Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tawny Kruse | Ten years ago, more than 3,000 Citizen Soldiers assigned to the Iowa National...... read more read more
Ten years ago, more than 3,000 Citizen Soldiers assigned to the Iowa National Guard’s 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, were called to service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in what would be the organization’s largest mobilization since World War II. Task Force Red Bulls deployed to Eastern Afghanistan as battlespace owners under the 101st Airborne Division at the height of the Afghan surge and were tasked with three primary counterinsurgency missions: clear insurgent fighters to protect the population, build infrastructure to encourage economic growth and establish a rule of law.
As a National Guard unit, the brigade broke the boundaries on what it meant to be a Citizen Soldier during a time of war, and the experiences of the Soldiers who served in that mission continue to have an impact on the organization from the top down.
For Maj. Gen. Ben Corell, former commander of the 2-34th IBCT, the weight of his position during that time is a constant reminder that as a leader, it’s your responsibility to bring as many Soldiers back home to their families as possible. Corell now serves as the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard and is no stranger to the hardships and sacrifice of combat.
“We did something that very few people have had the opportunity to do in the National Guard and [we] excelled,” said Corell. “It wasn’t just Ben Corell being good, it was the Red Bulls. I have a lot of pride in that, but it was a lot of hard work. A lot of sacrifice.”
Before they knew it, Task Force Red Bulls was ramping up to carry out the largest air assault operation ever carried out in Afghanistan. In March of 2011, Corell helped lead approximately 2,200 coalition and Afghan troops into the Galuch Valley in Laghman Province to carry out Operation Bull Whip, which would lead to peace meetings and the establishment of a local government in the area.
1st Sgt. Wade Corell, Ben Corell’s son, remembers the day well. Leading up to the mission, Wade, then a staff sergeant and a senior medic with the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, was constantly packing and repacking equipment, trying to cut out any weight he could in anticipation of the large amounts of walking it would take to get into the valley. He set out with 198 pounds of gear, and on some days, he and his fellow Soldiers spent long periods without food and water waiting for air resupplies.
“We had overwhelmed the valley,” said Wade. “Just seeing the orchestration was amazing. From a combat point of view, it’s probably something you’ll never see again.”
The Corells are no strangers to military service – all three of Corell’s children serve in the Iowa National Guard. Wade’s middle brother also deployed with the task force, but the two never saw each other for more than five minutes at a time as they worked on opposite shifts. His father, however, would often stop at the battalion aid station Wade was assigned to when business brought him to the area.
“I’d walk in from a mission and he would be sitting there waiting for me to check in on me,” said Wade. “It took a bit to figure out he was there as my dad, not my commander. You have to separate those two.”
While the Corells have had a literal family experience with each other in the National Guard, the Army family dynamic is recognized and cherished by many Soldiers who have trained, deployed and served alongside the same people over the years.
Trae Blessing, then a geospatial engineering sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-34th IBCT, is familiar with the strong bonds that form under those unique circumstances. Before his section arrived in country, relationships had already been built through training and drills, so it was easy for them to fall in on their own positions and work together.
“It was the best in my 18 years in the military,” said Blessing. “We were really good at what we did. The intelligence section of the unit was particularly cohesive and we were recognized for that. We literally called ourselves ‘the family.’”
Blessing said they jokingly called their platoon sergeant the father of the section, and the junior enlisted often reminded him of siblings who kept morale high even when times were tough – two of his Soldiers dressing up in bright red suits and firemen hats to give a fire safety briefing was one such instance.
What the Soldiers in his section contributed to unit morale was equally matched by the skill and value they contributed to fighting forces on the ground. According to Blessing, geospatial engineering was new to the Iowa National Guard at the time, and it was up to the engineers to pioneer how their roles would fit into current and future missions. The Soldiers supported four brigades in addition to their own by creating maps using terrain analysis and intelligence data from various sources. Their work in terrain analysis was crucial to the success of operation Bull Whip, and after the initial assault, Blessing was tasked with drawing the boundaries of the new district in Galuch Valley.
It was easier to get through the long hours when leaders like Ben Corell would stop and “shoot the breeze” with the junior enlisted Soldiers, said Blessing.
“He identified we had value to him,” said Blessing. “He wanted to know about our lives and take our minds off the enormity of what we were doing. It was comforting to know you were supported by senior leadership.”
Others, like Staff Sgt. Jason Anderson with 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, felt that support from leadership in different ways. Anderson was a sergeant and sniper team leader during the deployment. His team’s primary mission was to support the infantry with long-range precision live fire.
“We had very aggressive commanders and units,” said Anderson. “I think that helped keep us safer. Aggressiveness is your security.”
Anderson remembers taking contact nearly every day, and bomb threats were high at the time, with trucks getting hit often. The aggressive stances were intentional, and Corell emphasized that when you’re fighting in the mountains, you don’t want to fight uphill. He said most people would tell you he didn’t want a fair fight and he was ruthless in his pursuit of the high ground.
“I want overwhelming odds on the enemy at the right time so we can bring as many of our Soldiers back home without injury as we can,” said Corell.
