Breaking News: The Last U.S. Combat Convoy Leaves Iraq (Ahead of Schedule)

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/101028594.html

Last US combat brigade leaves Iraq through Kuwait

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press Writer

Story Published: Aug 18, 2010 at 3:42 PM PDT
Story Updated: Aug 18, 2010 at 4:08 PM PDT

KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait (AP) - As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos. (View photos >>>)

For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama's Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.

When 18-year-old Spc. Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as part of the U.S. invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the troops lined its floor with flak jackets.

Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.

"It's something I'm going to be proud of for the rest of my life - the fact that I came in on the initial push and now I'm leaving with the last of the combat units," he said.

He remembered three straight days of mortar attacks outside the city of Najaf in 2003, so noisy that after the firing ended, the silence kept him awake at nights. He recalled the night skies over the northern city of Mosul being lit up by tracer bullets from almost every direction.

Now, waiting for him back in Olympia, Wash., is the "Big Boy" Harley-Davidson he purchased from one of the motorcycle company's dealerships at U.S. bases in Iraq - a vivid illustration of how embedded the American presence has become since the invasion of March 20, 2003.

That presence is far from over. Scatterings of combat troops still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and accompany Iraqi troops on missions (but only if asked). Special forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.

So the U.S. death toll - at least 4,415 by Pentagon count as of Wednesday - may not yet be final.

The Stryker brigade, named for the vehicle that delivers troops into and out of battle, has lost 34 troops in Iraq. It was at the forefront of many of the fiercest battles, including operations in eastern Baghdad and Diyala province, an epicenter of the insurgency, during "the surge" of 2007. It evacuated troops at the battle of Tarmiyah, an outpost where 28 out of 34 soldiers were wounded holding off insurgents.

Before the Aug. 31 deadline, about half the brigade's 4,000 soldiers flew out like most of the others leaving Iraq, but its leadership volunteered to have the remainder depart overland. That decision allowed the unit to keep 360 Strykers in the country for an extra three weeks.

U.S. commanders say it was the brigade's idea, not an order from on high. The intent was to keep additional firepower handy through the "period of angst" that followed Iraq's inconclusive March 7 election, said brigade chief, Col. John Norris.

It took months of preparation to move the troops and armor across more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) of desert highway through potentially hostile territory.

The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling at night because the U.S.-Iraq security pact - and security worries - limit troop movements by day.

Along the way, phalanxes of American military Humvees sat at overpasses, soldiers patrolled the highways for roadside bombs, and Apache attack helicopters circled overhead as the Strykers refueled alongside the highway.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gus McKinney, a brigade intelligence officer, acknowledged that moving the convoys overland put soldiers at risk, but said the danger was less than in past.

The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south, McKinney said.

But except for camels straying into the road, and breakdowns that required some vehicles to be towed, there were no incidents.

The worst of the ride was conditions inside the Strykers - sitting for hours in a cramped space - and the temperatures outside that reached 50 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

The driver's compartment is called the "hellhole" because it sits over the engine and becomes almost unbearably hot. The vehicle commander and gunner can sit up in hatches to see the outside world. At the tail end are hatches for two gunners. Eight passengers - an infantry squad in combat conditions - can squeeze in the back.

Riding as a passenger felt a bit like being in a World War II-era submarine - a tight fit and no windows. The air conditioning was switched off to save fuel on the long ride south to Kuwait. Men dozed or listened to music on earphones.

When the convoy finally reached the sandy border, two soldiers, armed and helmeted, jumped off their vehicle and raced each other into Kuwait.

Once out of Iraq, there was still work to be done. Vehicles had to be stripped of ammunition and spare tires, and eventually washed and packed for shipment home.

Meanwhile, to the north, insurgents kept up a relentless campaign against the country's institutions and security forces, killing five Iraqi government employees in roadside bombings and other attacks Wednesday. Coming a day after a suicide bomber killed 61 army recruits in central Baghdad, the latest violence highlighted the shaky reality left by the departing U.S. combat force and five months of stalemate over forming Iraq's next government.

For Dill, who reached Kuwait with an earlier convoy, the withdrawal engendered feelings of relief. His mission - to get his squad safely out of Iraq - was accomplished.

Standing alongside a hulking Stryker, his shirt stained with sweat, he acknowledged the men who weren't there to experience the day with him.

