Drum welcomes 2nd Brigade home from Iraq

FORT DRUM — Soldiers of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team marched into Magrath Sports Complex at exactly 9:30 p.m. Monday and spent the next eight minutes taking part in a ceremony to welcome them home from Iraq.

Then, as they were dismissed, the heels on 300 pairs of boots snapped about and families on the crowded stands rushed to greet their soldiers.

Jessica L. Sabo, 24, made eye contact with her husband, Spc. Michael A. Sabo, 24, who walked over calmly and kissed his daughter Lana, 3, and his 10-month-old son, Deanthony, whom he saw for two weeks in January while on leave.

About 1,200 soldiers from the brigade have come home in the past two weeks, said division spokeswoman Kae L. Young. The rest of the 3,500 soldiers in the brigade will return in the next four to six weeks, according to brigade spokesman Maj. Tim Hyde.

With a mission of making Iraqi forces in eastern Baghdad more effective, the brigade began deploying in Sept. 2009. It partnered with the 9th Iraqi Army Division and the 1st Federal Police Division and their subordinate units, Maj. Hyde said. Iraqi and American forces conducted operations side by side.

As the deployment went on, the Iraqis became progressively more independent. Now, 90 percent of missions in their sector are conducted entirely by Iraqi forces, but they still use American assets such as air and canine units, according to Brigade Executive Officer Lt. Col. Brian Kerns and Deputy Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Mike Davey, both of whom were in Iraq and spoke via conference call. Two 2nd Brigade battalions are still partnered with Iraqi brigades for about the next nine days.

Lt. Col. Richard G. Greene Jr., commander of the battalion at the ceremony, said his troops gained a lot from the experience.

"In order to partner, you need to know yourself," he said after the ceremony.

American forces felt confident enough with the progress made by Iraqi units that the brigade will not be replaced by an American unit, Col. Davey said. "We are leaving everything in the capable hands of the 9th Army and police."

The two officers agreed the biggest improvement from the Iraqi forces this deployment was the competency of the higher level staff, who were able to use tactics and intelligence more effectively than before.

"They are more capable of operating in a complex environment," Col. Kerns said.

The Americans spent little time in the classroom, as the Iraqis learned mostly from the experience of actual missions. The Americans lived alongside their Iraqi counterparts, which created cohesion and built trust.

"By the time it finished, they were brothers," Col. Greene said.

The only internal security breech came from one American 2nd Brigade soldier who was apprehended in connection with a leaked video showing Apache helicopters killing unarmed Iraqis. No security leaks or physical threats have come from the Iraqi forces.

One 2nd Brigade soldier died from an attack. Spc. Robert M. Rieckhoff, 26, was killed by a rocket- propelled grenade in March. Another soldier, Pfc. Thomas E. Hodge II, 28, died in January while on leave in Virginia. These numbers were vastly different from 2nd Brigade's previous deployment, in which they suffered 54 deaths.

Col. Kerns was with the brigade then and has seen a difference this time around. He credited their lower casualty numbers to the training nature of the mission as well as a less capable enemy force.

"The Iraqi populace has rejected the al-Qaeda insurgency, leading to a safer environment," he said.

In the first eight months, insurgent activities have decreased 59 percent compared with the previous year, Maj. Hyde said, crediting the brigade's training and advising the Iraqi Security Forces with the improvement.

Col. Davey has seen the advantage firsthand.

"That's more soldiers coming home," he said.

That's where Spc. Sabo headed after the ceremony, pushing his son's stroller alongside his wife and daughter.