Preparation

Article courtesy Tom Gordon, Birmingham News

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/03/on_the_sixth_anniversary_of_th.html

Alabamians are serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at a rate that is seven times the national average, military data show.

As the nation today marks the sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a total of 31,200 Alabamians have served in and around there and in Afghanistan. That's 68 out of every 10,000 Alabamians, compared with a national rate of 9 out of 10,000 Americans serving.

"Alabamians are willing to step up to the plate when it counts, you know," said Alabama Army Guard Maj. Gen. Joe Harkey, head of the 167th Theater Sustainment Command in Homewood. "I imagine if you ... looked at some older numbers in different type conflicts and events, I would venture to say they are probably close to the same."

Nearly 100 men and women with Alabama ties, most of them in the military, have died in the two wars. The first American to die in the war on terror was Mike Spann of Winfield, a CIA agent and former Marine who was killed Nov. 28, 2001, in Afghanistan.

The war in Afghanistan, given the corruption and ineffectiveness of the central government and the growing resurgence of the Taliban, is now drawing more U.S. resources, and Alabama Guard units will be part of that effort. Several hundred of the 1,600 Army Guard soldiers deploying this year should be in Afghanistan before the summer's end.

The state Army Guard's 166th Engineer Company is already training in Camp Atterbury, Ind., for an Afghan mission that will include building and maintaining military base camps and improving infrastructure in Afghan communities.

The 166th is part of the 877th Engineer Battalion, and many of its the company's 160 or so soldiers were in Iraq when the 877th was deployed in the northern city of Mosul from summer 2003 to spring 2004.

"Knowing where we're going, it's an entirely different environment both in terms of the terrain and the weather and how the enemy fights," said the 166th's commander, Maj. Lee Thompson.

A Cullman native and West Point graduate, Thompson, 31, also was in Iraq in 2003, as a fire support officer for B Troop, 3/7 Cavalry, in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. The 3rd ID's 1st Brigade was the first unit to reach Baghdad in the U.S.-led invasion.

At Atterbury, Thompson said the training focus will be on the tactical: Preparing soldiers for situations where simple survival will be the goal.

"On active duty, in the type of unit that I was in, it was geared toward the combat role and we trained constantly for that," Thompson said. "And here, these guys are construction engineers or construction workers ... of all types and their focus in daily life is not necessarily on the tactical piece, and that's been the challenge."

In about a month, Thompson's wife, Lindsay, is due to give birth to their first child, a boy they will name Brennen. On March 2, he saw a lot of children, spouses and parents pack the armory at Winfield for the 166th's send-off ceremony.

"I think the American public is ... not necessarily accustomed to long, drawn-out fights or wars and everybody wants to get back to daily life and kind of forget about 9/11, and they just want to live and be happy," Thompson said.

"But I'll say it was evident when we left Winfield and when we had our going-away ceremony (that) there are a lot of folks who haven't forgotten. And from the soldiers' point of view, just knowing that they haven't been forgotten and what they're doing matters to people at home, is probably one of the most ... rewarding feelings that they can have."