Maine soldiers’ families, friends hopeful after Iraq power shift

PORTLAND – Friends and relatives of Maine soldiers serving in Iraq say the transfer of power in that country means their loved ones are one step closer to coming home.

Tom Cannon came home from Iraq in April. A senior mechanic with the 1136th Transportation Company, he almost stayed in Iraq until the transfer. He and his fellow soldiers looked forward to transferring power back to Iraqis.

“I was wondering if it would happen,” he said. “I hope it will make things better and stabilize the place so the rest of the guys get out of there.”

Now he hopes the transfer will help calm the situation in Iraq, so his brother-in-law, serving with the Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineering Battalion, can come home on schedule.

“I think it’s going to be rough over there for a while. It will probably get worse before it gets better,” Cannon said.

It is still too early to know whether soldiers’ missions will change as the interim Iraqi government takes control, said Maj. Peter Rogers, spokesman for the Maine National Guard.

The Maine Army National Guard has two units serving in Iraq: an engineering group helping rebuild Iraqi infrastructure near Mosul, and an artillery unit serving as military police at a prison outside Baghdad. A contingent of Army reservists has been escorting convoys near the Kuwait-Iraq border.

“In terms of our soldiers over there, it will be seamless to them. They will continue their missions for the time being,” Rogers said.

But he added there is no indication that units from Maine will be coming home early.

Even so, Mainers welcomed the news.

“It’s expected, but it’s a step,” said Sam Jackson, whose son Cpl. Samuel “Craig” Jackson was deployed in January with the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion’s Waterville battery. “The good thing about it is it has been carried out. When you see it happening, that’s when you say there is progress being made.”