over there" in Iraq, said Pfc. Aaron White, 21, who serves with Arnold in the Indiana National Guard's 1413th Engineer Detachment.
The unit is based at Camp Atterbury, about 30 miles south of Indianapolis. Its nearly 60 welders, engineers, plumbers and electricians are part of a rotation that will leave about 16,000 troops in Afghanistan.
The country is more stable than when U.S. troops first arrived in 2001. But 7 million land mines pose a constant threat, as do holdout al-Qaida fighters who are trying to undermine the established central government. "There are still remnants that don't believe in what we're trying to do by establishing a thriving democracy in that country," said Marine Capt. David Romley, a Pentagon spokesman. That atmosphere will be a marked change for the 1413th, which has never seen combat.
The unit had expected to deploy for the war in Iraq last year, but those plans were scrapped when Turkey decided not to allow American troops on its soil. Spc. Robert Howard, 31, initially was relieved by the reprieve. "I kind of went, 'Whew!' I'm in no hurry to get shot at." But when he learned his unit instead would go to Afghanistan, he was disappointed that it wasn't Iraq. "I feel that in Afghanistan, you haven't heard too much," said Howard, a 1991 Gulf War veteran who has two children, ages 9 and 4.
Still, the recent death of former Arizona Cardinals player Pat Tillman during a combat operation in Afghanistan underscores the dangers. Capt. James Liwiski, the 1413th's company commander, said he has told soldiers to be prepared for the worst during their deployment, which could last up to 18 months. Like soldiers headed to Iraq, they have been trained how to avoid convoy attacks and the tactics of terrorists. "I want to make sure they're competent and confident engineers and make sure they know what to do in a jam," Liwiski said. "Any of these people need to be an expert in everything."
Lt. Col. Jim Cotter, a chaplain at Camp Atterbury, said soldiers were more aware of the potential dangers than they were a year ago. "I think all the soldiers out there realize there's no true safe haven now," Cotter said.
The soldiers acknowledge their families are fearful. "My oldest daughter is scared, but she doesn't know why she is scared," said Sgt. 1st Class David Griffin, 38, a father of four.
But the casualties and other recent violence, such as the March commuter-train bombings in Spain, make Arnold more determined to go after terrorists. "I think it's good timing," said Arnold, a father of two children ages 10 and 13. "We need to go do something about that."
Weddings have been
postponed. Grandparents have custody of kids. Graduation plans are on
hold. Ready or not, 50 members of the National Guard 1413th Engineer
Detachment are in their last days in Indiana before flying to Afghanistan
for Operation Enduring Freedom.
Members of the detachment and their family and friends assembled for a
solemn deployment ceremony Monday at the Veterans Memorial near Camp
Atterbury in Edinburgh. The troops will have a couple of days this week
for last visits with loved ones, Guard members said, but Monday’s service
was the official, and teary, goodbye. As soldiers lined up in their tan
and brown desert uniforms, flag-bearing family members watched from the
grass. Helicopters and lumbering transport planes, carrying on the
business of deployment nonstop, circled overhead.
The Guard members are the latest of almost 10,000 soldiers who have been
deployed from Atterbury since it was activated in February 2003. Since its
mobilization in March, the engineer detachment, an assortment of
electricians, plumbers, equipment operators and others, has trained to
perform its role in a combat environment. Members have trained with live
ammunition and gas masks, and at other times the unit built sidewalks and
parking lots around Atterbury, the soldiers said.
Monday’s ceremony included brief speeches from top officers, such as Maj.
Gen. R. Martin Umbarger of Bargersville, adjutant general of the Indiana
National Guard, and the post commander. Umbarger recalled video images of
Afghan women executed in soccer stadiums for wearing clothes that angered
the Taliban. “You’re going to go in there and rebuild that country,” he
said.
Post commander Lt. Col. Kenneth D. Newlin spoke of Pat Tillman, the former
NFL football player killed last week while on patrol in Afghanistan.
“You’re going to be in harm’s way,” he said. “Just by virtue of that
(American) flag on your right shoulder, people will want to do you harm.
Strong offensive posture is your best defense.”
After the speeches, the soldiers broke ranks and mingled with their
families to play with children or whisper a farewell to a loved one. Staff
Sgt. Nelson Wheeler II of Greenwood has been with the unit for 20 years.
His father was a founding member, he said, but this is the first time the
1413th has ever been deployed.
The unit has four sets of brothers, one husband and wife, and one brother
and sister, the senior officer said. Part of the unit is staying home,
however, and none of the family members are going to Afghanistan together,
he said.
“Part of my job is not only to make sure we do the missions but make sure
we get home safely,” Wheeler said.
Staff Sgt. Mark Baker of Waymansville started in
the unit the same time as Nelson, and the two are friends.
Baker, who works at Cummins Inc., said his 16-year-old daughter is now with his
parents, who will also watch his place during the deployment.
Nobody said for sure when they’d be back.
“I’m glad I’m a part of it,” Baker said. “Been a part of it for 20 years.”
Nearby, however, a family from Hancock County had a hard time saying goodbye.
Spc. John Adams stood with his father, Ron, and his mother, Janice. Ron Adams, a
member of the Indiana National Guard Reserve, worked at the processing center
that began his son’s deployment.
John Adams, a heavy-equipment operator, was midway through his last semester at
Wilmington College near Dayton, Ohio, when the call came to mobilize.
He also had to postpone his wedding.
On Monday, the family was stoic until Ron Adams was asked about helping to
deploy his son.
“It goes against all parental instincts to send your son into harm’s way,” he
said, choking up behind his sunglasses. “You’ve been protecting him since he was
a baby.”
They hugged, and Janice Adams joined in. John Adam’s grandmother came from
behind and hugged him hard.
“I love you,” she said.
Content © 2004 The Daily Journal, Johnson County, Indiana
Camp Atterbury, April 26 - The sendoff for the 1413th Engineer Detachment wasn't all that different than what we've seen before. Soldiers like Sgt. Dave Griffin stepped up to answer the call. His mother and his wife Stacy can only watch and wipe away tears.
"It means I'm leaving for a year. Most of us have never left for that period of time before. Most of us can't fathom what that actually means. You have a year of normal life and a year of the unknown. Most of us are a little scared about that, but it's something we embrace and look forward to.
"Yeah, I think Stacy might need a little help with the children. There are four of them." The Griffin family shares the game plan for caring for the four kids with Indiana's Adjutant General Martin Umbarger.
The goodbyes were repeated every few feet in very different ways.
"I got a son-in-law and nephew in Bosnia and a son in Germany in the Air Force." Now Roger Moffitt says it's his turn. Wife Cecilia says she supports him.
The same goes with seven-year-old Allison. "I'm glad he's going over there. Cause he can help those people and he's building houses for them."
That is the difference here. The 1413th Engineering Company is comprised of plumbers, electricians and carpenters. They are builders.
Stacy Griffin says their kids are "very proud of him. My son wants to be in the military when he gets older."
Which makes the Hoosier soldiers role models.
But this is the part the military can't prepare you for. You can learn how to be a soldier, but no one can teach you how to say goodbye.
"You just say see you later," says Stacy. "Tell them how much you love them and that we will miss them."
Tell them for all us.
