Entry # 74: September 27, 2006

Camp Slayer, Baghdad, Iraq

The E-word. That dreaded, horrific, nightmare inducing word that brings trepidation, despair, and helplessness along with it. The word is: extension. It is perhaps the most feared word in the modern Soldier’s lexicon (stop-loss is hyphenated and thus disqualified, besides that’s a different entry, see also, involuntary conscription). The first time the 1st Armored Division was deployed to Iraq it was extended for an additional 3 months beyond the year it had already served. Some of the Soldiers were waiting for the next transport to Germany in Kuwait when the word came, having traveled 28 hours by HMMWV to get there, only to be told to turn around and head back to Baghdad to deal with the uprising of Muqtada Al-Sadr’s militia, the Mahdi Army. If you were an Iraqi, it was not safe to venture within range of the guns of the 1st Armored Division those additional 3 months. They had already survived their year, and were intent on making it through the extra months.

Now I told you that story to tell you this one. My brothers and sisters in arms of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division have been extended on their second tour for an additional 6 weeks. Some of you are thinking “6 weeks, what’s 6 weeks when you’ve already been there a year?” Well, when you’re in a crap hole like Ramadi and for some, their second extension, it can seem like an eternity. Sure, the Army attempts to compensate by paying each Soldier an extra $1,000 per month for the extended time, but I know the vast majority would gladly give up $2,000 of what they already have in order to return back home to their loved ones safe and sound. At this point, it certainly isn’t about money. We are not mercenaries.

The reason for the extension varies. However, the basic gist of it comes down to this: poor planning by those with stars and civilian titles. It angers me when I read Donald Rumsfield say “I don’t understand why they’re mad at me. They knew what they were doing. They signed up for this” (As quoted in the Stars and Stripes in August after the honorable Secretary of Defense visited the families of the 172nd Stryker Brigade, the second unit after the 1st Armored Division to get extended). Mr. Rumsfield, you are correct, we did sign up for this, knowing we would get deployed. But when our days in a dangerous combat zone get extended because of your poor decision-making and planning, that’s when we get angry. I reckon we should plant his silk covered butt in Sadr City for 3 months and see if he enjoys the experience. Oh and wear 70 pounds of gear so when people start shooting at you, good luck getting away. Yes, you were the one who made us wear this stuff.

I have good friends in that brigade. There are friends from my Officer Basic Course and my good buddy, Eddie. If I should make it back to Germany before they do, I will set aside a spot at my table for the feast that will await them. They’ll pay for the food and wine, though. I mean, they will have an extra $2,000.

I pray that my time does not go beyond what I expect it to be. If it does, I will deal with it professionally and continue doing my job, if only for my Soldiers. But when I return, there will be hell to pay, Mr. Rumsfield. And hell will ask for a higher price than the contractors did. And so the Soldier’s life continues…