This story originally ran in the Nov. 28, 2006, issue of the News-Miner.
With nearly half the soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team back on the ground in Alaska, it was Col. Michael Shields that led another group of more than 300 soldiers in front of waiting family and friends on Fort Wainwright on Monday.
Shields, brigade commander, was joined by Sergeant Major of the brigade, Joe Ulibarri, and two battalion commanders, Col. Scott Wuestner of the 4th battalion, 11th field artillery and Lt. Col. Bill Keyes of the brigade support battalion in the group of soldiers that arrived Monday.
Like each group that is arriving throughout the week, soldiers arrived at Eielson Air Force Base on Monday for processing and then were bused to Fort Wainwright to reunite with family and friends.
Before arriving at the Alert Holding Area, the buses passed through the front gates and were welcomed by hundreds of banners and signs hanging on the fence lining the road. Shields said the buses slowed through the gates so soldiers could read each one.
“You hear about how they have them all up,” Shields said of the banners. “But until you see it, you don’t realize.”
The arrival of Shields, Ulibarri and some of the battalion commanders marks the halfway point for the homecomings. About 1,500 of the 3,800 soldiers are now back in Alaska with the rest scheduled to return by Dec. 5.
The brigade served the first year of its tour in northern Iraq, when it was based out of Mosul. In late summer, as the brigade was preparing to return to Alaska, its tour was extended four months and the soldiers were sent to Baghdad to help combat violence.
Twenty-six soldiers with the brigade died during the deployment and about 350 were wounded in action. The unit had five Silver Star Medal recipients during its deployment.
Before leaving Iraq late last week, the Arctic Wolves, as the 172nd is known, received the Valorous Unit Award from Gen. George C. Casey, commanding general of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.
The degree of heroism required for the award is the same as is required for an individual to be awarded the Silver Star, according to the American Veterans Web site. It is second in unit awards only to the Presidential Unit Citation.
Each day, the crowd at Fort Wainwright has grown as families and soldiers already home return to welcome the incoming groups. Many families from the Lower 48 are not able to make the trip to Alaska and will have to wait a few more weeks to reunite.
Sgt. 1st Class Eric Walborg is one of those soldiers that figured he would see his wife, Ledy, and son Nathan in a few weeks. But little did he know Ledy and his 8-month-old son were in the crowd Monday. Ledy said she didn’t receive confirmation about when his flight was coming into Fairbanks until just last week and scrambled to find a flight to Fairbanks on Saturday.
“I hope it’s a surprise,” she said, waiting with the anxious crowd.
The couple have experienced five major deployments together Ledy said, when Eric went to such areas as Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Peru. But Ledy said this deployment has been the hardest for her, partly because of the length and because she felt Iraq was the most dangerous of Eric’s assignments.
But she said it was no less easy on her husband.
“I think my pregnancy made it harder for him,” she said.
Also among the crowd dominated by women and young children, Rick Hart and his two sons, Ben and Cody, were patiently waiting on folding chairs, with balloons and a bouquet of flowers in hand for their returning soldier, Staff Sgt. Susan Hart. The Harts met when they were both in the Army, but Rick entered civilian life about four years ago.
Rick said being a dad staying home with his sons, age 5 and 7, while his wife was deployed had its challenges.
He likes to cook and can tackle laundry, but it takes him three days to fold laundry when his wife can do it in minutes. He said his wife is better at many things, including keeping the family organized.
“My brain has gone somewhere during this whole thing,” he said. “Hopefully, she’ll find that.”
Hart said it was also difficult to find many families in his same circumstances. Even if there had been an organized group of dads with wives deployed, he doubts he would have found time to socialize.
Mostly he’s looking forward to just talking with his wife and having the family of four under the same roof, like a regular family.
“You feel like a real wuss when you’re stuck here and your wife is off fighting a war,” he said.