The Mission Maine guardsmen heading to Iraq for yearlong stint

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A year later, it’s just starting. After two months of intense combat training on the firing ranges of this U.S. Army post in the rolling woodlands near Lake Ontario, the men and women of the Maine Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineer Battalion are ready to stomp the ice and snow from their desert boots and head for Kuwait – the first stop on a one-year mission to northern Iraq.

The 400-strong battalion is expected to leave Fort Drum, N.Y., later this week to relieve an Alabama National Guard unit.

Although officers declined, for security reasons, to reveal the 133rd’s eventual destination, soldiers and family members said the Maine unit most likely was headed for Mosul, a city on the Tigris River in the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq.

“We’re ready to go and I’m looking forward to it actually,” said Sgt. Fayelyne Grant, 38, a carpenter with the battalion’s Company C or Charlie Company. A longtime Guard member from Skowhegan, she described the battle training as “outstanding” and forecast that the troops were more than ready for a fight should one come their way.

Brothers Terry Sprague, 53, and Dennis Sprague, 50, both sergeants from Morrill, said they couldn’t wait to get to Iraq. The Spragues are heavy-equipment operators.

“We just want to get it over with,” Dennis Sprague said. “We’re getting sick of waiting.”

Added his brother: “We’re more than ready. The anticipation is killing us. I can think of other places I’d rather be, but if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.”

The training at Fort Drum involved both day and night exercises, and hundreds of rounds on the firing ranges sharpening their marksmanship with M-16 rifles, M-30 automatic weapons and the Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW, a hand-held, light machine gun. They also had sessions with a video-game-like simulator called Engagement Skills Trainer.

“They really gave us a firsthand look at what it could be like,” Grant said. “We’re ready and we’re looking forward to utilizing our training if we have to. But hopefully we don’t.”

The battalion will be armed with either an M-16, M-30 or SAW at all times as they go about their daily work.

The troops faced numerous battlefield scenarios during training. They were asked to match wits with potential infiltrators, suicide bombers and booby traps made from improvised explosive devices.

They also learned how to travel in convoys – fast.

“They try to throw everything at you all at once,” said Spc. Chris Shedyak, 34, of Thorndike, a truck driver with Alpha Company. “We had dry runs with blanks and we took live fire. We did it by night and by day. It was very intense.”

Shedyak and the other drivers were advised by their trainers to “just pretend you’re back home running moonshine.”

Members of the 133rd come from all over Maine and range from women in their teens to grandfathers in their 50s. In recent weeks the Maine soldiers have been joined by approximately 70 volunteers from the 204th Engineer Battalion of Binghamton, N.Y.

The New York troops were added last minute to bring the battalion to full operational strength. The Maine soldiers spent the last three weeks putting them through their paces and pushing them through training missions.

As a combat engineer unit, the 133rd is similar to a large construction company. In fact many of its members spend their civilian lives working in the building trades. The unit has heavy-equipment operators, masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians.

The 133rd is expected to help revive Iraq’s neglected, damaged or destroyed infrastructure by building roads, bridges, airfields, schools, hospitals and housing.

The battalion’s Headquarters Company, under commanding officer Col. John Janson and his staff, left for Iraq a few weeks ago to set up camp and prepare for the Maine group’s arrival. Word filtered back to Alpha, Bravo and Charlie companies at Fort Drum that the troops from headquarters came under fire shortly after arriving at Mosul.

“We’re not necessarily there to be war fighters, but it is a war zone,” said Bravo Company Lt. Scott Mulcahy, 40, of South Berwick.

The 133rd has some of the most modern construction equipment in the Army – at least, it used to.

The equipment was brought to Fort Drum with the intent that it would be shipped to Iraq. The Army changed its mind, however, and the Maine soldiers had to leave their equipment behind.

And, in an ironic twist, instead of returning to Maine that equipment will head to Alabama with the 877th Engineers, the soldiers the 133rd are being sent to Iraq to replace.

Why? Well, it’s the Army.

Sgt. Matt Bixby, 46, a Belfast electrician with Alpha Company, was a bit miffed about having to relinquish the equipment. Bixby said the unit spent years upgrading its equipment and that it was unfortunate to have it end up in Alabama.

Bixby cares deeply for his team of electricians and even dipped into his own pocket to buy two-way radios and a laptop computer to ensure that the group members will be able to communicate with one another, as well as back home.

“We need to be ready for anything,” he said.

Fort Drum was established in 1917 and served as a staging ground for troops sent to fight in World War I, World War II and Korea. Long known as Camp Drum, it was home to the National Guard’s “summer camp” for generations. It was renamed Fort Drum in 1984 when it became the home base of the 10th Mountain Division. The fort is home to more than 11,000 mountain soldiers, about half of whom are serving in Afghanistan.

