For Guard’s 81st Brigade, a long return

[David]

The News Tribune


RAMADI, Iraq – Friends and family members of the 81st Brigade Combat Team are counting down the days to when the Washington National Guard soldiers will return home.

In Iraq, the brigade headquarters is already planning the logistical details of moving 3,500 soldiers and their equipment.

“We’ve got about 50 people working on the redeployment plans,” said Maj. Harry York, an Auburn native who’s organizing the brigade’s return home. “It’s a lot more work than most people think.”

The brigade, in which about 2,400 Washington residents serve, mobilized for federal service Aug. 18, meaning a midsummer homecoming is likely.

The soldiers will return to Washington in phases – typically a main group sandwiched between advance and trail parties – and will first travel to Kuwait and Fort McCoy, Wis., before landing at McChord Air Force Base or Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane.

York concedes it’s a cumbersome process.

“This is not a logical way to do it,” he said from his office in brigade headquarters at Camp Ramadi in Anbar province. “The process is from an earlier time, when it made more sense.”

National Guard brigades weren’t as skilled militarily when first called on shortly after the 2003 invasion, and a typical deployment required four to six months of mobilization training. Soldiers spent the time receiving refresher courses on a variety of tasks, from cleaning an M-4 rifle to driving a Humvee. A yearlong tour in Iraq often followed.

The effect was that soldiers were separated from family members longer than many active-duty units.

The soldiers of the 81st Brigade spent about 18 months away from home during their first deployment in 2004-05. The Pentagon has since changed its policy to limit National Guard units’ total time on federal service to 12 months.

Units from the 81st are serving in bases across Iraq, mostly in the north and the west, and are often attached to other brigades for operational command. But they’ll come back together as one unit in Kuwait, York said, and will ship equipment as large as satellite dishes – a task that will require about 80 shipping containers.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles that most of the brigade uses on its convoy security missions will remain in Iraq for use by the unit that replaces it.

After Kuwait, the brigade will travel to Fort McCoy, where it spent six weeks training before deploying to Iraq. The soldiers will go through medical examinations and briefings about veterans benefits and how to reintegrate into society – what York calls “the decisive piece of going home.”

They’ll also turn in individual weapons and gear.

The Wisconsin base will be a place for them to relax and decompress after nearly a year in a dangerous atmosphere.

“They found that just sitting around 10 days gave them a chance to think about where they’ve been, where they’re going, and a chance to get back in the right mind-set,” York said.

Plans aren’t yet finalized, but officials are planning short homecoming ceremonies at McChord or Fairchild. A longer, brigade-wide ceremony called the Freedom Salute will likely follow several months later.

“Guys typically don’t want elaborate ceremonies with long speeches and bands,” York said. “They want to be home with their families. We’re trying to make that happen as smoothly as possible.”