Iraq/Afghanistan Vets - Where did you fight? What did you overcome?

SPC Steven M. — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 20:33:39 -0400

Feel free to share your remarks.

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Mar 27 at 2014 9:23 PM

CPT Aaron Kletzing — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 21:23:13 -0400

JSS Al Awad and JSS Istiqlal, northwest and northeast or Baghdad proper, respectively. With A/1-27 IN of 2-25 SBCT. Dec 07-Feb 09.

Response by 1SG Michael Blount made Mar 28 at 2014 4:00 PM

1SG Michael Blount — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 16:00:11 -0400

Fallujah, Iraq, NOV 04-FEB 05, opcon'd to B/1/3 USMC; Follow on operations with 2d Recon and 3d Recon (FEB - OCT 05), primarily in the Zaidon area; occasionally out to Faris. Probably the worst part of being deployed was when I got home. Division just dumped us at the door, VA didn't give a screaming damn and all most civilians did was ignore or discount what we accomplished.

Second tour to Iraq (MAY - OCT 08) - my biggest enemy was boredom.

First tour to Afghanistan (DEC 08 - MAY 09) - biggest obstacle was getting the

materials necessary to build out our facilities. Since I didn't work for a DoD entity (my entity was charted by the National Security Council), I didn't have a DoDAAC to which I could charge the materials I needed. Ever resourceful, however, I found a lot of "stuff" on post!

Second tour to Afghanistan (DEC 09 - MAY 10) - biggest challenge was dealing with the bureaucrats trying to run a war. Atypically, however, I actually kept my mouth shut - an admirable exercise in self control worthy of recognition.

Response by SGT Suraj Dave made Mar 28 at 2014 5:58 PM

SGT Suraj Dave — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:58:05 -0400

Afghanistan 2010-2011 1st BCT, 101st ABN: I went on missions often, saved lives, and engaged the enemy often.

Afghanistan 2012-2013 1st BCT, 101st ABN: Overall Retrograding Mission.... Boring...

Response by SFC William Swartz Jr made Mar 28 at 2014 5:59 PM

SFC William Swartz Jr — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:59:16 -0400

Kuwait to Baghdad Mar- Aug '03: had to work hard to ensure that all 15 of my Tank Plt members (16 if u count me) made it home in one piece, especially when we parked our tanks and began foot patrols in Baghdad.

Samarra, Iraq '05: had to overcome a lack of civilian government in the city as I was the JCC NCOIC, also working with the Iraqi LNOs with the different ING units operating within Samarra conducting raids and pushing information up to the Provincial JCC in Tikrit through YahooMail lol, that was the communication method used at the time for the JCCs. Once we closed the JCC and I moved back to the FOB, "it was herding cats" as being the S2 NCOIC I was tasked with overseeing the BN Interpreter pool.

Response by SGT James Elphick made Mar 28 at 2014 6:19 PM

SGT James Elphick — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 18:19:12 -0400

All over Afghanistan from Jan-Aug 2003 with B/3-504 PIR. Spent about half that time on the border at a little place called FB Shkin. Big life change for an 18 year old Private. Our platoon got hit pretty hard in an ambush but we charlie miked. The deployment also cost me my girlfriend but in the end Jody did me a favor.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Mar 28 at 2014 7:07 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 19:07:40 -0400

Not a lot of overcoming summer 91 end of Desert Storm begining of Southern Watch. I was in a bit of quandry and concern about my chances of survival since I met the ship at Subic Bay Jun 15 91 when Mt Pinatubo Erupted. Other than mother nature no great threats. Also did Desert Strike Summer of 96 Lots of Electronic/Information warfare Smoke and Mirrors (Teasing) of both Iraq and Iran. Great Fun.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2014 9:06 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 21:06:38 -0400

Afghanistan RC-East Route Clearance 2011-2012

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2014 10:03 AM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 10:03:11 -0400

