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thedrifter
12-26-08, 07:52 AM
Troops in Iraq mark time, holiday

By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
COMBAT OUTPOST VIKING, Iraq — For the U.S. troops living behind sandbagged windows and in plywood shacks in this speck of desert near Fallujah, this Christmas may be a little too peaceful.

"There's a lot more action going on" in Afghanistan, said Marine Lance Cpl. Trent Mills, 31, of Buffalo, Texas, who saw more fighting during his first Iraq tour in 2007.

"We're sitting watching the Iraqis do the job we did last time we were here," he said. "We're just grading them on how they're doing. … It's a good thing. But for Marines, it's just boring."

The 135 servicemembers here got a break from that boredom Thursday, when Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, dropped by to wish them a merry Christmas.

In a whirlwind helicopter tour, Austin visited seven remote outposts in Iraq to thank soldiers and Marines for their help in reducing violence to the lowest level since the war began in 2003.

"We are moving along men," he told Marines near Fallujah and repeated to other troops throughout the day. "I think we're making great progress. That's based upon your hard work, your dedication, your professionalism."

As the war approaches its six-year mark, many here are resigned to being away from family and loved ones during the holidays. They find small ways to brighten Christmas Day, which otherwise would be like any other day for them — a live evergreen tree hung with homemade gingerbread cookies, Santa caps, flown-in feasts of steak and lobster.

The troops Austin met were a mix of veterans and raring-to-go first-timers wondering what happened to the war they came to fight.

Army Sgt. Danyle Gray, 34, of St. Petersburg, Fla., is a police officer at a base near Balad. She has spent Christmas deployed in South Korea, but "this is the first time in a 'war zone,' " she said. "There's action here and there, but it's becoming more a political battle than combat."

Still, this is Iraq. A soldier was killed Thursday by a rocket or mortar attack near Mosul. A car bombing outside a Baghdad restaurant killed four people and wounded 25 on this first Christmas officially recognized by the Iraqi government.

Austin's battlefield tour came one week before a security agreement takes effect that sets a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. The contract shifts authority from coalition forces to Iraq, but U.S. and Iraqi troops have been working side by side for months to get ready by Jan. 1.

"We will have to be partners for some time," Austin said. Unless the Iraqi government asks for an extension, all U.S. troops will be out by the end of 2011.

Mindful that insurgent areas subdued earlier in the war later re-erupted in violence, however, Austin stressed that work here wasn't done.

"We've got to finish the fight. If we don't, we'll be back doing it every year," Austin told Marine Capt. Keegan Welch, a company commander in Haditha.

Welch, 30, of Gillette, Wyo., told Austin his third tour in Iraq was "heavy on the nation-building," and that some of his Marines have trouble letting Iraqis take the lead.

Like others interviewed, Welch said he hopes his next deployment will be to Afghanistan, after he leaves Iraq in March. The Pentagon plans to send as many as 30,000 troops there by summer.

Army Lt. Col. Dave Hodne has already been to Afghanistan four times. Add in his time in Iraq, and he's been deployed seven times since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "It's amazing to see the improvement," he said.

At several bases, there were makeshift memorials or plaques to those whose tours ended here. At Combat Outpost Brassfield Mora in Samarra, the tactical operations center — Hornbeck Hall — is named for Master Sgt. Kelly Hornbeck of Fort Worth, who was killed nearby in 2004.

Army Spc. Nathaniel Ramsey, 22, of Harrisburg, Pa., compared this deployment to his first tour two years ago at the height of a troop buildup against insurgents.

"At one point, this was one of the worst areas," he said. "It's significantly less now. I think we're ready to move out of here."

The focus Thursday, though, was cheering up the troops at Christmas.

"Santa been here yet?" Austin asked in a mess hall where wooden picnic tables were set with candy canes and paper holiday placemats.

"He hasn't made a stop here yet, sir," replied Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Barrantes, 25, of Miami.

A few minutes later, after the general had moved on, he said, "It seems like things will be wrapping up here soon."

Ellie