Citizen-Soldiers Answer the Call

I wrote another story. It got published in the Fort Dix "Post" paper. Hope you enjoy. Time is short here on Fort Dix, so I might be even further between posts for a while.

Citizen-Soldiers Answer the Call
Troops from A Co., 1-175th prepare for Iraqi deployment

Story by Spc. Eric A. Rutherford

FORT DIX, N.J. – Santa brought Brian Tarr a special kind of present this year – a present that he wasn’t expecting. He was opening gifts with his family when a knock came at the door. Thinking it was a friend stopping by to deliver good tidings, Tarr went to open it.
“As soon as I saw that purple hat, I knew what it was,” said Tarr, an infantryman with Alpha Company, 1-175th Infantry. “I opened the door and the FedEx guy handed me my package and asked if I was in the military. It was addressed to Spc. Brian Tarr. I stuffed it under my shirt and went back inside to my family. I told them that it was just an old friend stopping by to wish me Merry Christmas.”
After two years of civilian life, Tarr had received his Individual Ready Reserve recall orders calling him back to duty on Christmas Day.
“I took the package into the bathroom and read it,” Tarr said as he stared thoughtfully out of the window of a humvee parked online at the training Forward Operating Base here. “I left it in there, and my niece found it and brought it out in front of my mom. I asked her not to freak out and ruin Christmas.”
Tarr, a West Palm Beach, Fla., resident, is one of about 12 Soldiers who were called-up from the IRR to serve with the Frederick, Md. unit. Tarr, who was in college at the time, didn’t get upset by the news, even though it was delivered on Christmas Day.
“It didn’t bother me. I knew this was going to happen,” Tarr said. “This is my calling. My morale and motivation helps Soldiers. What I know can help people stay alive.”
Tarr, an Operation-Iraqi-Freedom veteran, said he is anxious to finish mobilization training and put his skills to use in the fight in Iraq.
About half of Alpha Co. has already served on combat tours. Ten percent of the company is made up of IRR call-ups.
“They bring a lot to the table, a lot of motivation. They are here and they are doing the best that they can,” said 1st Sgt. Duane Diven of Alpha Company. “Our guys want to get going. They want to get out there.”
Diven, who returned from a deployment to Guantanamo Bay in April, said that after 22 years, he continues to serve because he likes what he does, and he believes in the cause.
“Everything we do is vital. Our mission is just another piece of the pie. It is essential to the peace process.”
Alpha Company was mobilized May 22 and arrived at Fort Dix on May 25 to receive training for their yearlong deployment to Iraq, which begins later this summer. The company is training on convoy operations, route reconnaissance, weapons familiarization and first aid, among other Soldier skills. The infantry unit’s mission in Iraq will be force protection and convoy operations.
Tarr said their mission will help with the progress in Iraq.
“Progress is being made,” he said. “Good stuff doesn’t make a story. Bad stuff and violence make a story. Since I was there in ’03 to ’04, progress has been made. I am looking forward to seeing the progress.”
When it comes to the training and deployment, Tarr said Soldiers should listen to what trainers have to say.
“Stay motivated and stay positive,” he said. “You’ve got 50 to 60 guys to boost you up when you are down. Remember, it can always get worse. These are only blanks flying over your head here. And training can be fun. Take everything you can get here. Every little piece helps. This is good training.”
The advice Diven gives to Soldiers getting ready to deploy is a little simpler.
“Get fit. Get mentally and physically prepared,” he said.
The IRR, which consists of around 300,000 personnel, is an Army program that allows Soldiers who have completed their active duty or reserve time, but still have time left in their eight-year Military Service Obligation to return to their civilian life with the possibility of being recalled to duty.
Most Soldiers who join the Army sign an eight-year contract. Any time of that contract not served as an active duty Soldier, National Guardsman or Reservist is fulfilled under the Individual Ready Reserve. During that time, a Soldier can be recalled to active duty.
For the citizen-Soldiers of Alpha Company 1-175th Infantry, that possibility became a reality. That reality for many of them became an opportunity to once again answer America’s call for service.
While deployment can be difficult on a Soldier and his family, it can be especially hard on a Soldier who has been a civilian for some time.
Alpha Company Soldiers, whether IRR recalls or not, have been dealing with the difficulties and persevering during their training for deployment to Iraq.

I MADE THE COVER!

I wrote a piece for the Fort Dix "POST" paper. I actually think the story sucks, but it is what I wrote, and they liked it enough that the posted my story on the front page below the fold, and my photo above the fold! I think it is pretty cool. I wrote this story as the first piece in a three-part series. Hope you enjoy.

