Wounded warriors visit Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq

Photo By Sgt. Shantelle Campbell | Eight retired and active duty wounded warriors are greeted by Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team as they visit COB Speicher and other areas of Iraq through Operation Proper Exit, Oct. 12.  

TIKRIT, IRAQ

10.12.2009

Story by Sgt. Shantelle Campbell 

4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq — If given the chance to go back to the place where you almost lost your life, would you take it?

Through a pilot program, called Operation Proper Exit, created to provide an opportunity for service members and veterans to return to the places where they once served in Iraq.

"This warrior care initiative, Operation Proper Exit, was created to provide opportunities for [service members] who have demonstrated in recovery that they are thriving both physically and mentally," said Rick Kell, executive director of Troops First Foundation and creator of Operation Proper Exit.

"[The program] also gives them the opportunity to see the tremendous success that is taking place here in Iraq," Kell said. "And help them realize that their sacrifices, both theirs and their Families, have true meaning and significant value."

For a week, eight retired and active duty service members who sustained injuries while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, revisited areas in Salah ad-Din province, Iraq to gain closure and to witness the positive change that has occurred in Iraq.

Retired U.S. Army Cpl. Craig Chavez, who lost his left eye and most of the sight in his right, and suffered injuries from a detonation of an improvised explosive device in 2006, said he found out about Operation Proper Exit from an e-mail sent to him by his former commander and admits that he was skeptical about returning to Iraq.

"It's just scary to think about what could happen," said Chavez, a Temecula, Calif., native who served with Troop C, 6th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. "I sat up all night thinking about every little thing that could happen to me coming back to Iraq."

As they got off a Black Hawk helicopter at the Provincial Joint Coordination Cell in Tikrit, Iraq, Oct. 12, they were greeted by high ranking personnel of the Iraqi and U.S. Armies.

After their visit to the PJCC, they were flown to Contingency Operating Base Speicher, where they were met with handshakes, smiles and "Thank you's" by the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander and brigade Soldiers.

"I think [Operation Proper Exit] helps us because it gives us hope for any other wounded warriors that we may have known," said Sgt. Chrystal Halbert, a Manhattan, Kan., native on her second deployment to Iraq and the operations non-commissioned officer in charge with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th IBCT.

"When I was here, there were a lot of things that happened that I live with every day, and I just want to know in the end, was it worth it? Was it the right thing to do?

Everything that we've done, coming here, it seems like it's worked," said Chavez. "With the [Iraqi army] taking control of this country, and I don't hear any mortars, and I don't hear gunfire. It seems like it's worked. The surge worked, and us coming here and liberating Iraq has worked — it's closure."

"It is a different Iraq," he said.

• Date Taken: 10.12.2009
• Date Posted: 10.21.2009 04:42
• Story ID: 40438
• Location: TIKRIT, IQ