Local soldiers reflect on journey home from Iraq

As the commercial airliner cleared the clouds above Bangor International Airport, its passengers – about 300 Tennessee Army National Guard soldiers from the 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment – caught their first glimpses of “home.”

Manicured lawns, a line of lush green trees, and a field of golden rolls of hay dotted the landscape as the plane descended for the runway. Their Omni Air International flight 54 had departed Kuwait City International Airport almost 20 hours earlier. As the wheels hit the runway with a thud and the massive engines whined into reverse, someone yelled “touch down” and the troops erupted into yelps, applause and whistles.

“We’re home now,” 1st Sgt. William Bowen said, sitting amid a sea of soldiers bearing happy, smiling faces.

After a nearly five-month mission in the desert of Iraq, where temperatures above 100 and sand in their boots were normal, the soldiers were on U.S. soil.

“Whew, I’m glad this is almost over with,” Sgt. 1st Class Todd Thomas of Clinton, Tenn., said. “Sitting here close to 20 hours without air-conditioning wasn’t so comfortable, but it sure beats riding that long in a C-130 transport.”

The regiment was returning home from a U.S. Army base in Tikrit, Iraq, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, where they were sent at the first of the year to spend the summer providing security and escorting convoys of military and civilian contractors in that war-torn country. The soldiers expected to be deployed a year, but under President Barack Obama’s plan to draw down troop numbers in Iraq, they received orders to return home early. 

Leaving Iraq

“I came to war zone and a garrison broke out,” Bowen said as the troops gathered with their luggage in the parking lot of the headquarters building at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, near Tikrit, Iraq.

A garrison is a collective term for troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it; now the term is simply means a home base for soldiers.

It was 3:30 a.m. and the regiment was preparing to head home. Bowen and fellow solders were waiting for their bus, and watching as two U.S. Army military police vehicles – gray pick-up trucks with their blue and red lights flashing – pulled over a sedan on Big Red One Road, one of the more heavily traveled roadways on the base.

“Look at that,” Bowen, a former Marine, mused while shaking his head. “A traffic stop in a war zone.”

Many young soldiers and civilians at Speicher jokingly referred to the base as Fort Speicher because they perceived the emphasis of their mission had turned from combat to rules regarding reflective safety belts and drip pans under tactical vehicles.

Their humor was punctuated by the occupants of a helicopter flying over the base, who engaged a few harmless pin flares that lit up the night so everyone could see the action.

Little more than an hour later, the regiment was at their first stop on the way home: 25 miles past the Iraqi border at Ali al-Salem air base, a military installation in Kuwait used by the United Sates and owned by the Kuwaiti government.

There, the troops would board another bus for a two-hour ride to Camp Virginia, a base in Kuwait where U.S. troops receive their last orders for the trip home.

Among the instructions is a list of what not to take.

No ordnance, ammunition or ammunition components. No weapons. No Cuban cigars, war trophies, soil or sand. Nor counterfeit designer clothing and accessories. And no obscene materials (magazines and DVDs) or controlled substances.

The instructions were read from a list by U.S. Customs officials during a briefing session at Camp Virginia. It was about 7 p.m. July 14.

“Anyone having prohibited items in your bags now have the opportunity to use the ‘amnesty’ box in confidence, no questions asked,” one of the agents told the soldiers.

Prohibited items could be placed in the amnesty box prior to the inspection of a soldier’s carry-on luggage. No one was seen going to the amnesty box area.

Next was the weigh-in (soldiers with carryons in hand), ID confirmation, and of course sending the luggage through baggage scanners.

After the briefing, it was again time to wait, for the bus ride to Kuwait City International Airport, where the soldiers would board a commercial flight for the trip home. 

Taking off

About 6 a.m. the next day, as the buses pulled up to an old DC-10, the rising sun illuminated the plane – and the mechanic with a tool box and step ladder under the left wing assembly.

“Oh, no, this thing isn’t going to fly,” one of the soldiers on the bus remarked. “We aren’t going out today.”

But by 6:50 a.m. they were boarding, the desert heat was rising and the aircraft’s air conditioning didn’t seem to be working.

After several minutes the captain, speaking over the intercom, apologized to his passengers for their discomfort and assured them that as soon as they started the engines, he would turn on the air.

The soldiers again waited.

Apparently, there was a problem getting the turbine started.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if we are not in the air in the next five minutes, we will be required to wait until tomorrow to depart,” he said as the plane remained motionless on the base’s runway. ‘We will try and have you airborne as soon as possible.”His announcement was met with groans and worries about spending another night in the Middle East.

But a few minutes later, everything kicked in, and “wheels off the ground” was heard throughout the cabin.

The commercial airliner – Omni Air International flight 549 – would take them all the way to Gulfport, Miss., with a couple of stops along the way.

Amid the applause from the soldiers, someone shouted: “Next stop, Shannon, Ireland.”

Irish lassies

Flight 549 arrived at the Shannon Airport at 2:45 p.m.

