The Gazette January 10, 2007
Soldiers stand firm in desire to serve
They haven't wavered, despite rumors of deployment changes
By Tom Roeder
On a day when Fort Carson soldiers said goodbye to three comrades killed in combat and sent 170 other soldiers off to war, President Bush’s plan to raise troop levels in Iraq didn’t raise an eyebrow on the Army post.
The plan could mean thousands of Fort Carson soldiers will either head back to Iraq sooner than expected or have their combat tours extended.
Soldiers at the post Wednesday said rumors of deployment changes have circulated for weeks. But nobody has gotten any official word, and troops hardened by four years of Iraq fighting say they’ve learned not to worry about when they have to go back or for how long.
“We just execute whatever comes down,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Harris, who is heading to Afghanistan with 95 soldiers from the 43rd Area Support Group in two weeks.
The open-ended nature of President Bush’s call for more troops to quell violence in Baghdad could have a ripple effect through the Army.
Experts said it could delay the homecoming of Fort Carson’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team from Iraq and also mean an earlier return to Iraq for the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team. The 3rd Brigade is set to begin training at the post later this month for a return to Iraq next fall.
“That’s a reasonable expectation,” said John Pike, executive director of the Alexandria, Va.-based think tank GlobalSecurity.org.
But while support for the war has declined among civilians, soldiers haven’t wavered, re-enlisting in record numbers at Fort Carson.
Command Sgt. Maj. Athena Velez of the 43rd explained that soldiers know the hardships they face in Iraq, but they’re more willing to bear them than be the ones to lose a war.
“We’re proud,” she said. “We’re not in the business to fail.”
Still, soldiers say the long war has taken a toll at home.
“There’s some heartache with my family,” said Staff Sgt. Bruce Bogertey, a married Iraq war veteran with the 2nd Brigade with five kids. He will join his unit in Iraq in a few months.
Sgt. Michael Trapp, who’s headed back to Iraq this month with the post’s 68th Combat Support Battalion, said he’s happy to be going back to Iraq for the third time.
“I’m proud to be a part of it,” he said, adding that it’s hard to leave his wife and three children.
Many soldiers see the president’s plan as a way to finally score a victory in Iraq and end the war.
“If you win, get everything done and get home, soldiers will be happy,” said Sgt. Andrew Gordon, who returned from Iraq last fall with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. “There are people in the Army who think we should all come home now, but the majority want to go over there and win, then come home for good.”
© Copyright 2007, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information