2010-2011 Afghanistan RC south and I overcame coming out of there alive

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 1 at 2014 5:30 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 17:30:11 -0400

Afghanistan Nangahar Province 09-10. Afghanistan RC East 12. Afghanistan Kandahar Province 2014

Response by SGT Shon D. Hill made May 5 at 2014 2:31 AM

SGT Shon D. Hill — Mon, 05 May 2014 02:31:22 -0400

Baghdad, IRAQ- October 2004 through April 2005, FOB Volunteer near Ministry of Interior, Very near Martyr's Monument. Infantry medic, we fought an unknown enemy, learned their tactics sometimes the hard way. We mostly had to be observant of civilians and to not cause "collateral" damage. Do the right thing, even if it's hard as hell... I overcame my addiction to alcohol while there, found out who I really wanted to be as a man. Doc Hill

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 5 at 2014 7:52 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 05 May 2014 07:52:24 -0400

Samarra 2004-2005 14 months
Baghdad 2006-2007 15months
Babylon 2008-2009

Samarra was an insurgent strong hold and we had numerous battles there. My unit (1-4 CAV) earned three Valorous unit awards during that one deployment.

I was with 1-26 Infantry on the Baghdad deployment. We ended up getting extended to 15 months during the surge. We were the hardest hit unit since Vietnam. We lost 35 Soldiers in that 15 months. One MOH recipient (Ross McGinnis) and the unit earned the Presidential Unit Citation.

My third trip I was with 2-28 Infantry and we were basically escorts for the PRT rebuilding the Babil ruins. During this deployment we earned the Meritorious Unit Citation

Response by SGT Ben Keen made May 5 at 2014 9:28 AM

SGT Ben Keen — Mon, 05 May 2014 09:28:40 -0400

The biggest fight for me was Kuwait to Mosul March 2003 - Oct 2003. As part of the 1BCT of the 101st Airborne we overcame a lot. Our deployment didn't start off well. We had to overcome the shock and sting from a Soldier-on-Solider attack where we lost two members and dozens more injured by one of our own before we even pushed into Iraq. Then we had to overcome the same thing that everyone else had to, the fear of the unknown.

Response by Sgt Andrew Pouliot made Aug 22 at 2014 10:57 PM

Sgt Andrew Pouliot — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 22:57:15 -0400

I served as the Assistant (and sometimes Acting) NCOIC for the Arrival/Departure Air Control Group (flight line) aboard Forward Operating Base Shukvani, in Sangin, Helmand Province in SW Afghanistan. During my tenure there I was also the NCOIC for Air Traffic and LZ Control. I served in Helmand from July 2013 to January 2014.

While we were out there, we were attacked multiple times with indirect fire (mostly 107mm rockets and 60mm mortars). A few times we took small arms fire, all of which was ineffectual, thank god. Most of my time at FOB Shukvani was spent doing customer service stuff for the military, basically getting people flights and coordinating the logistics. As a result, I had to put up with a lot of hostility from higher ups who didn't appreciate being told how things worked by a lowly E-3 with an E-5 billet. Since I was on-call, we were working at all hours of every day and slept and ate and hygiene when we could. Sometimes we didn't have time for any of that. I witnessed some deaths out there that have haunted me ever since, and even had some unfortunate run ins with a navy E-5 and a Marine O-3. I was on edge and just didn't take anything from anybody at that point. I overcame a lot of that anger and irritability since coming back, but it's still there. Coming home really did suck for me and for my fellow marines.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Aug 23 at 2014 6:30 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 18:30:04 -0400

The last deployment was to Mosul. It is killing me now to see everything going down the tubes. We lost a lot of good people there. We paid for that area!

Response by MSG Scott Berndt made Feb 10 at 2019 8:51 PM

MSG Scott Berndt — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 20:51:44 -0500

Anbar Province...
Nov 2004-Oct 2005
Aug 2008-Jul 2009