149th Infantry Regiment soldier is among the first to enter and last to leave Joint Base Balad, Iraq

Photo By Staff Sgt. Paul Glover | Sgt. Jeffrey Miracle, a military policeman for the 223rd Military Police Company detached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, and resident of Grayson, Ky., enjoys taking advantage of the ability to call home and use the Internet at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Aug. 23, 2011. As a military policeman in 2003, Miracle can still recall being a part of the initial Iraq invasion when living conditions weren't nearly as comfortable at Joint Base Balad. (Photo by: U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Evans)  

JOINT BASE BALAD, IRAQ

09.04.2011

Courtesy Story

310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

By: Sgt. Paul Evans

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — Sgt. Jeffrey Miracle, a military policeman for the 223rd Military Police Company detached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, and resident of Grayson, Ky., can recall Joint Base Balad during the initial phases of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Miracle talks about his experience in the beginning of the war: poor living conditions and discovering airplanes hidden by Saddam Hussiens’ forces in strange places like your grandfather might describe walking to school five miles both ways in a blizzard back in the good old days.

Needless to say, the eight-year U.S. presence in Iraq which is now drawing to a close is much more serious than grandpa’s snowstorms.

This is Miracle’s third deployment to Iraq, and it is only fitting that he ends the combat adventures where he started it eight years prior on a base that he helped set up. During his first deployment from Feb. 2003 to March 2004, Miracle served in Balad to the north of Baghdad and Fallujah to the west. In 2007, he deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, as well.

In Balad, Miracle was part of a military police unit tasked with firing the Saddam-era police force, hiring a new one, training them and patrolling the area in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion. His unit also helped rebuild the mayor cell and community center in Balad.

“We liked the people of Iraq, but not the corruption,” Miracle said

In Fallujah, Miracle conducted combat patrols during the initial invasion, earning the nickname of “lucky” from his peers after he survived being within 50 meters of at least five improvised explosive devices and 11 ambushes. Attacks were so frequent in Fallujah that one month after Miracle’s unit departed in March 2004; the Marines cordoned off and invaded the city to clear it of insurgents.

“You couldn’t go outside the wire without getting hit,” Miracle said of his experience in Fallujah.

Recalling Joint Base Balad in the beginning of the Iraq war, he said they got mortared every night.

“We slept in aircraft bunkers and ate MREs [meals ready-to-eat] for three months. We had to burn all of our waste and were receiving mail in December that was postmarked the previous April. Once the Air Force showed up, everything started improving…then we moved on to Fallujah.”

Today Miracle said it’s 100 percent different. “Back then, there was one Burger King in Baghdad, and you had to go through countless attacks to get there. Now we have shuttle buses. I can call home any time I want, email home any time, have internet in my room and can eat whenever I feel like it. The living conditions are good.”

As for his unique role in history, Miracle said, “I like being on this mission because I was here for the invasion and now we’re here for the withdrawal.”

All that said, it doesn’t seem too bad for a guy who originally comes from Stewart, Fla. He’s certainly been involved in his fair share of history and can almost certainly say with pride that ‘grandpa’s snowstorms got nothing on my experiences in Iraq.’

• Date Taken: 09.04.2011
• Date Posted: 09.04.2011 04:41
• Story ID: 76420
• Location: JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