The last U.S. combat brigade here completed a symbolic convoy out of country early today, reminiscent of U.S. forces first pushing into Iraq at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The Soldiers, with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, just completed their yearlong tour of assisting, training and advising Iraqi Security Forces in and around Baghdad.
As one of the lead elements in a company-size formation of Stryker armored vehicles, Pfc. Thomas Johnson and Spc. Adam Porter—both combat engineers with the 38th Engineer Company, attached to the 4th SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division—had driven collectively more than 400 miles on the unruly and sometimes deadly roads from here to Kuwait in a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle.
Driving down a route similar to the one U.S. forces entered the country through several years prior, Johnson could see the final stretch of dirt road leading to the border of Kuwait through the dusty driver’s side window.
Throughout the convoy, Soldiers said their final goodbyes to Iraq before entering Kuwait and ending their final deployment here.
Most of the Soldiers, including Johnson and Porter, said they did not expect to be behind the steering wheel, leaving Iraq by ground vehicle to make the drive to Kuwait.
“I thought we’d fly out of here,” Porter said.
The longing to redeploy eventually wore down Soldiers in the brigade to the point where the mode of exit no longer mattered, so long as it meant they were returning home soon.
While people in the back of Strykers and MRAPs had the opportunity to nap during the two-day trip, the gunners, drivers and vehicle commanders stayed awake, focused and alert to their surroundings. Energy drinks, daytime naps and casual conversations among crew members kept the weary drivers going.
“I was thinking about doing my job proficiently and getting everybody there safely,” Johnson said. “If I don’t get everyone there safely, then we fail the mission. And I’m all about completing the mission,” he said, mentioning that part of his mission was returning home to his wife.
The team made it without sustaining any attacks, which is a major improvement from veteran combat engineers’ experiences during earlier OIF rotations.
Because security has improved over time as Iraq has become more stable, certain aspects of later deployment cycles have changed as well.
“Yeah, we trained to kick in doors, we trained to clear buildings, we trained to react to contact, but every single one of us knew what we were going to be doing—riding in a truck looking for [improvised explosive devices],” Porter said.
For Johnson, a Phoenix native, and Porter, an Ashland, Wisc., native, training for driving the Buffalo-style MRAP, a large vehicle with a mechanical arm for interrogating potential IEDs and threats, began during the brigade's June rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.
Soldiers trained on a 5-ton truck frame with a Buffalo cab welded onto it. It was not until arriving in Iraq they had an opportunity to get behind the wheel of the real thing.
A year later, as Johnson drove his team past the gates leading out of Iraq and concluding their last patrol in Iraq, he said he felt a long-awaited feeling.
“It's a feeling of success that you did what you were expected to do for a whole entire year, then coming to the end of your tour and finishing it out strong,” he said.
