Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010

Taking deployment stress to the courts

CONTINGENCY OPERATING STATION ECHO, Iraq — When the Soldiers of the Scout Platoon, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, got together Saturday on the court at COS Echo, they played basketball.

They weren’t thinking about the mission at that point. They weren’t thinking about the elections that were going to happen just on the other side of the barriers separating COS Echo from Iraq and all its culture.

“It’s good to be in shape,” said SPC Andrew Cook, a scout in the unit. “It’s good cardio and it’s fun to run around and get crazy.”

“It helps keep our morale up,” SPC Robert Flanagan said. “It keeps our mind off of being here. We are doing something a little different than our mission.”

The mission, which expands beyond their platoon to the entire 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, is to advise and assist the Iraqi Security Forces in their mission to provide security to the people of Iraq. The brigade is responsible for five provinces across southern Iraq. The Scout Platoon operates in the Diwaniyah Province.

“We try to stay out of their way,” Cook said.

“We just let them handle their business,” Flanagan said. “We pretty much just keep a lookout and help them if they need help.”

“We can tell we are part of something important even though we don’t really see it,” said PFC Matthew Mischler, the platoon medic. Mischler was talking about the Iraqi national elections Sunday. These are the first elections where the Iraqi government and ISF are completely in the lead.

“It’s gonna be cool when my kids are in school and they come home and say they are learning about Iraq,” said PFC Julian Smith. “I could tell them that I was a part of that. I will have stories to tell.”

The scouts took a moment to put themselves in the shoes of the local citizens. And they talked of pride, hope and freedom.

“I would be happy that these elections are taking place,” Flanagan said. “That means we are pulling away from U.S. forces and running our own show.”

“I would be proud,” Cook said. “It would mean the U.S. would be on their way out of the country. The Iraqi people have been through a lot and for them to be able to vote for who they want to run their country is great.”

“I would have a sense of national pride,” Mischler said.

“Hopefully they will choose the right people to make the right decisions for this country,” said Flanagan, who said if he were part of the ISF, he would be confident in his unit but would also question whether things might start to revert back to the way they were once U.S. forces left the country.

Although they could speculate what it would be like to be a citizen of the country of Iraq, they aren’t. They are American Soldiers, part of the 1st Bn., 15th Inf. Regt. They are focused on their mission.

“There is so much going on and all of the units play such a crucial part,” Mischler said. “We have been really lucky we haven’t seen anything serious. The combat medic badge is good and all, but if I never get it, I’ll be happy.”

So until their next mission, the scout platoon will play basketball to get away from the stresses of the deployment, but will never forget why they’re in Iraq.

And while in Iraq, they’ll never forget home.

“Laura, I love you,” Cook said for his wife. “I miss you.”