NH Sunday News Special Section: 197th FIB In Kuwait

A SPECIAL REPORT New Hampshire Sunday News • March 27, 2011

NEW HAMPSHIRE

GUARD IN KUWAIT

NH Guard steps up to unexpected demands

By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM New Hampshire Sunday News

W

HEN MORE THAN 700 New Hampshire Army National Guardsmen deployed to Kuwait last fall, they may not have fully grasped what a critical part they would play in the history of that tumultuous region.

With the war in Iraq winding down, New Hampshire Guardsmen from the 197th Fires Brigade are running base camps, providing force protection and escorting EDITOR’S NOTE: critical supply convoys into Sunday News reporter Iraq.

Shawne K. Wickham Some soldiers have also spent nine days with been to Afghanistan, tasked the New Hampshire with making sure critical Army National Guard’s equipment has arrived that 197th Fires Brigade will be needed as the mission in Kuwait earlier this there shifts also. month.

And as turmoil continues to roil the region, our Guardsmen are ready to assist whenever, wherever they are needed to safeguard American installations and interests, commanders say.

It’s hardly a walk in the park.

Col. Peter Corey is commander of the 197th Fires Brigade. A native of Littleton, he and his wife, Margaret, have three children: Kerstin, 22, Dana, 20, and Joe, 17.

Corey, 48, said he couldn’t be prouder of his VSee Guard, Page G12

New Hampshire residents from all walks of life are serving in Kuwait with the National Guard’s 197th Fires Brigade. Meet these soldiers and others inside this special section.

Page G2 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • March 27, 2011

NH Guard in Kuwait

Off duty and building camaraderie E

VEN AT THE MOST REMOTE BASES, the soldiers have a lot to keep them occupied when they’re not working. The base stores sell everything they need, even video game systems; there’s cable TV and Internet, so they stay in constant contact with their families back home through e-mail and on Skype.

There are large TV sets everywhere — in the mess hall, the recreation center, the gym. The previous evening’s college basketball games and spring training baseball games are replayed on ESPN, and there are always soldiers watching, late at night or over breakfast.

Soon after the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, the soldiers were keeping up with the latest news as they ate dinner.

And most read Stars and Stripes daily, keeping up with news from home and around the world. “Hell and High Water,” the headline from Japan read on March 12.

But the noise that seems to occupy so much airtime back home seems non-existent here.

None of the soldiers seem to know or care about Charlie Sheen’s ravings or the latest political tempest.

There’s a sense of self-isolation on the bases. Few of the soldiers have ventured into Kuwait City, although the MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) programs will organize a trip if they want to.

Instead, they entertain themselves. Karaoke is big at the Life Support Area base.

The twice-monthly bingo games at Camp Arifjan are packed and highly competitive. There’s a rhythm to the game; certain calls trigger predictable responses. “B-4” STAFF SGT. elicits “and after.” B-12: “It’s KEVIN SAWLER a vitamin.” of Manchester, who sings One can’t be repeated in a and plays keyboards and family newspaper. trombone It never gets old.

On St. Patrick’s Day, Camp Arifjan held a 5K road race; the winners got green T-shirts. But there was no corned beef dinner waiting for them.

Instead, the mess served barbecue chicken and ribs, collard greens and cornbread for lunch. “It’s Thursday, so it’s soul food,” one soldier explained.

Seven members of the 39th Army Band deployed with the 197th. They asked to be assigned together, and they were. So they practice weekly in the Camp Arifjan chapel, belting out such classic rock songs as Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and the Beatles’ “Come Together” as well as newer hits such as the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried.”

They’re hoping to play concerts at Arifjan and some of the other bases before their deployment ends.

“The closest part of home for me is this, my music,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Sawler of Manchester, who sings and plays keyboards and trombone. “I joined the Army just to be in the band.”

“For me it’s a big stress relief. And we all love playing.”

Sgt. Christian Hodge, 23, of Goffstown, who plays guitar, said being able to play music with his bandmates on deployment means everything to him. “If I didn’t have music, I’d be lost,” he said.

“

The closest part of home for me is this, my music. I joined the Army just to be in the band.”

New Hampshire members of the 39th Army Band practice every Thursday night in the chapel at Camp Arifjan.

