FORT CARSON, Colo.—Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team is headed to Iraq for the third time, a voyage whose destination is Baghdad and goal is to protect civilians so the Iraqi government can carry more of the burden of fighting insurgents,
“We want to get soldiers out into the community,” Col. John Hort, 3rd Brigade commander, said Tuesday.
The team’s 3,700 soldiers will begin leaving in late November and have been told they could be in Iraq for 15 months, three months longer than previous deployments. The unit returned last November from a tour that cost it 18 soldiers.
“It definitely is an increase in stress for the families and soldiers,” said Hort.
For Shawna Altreche, it is the fourth deployment, including a six-month stint in Afghanistan, for her husband Nicholas, a chief warrant officer 2.
“I don’t like it, but it’s what he does. I can’t wait for him to retire in four years,” she said while eating lunch with her family in an Army cafeteria.
“It’s been a little challenging. But I’ve got some great kids and a great wife,” said Nicholas Altreche, who is an artillery engineer.
There was an air of resignation at the table, as Aaron, 9, Lindsey, 12, and Eric, 10, introduced themselves to a reporter.
Altreche compared U.S. troops in Iraq to policemen who have to make life-and-death decisions on the battlefield without the luxury of knowing whether that gun might be plastic. As for the Iraqi government, he said, “I think they have had the opportunities to do what they need to do.”
“We pray every night that it will end,” said Altreche, who also has served in Somalia. “I think this is the way fighting will be from now on.”
Hort said that if his unit does have to stay a full 15 months, soldiers will get 18 days of home leave, instead of the current 15. With travel time, that could take them off the front lines for as many as 25 days.
“We realize this is what our nation has asked us to do,” he said, adding that even opponents of the war support the troops.
He said he remembers his father coming home discouraged after serving in Vietnam because many in the nation didn’t support the soldiers.
Still, Hort said, “I think there is some frustration. We haven’t made as much progress as we would like.”
An Army report in May said that never before in the history of the U.S. military have soldiers served such long periods in high combat areas without relief. President Bush’s new war adviser, Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, has said that returning to a draft may make sense.
Keeping 150,000 or more soldiers in Iraq from an Army whose numbers total about 500,000 is a strain. While there are plans to expand the Army, its numbers would still be under 600,000.
