As Christmas nears, many of Fort Polk’s finest prepare to spend their third holiday in combat instead of home with their families.
More than 3,000 soldiers of the 4th Brigade 10th Mountain Division will spend Christmas in Iraq as they continue to serve the United States in the Global War on Terror. But many Christmas wishes will also be granted as these soldiers will begin coming home as early as Jan. 1.
“Everyone should be home by mid-January,” said Col. Mark Dewhurst, Commander of the 4th Brigade 10th Mountain Division. “We have been given a timeline and will begin redeploying at the beginning of the new year.”
It’s always hard to be away during the holidays, but this year members of the brigade are more excited because they know that they will soon be coming home, said Dewhurst.
When Dewhurst and his soldiers deployed, one of their missions was to partner with Iraqi forces for training purposes to defeat insurgents. While in-country, the 4th Brigade 10th Mountain Division saw the number of insurgent attacks disintegrate by 50 percent, said Dewhurst.
The drop in attacks can be attributed to the brigade’s training of local Iraqi police officers.
Now the brigade members are acting more as advisors as the Iraqi police provide security, according to Dewhurst.
In the past year, more than 2,000 families have resettled into the homes where they once lived. Many of these Iraqis moved at the advent of the war in fear for their lives.
The brigade was also instrumental in detaining 641 criminalsand eliminating many weapons caches. One of the caches seized contained 13 improvised explosive devices ready to be placed along with 300 PKC machine gun ammo rounds.
One of the criminals apprehended was suspected of involvement in improvised explosive device attacks in the Ur Hawasum area of Baghdad.
As tensions grew in Iraq a group of citizens began acting as the police to provide protection for their people as well as assisting allied forces in the fight for thier freedom.
The civilians,now known as the Sons of Iraq, man checkpoints and complete the work of the Iraqi Police. In the past year, as security measures grew, this integral part of the community has continued to grow. Many of the group have been trained and are now members of the Iraqi police.
But the brigade’s greatest achievements aren’t exactly tangible, said Dewhurst.
“On a daily basis you see more and more people going to market,” Dewhurst explained. “They feel safe enough to travel in their home country without fear.”
For example, a few months ago a 2K bike race was held. Though a race might not seem like much, the fact that the citizens of Iraq felt safe enough to hold the event is proof that life is returning to normal.
“When we first arrived here, the chief complaint was security,” Dewhurst said. “Now the chief complaint is about the economy. The security in the area has stabilized and people aren’t living as fearfully as before,” Dewhurst continued.
Brigade members have also worked closely with members of the Ministry of Education. Through their combined efforts, 28 schools have been renovated and are now holding classes on a full-time basis.
Soon, as brigade members return home, families will be reunited. After family reintegration classes are finished, soldiers will have 30 days of leave to spend time visiting family and friends and getting used to being back home.
Many of the soldiers of the 4th Brigade 10th Mountain Division will come back to continue their training, while some will leave the Armed Forces. Those who stay in the service will once again train and wait to answer the call of duty.
“My hopes for the future include keeping Iraq on track so that there will be less deployments for our soldiers,” said Dewhurst. “To the family and community members of Leesville and central Louisiana, your support has been fantastic.”
The packages, cards and words of encouragement sent by the community did not go unnoticed and were great for lifting morale amoung the soldiers, continued Dewhurst, who had a special message for the familiy members of his deployed soldiers: “To the family members who were left behind, you have had to pick up the pieces and take care of everything at home, from broken plumbing to serving as both parents. My thanks and deepest appreciation.”
Baghdad —
