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thedrifter
04-03-08, 10:20 AM
Article published Apr 3, 2008
No sand. No 'wire.' It’s good to be home

Nine Greensboro-based Marine reservists begin their transition back to civilian life.

By Jeff Mills
Staff Writer


GREENSBORO — Outside the fence at a Marine base in the western province of al-Anbar stand primitive mud huts with state-of-the-art satellite TV dishes on their roofs.

Leave a message welcoming them home at the Debatables blog.

Welcome to Iraq.

It's the home of the paradox and, for the past seven months, home to nine Marines from the Triad. The Greensboro-based reservists with Detachment 1 of the Electronics Maintenance Company returned home from a tour of duty 12 days ago.

After two more months of active duty at home, they'll make the transition back to civilian life and their one weekend per month commitment to the Corps.

That transition has already started.

"Every time the wind blows," Sgt. Derek Banks said, "I instinctively turn and walk backward for a few steps. You had to do that in country to keep the sand from blowing in your face and eyes. It's a hard habit to break."

For these Marines, the sand and desert climate were the enemy.

Based at al-Taqaddum and al-Asad — which once were western outposts for Saddam Hussein's Iraqi air force — the unit worked 61/2 days every week in a support role.

In short: If it broke, they fixed it.

Radios. Cameras. Circuit cards. Computers. Printers. GPS devices. Even a giant world clock.

"A lot of stuff came in caked in sand," said Cpl. Joseph Kiser, a UNCG student. "In the summer, stuff wouldn't work because it would just get so hot."

As in 120 degrees. Too hot for electronic equipment.

"Yeah, but it's a dry heat," cracked Sgt. Matthew Blow, a student at Johnson Community College.

The Marines described Iraq as a place with two seasons: either cold winter with temperatures below 20 degrees and occasional snow, or a brutally hot summer that turned portable toilets into suffocating saunas. Both seasons featured wind and sandstorms.

"A lot of what we did was preventative maintenance," said Cpl. Brandon Greene, an electrician in civilian life. "Blowing sand out of equipment and testing equipment to make sure it works. People think it's a heavy-duty military piece of equipment so it's indestructible, but you still have to take care of it to keep it working."

The Marines filled their days with routine. "We never went outside the wire," Kiser said.

Inside the wire were long days of work, with shifts as short as seven hours and as long as 20 hours.

"You get off work, go to the gym, get something to eat and go to sleep," said Lance Cpl. James Burch, an electrician. "Sometimes some of us would wait in line to use a computer at the end of the day, but not very often. Eventually, you've got to go to sleep so you can get up the next day and do it all over again."

Burch and the other Marines did not come under fire during their tour.

"They used to have mortar attacks," he said. "But it had been 62 days of nothing when we arrived, and nothing the whole time we were there."

Still, they knew the danger was there.

"Complacency kills," said Cpl. Ryan Kelly, a student at Wake Technical Community College. "You were always aware. … Work is what keeps you going. Toward the end, when we were waiting to get replaced, the days were so long. The idea that you're so close to going home is just sheer torture."

Before they boarded their commercial flight for home, the Marines left their replacements a few amenities: carpets, rugs and even some green, green grass.

"I grew a little patch of grass," Kelly said, gesturing to indicate a lawn about the size of a cafeteria tray. "I mowed it with a pair of scissors."

It was a little piece of home in a land of sand and paradoxes.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

Ellie