Veterans prepare newcomers for life in Iraq

by James Foley
For the Pharos-Tribune

March 31, 2008 11:48 am

— BALAD, Iraq — The duties carried out by the National Guard in Iraq might be less deadly these days, in part because of training by fellow Guardsmen who have done it all before.
The 130 soldiers of Gulf 1/293rd of the 76th Indiana Brigade Combat Team, are taking over for the 1/143rd California Guard.
But first the Californians spend about two weeks transitioning their Hoosier replacements on the mission — security for the recovery of broken or bombed vehicles in this farming heartland close to the Tigris.
“I can’t say enough about these guys who are training us,” said 38-year-old Cpl. Ray Eber of Twelve Mile. “We’re very fortunate to be taking over for them.”
But the transition hasn’t been without incident.
On their first route outside the wire, with the 1/143rd’s team leaders driving and gulf team leaders in the right seat, a mortar exploded about a 200 meters from one vehicle.
On the second day, several soldiers saw bullets spray along their vehicle’s path. This is a common occurrence, according to the guardsmen who have been here more than eight months.
“Listen, there’s bad guys out there,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jorge Plascencia, who drove Eber’s vehicle on the third mission outside the wire. “But most of these guys aren’t.”
Eber said he saw local villagers supportive of U.S. presence.
“They’re not throwing rocks, and they wave,” Eber said, adding, though, that “you always have to keep your guard up.”
The training routes allow Indiana soldiers to know which aspects of the terrain are ordinary, and which might be out of place.
“We saw a lot of evidence of IEDs in pothole after pothole,” Eber said. “It shows this is not a done deal.”
Plascencia, a 37-year-old from Ontario, Calif., said the locals already knew what distance to keep from the U.S. vehicles, and to pull over when a military convoy passed them.
He warned the new guys against becoming comfortable, but to always assess the situation.
“Respect the distances,” Plascencia said. “Children will be 50 feet away. You’re not going to point your weapon at them.”
An adult at that distance, he said, would be too close.
It seems like their methods have helped to reduce U.S. casualties. The 1/143th has had only one serious IED attack resulting in a concussion and vehicle damage. The unit before the 1/143th didn’t lose anyone.
In addition to the transition training, part of the reason for the low casualties is the newer ASV — a two-wheel vehicle with a V-shaped hull that has a lot more armor and firepower than the Humvees, which are now used less.
Plascencia said of the Indiana soldiers he’s encountered, “They have a lot of questions which shows they’re motivated. It would be a lot to say they’re not scared, even though they still display the courage to get things done.”
Outside the base fence everything is new to these soldiers. Eber was struck by the poverty and trash-scattered landscape.
“It makes you appreciate the creature comforts back home,” he said.
He paused to think how to convey his feelings.
“My wife’s support from back home gives me support and inspiration,” he said.
He also has a 17-year-old son, Branson Eber, who just joined the Indiana National Guard.
His son enlisted to be an infantryman. “I tried to tell him to learn a skill, not to be an infantryman like his old man,” Eber said smiling.
Eber speaks enthusiastically about the training so far.
“We have the best trained Army,” he said. “The best trained soldiers. We have good leadership. We take care of our own.”
He was speaking for more than Indiana’s soldiers. On bases like these, duties in Iraq seem to be a series of National Guard partnerships.
James Foley is a freelance writer deployed with an Indiana National Guard unit in Iraq.

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