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For US Soldiers, New Iraq Mission Brings Unexpected Return
Wednesday, December 31, 2014 07:12 AM
As Sergeant Michael Lair went from base to base in 2011, moving American gear to Kuwait ahead of the US withdrawal from Iraq, it seemed unlikely he would be returning.
The United States' nearly nine-year war in the country was winding down, and the devastating violence that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of American troops was at its lowest level in years.
But three years later, Lair is on his third Iraq deployment, this time as part of a mission to ready Iraqi soldiers for combat against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which has overrun large parts of the country.
"I didn't think we were coming back," Lair says, standing on a muddy road lined with sections of concrete blast wall in the massive Taji base complex north of Baghdad, an M4 assault rifle held across his chest.
"We would go up through Iraq to all the FOBs (forward operating bases). We would load up all the equipment and take it to the port in Kuwait... by road," he says of the runup to the withdrawal.
"It was kind of a big stepping stone," he says. "We're taking our stuff with us -- it's a pretty good sign."
But when he deployed to Kuwait in June this year as IS drove south toward Baghdad, sweeping Iraqi forces aside, it became clear another mission was likely.
"I was just telling myself, hey, get ready to go, 'cause I guarantee that we're not just gonna sit by and watch it happen," he says.