Jumping Across the Pond
British paratroopers train on Fort Dix for Afghanistan deployment

Story and photos by U.S. Army Spc. Eric A. Rutherford
115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT DIX, N.J. – The hand-held wind meter’s plastic cups spun rapidly in the breeze, displaying a wind speed of seven knots. Low clouds spread over Coyle Field in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, sky-lining the humvees and the troops working diligently at the top of the hill. A light rain pattered down.
“They should have been here ten minutes ago,” said Major John Meredith, speaking with a heavy Welsh accent. “There must be some sort of problem.”
Meredith, a member of the British 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment Reserve, worked with the ground crews to ensure the drop zone was prepared properly for the British paratroopers who would soon land. The ground crew continued to take wind readings, and set up large neon orange tarps on the ground in the pattern of an “A,” while observers and medical personnel stood by. Static crackled over a member of the crew’s hand-held radio.

“We have you in sight. You are clear to jump,” he transmitted into the radio.
As those on the ground looked toward the horizon, the grey aircraft floated out of the clouds like a shark stalking through murky water. Almost as quickly as the Air Force C-130 cargo plane came into view, it was overhead, leaving four distinct contrails behind it. When it passed over the drop zone, small objects began falling from it. They fell free for a brief moment before blossoming into round canopies, dangling their human cargo as they headed for the ground. Seconds later the plane was out of sight.
Joyous yelling and laughter could be heard from the people in the parachute canopies as they descended for about 20 seconds toward the earth.
The yells and the laughter came from members of the 4th Parachute Regiment Reserve. A paratrooper infantry unit that traveled from Leeds, Yorkshire, England, to Fort Dix for two weeks of mobilization readiness training this June and July in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan next year. The training is designed to familiarize British paratroopers with American equipment, signals and terminology.
“The training here is first class,” said Warrant Officer Doug Muirhead, the regimental sergeant major, about the unit’s opportunity to come to an American installation and train with U.S. forces. “We are getting good training, which is important for interoperability.”
The two-week training that the unit, which is made up of around 400 troops from throughout Great Britain, is conducting here is comprised of low-level jump certification, weapons training and land navigation. Of the unit’s 400 troops, about 130 made the trip to America for the training.

“Trips abroad don’t come around that often, so we look forward to it. The training facilities are fantastic,” Muirhead said about his experiences training on American installations.
The training mission was no small task to organize, and was assisted and planned by the 404th Civil Affairs Reserve of Fort Dix. Staff Sgt. Monica Peck said American forces helped to survey the drop zone, familiarize the British with U.S. parachutes, rig the chutes and perform safety checks. Peck, an Army Reserve jumpmaster and civil affairs team leader from the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion out of Riverdale, Md., not only assisted with planning and set up, but also made the jump with a handful of other American Soldiers. This is not Peck’s first time working with British paratroopers. She trained with them at Fort Bragg in 1997, but wasn’t unable to jump with because she had to end the training to attend jumpmaster school.
“Here I am, ten years later and it is a real honor for me to get to be the leader with this group of guys, (they are) good folks,” Peck said.
The British paratroopers return home July 8, and will deploy to Afghanistan next year.

Warrant Officer First Class Jim O'Donnell wraps up his parachute to clear the drop zone after a low-level jump from an Air Force C-130 aircraft at Fort Dix, N.J. O'Donnell, from Glasgow, Scotland, is a Senior Permanent Staff Instructor for the 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment Reserves. The unit is spending two weeks at Fort Dix to prepare for a mobilization to Afghanistan next year.

British Paratroopers from the 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment Reserve glide toward the ground Fort Dix, N.J. during a two-week exercise. The unit, which is located in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, is preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan next year.

Warrant Officer First Class Jim O'Donnell touches down from a low-level jump out of an Air Force C-130 aircraft at Fort Dix, N.J. O'Donnell, from Glasgow, Scotland, is a Senior Permanent Staff Instructor for the 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment Reserves. The unit is spending two weeks at Fort Dix to prepare for a mobilization to Afghanistan next year.

British Paratroopers from the 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment Reserve practice low-level jumps from an Air Force C-130 aircraft at Fort Dix, N.J. during a two-week interoperability readiness exercise. The unit, which is located in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, is preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan next year.

Photos and Story by U.S. Army Spc. Eric A. Rutherford

115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

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