Walking through the long corridors to stretch their legs during the two-hour layover, the soldiers were greeted to a huge shopping area, with restaurants, souvenir stores and of course, duty-free Irish whiskey. Unfortunately, while on active-duty status, under a military general order, soldiers are not permitted to buy or consume alcohol, which meant that they couldn’t bring those Irish spirits home.

Taking advantage of the layover the soldiers shopped, grabbed a meal, used the airport’s free internet service or simply took a quick nap. Taking photos of one another at the airport was another hobby, but the photography wasn’t limited to the soldiers.

While heading back to board the plane, one young soldier was mobbed by about a dozen traveling teenagers who wanted to have their pictures taken with an American GI in uniform.

Sgt. A.J. Puryea happily complied.

As he was surrounded by the gracious and giggling teens, his buddies offered some advice: “Big smile, Puryea.” 

Celebrity homecoming

Almost six hours later, Flight 549 was landing in the U.S., at Bangor International Airport.

The passengers disembarking for another two-hour layover were greeted by a long line of folks who waved American flags, shook the soldiers hands and offered thanks. They were the Maine Troop Greeters, a small band of retired military veterans, military families, volunteers and general well-wishers who began greeting troops in May 2003 as they left for the Middle East from the Bangor airport.

Since then, the Maine Troop Greeters track every flight carrying U.S. troops – so they can provide greetings. To date, they have met more than 1,065,510 soldiers, and 239 military dogs, from more than 5,200 flights leaving and returning from deployments to Iraq.

The group also offers free cell phone use for soldiers to call family and friends while in the airport.

A documentary film by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly titled “The Way We Get By” chronicles the life of three aging members of the Maine Troop Greeters, Joan Gaudet, (the author’s mother) 76; Bill Knight, 88, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1940-46; and Jerry Mundy, 74, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.

All three face health and financial problems yet make themselves available 24/7/365 to greet the troops.

The three are a mainstay at the airport and a favorite among soldiers. “I am grateful to our men and women who protect our country, and I will be here to greet them as long as I can,” said Knight, who lives in nearby Hampden, Maine.

Maj. John Bowlin, who asked Knight for a quick photo, said he appreciated the response.

“This is an honor for me,” Bowlin said. “This is what it means to be a soldier, getting to meet veterans like Mr. Knight who continue to come out and support all of us.” 

Next stop, Gulfport

As the 278th soldiers buckled their seat belts for the last leg of Flight 549, a message came over the plane’s speaker system, “Ladies and gentlemen, we will have you in Gulfport in about two and a half hours from now. Sit back and enjoy the flight. It has been Omni Air International’s pleasure serving you.”

Landing in Gulfport, Miss., about 7:30 p.m., the soldiers again were greeted with fanfare. Several officers from Camp Shelby’s 278th Regimental Advance Detachment Tennessee Army National Guard stood at the bottom of the plane’s exit ramp and shook each soldier’s hand as they departed the aircraft.

From there, they boarded the buses to Camp Shelby, a 90 minute ride, where the soldiers would undergo out-processing, including medical exams. Five days later, they boarded a U.S. Air Force C-130 for the 45-minute flight to Smyrna, Tenn.

The C-130 was more cramped than the larger C-17 version of troop carriers. The center section of the C-130 is designed to carry equipment and baggage with seating being in small cargo net type seats which line the sides of the aircraft’s bulkhead. As one soldier said, “These things are designed to carry troops and supplies, not for comfort.”

But the flight was short.

Landing in Smyrna, the soldiers were greeted by a TV crew, a small band and many well-wishers and family members. The greeting was brief with barely enough time to say hello before the soldiers were ushered to secured part of the airport for their final out processing.

“The quicker we get this done, the quicker you will be able to be with your friends and families,” Bowen told the soldiers. “This shouldn’t take more than a few hours, hopefully three at the most.”

True to Bowen’s prediction, the out processing was soon over and the troops began their bus rides to Newport or Kingsport at 3 p.m., leaving the Smyrna National Guard base with a police escort, blue lights flashing.

As the buses neared Kingsport they were met by a contingent from Rolling Thunder, a group of former veterans who ride motorcycles and provide escort services to honor servicemen.

As the Kingsport bus neared the off ramp for U.S. Highway 11-W (West Stone Drive), several city police vehicles joined the mini-convoy that took them to the National Guard Armory.

It was the time the soldiers had waited longs months for, stepping off the bus and into a sea of their wives, children, parents and friends.

Lt. Col. James A. Blevins, with his wife at his side, her arms around her husband’s waist, was among those whose faces beamed.

“This mission has been a total success,” Blevins said. “We all came home and we are being greeted here with an outpouring of support for our soldiers. This is a great homecoming.”

Editor’s note: The Tennessee Army National Guard 3/278th Armored Cavalry Regiment spent nearly five months serving in Iraq. This is a dispatch about their return home, from a freelance photographer who accompanied the regiment.