Watertown, N.Y., is the largest nearby community, and for the past few months the town’s motels have been filled with visitors who made the 600-mile drive from Maine to visit their loved ones. Earlier this month, family members could be found in local coffee shops saying tearful good-byes and sharing intimate moments.

Michelle Lawrence, 32, of Belfast walked through the lobby of one local inn last Monday clutching a single red rose. With her were her sons, Theodore, 10, and Jonathan, 3. The family had come to say goodbye to husband and father Sgt. Paul Lawrence, 32. Michelle just turned 33, and the rose was a birthday present from her husband.

Sgt. Lawrence is a career soldier assigned to Alpha Company at the Belfast Armory. Michelle Lawrence said her husband has devoted his career to this moment.

“He’s ready to go and I’m as ready as he is,” she said. “I feel good for him, but bad, too, if you know what I mean. I have family and I work full time and that’s a help. It keeps my mind off everything.”

Lawrence said her husband told her that the troops were “ready to go. They’ve had a lot of down time and they’re starting to get antsy and they just want to get it over with.”

That seemed to be the sentiment up and down the line as one after another expressed a desire to get moving and get back home.

Many members observed that the mission to Iraq was not what they had in mind when they joined the National Guard. While some said they did not plan to re-enlist once their tour of duty ended, others said they would continue to serve.

Pvt. Michelle Bulger, 19, a carpenter-mason from Rumford, joined the Guard after graduation from Mountain Valley High School last June. Bulger said she and two other female classmates viewed their service as a way to get money for college. Bulger was accepted and registered to attend Husson College in January but had to put her plans on hold. Bulger, who completed her basic training in December, came to Fort Drum instead.

“I guess I wasn’t really thinking something like this could happen. It’s kind of surreal. Going to war, I never thought I would be doing that,” Bulger said.

She noted that her family was concerned for her safety. Her older sister was killed in a car accident last year and the fact that Michelle could be in harm’s way has weighed heavily on them, she said.

“They’re worried, but supportive,” Bulger said. “I’m as prepared as I can be, I guess. I just don’t really know what to expect.”

The 133rd spent most of its off time at Fort Drum holed up in barracks that had not been used since World War II. The quarters were cramped and the amenities few. They had to turn to themselves for entertainment, and one of the oddest attractions was Spc. Ken Lacie, 21, of Burnham.

The troops amused themselves by tracking the day-to-day progress of the large tattoo Lacie was having etched into his chest. Lacie, whose nickname is “Hulk,” would leave the post every few days to have more work done on the image of the comic book character “The Incredible Hulk” holding the engineer unit’s castle logo and wearing desert camouflage shorts. Lacie’s tattoo was incomplete, but he plans to have the job done when he returns.

“I was just looking for something to commemorate the whole deal,” Lacie said. “You know, the castle and the [desert camouflage uniform] and my nickname. I guess if I’m the big entertainment around here, it’s pretty weird.”

Alpha Company executive officer Lt. Jeremy White, 27, of Bangor also had to put his college plans on hold. White was enrolled in a master’s degree accounting program at the University of Maine and working part time as a bartender at Bugaboo Creek restaurant when the call-up came.

“When we show up in Iraq, we start rolling the next day. Oh, yeah, we’re ready,” White said. “I’m not the biggest fan of all things military, but my own personal feelings won’t conflict with what’s going on and what we have to do over there. I’ve got a sense of duty and I’m ready to serve. I joined up to serve my community in times of crisis. … I just always imagined that if I was going to do a federal mission, it wouldn’t be for a year.”

Sgt. Mike Francis, 43, a Mic Mac from Indian Island, said the call to arms caused him to miss the birth of his first grandchild, Tehya Francis, last month. Francis, a truck driver, had to leave his job instructing drivers at Northern Technical Training Institute. He said he was ready to roll.

Sgt. Robert Tromblay, 53, of Canaan, a father of four and the grandfather of seven, said he will miss his family dearly but is prepared for action. With 30 years of military experience, he has been nicknamed by the younger troops “Father Time.” Tromblay served as a gunner in Vietnam, and he knew the minute the Army began its mobilization in Kuwait that he would soon be in the line of fire once again.

“I told my wife, ‘Don’t be surprised if I go over,’ and I was right. She says it doesn’t bother her but I know down deep it does. She lets me make my own decisions, as far as the military.”

Tromblay said he dispenses advice to the younger troops – if they ask. He said today’s Army training is far superior than what he received before going to Vietnam.

Sgt. Roland A. Choate, 57, of Farmingdale is another Vietnam veteran who will be getting a second taste of war. Choate said he was looking forward to completing the mission.

As for giving any advice, Choate joked that he tells everyone, “Just keep your head down, shoot first and ask questions later.” He quickly added: “I really tell them to be careful and learn as much as you can. It’s too easy to die. Anyone can do that. It’s a hell of a lot harder to stay alive.”