ABOVE: Band members include, from left, Staff Sgt. Kevin Sawler on vocals and keyboards, Spc. Taylor Jones of Dover on guitar, Sgt. Christian Hodge of Goffstown on guitar, Master Sgt. Kandy Fredette of Webster on bass and Sgt. John Desrochers of Manchester on drums.

AT LEFT: Master Sgt. Kandy Fredette of Webster plays bass and Sgt. Christian Hodge of Goffstown is on guitar during a rehearsal.

Bingo is a popular activity for the soldiers stationed at Camp Arifjan. From left, Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan of Rye, Sgt. Rachel Glover of Lincoln and Sgt. Katie Hannigan of Manchester share a laugh.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael Dodge of Allenstown mans the grill at a barbecue held at brigade headquarters at Camp Arifjan. He’s holding what soldiers call “near beer,” non-alcoholic beer, since alcohol is prohibited in Kuwait. The soldiers say it’s not near enough.

Members of the 197th Fires Brigade who ran a 5K race at Camp Arifjan on St. Patrick’s Day got these T-shirts.

There’s more online Videotaped messages from New Hampshire soldiers to the folks back home are posted on UnionLeader.com, where you can also view additional photos of the soldiers of the 197th Fires Brigade in Kuwait.

Sunday, March 27, 2011 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • Page G3

NH Guard in Kuwait

On base, it’s all business S

Spc. Violet Desmarais of Hillsborough, 21, has created an efficient program to recycle discarded uniforms at Camp Arifjan. Many soldiers leave some of their uniforms behind when they head home and discard them in collection boxes around the base. Desmarais sorts through them, sending some to be burned so they don’t fall into the wrong hands, and saving others to offer free to the soldiers staying there.

ECURITY AT THE ARMY BASES in Kuwait is tight and multi-layered, run both by soldiers and by private contractors. Even the soldiers have to pass through several checkpoints to get off and on base, and their vehicles are searched both coming and going.

For security reasons, there are lots of places you cannot take pictures: No photos of the entry gates, guard towers, mess halls, the PX or other places where soldiers congregate in large numbers. At Kuwait Naval Base, you can only point your camera toward the water, not back toward base.

Foreign workers, many of them from India, cook and serve the food in the dining halls and clean the latrines and showers. The latrines and showers are in separate buildings from the housing units, so those using them have to wear shoes or sandals to take a shower.

There’s gravel everywhere to keep the dust down. It almost works.

On American bases across Kuwait, reveille sounds at 6 a.m., retreat at 5 p.m.

Wherever they are, the soldiers stop, stand and salute until the last note sounds.

In the mess hall at Camp Arifjan, there’s a table set for one where no one ever sits.

A framed plaque explains it’s dedicated to “our fallen platoon members.”

The white tablecloth is for “the purity of the intention to respond to their country’s call to arms.” There’s a slice of lemon on the plate, symbolizing “their bitter fate,” and a small pile of salt, “the tears of families and loved ones.”

The chair is empty, the glass inverted: “They cannot toast with us tonight.”

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

Sgt. Richard Morse of Goffstown picks up the mail to deliver to the brigade headquarters.

The soldiers especially love getting home-baked goodies and letters from kids back home.

Pfc. Derek McMahon of Plaistow, 25, takes good care of a small patch of grass he planted outside the emergency operations center at Camp Arifjan.

It’s one of the rare spots of green on a base that can seem sepia-toned after the wind blows the dust around.

Maj. Greg Heilshorn of Barrington is the public affairs officer for the 197th Fires Brigade. Back home, he’s the state PAO for the National Guard. All soldiers who are outside when Retreat is sounded at 5 p.m. stop what they’re doing and salute the flag.

Sgt. Dawn Cookson of Hillsborough said it’s an honor to fly a flag over Camp Arifjan knowing it will be sent home to New Hampshire at the request of a soldier stationed at the camp.

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Page G4 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • March 27, 2011 (X)

NH Guard in Kuwait

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

Traffic on the road leading to Camp Buehring in northern Kuwait has to stop when a large herd of camels, including some babies, wanders across.

The local fauna has an ancient aura

T

HE CLOSEST THING to a traffic jam in Kuwait may be when a herd of camels wanders across the remote roads leading to the base camps up north.

