thedrifter
09-17-07, 09:27 AM
Marines with infantry battalions have been rotating in and out of Iraq throughout the last few years, several are on their third or fourth deployment. Rapid deployment cycles cause Marines to overlook significant improvements in Iraq made since their last deployment. For one returning infantryman, the changes are apparent and appreciated.
Sgt. Joshua Treadway, a section leader and platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, serving in Hit, Iraq, said he left a nondeployable billet training officer candidates tactics at Quantico, Va., because he wanted to help his fellow Marines after everything he had heard in the news.
“There is so much negative on TV, there is never anything positive,” said the Tecumseh, Okla., native. “Whenever you turn on the TV it is, ‘Oh, there were this many deaths or this abuse case.’ I want them to see when we are out there playing soccer with the kids or opening up new schools.”
Treadway said he wants the American people to know about all the great things he sees, stuff that never gets printed. He said his unit once gave the town $100,000 so they could have running water, which he said is the good news story.
Treadway, the oldest of two brothers serving in the Marine Corps as infantrymen, said his first deployment to Iraq during 2004 made him believe what he heard, too. This encouraged him to get back to the infantry and deploy again. There was only one thing he needed to do before that, get his wife Jacki’s approval.
“I explained to my wife why I felt bad and needed to come back and she understood,” said Treadway. “She didn’t want me to come back, but is very supportive and took it with a grain of salt. I am missing the holidays and both of the kids birthdays, but she realizes that I am not just touring around the country with a band trying to make it big, I am doing something worthwhile and she knows this.”
A veteran of Operation River Sweep, the original entry into Fallujah during April 2004, Treadway was not sure what he was facing upon his second deployment. He also, served in Hit and Baghdadi on his first trip, both once hostile cities in Al Anbar Province. He found himself astonished at the difference.
“Iraq is a hell of a lot better this time, I know that,” said the Tecumseh High School graduate. “I would almost feel safe walking down the streets, almost feel safe. There really is no threat, well at least a visible threat. I know it is out there, but they are doing really well at disguising it. I seeing people walking around and kids playing. Actually, down here in Hit, last time I watched the soccer field get hit with enemy rockets while there were kids out there. That was hard for me since my daughter Lily is 5 and my daughter Kaylie is 2 and if I lived here, that could have been them. Now, I see kids out there playing and I don’t even think about things like that happening.”
But, because the lack of imminent danger, Treadway said he finds keeping his Marines vigilant a priority. He has only four Marines who have not been deployed to Iraq before. The rest of his Marines were here less than a year ago, so the experience is still fresh for them, he said. Because of this, he finds his biggest challenge is fighting complacency.
“We have been out two weeks nonstop every day and nothing remotely even threatening has happened,” Treadway said. “I know from experience that is when something happens. But, some of these guys they are like…’Oh we are not going to get hit.’ I have heard two or three of them say that. So, you have got to constantly keep on them about that because the minute they get that attitude, something happens.”
His Marines do listen to his advice and appreciate his familiarity with Hit.
“We have been to Iraq before, but not to Hit,” said Lance Cpl. Andrew Wilkin, infantryman with Jump Platoon, 1st Bn., 7th Marines. “He knows this city better than any one of us, even if he hasn’t been here for a couple of years. He tells us what used to be the bad spots and where the insurgents used to operate. He makes us stay vigilant.”
Treadway said the improvements don’t just include friendlier people and having less improvised explosive devices, but also the gear available to service members. He said he was blown away by the gear upon returning to the fleet, especially when he was issued an M4, a weapon he didn’t even see his last time stationed with the infantry.
“Now we have a plethora of gear, so it took me a while to transition,” said Treadway. “I remember doing a convoy from Camp Udari, Kuwait, to Al Asad with no door whatsoever and the only armor they had on the highbacks was those metal plates that go on the seats that we put on the sides. I see the stuff we are rolling out in now and it is mind blowing. (Air conditioners) in the humvees is not bad considering our AC was having no doors.”
The gear has improved and the citizens of Iraq are now interacting more, but Treadway said there is something more important that has changed. The Iraq Army and police have shown tremendous improvement since he left in 2005.
“I was taken aback the other night listening to Congress during Gen. Petraeus’ report because it is literally 100 times better this time than it was last time,” he said “For instance, now we go down to the sheik’s house and everybody drops their gear. That would not have happened last time. It wouldn’t have mattered if you were with the chief of police or the mayor or who you were with, there was a no kidding threat. Now there isn’t a threat like that around these people. They have taken back their city.”
Now the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police, have stepped up and have taken more control than they did last time and are actually doing their jobs, he said. During Treadway’s last trip, his unit built 15 IP stations along the road between Hit and Al Asad, and every single one of them are gone. They are all blown up or destroyed. Now, he said he wouldn’t go near one of the new IP stations if he was a bad guy, unless he was looking for a serious fight.
Treadway takes being deployed in stride. He said that being in Iraq is better than being in the states, wishing you were here making a difference.
“I have been saying all along to the people back in the states who haven’t been here, ‘You haven’t seen us build the playgrounds.’ They don’t see that we are actually giving them an opportunity to step up, now whether or not they do it is on them, but we are making an effort 110 percent and I definitely think we are doing a good thing and they are receptive to it. I am fully in belief if we pull out, you look at the people who have died and then this country, it would pretty much go back to the way it was. If we are going to do something, we need to finish it, no matter how long it takes. I think that is the problem we will have to overcome. Being deployed for Marines is a way of life, if not here, training exercises or somewhere else.”
