thedrifter
06-29-07, 04:30 PM
Civilians volunteer for Iraq duty to help
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 29, 2007 14:20:55 EDT
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — In October 2005, Brenda Taylor-Brooks landed in Iraq wearing her first pair of boots, her first helmet and her first rucksack.
When she walked out of her tent, her Army-issued uniform pants fell to her ankles, right in front of soldiers who gathered to welcome her. The embarrassed grandmother with no military experience said she bent over to pick up her pants and tumbled onto her head.
“That was the closest I came to crying,” she said with a laugh. “I was mooning Iraq within an hour of getting there.”
Unlike the thousands of troops deployed to Iraq, Taylor-Brooks didn’t have to go.
She and other Fort Bragg civilian workers are among those volunteering to go to Iraq, believing their abilities can help the troops.
“We feel like it’s our duty to go where the soldiers go,” said Taylor-Brooks, who directs Fort Bragg’s education and testing services.
It’s a scary experience, the volunteers acknowledge, but they believe in their mission: to assist in whatever ways they can.
Rich Eppler spent 24 years in the Army before retiring in 2004. The next year, the civilian aviation safety specialist volunteered for a trip to Iraq. He spent 13 months in Baghdad figuring out what caused accidents involving aircraft and finding ways to avoid those accidents.
“You’re sleeping in a metal trailer, and you’re constantly hearing explosions,” said Eppler, who returned in January. “And you never know when the next one is going to hit your room.”
He plans to return to Iraq next year.
“It’s really something you’ve got to do yourself to understand,” he said.
The volunteers earn regular paychecks, overtime pay, hazard pay and out-of-country pay. But unlike deployed soldiers, the civilians are taxed on their earnings.
The military prepares civilians for deployments much like it does soldiers. They also get insurance policies and powers-of-attorney issues in order and can be trained to use certain weapons for their protection.
And just like soldiers’ loved ones, friends and family of civilian volunteers worry about their safety. But, like the troops, the volunteers say that serving their country justifies the risks.
Mick Eargle served in the Army for more than 21 years. After retiring in 2002, he got married and had a son. Nine months later, as a civilian tactical safety specialist at Fort Bragg, he volunteered to deploy to Iraq.
“She had little exposure to military life,” Eargle said of his wife, noting there was tension when his boss asked him to consider the option. “But you work through all the ‘what-ifs.”’
For Taylor-Brooks, whose oldest grandchild was 5 when she left, it’s about duty.
“If I shouldn’t go, then who should go?” she said with a shrug.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 29, 2007 14:20:55 EDT
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — In October 2005, Brenda Taylor-Brooks landed in Iraq wearing her first pair of boots, her first helmet and her first rucksack.
When she walked out of her tent, her Army-issued uniform pants fell to her ankles, right in front of soldiers who gathered to welcome her. The embarrassed grandmother with no military experience said she bent over to pick up her pants and tumbled onto her head.
“That was the closest I came to crying,” she said with a laugh. “I was mooning Iraq within an hour of getting there.”
Unlike the thousands of troops deployed to Iraq, Taylor-Brooks didn’t have to go.
She and other Fort Bragg civilian workers are among those volunteering to go to Iraq, believing their abilities can help the troops.
“We feel like it’s our duty to go where the soldiers go,” said Taylor-Brooks, who directs Fort Bragg’s education and testing services.
It’s a scary experience, the volunteers acknowledge, but they believe in their mission: to assist in whatever ways they can.
Rich Eppler spent 24 years in the Army before retiring in 2004. The next year, the civilian aviation safety specialist volunteered for a trip to Iraq. He spent 13 months in Baghdad figuring out what caused accidents involving aircraft and finding ways to avoid those accidents.
“You’re sleeping in a metal trailer, and you’re constantly hearing explosions,” said Eppler, who returned in January. “And you never know when the next one is going to hit your room.”
He plans to return to Iraq next year.
“It’s really something you’ve got to do yourself to understand,” he said.
The volunteers earn regular paychecks, overtime pay, hazard pay and out-of-country pay. But unlike deployed soldiers, the civilians are taxed on their earnings.
The military prepares civilians for deployments much like it does soldiers. They also get insurance policies and powers-of-attorney issues in order and can be trained to use certain weapons for their protection.
And just like soldiers’ loved ones, friends and family of civilian volunteers worry about their safety. But, like the troops, the volunteers say that serving their country justifies the risks.
Mick Eargle served in the Army for more than 21 years. After retiring in 2002, he got married and had a son. Nine months later, as a civilian tactical safety specialist at Fort Bragg, he volunteered to deploy to Iraq.
“She had little exposure to military life,” Eargle said of his wife, noting there was tension when his boss asked him to consider the option. “But you work through all the ‘what-ifs.”’
For Taylor-Brooks, whose oldest grandchild was 5 when she left, it’s about duty.
“If I shouldn’t go, then who should go?” she said with a shrug.
Ellie