"I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here," he said.

Photo Caption: On this Aug. 16, 2010 photo, U.S. Army soldiers celebrate immediately after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait. The U.S. Army's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, are the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/08/last-us-combat-b...

USA Today...

Aug 18, 2010
Last U.S. combat brigade leaves Iraq
07:07 PM

Photo: A column of U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, are the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces.

By Maya Alleruzzo, AP

The last American combat brigade has left Iraq, seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, the Associated Press reports.

The AP was with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, as it crossed into Kuwait today. Here's some of the description:

As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.

President Obama had set an Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations in Iraq. Thousands of troops remain to train Iraqi forces.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081805644..../mideast

The Washington Post...

Final U.S. combat brigade pulls out of Iraq

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 18, 2010; 7:08 PM

Lt. Col. Mark Bieger huddled his infantrymen in a darkened parking lot minutes before they were to depart Baghdad for the last time.

"This is a historic mission!" he bellowed, struggling to be heard over the zoom of fighter jets and unmanned drones deployed to watch over the brigade's convoy to Kuwait. "A truly historic end to seven years of war."

The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which left Iraq this week, was the final U.S. combat brigade to be pulled out of the country, fulfilling the Obama administration's pledge to end the U.S. combat mission by the end of August. About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq, mainly as a training force.

"Operation Iraqi Freedom ends on your watch!" exclaimed Col. John Norris, the head of the brigade.

"Hooah!" the soldiers roared, using an Army battle cry.

Shortly before midnight Saturday, a group of infantrymen boarded Stryker fighting vehicles, left an increasingly sparse base behind and began scanning the sides of a desolate highway for bombs. For many veterans, including some who made the same trip in the opposite direction years ago under fire, it was a fitting way to exit.

"They're leaving as heroes," Norris said of his soldiers. "I want them to walk home with pride in their hearts."

Besides pride, the soldiers will carry with them the hidden costs of war: hardened glares; tales of comrades' deaths relayed in monotone sentences devoid of emotion; young faces rendered incongruously old.

There might never be an acknowledged end to the Iraq war -- a moment where it ceases being America's conflict. U.S. commanders acknowledge that the months-long political impasse over the disputed March 7 election and a flurry of other unresolved disputes in Iraq have the potential to erode hard-won security gains.

But U.S. commanders also seem to be stressing that this is no longer America's war to lose.

"I will let history judge whether we reached irreversible momentum," Norris said. "That's not my call."

By the end of this month, the United States will have six brigades in Iraq, by far its smallest footprint since the 2003 invasion. Those that remain are conventional combat brigades reconfigured slightly and rebranded "advise and assist brigades." The primary mission of those units and the roughly 4,500 U.S. special operations forces that will stay behind will be to train Iraqi troops. Under a bilateral agreement, all U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.

Leaving Iraq one last time is particularly emotional for veterans who have served multiple tours, several soldiers said in the two-day journey through the southern desert to Kuwait in cramped, windowless vehicles.

Silver remembrance bracelets to honor fallen comrades and tattoos that speak of loss and sacrifice are among the visible signs of the toll this conflict has taken on a generation of volunteer warriors.

More than 4,400 U.S. service members have died in the Iraq war since the invasion.

Several of these soldiers have served in Iraq more than one tour; some as many as four.

They witnessed the toppling of a dictator and its aftermath, including the rise of a powerful and lethal insurgency. That extended the conflict long after the words "Mission Accomplished" appeared on a banner as President George W. Bush prematurely declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq aboard an aircraft carrier May 1, 2003.

They were thrust into the frontlines of a brutal sectarian war that ultimately ebbed. And they helped secure elections that bore a government system more akin to an oligarchy than a parliamentary democracy.

Spec. Clinton J. Clemens, 26, was barely 18 when he traveled the same route northward in September 2003, clutching a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on a vehicle.

"I was scared to death," the Edgefield, S.C., native recalled. "I remember crossing the border and about 15 minutes later is when we took our first contact. It was the first time I'd ever been shot at."

Shortly after arriving in the western city of Ramadi in fall 2004, Clemens said, he realized that the war was far from over. Sunnis who had been fired from government jobs formed armed groups and began attacking U.S. forces daily.

Sgt. Luke Hitchcock, 26, of Olean, N.Y., said he got his first real taste of combat during his third deployment while stationed in Arab Jabour, a rural area southeast of Baghdad that was a Sunni insurgent stronghold in 2007.

