The Professionals: As "Surge" deployment winds down, Paratroopers look back on all they've accomplished

Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Miami, Fla., native Sgt. 1st Class Jorge Mazuela (right), a platoon sergeant with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, keeps a watchful eye out for security risks while shoppers during a visit to one of the thriving new market areas in Baghdad's Sha'ab neighborhood, Jan 15.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

01.21.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor 

82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office

Part 2 of a two-part series

By Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

Author's note: In Part 1 of this series, the White Falcons of the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, moved into the Sha'ab neighborhood in East Baghdad as part of the first wave of the "Surge" in forces aimed at restoring security to the Iraqi capital. Soon, the paratroopers' efforts began to turn the area around. Now, in Part 2, the White Falcons take stock of all they achieved – and all they sacrificed – during this deployment.

BAGHDAD - By the Fall of 2007, Sha'ab was seeing a clear turnaround. From a high of 160 violent deaths in the area in December, 2006, the number shrank to just five a year later - a 97 percent decrease, said the White Falcons' commander, Lt. Col. Richard Kim.

It was a major achievement for the paratroopers, one they haven't even fully come to grips with yet, said 1st Lt. Josh Ollek, of Woodstown, N.J., a platoon leader with Company B.

"I don't think it will really sink in until we're home and we start thinking about everything we accomplished," Ollek said.

But the success came at a heavy price. Nine Soldiers from the Battalion and its supporting units were killed in action during the deployment, and scores more were wounded. Combat Outpost Callahan withstood more than 30 withering barrages of rocket and mortar rounds. On every patrol, roadside bombs were a constant danger.

With many of its paratroopers on their fourth tour of duty in Iraq, the White Falcons were already one of the Army's most combat hardened units. But this deployment has left the paratroopers with a seen-it-all, done-it-all layer of toughness shared by even the newest private. They pepper their talk with casual references to horrific events – like the time insurgents catapulted 100-pound propane tanks filled with plastic explosives over the walls of the COP. They make morbid jokes about the IEDs that wait for them on the next patrol. They kid about hoping for the "million-dollar" wound that will send them home in one piece.

But as hardened as they may appear on the outside, almost all the paratroopers are wrestling with homesickness, and the year's-worth of birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays they have missed.

As they walked a patrol one recent morning through a market just beginning to fill up with customers, the paratroopers from 2nd Platoon, Co. B kept up a running commentary during every halt about things they missed from home.

"You know what I miss? Civilian clothes," one of the paratroopers said.

"I miss real food," another offered.

"I miss being able to walk down the street without an M4 and huge bag on my back," said (Doc) David Higuera, as he labored under his swollen medic bag.

"You know what I miss? America," said Blytheville, Ark. native Staff Sgt. James Price, pretty much ending the conversation in agreement.

And yet, much as they might long for home, the paratroopers remain focused on the mission, and on completing the job at hand.

"Right now, this is our world. This is our lives," Staff Sgt. Robert Brogdon said. "So until the day we leave, we're just going to keep our heads down and keep doing what we have to do."

For now, that means continuing to help the people of Sha'ab get on their feet. Which is why, a few hours after nightfall on Jan. 14, the paratroopers from Company B returned to the squatter village with a large truck full of tarps, cots, and food for the refugee family. The family members, who had been huddled around a charcoal heater, helped unload the truck as children danced with excitement around the pile of supplies. Ollek shook hands with the grateful father. Sgt. 1st Class Jorge Mazuela, the platoon sergeant, watched the whole scene with an irrepressible smile.

For a moment, the paratroopers looked like big softies, but with all the blood, sweat and tears the White Falcons have invested in Sha'ab, it was impossible not to get a little emotionally involved, Mazuela said.

"You're here, and you're not going anywhere, so you might as well give a damn," Mazuela said.

• Date Taken: 01.21.2008
• Date Posted: 01.21.2008 14:53
• Story ID: 15625
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