Photo By Sgt. Glenn Kuehne | Sgt. Ryan Appleby of Coon Rapids, Minn., finishes communications checks while a couple...... read more read more
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CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Soldiers in the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon of the West St. Paul, Minn.,-based Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment are a small but vital cog in returning Iraq to its citizens after roughly two decades of American military presence.
America has been in Iraq from the 1991 Gulf War until the present, when counting the no-fly zones, so Alpha Company is adding to their legacy on this mission.
A few of the soldiers from the 3rd Squad’s convoy escort team Dec. 11 also served in Iraq during the 1/34 BCT’s deployment from 2005-2007.
Sgt. Ryan Appleby, an infantry team leader from Coon Rapids, Minn., was a gunner during the 2005-2007 deployment and their main mission was convoy security. Sgt. Appleby described their mindset on that deployment as “looking for an enemy to destroy” while on the convoys.
The attitude on the last deployment was to always be prepared for attack. The harder part on their current mission is reminding the younger soldiers who have trained for combat that they’re still doing an infantry mission even though no rounds are getting fired.
“A lot of they younger guys want the war element,” Appleby noted. “I’m personally torn but a piece of me wants the firefight.”
Staff Sgt. Jade Caponi, the convoy leader from Lonsdale, Minn., also said that part of his job is keeping up the morale of his less-experienced soldiers. “I sometimes have to work at showing them what’s being done. We’re serving a purpose by helping with the drawdown that’s important for the nation.”
“Iraq is a different country from my last deployment,” Caponi added. “While our interactions with the Iraqi Police and military are pretty minimal, there’s a huge difference. Now they’re eager to take charge and let us know that ‘we’ve got it’ while they previously stood behind U.S. troops.”
As the squad finished their pre-mission equipment checks and loading, they paused for a prayer from the battalion chaplain like they do on every mission into Iraq. They then rolled out into the night to add to the several convoy escorts already under their belt.
| Date Taken: | 12.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2011 07:58 |
| Story ID: | 81854 |
| Location: | CAMP BUEHRING, KW |
| Web Views: | 91 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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