One thing that stood out to Anderson from the 2010 deployment was how everyone’s training seemed to kick in instinctively to complete a mission. Previously an active duty Marine, Anderson said he was impressed by the level of skill and unit cohesion he found in the Iowa National Guard. He attributes this, in part, to the nature of a Citizen Soldier – there’s another side of a Soldier’s life when they’re not at drill or serving on active duty.
Whether it be banking, carpentry or serving on a police force, Anderson said he believes that outside knowledge base is a force multiplier.
“I always stand back in awe at the power that we can project,” said Anderson. “Everybody in the unit always assaults through and does their job. The Midwest produces strong people, tough people, hard working people.”
Anderson said war can make good people better, and for one of his fellow Soldiers, that rang true. Spc. Kyle Thies was attached to Company B, 1-168th, but like Anderson, his team traveled where they were needed. He said his time in Afghanistan matured him and made him more accountable.
“I used to drag my feet beforehand and thought I had time to do things,” said Thies, “but I learned things go more smoothly if you get things done that need done now.”
Thies said he was thankful for the lighthearted moments in between constant missions. For him, some of the best moments happened at the top of a mountain after climbing it with a hundred pounds of gear on his back, celebrating those little victories with his team as they looked down at the land spread out before them.
On one particular mission, they had spent a week eating only Meals Ready-to-Eat. So, on their next short mission, they packed 5-pound packages of summer sausage and gummy bears.
“That’s what we ate for a solid two days and we got a pretty good laugh out of that,” said Thies.
But there’s one conversation that still replays in his mind ten years later.
Thies was on a convoy with Company B, 1-168th, and before they rolled out that morning, he ran into Spc. Brent Maher, who he described as a grizzly bear of a guy who walked around with purpose and carried himself with dignity. Since the sniper team was a small element, the company had to lend them a truck and provide people to help man it.
Maher gave Thies a hard time about only hunting deer, while he hunted bigger waterfowl. The two also joked about Maher joining Thies’s truck - a detail that Thies will remember for the rest of his life.
It was the last time Thies talked to Maher. Maher’s truck was hit by an IED later that day, killing him and wounding three others.
After the deployment, Thies took a seven-year break in service and became a police officer for the city of Des Moines, wanting to move on from his experience in the Guard. But after some time, he realized he missed it.
“There’s something to be said about the guys you serve with and the camaraderie it builds,” said Thies. “You can’t find it anywhere else. I looked in other places, but I came back home.”
Thies is one of many Red Bulls who returned home with similar stories – both painful and at times, surreal.
In 2010, Capt. Jason Boesen was a first lieutenant with Company C, 1-133rd, and at the beginning of the deployment, he described the mission as every infantry lieutenant’s dream. He said it was what he signed up to do and he had the freedom to operate as a platoon leader. He spent the first few months with his team fighting back hard. In December, their combat outpost in Nuristan Province was attacked with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, catching thousands of gallons of fuel on fire and burning down a third of the outpost.
Boesen said it hardened his team and prepared them to bring their “A game” every day. But as things moved forward, Boesen was selected to fill in as the company’s executive officer and had to leave the platoon that trusted him behind, which he described as one of the hardest things he has ever done. A few months later, in May 2011, he recalled the moment he found out his old platoon had been hit by an IED.
“Any time somebody gets hit, you hear it on a little radio,” said Boesen. “It’s a fog of war. What’s going on, who’s hurt, names? That takes time. When you’re close to your brothers and sisters, it’s hard to sit back and wait. I was freaking out. I knew they were my guys. My mind was racing.”
Boesen said he learned the importance of tactical patience that day. But just as important, reflecting on the time since the deployment, he noted that his personal list of non-combat related deaths is much longer than those that were combat-related.
“Suicide is something we’re combatting,” said Boesen. “It shouldn’t mean the end of their career when they reach out. We have to get rid of that stigma about mental health.”
Corell said he’s focused on ensuring Soldiers have access to every tool and resource to help mitigate the risk, especially as the brigade is preparing to send troops out the door again in 2020.
His son Wade wears a bracelet with Spc. Donny Nichols’s name on it - who was killed by an IED in April 2011 - to remind himself of his responsibility as a leader, both in combat and on the home front. He also knows how the memories and habits of combat can creep into everyday life when you least expect it. Wade said his most humorous experience was at a home improvement store after the deployment, when he ran into a motion sensor Halloween witch that turns and moves its hands.
“I happened to come around the aisle from the backside and all the sudden I saw something coming at my face laughing and instinctually, I just knocked it out,” said Wade. “There happened to be a stock boy five feet away with a look of horror. I looked at the witch, I looked at him, and I said, ‘you saw it, she came at me.’”
But many moments were not as humorous, and for Wade, a lot of the adjustment came from going home to a family who had gotten accustomed to life without him. He said you have to find where your place is again, whether that’s figuring out who’s going to pay the bills or who takes out the recycling.