Sgt. Joshua Treadway, a section leader and platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, serving in Hit, Iraq, said he left a nondeployable billet training officer candidates tactics at Quantico, Va., because he wanted to help his fellow Marines after everything he had heard in the news.
“There is so much negative on TV, there is never anything positive,” said the Tecumseh, Okla., native. “Whenever you turn on the TV it is, ‘Oh, there were this many deaths or this abuse case.’ I want them to see when we are out there playing soccer with the kids or opening up new schools.”
Treadway said he wants the American people to know about all the great things he sees, stuff that never gets printed. He said his unit once gave the town $100,000 so they could have running water, which he said is the good news story.
Treadway, the oldest of two brothers serving in the Marine Corps as infantrymen, said his first deployment to Iraq during 2004 made him believe what he heard, too. This encouraged him to get back to the infantry and deploy again. There was only one thing he needed to do before that, get his wife Jacki’s approval.
“I explained to my wife why I felt bad and needed to come back and she understood,” said Treadway. “She didn’t want me to come back, but is very supportive and took it with a grain of salt. I am missing the holidays and both of the kids birthdays, but she realizes that I am not just touring around the country with a band trying to make it big, I am doing something worthwhile and she knows this.”
A veteran of Operation River Sweep, the original entry into Fallujah during April 2004, Treadway was not sure what he was facing upon his second deployment. He also, served in Hit and Baghdadi on his first trip, both once hostile cities in Al Anbar Province. He found himself astonished at the difference.
“Iraq is a hell of a lot better this time, I know that,” said the Tecumseh High School graduate. “I would almost feel safe walking down the streets, almost feel safe. There really is no threat, well at least a visible threat. I know it is out there, but they are doing really well at disguising it. I seeing people walking around and kids playing. Actually, down here in Hit, last time I watched the soccer field get hit with enemy rockets while there were kids out there. That was hard for me since my daughter Lily is 5 and my daughter Kaylie is 2 and if I lived here, that could have been them. Now, I see kids out there playing and I don’t even think about things like that happening.”
But, because the lack of imminent danger, Treadway said he finds keeping his Marines vigilant a priority. He has only four Marines who have not been deployed to Iraq before. The rest of his Marines were here less than a year ago, so the experience is still fresh for them, he said. Because of this, he finds his biggest challenge is fighting complacency.
“We have been out two weeks nonstop every day and nothing remotely even threatening has happened,” Treadway said. “I know from experience that is when something happens. But, some of these guys they are like…’Oh we are not going to get hit.’ I have heard two or three of them say that. So, you have got to constantly keep on them about that because the minute they get that attitude, something happens.”
His Marines do listen to his advice and appreciate his familiarity with Hit.
“We have been to Iraq before, but not to Hit,” said Lance Cpl. Andrew Wilkin, infantryman with Jump Platoon, 1st Bn., 7th Marines. “He knows this city better than any one of us, even if he hasn’t been here for a couple of years. He tells us what used to be the bad spots and where the insurgents used to operate. He makes us stay vigilant.”
Treadway said the improvements don’t just include friendlier people and having less improvised explosive devices, but also the gear available to service members. He said he was blown away by the gear upon returning to the fleet, especially when he was issued an M4, a weapon he didn’t even see his last time stationed with the infantry.
“Now we have a plethora of gear, so it took me a while to transition,” said Treadway. “I remember doing a convoy from Camp Udari, Kuwait, to Al Asad with no door whatsoever and the only armor they had on the highbacks was those metal plates that go on the seats that we put on the sides. I see the stuff we are rolling out in now and it is mind blowing. (Air conditioners) in the humvees is not bad considering our AC was having no doors.”
The gear has improved and the citizens of Iraq are now interacting more, but Treadway said there is something more important that has changed. The Iraq Army and police have shown tremendous improvement since he left in 2005.
“I was taken aback the other night listening to Congress during Gen. Petraeus’ report because it is literally 100 times better this time than it was last time,” he said “For instance, now we go down to the sheik’s house and everybody drops their gear. That would not have happened last time. It wouldn’t have mattered if you were with the chief of police or the mayor or who you were with, there was a no kidding threat. Now there isn’t a threat like that around these people. They have taken back their city.”
Now the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police, have stepped up and have taken more control than they did last time and are actually doing their jobs, he said. During Treadway’s last trip, his unit built 15 IP stations along the road between Hit and Al Asad, and every single one of them are gone. They are all blown up or destroyed. Now, he said he wouldn’t go near one of the new IP stations if he was a bad guy, unless he was looking for a serious fight.
Treadway takes being deployed in stride. He said that being in Iraq is better than being in the states, wishing you were here making a difference.
“I have been saying all along to the people back in the states who haven’t been here, ‘You haven’t seen us build the playgrounds.’ They don’t see that we are actually giving them an opportunity to step up, now whether or not they do it is on them, but we are making an effort 110 percent and I definitely think we are doing a good thing and they are receptive to it. I am fully in belief if we pull out, you look at the people who have died and then this country, it would pretty much go back to the way it was. If we are going to do something, we need to finish it, no matter how long it takes. I think that is the problem we will have to overcome. Being deployed for Marines is a way of life, if not here, training exercises or somewhere else.”