Owned by wealthy Kuwaitis, the animals roam the desert, often in large herds attended by herders.

“Having a camel is like a status symbol,” explained Sgt. 1st Class Neal Mitchell of Enfield Center, who’s with the public affairs office for the 197th. “It’s a symbol of their past and their heritage.”

The soldiers who patrol the desert surrounding the camps have also seen road runners and big lizards. They can’t tell you exactly what kind of lizard they are but they call them “Dub-Dubs.”

“Dub-dub is the sound they make when you run over them with your truck,” Mitchell deadpanned.

On base, animals are scarce.

A few sparrows and pigeons that look a lot like our New Hampshire birds hop around picking up crumbs.

This prized camel worth about $150,000 in American dollars is tethered at a camp near Camp Arifjan.

Wealthy Kuwaitis keep the animals as symbols of their prosperity and heritage.

There’s a big orange cat that resembles Garfield that hangs out near a Dumpster on Camp Arifjan, and two other cats visit the barracks there. Apparently some soldiers have been buying tuna fish at the PX for the cats.

An American Red Cross volunteer brings her dog, a West Highland White Terrier named Lance, twice a week to the Resiliency Center run by the chaplain’s office.

Pat Rodriguez is from Texas but is living in Kuwait temporarily because her husband is a civilian contractor at Camp Arifjan. She said she knows many soldiers miss their pets when they’re far from home.

Having Lance visit, she said, “brings them a little bit of joy, a little bit of home.”

LEFT: Camels nuzzle each other in the desert near a highway that leads to Camp Buehring , the northernmost Army base in Kuwait.

FAR LEFT: Looking as ancient as the desert itself, these camels wander alongside a road leading to Army bases in northern Kuwait. The white animals are especially valued.

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Lance, a West Highland White Terrier owned by an American Red Cross volunteer, visits Camp Arifjan twice a week. Many soldiers miss their pets while deployed so long away from home.

NH Guard in Kuwait

Sunday, March 27, 2011 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • Page G5

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

The juxtaposition of Western and Middle Eastern culture is apparent along the highways in Kuwait, where fast-food restaurants sit adjacent to mosques.

On Kuwait’s roads, it’s a completely different world

T

A crash involving a fuel tanker on the highway to Kuwait City barely slows traffic. The speed limit is 120 km, about 80 miles per hour, but few drivers seem to obey it.

RAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAYS near Kuwait City makes Boston motorists seem like Sunday drivers.

The speed limit is 120 km (about 80 mph) but it’s not enforced. Vehicles weave in and out of the lanes, and there’s a lot of horn-blowing.

When a gas truck jackknifes on a major highway, vehicles barely slow down to pass by; in New Hampshire, the highway would be closed down for hours and haz-mat crews called in. “Our biggest danger is not bullets or bombs,â€? quipped Sgt. 1st Class Neal Mitchell of EnďŹ eld Center, who works in the public affairs ofďŹ ce at the 197th brigade headquarters. “It’s getting hit by Kuwaitis on the roads.â€?

The American military has been in Kuwait since Desert Storm, 20 years ago.

Still, when they travel outside the base to the airport or to Kuwait City, the soldiers wear civilian clothing. Even traveling between base camps, they remove their outer shirts, wearing their neutral T-shirts.

It’s both for security reasons and so they’re not making the huge American military presence here so obvious, they explained. Still, it seems their close-cropped haircuts, military bearing and enduring politeness would likely give them away.

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Page G6 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • March 27, 2011

NH Guard in Kuwait

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

Spc. Kayla White of Manchester is a videographer with the public affairs office of the 197th Fires Brigade. At 19, she’s one of the youngest soldiers deployed with the brigade. She wants to become a prosecutor and plans to stay in the National Guard.

1st Lt. Emily Paige Riordan of Derry, the officer in charge of contracting and project management at the Life Support Area, is growing some cherished sweet pea flowers on her desk. Riordan, 25, is a 2007 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where she was commissioned by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who were the commencement speakers that year.

Lt. Col. Richard Oberman, left, of Boscawen is the brigade surgeon for the 197th Fires Brigade.