Maj. Jodi Marti, then a captain and commander of Company E, 334th Brigade Support Battalion, still remembers her unit’s welcome home ceremony in Cedar Rapids clearly, marking the true beginning of her transition. As she saluted and turned around to dismiss her company, she could hear the roar of the crowd and soaked in the happy chaos as families rushed down to embrace their loved ones.
“I happened to have a friend in the Patriot Guard,” said Marti. “He was down on the floor and he got to me before my family did. I gave him a hug and I said, ‘well, what do I do now?’”
Marti played an integral role in helping the 1-133rd establish a rapport with local communities in Afghanistan. She led the brigade’s first female engagement team. Because male Soldiers were not allowed to speak to the local women, they realized they were missing out on valuable information and input from 50 percent of the population. Marti’s team allowed the unit to interact with the women using interpreters and ask what they and their children needed. The female engagement team also added another layer of security by performing physical pat downs when necessary.
One instance was very poignant for Marti. She was sitting on the front porch of a house one night with eight Afghan women on wool blankets and pillows, asking what the Americans could do to help. She related to their response, and she realized that women all around the world just want a prosperous life for their families.
“First they talked about healthcare and education for their kids, then for themselves,” said Marti. “They also talked about jobs for the men in their villages, because the lack of jobs was one reason people agreed to help insurgents.”
Marti said one of the most difficult things about her transition was being on high alert while everyone around her was not. Small things, like people complaining in the office about no coffee being made, used to agitate her – “I’d think, just make the coffee and quit complaining about it.”
Every time she saw a hospital helicopter, she would panic and wonder what happened to the second helicopter since they always traveled in pairs on deployment. But eventually, with time and the support of her family, Marti found a new normal and now finds it hard to believe it has been ten years since the deployment.
“I still wonder why there’s not two helicopters when there’s only one,” said Marti, “but it doesn’t bother me the way it did.”
As Soldiers like Wade, Marti and Boesen worked to find their new normal after deployment, some Soldiers, like Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Reed, knew that for a few families back in Iowa, life would never be “normal” again. Reed was a supply sergeant and unit armorer with the 334th BSB on the deployment. One of his duties was going to injured or fallen Soldiers’ rooms to take accountability of their equipment and belongings to send back to their families.
“Staff Sgt. James Justice was a friend of ours,” said Reed. “That was a tough loss. He’d only been in country about two weeks. It’s not easy when you have to take someone’s personal belongings and remember that’s the last time you’re going to touch a piece of them.”
But even as tragedy struck the hearts of Soldiers and families back home, the task force had to drive on with its mission and find ways to stay positive.
For Reed, receiving care packages and sending letters to family to let them know you were thinking of them in return was one way to keep spirits high. He took a picture on a humvee with a big sign that read “happy birthday” and sent it to his son.
Thies’s family would send Mountain Dew, or the “golden ticket,” for him and his team. Corell’s wife would send him microwavable popcorn because “there was a microwave almost everywhere,” along with magazines he could read in the small amount of free time he had.
“If I was home I’d sit in my chair and read them at night,” said Corell. “When you’re deployed, it might take you four times longer to get through it, but it’s a piece of home. She has done a good job of keeping my morale up and throwing me a few bones along the way to let me know she cares.”
To this day, Corell said he probably couldn’t face another Girl Scout cookie after all the boxes donated, but he appreciated those little reminders of why he and so many others choose to serve.
As Corell sat at his desk at the Joint Forces Headquarters in February this year, reflecting on what the 2010 deployment meant to him, his eyes gravitated the most toward two things in the room – a photo displayed of he and his son at the peace gathering in Galuch Valley, and the set of ID tags with the names of the fallen laid out carefully in a wooden glass cabinet. Corell said it’s still hard to think of the loss, and there’s nothing he could do or say to take away the families’ pain.
“But I can tell you those Soldiers who laid down their lives? I’m proud of each and every one of them,” said Corell. “They did what they loved to do, but it’s a hole in my heart I’m never going to be able to fill because I was responsible for them at the end of the day.”
May we always remember the Soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice:
Spc. Brent Maher, 31, of Honey Creek, Iowa – 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment
Spc. Donald “Donny” Nichols, 21, of Shell Rock, Iowa – 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment
Staff Sgt. James Justice, 32, of Grimes, Iowa - 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment
Sgt. 1st Class Terryl Pasker, 39, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa - 334th Brigade Support Battalion
“Reflecting on the past ten years, I’m as proud today as I was when we came back,” said Corell. “Being a Citizen Soldier isn’t easy. I’m amazed we continue to have young men and women who are willing to step forward and say, ‘I’ll serve. I’ll go. I’ll do it.’”
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2020 17:03 |
| Story ID: | 373269 |
| Location: | JOHNSTON, IA, US |
| Hometown: | ADAIR, IA, US |
| Hometown: | ANKENY, IA, US |
| Hometown: | BOONE, IA, US |
| Hometown: | DES MOINES, IA, US |
| Hometown: | GRIMES, IA, US |
| Hometown: | JOHNSTON, IA, US |
| Hometown: | STRAWBERRY POINT, IA, US |
| Hometown: | WATERLOO, IA, US |
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