SGT Charles Luther - Charlotte

1ST Cavalry Division

IRAQ (2006 – 2007)

BU2 William Laukat - Monroe, NC
24th Naval Mobile Construction Battalion
Iraq (2005)

We got the message 14 Dec 2004 at 7:20 p.m. after returning from dinner with friends. The message was simple; I needed to call back ASAP regarding my service. We knew what the call was about and we thought the call was looking for volunteers. My wife, Susan, and I talked about it and I told her it was something I needed to do. She gave me a hug and a kiss and said she would support me. I returned the call and quickly learned it was not for volunteers. I had been activated and assigned to the Seabees of 24th Naval Mobile Construction Battalion from Huntsville, AL.

Initial training was in Gulfport, MS and then it was off to Kuwait for some more training and to get acclimated to the temperature.

Our first project was the Joint Runway Repair at Al Asad, which required replacing transverse joints on the runway in order to make it usable again. Obstacles such as lack of supplies, dust storms, and heat all had to be overcome. We were responsible for moving our own materials from various locations throughout Iraq and worked as a team to ensure each other's safety while on convoys. We worked two ten-hour shifts replacing 31 joints as well as clean up and removal of the old material.

After my team left Al Asad, we moved to Haditha Dam where we constructed SWA huts (Southwest Asia huts) for Iraqi security forces to move into. We completed construction of 31 SWA huts, each able to house up to 24 people.

When all was said and done, NMCB-24 exceeded the tasks that had been outlined for us with construction projects throughout Iraq.

Building Local Relationships in Iraq

Our men and women in Iraq are involved in a variety of tasks and missions. Lt. Ed Salau of New Bern and his comrades from 1^st Battalion, 120^th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), 30^th Brigade Combat Team of the North Carolina Army National Guard saw a variety of challenges during their time in Iraq in 2004. Stationed at Forward Operating Base Bernstein, near Tuz , Iraq in the Northern Sallah-Dinh Province , it was common for these soldiers to conduct routine patrols in the area. These patrols were intended to secure the area and find potential insurgents. In addition, our soldiers were also local liaisons interacting with the local community leaders.

Lt. Salau tells of an interesting incident that occurred in 2004, at a time when there was still considerable unrest, and prior to the historic national elections. A car, full of bullet holes, stopped at one of their checkpoints. An Iraqi man and his son stepped out, both having been shot. North Carolina Army National Guard medics were called to the scene and the two were treated and taken to the hospital.

The interesting part of the story is that the American soldiers who had helped those two wounded Iraqis were portrayed by the insurgent forces as kidnappers. Because of the cooperative relationships that Lt. Salau and others had built with local Iraqi community leaders near Tuz, they learned through an interpreter, of the disinformation that the insurgents were spreading throughout the community. To combat this, our troops quickly reached out to the local village leaders to let them know what had really happened. They also within minutes set out to find the rest of the two injured Iraqis’ family and get them to the hospital.