He’s actually got a nursing degree but his title reflects his status as the chief medical officer for the brigade. He’s checking vital signs for Sgt. 1st Class Neal Mitchell of Enfield Center, who has had an upper respiratory infection.

Sgt. Jason Burpee of Hooksett poses in his room, where the wall is decorated with a photo of his wife Catherine and the decorated box flaps (inset at left) from a package his family sent him for Christmas.

1st Sgt. Jason Augustus of Milton is the non-commissioned officer in charge of billeting (housing) at the Life Support Area. These Combined Housing Units (CHUs) are mobile units that “piece together like Legos,” he explained.

Major David Fink of Manchester is the executive officer of the Camp Command Cell that runs Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The flags behind him are at half-staff in honor of the nation’s last World War I veteran, who was being buried that day at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sunday, March 27, 2011 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • Pa

NH Guard in Kuwait

Granite State faces half a world away

T

HEY ARE MEN AND WOMEN, young and no longer so, parents and children. They are lawyers, physicians, preachers, electricians and software engineers.

They are soldiers.

These are the faces of the New Hampshire Army National Guard’s 197th Fires Brigade. They are about halfway through a one-year deployment that has taken them from the Granite State to the deserts of Kuwait in support of the American military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They miss their loved ones back home, and rely on each other in their work and play. And because of what they have done together in the desert, they are, as one soldier put it, “friends for life.”

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

Sgt. Brian Gordon of Chester reads “Green Eggs and Ham” for his niece and nephew back home. The USO runs a program called United Through Reading that allows service members to record themselves reading a book, and sends the book and DVD home.

1st Sgt. Jason Augustus of Milton poses a photo at Lif Support Area base in Kuwa It’s a popular photo to send home. The troops here ca choose to eat the mess hall purchase fast food.

Cpl. Christopher Ross of Gilmanton Iron Works, who turned 22 in Kuwait on March 21, is an IT specialist at the Life Support Area in Kuwait. During his downtime on base, he’s been taking online courses through Lakes Region Community College back home.

Maj. Jim Dennehy, a Concord defense lawyer and former assistant U.S. attorney for New Hampshire, is the brigade’s Judge Advocate General.

Sgt. 1st Class Jon Cilley of Northwood is the medical operations NCO for the 197th Fires Brigade. At home, he’s a volunteer EMT for the Belmont Fire Department, and works full-time for the Guard.

Spc. Benjamin Saylor, 21, of Merrimack, works in the emergency operations center at the Life Support Area. He said the deployment has taught him a lot about himself, notably that he remains calm under pressure.

Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan of Rye uses hand puppets to create and record skits for her 3-year-old daughter Casey Elena back home. Morgan is a breast cancer survivor and was proud to be found medically fit for this deployment, even though she misses her “baby girl.”

Maj. Steven Veinotte of Campton is the chaplain for the 197th Fires Brigade. The chapel at Camp Arifjan can be set up for services for many denominations, depending on the religious affiliation of the soldiers stationed there.

Page G8 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • March 27, 2011

NH Guard in Kuwait

AT RIGHT: Rhode Island National Guardsmen Spc. Matthew Tiner, left, the gunner, and Sgt. Steve White, truck commander, are greeted by excited Kuwaiti children while on patrol outside the perimeter of Camp Arifjan.

BELOW RIGHT: New Hampshire National Guardsman Sgt. 1st Class Neal Mitchell snaps a photo of Kuwaiti children trying on a combat helmet as Staff Sgt. Ryan Beaudoin from the Rhode Island Guard looks on. Mitchell is with the public affairs office for the 197th Fires Brigade.

Beaudoin is a squad leader of a Quick Reaction Team from the Rhode Island Guard that patrols the perimeter at Camp Arifjan.

BELOW: All Kuwaiti children, including the boy pictured, enjoy meeting the American soldiers and seeing their vehicles.

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

On patrol outside the camp: camels, kids and connections

I

Salvation Army “Lassies” serve homemade donuts to the troops during World War I

The Salvation Army salutes the New Hampshire National Guardsmen and women who are serving in the Mideast!

N ADDITION to the New Hampshire soldiers, the 197th Fires Brigade also includes Guardsmen from Michigan, Rhode Island and West Virginia. The Michigan folks are running Camp Patriot, an Army base at the Kuwait Naval Base. The Rhode Island Guardsmen run Camp Virginia.

