Mad Adders on the Ziggurat: Army public affairs visits Iraq’s oldest historical site

Photo By Spc. Anthony Zane | Staff Sgt. Deane Barnhardt, broadcast journalist and non-commissioned officer-in-charge, 362nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, from Reading, Pa., interviews an Iraqi tour guide and member of the Iraqi National Museum, on the steps of the Ziggurat of Ur in Dhi Qar province, Iraq.  

TALLIL, IRAQ

09.24.2011

Story by Spc. Anthony Zane 

362nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

COB ADDER, Iraq – The Ziggurat of Ur, an ancient stepped-pyramid structure built in the 21st century B.C., is located just outside Contingency Operating Base Adder, near the present-day city of Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar province, Iraq.

As U.S. forces continue preparing to exit Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn, some soldiers were fortunate enough to visit the 4000-year-old site.

In previous years, tours of the Ziggurat were a common occurrence for soldiers here. But for security purposes, tours of this historical site are now few and far between.

A team of soldiers from the 362nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, a U.S. Army reserve unit from Londonderry, N.H., call themselves the Mad Adders, a clever play-on-words incorporating their post on COB Adder with the zany Mad Hatter character from Lewis Carroll’s story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Providing public affairs support throughout southern Iraq, the 362nd MPAD is a team of print and broadcast journalists whose mission is to tell the Army story. That mission awarded them the unique opportunity to tour the Ziggurat.

“It’s sometimes difficult to explain my mission as public affairs,” said Pvt. Andrew Slovensky, print journalist, 362nd MPAD and native of Pell City, Ala.

“My job is to tell the soldier’s story by using photos and words to deliver the story to a wider audience, so that the command and the people at home understand what we’re doing over here,” he said.

So far, Slovensky’s deployment experience has taken him to various locations throughout southern Iraq, and the chance to set foot on the Ziggurat is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“We got to visit the Ziggurat to cover a unit pulling security,” said Slovensky. “It was an honor to get to go to a historic, ancient site; a city that’s basically been around for four thousand years, and we brought along with us a very professional, a very interesting, a very accomplished security detachment called the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery with the 2nd of the 82nd Field Artillery Regiment. And it was a whole lot of fun to cover them and to get a tour of the Ziggurat.”

Sgt. Lisa Soule, broadcast journalist, 362nd MPAD, from Huntsville, Ala., was covering the video aspect of the same mission.

“This deployment has been very interesting for us because we’ve been able to go out on a lot of different types of missions,” said Soule. “We’ve been able to see how other units operate, particularly when we went to the Ziggurat. We were able to get up close and personal with these people who go out… everyday on patrols.”

“This particular mission was double-exciting for us because not only did we get to see soldiers doing their job, but we also got to see one of the most important landmarks in this area,” she said. “And not many people get to see it. It was really cool to mix our work with a little bit of pleasure.”

Mixing business with pleasure is a rare luxury during deployment. But for Staff Sgt. Deane Barnhardt, broadcast journalist and command information non-commissioned officer in charge, 362nd MPAD, from Reading, Pa., it was one experience he had been looking forward to since the Mad Adders arrived on COB Adder.

“We can see it from our window and I wanted to get out to see it in person,” said Barnhardt. “So we figured we’d take some of the people that we write stories on, bring them with us, do a story on them and get some cool photos.”

“As a division asset, we mentor the brigades and all the other assets of public affairs throughout United States Division – Center,” said Barnhardt. “That’s been our main focus right now, to cover the wrap-up of the Iraqi’s taking over and the American forces going home.”

Much like Alice’s character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this mission has been an unusual experience for the members of the 362nd MPAD.

“This has been a very atypical tour for a Mobile Public Affairs Detachment,” said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Fowler, acting first sergeant, 362nd MPAD, from Rochester, N.H. “Our soldiers were split into various teams, based all around Iraq. The seven-soldier team that became the Mad Adders has worked very hard, and really has done a tremendous job.”

“So, for our guys to be able to decompress a little, to come out here and see the ancient site, but at the same time actually be productive is great,” said Fowler. “It is a chance for us to do our mission; to cover soldiers conducting their operations so that we can tell their story, but it also allows us the rare opportunity to take in some culture and history,” he added.

For one member of the team, this is a revisit to the site. In 2006, Capt. Donald Larsen, commander of the 362nd MPAD, from Butler, Mo., toured the Ziggurat for the first time.

“When I deployed here last time, I visited the Ziggurat as part of a Morale, Welfare and Recreation tour,” said Larsen. “It was during the surge in 2006, and we suffered a lot of attacks at that time. There were a great many of us soldiers in theater.”
“This time, the threat level is very low, and we are redeploying the entire United States force at this time,” said Larsen. “It’s very exciting to see the country more stable. And it’s exciting to see the Army reach the conclusion of its mission here.”

• Date Taken: 09.24.2011
• Date Posted: 10.04.2011 09:44
• Story ID: 77980
• Location: TALLIL, IQ