| Iraq veteran believes mission will take time
By John Mitchell, jmitchell@VenturaCountyStar.com
October 11, 2006
What a difference a month makes.
In September, Brett Worthington was in Mosul, Iraq, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, finishing up a yearlong, dangerous assignment, which included leading his squad in 219 combat patrols.
In early October, he relaxed in his meticulously groomed Thousand Oaks backyard, its green lawn, multicolored flower beds, inviting pool and stately mulberry tree about as far away from danger as one could imagine.
He is now a civilian, having completed a military obligation that began in 1991. On Nov. 1, he resumes his work as a business development manager for the Ingersoll Rand Corp., but before then, he'll adapt to a lifestyle with no salutes, spend time with his wife, Lanette, and do a little beach camping with buddies.
Worthington, 33, has much to say about Iraq.
Should the United States military be there? He thinks so.
"On a lot of things, I disagree with President Bush," he said. "But not his war policy. Every man and every woman serving in the U.S. military has volunteered. They're proud to be there and do what they're doing.
"Bush, Rumsfeld and the generals make mistakes. And we get upset at them when they do. But the truth is the American people simply do not understand that right now we are defining the future of Iraq, what it will be like probably for the next 50 years. That takes time. But the American people are impatient. It's that impatience that frustrates soldiers because we are patient in performing our mission."
Worthington defines "mission" as helping the Iraqis build a stable environment for democracy that will allow them to choose their own future.
"Tolerance is part of that," he said. "I think making changes in other regions doesn't mean to rubber stamp our form of democracy on them. Americans have to be tolerant of the cultural and religious differences. We don't want to try to change their culture or to impose our culture on them.
"When they get to a point where they have a democracy, even one broken up into provinces, we will have done our job and we can say goodbye."
Worthington's assignment to Iraq came as a big surprise. He joined the Army in 1991, was on active duty for two years and in the Army Reserve for an additional eight years. Then, in 2001, he was assigned to the Individual Ready Reserve, basically an inactive, civilian status in which people usually complete their military obligation. However, by 2004, the United States was embroiled in Iraq and there was a shortage of soldiers.
"I'll never forget," Worthington said. "The telegram arrived Aug. 12, a Sunday afternoon. Lanette and I were getting ready to go to the beach for dinner and there was a knock on the door."
He appealed the call-up, citing financial hardship.
"The salary I get in the military wouldn't have paid the bills," he said.
The appeal was denied, but his report date was delayed until July 10, 2005. That's when he arrived at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for 30 days of combat engineer training.
"Our job was demolition and land mine work," Worthington said. "We'd set up and disarm land mines, though now they just blow them up."
He was assigned to Charlie Company, 505th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. He was flown to his post in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, arriving Sept. 30, 2005. There, he was put in charge of a squad that would vary in number from 10 to 12 men.
"During those 219 patrols, we made enemy contact about 25 percent of the time. That's RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) or small-arms fire," he said.
"There were four Humvees in our patrol, and I was convoy commander in the lead vehicle. We got hit with 12 IEDs (improvised explosive devices). My Humvee was hit by four IEDs, and in one attack, I was knocked unconscious. When I came to, I found shrapnel dug into the glass, about six inches from my head."
The worst part of his tour was being separated from his family, friends and career, he said. Ingersoll Rand became a "true hero" to him because he got full salary, a raise and bonuses.
In Mosul, he said he could see trust develop among the American soldiers and members of the Iraqi Army and police.
"I watched as they came to befriend you, trust you and accept you as their mentor," he said. "When we rolled into their compound, they'd all gather around us. And over time we saw them get better in the way they dressed and presented themselves as soldiers. We had to adjust to cultural differences, especially when their men held hands, walked hand in hand and comforted one another more than we do. It's a bit of a culture shock but one we have to accept."
He recalled how the soldiers soured when reading articles about how things were going.
"Reporters don't write about the human side of the conflict," he said. "They stay in the safety of the Green Zone in Bagdad and don't cover the front-line troops."
On Sept. 15, Worthington began his journey back to the United States. Eight days later, at Fort Dix, N.J., he received his release from the military, and that night he was home in Thousand Oaks.
Will he stay in contact with the soldiers he served with?
"Definitely," he said. "Serving with them, a brotherhood was formed. I will definitely keep in touch." | |
