.Soldier returns from Iraq, shares his experience
Sharing his experiences of serving in Iraq — as well as his observations about its people — as a member of the Georgia National Guard Tuesday was Newnan Kiwanis Club's guest speaker Captain Rob Davis.
He was invited to Tuesday's luncheon meeting by Kiwanian Michael Scott, who introduced Davis as a man who "defines what citizen soldier and sacrificial service means."
Davis moved to Newnan with his parents in 1972 and graduated from Newnan High School in 1991, according to Scott. He attended the Virginia Military Institute and graduated in 1995. He served four years active duty at Fort Drum in New York.
In August 2001, he joined the 118th out of Savannah, Ga. He spent some time in Iraq and returned at the end of May, according to Scott.
When Davis took center stage at the Special Events Center in Newnan, he explained how the 48th Brigade, of which he is a member, found out in August 2004 through "the rumor mill" that they would be deployed. His unit underwent five months of training at Fort Stewart before it was finally sent overseas, he said. The unit arrived in Kuwait and traveled to Baghdad. His unit didn't return home until May 2006.
Davis explained why Iraq was nothing like he expected.
"Peacetime training is not what goes into war," he told Kiwanis members.
As soon as the soldiers were in Iraq, they realized that both the Army National Guard and his unit were "understrengthed." Davis' first setback was when the Army closed his unit and sent the soldiers to other units as "fillers." He was also reassigned as a staff officer instead of a commander, which basically meant that he would act as an adviser to the commander, according to Davis.
Davis was attached to an Illinois unit known as the Black Hawk Battalion. Next, he served at Abu Ghraib as part of the Louisiana Guard for about five months. At some point he was also attached to a unit that occupied Fallujah.
By the time his unit was deployed to Iraq, the situation had evolved past a ground war and was in the repair and rebuilding stages, according to Davis. The troops even had to gain permission to fire their weapons.
Since it was his job to speak with any Iraqi that desired counsel and handle claims for property damages or personal injury, Davis spoke with countless Iraqis and even learned a fair amount of Arabic.
From his experiences he determined that he "likes the Iraqis a lot," and he never encountered anyone who hated Americans.
"They were absolutely traumatized by Saddam Hussein," he explained. He described them as a "faction-oriented, tribal and family-based group."
Unfortunately, he also found that they were "absolutely corrupted." Even the Iraqi police demanded bribes and contributed to crime.
"They are very brave people, fearless even. They did things that would terrify James Bond," Davis said of their Iraqi insiders and interpreters.
He added that contrary to popular belief, Iraqis have a very industrious culture.
However, "their quality of life is terrible; the place is broken," said Davis.
His hopes are that Americans will withdraw from Iraq and let the country try and fix its situation. When asked whether or not he believed the Iraqis actually could better their country, Davis replied, "They aren't going to be little America — they aren't little Americans."
The Times Herald
Looks like everyone and his brother has figured that one out, except of course for the Bush administration.
He was invited to Tuesday's luncheon meeting by Kiwanian Michael Scott, who introduced Davis as a man who "defines what citizen soldier and sacrificial service means."
Davis moved to Newnan with his parents in 1972 and graduated from Newnan High School in 1991, according to Scott. He attended the Virginia Military Institute and graduated in 1995. He served four years active duty at Fort Drum in New York.
In August 2001, he joined the 118th out of Savannah, Ga. He spent some time in Iraq and returned at the end of May, according to Scott.
When Davis took center stage at the Special Events Center in Newnan, he explained how the 48th Brigade, of which he is a member, found out in August 2004 through "the rumor mill" that they would be deployed. His unit underwent five months of training at Fort Stewart before it was finally sent overseas, he said. The unit arrived in Kuwait and traveled to Baghdad. His unit didn't return home until May 2006.
Davis explained why Iraq was nothing like he expected.
"Peacetime training is not what goes into war," he told Kiwanis members.
As soon as the soldiers were in Iraq, they realized that both the Army National Guard and his unit were "understrengthed." Davis' first setback was when the Army closed his unit and sent the soldiers to other units as "fillers." He was also reassigned as a staff officer instead of a commander, which basically meant that he would act as an adviser to the commander, according to Davis.
Davis was attached to an Illinois unit known as the Black Hawk Battalion. Next, he served at Abu Ghraib as part of the Louisiana Guard for about five months. At some point he was also attached to a unit that occupied Fallujah.
By the time his unit was deployed to Iraq, the situation had evolved past a ground war and was in the repair and rebuilding stages, according to Davis. The troops even had to gain permission to fire their weapons.
Since it was his job to speak with any Iraqi that desired counsel and handle claims for property damages or personal injury, Davis spoke with countless Iraqis and even learned a fair amount of Arabic.
From his experiences he determined that he "likes the Iraqis a lot," and he never encountered anyone who hated Americans.
"They were absolutely traumatized by Saddam Hussein," he explained. He described them as a "faction-oriented, tribal and family-based group."
Unfortunately, he also found that they were "absolutely corrupted." Even the Iraqi police demanded bribes and contributed to crime.
"They are very brave people, fearless even. They did things that would terrify James Bond," Davis said of their Iraqi insiders and interpreters.
He added that contrary to popular belief, Iraqis have a very industrious culture.
However, "their quality of life is terrible; the place is broken," said Davis.
His hopes are that Americans will withdraw from Iraq and let the country try and fix its situation. When asked whether or not he believed the Iraqis actually could better their country, Davis replied, "They aren't going to be little America — they aren't little Americans."
The Times Herald
Looks like everyone and his brother has figured that one out, except of course for the Bush administration.
posted by madtom at 8:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home