The New Hampshire soldiers operate Camp Arifjan, about 40 miles south of Kuwait City; Camp Buehring, the northernmost base in Kuwait; and the Life Support Area, where all troops move in and out of the region.

The brigade also encompasses an active duty Army unit, the 44th Chemical Co.; an Army dive team out of Hawaii; and the 319th Explosives Ordnance Disposal team, a small Guard unit out of Washington.

The Rhode Island Guard runs the Quick Reaction Force that patrols the perimeter at Camp Arifjan many times each day.

They warn off local camel herders who come too close to the base and respond in minutes to reports of potential threats. A recent alert that someone was taking photographs outside the base turned out to be a Kuwaiti surveyor

for a company planning a natural gas line. “We scared the hell out of him,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Beaudoin of Providence, a squad leader.

Out on patrol, the Guardsmen stop to visit with Kuwaiti families who are camping in the desert, a tradition meant to preserve and honor their Bedouin heritage.

On a recent patrol, the Guardsmen spotted an incongruously bright object against the desert landscape. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an inflatable slide a Kuwaiti family had brought for the kids to enjoy at camp.

At first sight of the Army Humvees, the slide was forgotten, as children and adults alike poured out of the family compound to greet the soldiers. And the Guardsmen seemed delighted too, pulling the little boys up onto the vehicle to pose for photos.

Sgt. 1st Class Scott O’Keefe of North Smithfield, R.I., is the platoon sergeant for the QRF. As if to prove that all roads lead to New Hampshire, it turns out O’Keefe and his wife have a summer home on Newfound Lake in Alexandria. He’s planning to visit there when he comes home on leave this spring.

Service to American armed forces began during the SpanishAmerican War, when Salvation Army officers accompanied troops to the Philippine Islands. In 1917, The Salvation Army initiated a program that ministered to the needs of American military at home and abroad. In the program, female Salvationists became known as “Lassies” or “Sally Annes” as they served donuts and coffee in the frontline trenches and elsewhere.

In 1939, as World War II appeared inevitable, The Salvation Army helped create the interfaith movement that led to the formation of the United Service Organization, know as the USO. If you would like to know more about the work of The Salvation Army, please call (866) 674-4391 ext. 234

This extended Kuwaiti family was spending some time together camping and brought along an inflatable slide, an unlikely sight in the desert, to entertain the children. The youngsters were much more impressed with the American soldiers and their vehicles.

NH Guard in Kuwait

Sunday, March 27, 2011 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • Page G9

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Page G10 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • March 27, 2011

NH Guard in Kuwait

Meet Convoy Escort Team 7 at Camp Buehring — self-appointed nickname: “Kind of a Big Deal.”

From left, front row, are Staff Sgt. Michael Kiluk of Manchester, Spc. Thomas Mann of Hampton, Spc. Daniel Hill of Weare, Spc. Stephen Simms of Hudson, Staff Sgt. James Hannan of Wilton, Sgt. Wit Phelps of Manchester and Spc. Donald Combs of Nashua; and from left, back row, Sgt. Stephen Thomas of Manchester, Spc. Ryan Tenhave of Merrimack, Sgt. Chad Hutton of Milford, Spc. Joseph Belanger of Nashua and Pvt. Brandon Chadwick of Rochester.

They guard the long lines supplying Iraq T

HE CONVOY ESCORT TEAMS (CETs) out of Camp Buehring have the most dangerous job in Kuwait, providing security for long lines of tractor-trailers that haul food, water and supplies to forward operating bases in Iraq. On their return trips, they’re bringing out equipment no longer needed as part of what the Army calls Operation New Dawn.

They had logged 1,270,068 mission miles by March 1.

The CETs are driving Caimans, armored vehicles that the soldiers say are far superior to the Humvees they used to drive.

And that means these young soldiers will bring home tales of improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire that likely may have proved lethal just a few years ago.

PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS Women do the same work From left, Spc. Theresa Fortier of Berlin, 22, PFC Jensine Barr of Nashua, 20, and Spc. Megan Torres of Rochester, 23, are all gunners as the men; they are gunners, stationed at Camp Buehring in northern Kuwait. The women say their smaller size can actually be an advantage, since they fit better in the drivers and mechanics. On turrets and can duck down quickly if they encounter an improvised explosive device or small-arms fire. the road, that means using a wide-mouthed jar for a bathroom or squatting in the desert.

Capt. Brian Calhoun, the day battle commander at Camp Buehring, said Army rules that prohibit women from serving in combat seem A biblical exhortation sends New academic here. “According Hampshire Guardsmen off on convoy to the rules, we don’t have Staff Sgt. James Hannan of Wilton, escort missions into Iraq. The missions any women in combat. But who recently turned 28, is a squad take an average of eight days as the they’re in as much danger leader of a convoy escort team soldiers guard critical supplies going to as anybody else because our (CET) at Camp Buehring, about forward bases there. combat support role puts us a 40-minute drive from the Iraq in the line of fire.” border.

Calhoun previously served in Iraq in 2004, and he’s seen dramatic changes in that country on this deployment. “It’s nice to see the Iraqi army and Iraqi police taking charge of their own areas, running their own checkpoints, standing up to take over their country,” he said. “Because in six months, they’re going to be the only ones there.”

The soldiers know they’re doing important work as the U.S. combat mission in Iraq draws down.

“We’re keeping the support infrastructure for everybody in Iraq open,” said Sgt. James Hannan of Wilton, who recently turned 28. Back home, he works at Lowe’s; in Kuwait he’s a squad leader of a CET. “Especially as we start to move more stuff out of Iraq, we’re playing a pretty big part in helping us do that safely.”

Even the youngest soldiers have a sense of the historical nature of their mission. Spc. Megan Torres, a 23-year-old gunner from Rochester, said, “It makes you feel proud to know you’re trying to establish peace, not just in their country but between us and them.”

SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

Spc. Joseph Belanger of Nashua, left, and Spc. Stephen Simms of Hudson made the mistake of joking about their sergeant’s age and paid the price in push-ups.

At the motor pool at Camp Buehring, soldiers from the 3rd/172nd Field Artillery, part of the 197th Fires Brigade, prepare for a long-haul mission into Iraq.

Sunday, March 27, 2011 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • Page G11

NH Guard in Kuwait

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Page G12 • NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS • March 27, 2011

NH Guard in Kuwait

Guard members embrace a varied mission ficers say the New Hampshire Guardsmen have Continued From Page G1 distinguished themselves in Kuwait, in part because their troops. “They’ve embraced civilian skills have helped everything they’ve been them carry out the “nonasked to do.” standard” missions they’ve These men and women been assigned. have not hesitated to fulfill “Semper Gumby,” Lt. Col. unexpected missions, he Dan Wilson of Concord, the said, such as helping to plan brigade’s executive officer, and participate in Kuwait’s 50/20 celebration last month, calls it.

Maj. David Fink of Mancommemorating its 50 years chester, the executive officer of independence and 20 at the Camp Command Cell years since liberation. that runs Camp Arifjan, calls Signs of the celebration Kuwait the “logistics hub” for remain, with decorative the operations in Iraq and plaques attached to light Afghanistan. “Without us poles along the major highbeing here, the folks in Iraq ways. At night, palm trees are illuminated by tiny white and Afghanistan would have lights like so many Christmas a much harder time.”

And the way Fink sees it, trees. there’s even more at stake.

Corey said the men and “National security and our women of the 197th have way of life demand a price,” earned the respect of their state and nation. “We would he said. “There are some people willing to serve ... not be able to execute what essentially to take the fight to we’re doing in Iraq, to some the enemy and keep it off our degree in Afghanistan and own soil.” certainly not in Kuwait Maj. Michael Pelletier of without the roles and the Goffstown, who plans future missions that we’re performmilitary operations at brigade ing here in the 197th Fires headquarters, was part of Brigade,” he said.

Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004-05. He said it will probArtillery unit The 197th has a proud his- ably take time for Americans to know whether what our tory as a field artillery unit; military has for some soldiers, done in the their assignment region bears in Kuwait was diffruit. ficult to embrace “It’ll take a at first. They’re long time to see trained to fire if the free-marbig guns on the PHOTOS BY SHAWNE K. WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS ket economy battlefield, so the Col. Peter Corey, who grew up in Littleton, joined the National Guard while he was a student at the University of New Hampshire, where he in Iraq will idea of running was commissioned in 1983. He’s the commander of the 197th Fires Brigade in Kuwait. take hold. If base camps inthe very small stead took some step toward getting used to, representative some say. government That sentiis going to ment seems Col. Corey (left) take hold. If most prominent stands with they can start among those Command Sgt. respecting each who have never Maj. Thomas other human deployed before.

Considine of rights-wise.”

Some of the Whitefield, COL. PETER COREY But Pelleothers, the ones the highestCommander, 197th Fires Brigade tier said if that who’ve been to ranking enlisted happens, “it’ll Iraq before, say officer for the be beneficial not only for Iraq they’re happy to be experibrigade. The encing the relative stability of but for the whole region, and New Hampshire for generations to come.”

Kuwait. motto and flag “I see it a lot in the younger are proudly Missing home guys who wanted to come displayed Asked what he misses over here, wanted to do some outside the most, Corey said, “I miss gun truck runs into Iraq,” brigade’s peace and quiet.

I miss said Sgt. Jason Burpee, 35, headquarters at fresh air without dirt flying of Hooksett, an intelligence Camp Arifjan. around.” analyst at what’s called the It’s what a lot of his solLife Support Area base. “You diers say as well: They miss catch some people who did it the natural beauty of New before, and they say be careHampshire.

In Kuwait, the ful what you wish for.” wind blows the dust around 1st Sgt. Kandy Fredette until everything seems sepiaof Webster deployed with a toned.

Guard unit attached to the So 1st Lt. Emily Paige Rior2nd Marines in Ramadi, Iraq, dan of Derry, 25, nurtures in 2005-06. Unit members tiny sweet pea seedlings she’s lost friends there, and their growing in a pot on her desk. comrade, Staff Sgt. Jose And Pfc. Derek McMahon of Pequeno, Sugar Hill’s police Plaistow, who’s also 25, tends chief, was critically injured. a patch of grass he’s grown “This is like paradise here,” from seed at the compound she said. where he works; he’s fashCorey said he understands ioned a sort of awning over how some feel. “I’ll never get it and knows it will need to stand amongst a group of my peers and say, yeah, I was constant watering when the temperature soars above 110 in Iraq during the big surge degrees this summer. when all this stuff was going Lt. Col. Daniel The night after the Sept. on.

Wilson of “Yet I know personally that 11 deployment ceremony in Concord is what I did here was a signifi- Manchester, Corey said, he the executive cant contribution to what the sat outside with his wife and officer for the son around a fi re pit in their nation needed us to do, and 197th Fires in my mind I’m very satisfied back yard, cherishing the moBrigade. He ment. “That’s what I want to with that,” he said. promised his get back to,” he said. “Peace There’s never been an at10-year-old and quiet and the family just tack on a base in Kuwait; the daughter Anna enjoying life.” soldiers stationed across the that he would But there can be beauty in border in Iraq can’t say the bring this same. And the soldiers of the Kuwait as well. The soldiers Army gnome say the sunrises and sunsets 3/197th at Camp Buehring with him have seen their share of com- over the desert are amazing. everywhere in Driving out in the desert bat as they guard the convoys Kuwait, and one night, Col. Corey asked bringing critical supplies he’s keeping his driver to pull over.

They north into Iraq. his promise. got out and looked at the stars spread across the sky.

Always alert The command staff for the On base, it’s hard to see the stars with all the bright lights.

197th constantly monitors Later that night, Corey the unrest in the surrounding countries. That, too, is a mis- e-mailed his wife and told her he could see the constelsion the Guardsmen never lation Orion, the hunter, expected but are prepared just like at home. “It’s weird to respond to if necessary, that you can be on different Corey said. points of the Earth but look “It wouldn’t be prudent of at the same point thousands the United States to just sit and thousands of light years back and watch all this happening without having some away,” he said. “And that somehow gives you a concontingencies in place,” he nection to your family back said. home.”

Their commanding of-

Guard

“

I know personally that what I did here was a significant contribution to what the nation needed us to do, and in my mind I’m very satisfied with that.”