"That was a horrible area. My platoon took six casualties," he said, speaking evenly. "I received a Purple Heart during that deployment. I was blown up." He suffered shrapnel wounds from a roadside bomb and was hospitalized for a month before returning to duty.

His fourth and final deployment was cathartic, Hitchcock said, because he believes he is leaving behind a safer country with a large and proficient army. "I think the fact that we stuck it out a few extra years to help their forces take control of their country" is important, he said. "That helps you hold your head up high as you leave and know that you made a difference."

But it is also clear that the departing soldiers are not leaving behind a peaceful country. The brigade ended up driving out in waves -- rather than having most soldiers flown out -- because that allowed the military to keep its last combat force a few weeks longer as commanders assessed the risks of political instability.

Commanders spent weeks studying the perils of the 360-mile night-time drive through the sweltering, dusty desert of southern Iraq. Powerful roadside bombs lined the two-lane road . And Shiite militias have stepped up attacks against U.S. bases in southern Iraq in recent weeks.

As a precaution, the military demanded that journalists accompanying the soldiers on the trip refrain from disclosing details of their departure until early Thursday, when the last group was scheduled to cross the Kuwaiti border.

For some troops, the protracted political crisis in Baghdad was a source of angst. Many Iraqis fear that militants are exploiting the period of uncertainty to make a comeback.

"Of all the time and effort that we put in this country, the blood, the sweat, the tears, I wish you could see an answer within a couple of weeks or a couple of months," said the brigade's second in command, Lt. Col. Darren Wright, 42, of Dallas. "But we won't know that for another three to five years: Will all your efforts pay off?"

Some soldiers said that's unlikely.

"I hope good things come from it," said Clemens, the specialist. "But I think as soon as we leave, things are going to fall apart."

The first departing soldiers made it to the Kuwaiti border Sunday as dawn was breaking. They emerged from the vehicles smelly and sweat-stained. Their uniforms were dirty; their boots worn out.

There were a few high-fives but no air of jubilation as they covered the .50-caliber machine guns atop the vehicles and began dumping bullets from ammunition packs into cartons. Most will return to Fort Lewis, Wash., where the 2nd Infantry is based. Others will leave the military, while some will move to other units. And none will be deployed for at least another year because Army regulations now stipulate that soldiers must have at least as much at-home rest as their last combat deployment.

"I hope this becomes a place where I can come back in 25 years," said Hitchcock, the sergeant. "But other than that, I'm glad it's over. I'm glad it's ending. I'm glad we can stop sending people here."

http://www.newser.com/getimage.aspx?mediaid=756091
http://www.newser.com/story/98404/last-us-brigade-rolls-out-of-iraq.html

Last US Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq
Military mission ending after 7 years, 5 months
By Nick McMaster| Suggested by Fondue| Posted Aug 18, 2010 6:40 PM CDT

Photo: U.S. Army soldiers pose with an American flag for a photograph after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait.
(AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

Newser...

The US military mission in Iraq is essentially rolling to a close tonight as the last combat brigade rolls across the border into Kuwait, reports the AP. For the record, it's the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The departure comes 7 years and 5 months after the US invasion. Because another 50,000 troops will remain for a year in a noncombat role, the death toll of 4,415 may yet rise, notes AP.

A U.S. Army soldier waves from his Stryker armored vehicle after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010.

(AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

http://www.newser.com/getimage.aspx?mediaid=756087

http://www.newser.com/getimage.aspx?mediaid=756089

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jackie Vanover, from Spanaway, Wash., holds a hand-made message for his family, including his two-month-old daughter, Austin, after crossing the border.

(AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

I am so happy for the Men and Women who now get to go home and live a normal life with their love ones. I wish I could say I was a better man because as happy for the soldiers of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. I can't help but wonder about my boyos in the 2nd CB/10th Mountain and 10th Mountain Division Headquarters who are already in Eastern Afghanistan. All the while I am getting ready with the rest of 1-89th calvary, the 3rd CB/10th Mountain and elements of the 4th and 6th CB/10th Mountain. This will be my third deployment to Afghanistan and fourth total in ten years. This time on the roller coaster, we are doing 14 months instead of the normal 12 month rotation. Which means if I am lucky I will be home Dec 2013.