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Vol. 18, No. 4, July 25, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE:

This Reveille Home Page | Friday Program: A Citizen Soldier's View of Iraq | In a League of Their Own | "Adopted" Highway Needs Clean-Up | First New Member Mixer | Friday Potpourri | Doo-vall • Bellevue Breakfast Joint Social | Exchange Student Final Report | Latest Post Op Report From John Mix | Web Fun

A Citizen Soldier's View of Iraq

Jenny Andrews introduced Friday's speaker, Captain Jeff Newell. Jeff has visited our club many times with his father, Dennis Newell, a former BBRC member. Jeff is a Captain with the 1st Battalion, 303rd Armor, a unit of the 81st Armor Brigade of the Washington National Guard. Jeff brought a slide show of his one-year tour in Iraq. The 81st Brigade was called up at the end of 2003 and spent two months training at Fort Lewis and another month in California before they were transported to Kuwait. Jeff’s unit was originally a tank battalion but they traded their tanks for Humvees for their tour in Iraq.

After spending some unpleasant time in Kuwait, Jeff’s unit was airlifted to Victory Base in Baghdad, which is the Commander In Chief’s base and is on Route Irish, which is the much-bombed land route to the Baghdad International Airport.

Most of Jeff’s tour was spent as the personnel officer of the battalion. His unit was responsible for perimeter security for Victory Base and was the guard for the Commanding General in Iraq. Victory Base consisted of two large palaces built by Sadam Hussein.

Jeff said that the Iraqi civilian population right outside the Base was once known as the Iraq Family Village, which was a home for women and children of either Sadam Hussein’s enemies who had been killed, or members of his elite guard who had been killed. When the war began, the inhabitants fled and were replaced by a number of Sunni Arab squatters.

When the Battalion arrived at Victory Base they were receiving sporadic mortar fire from the village, but after an intense civil action program, there were no further mortar attacks from that area.

Jeff had not only a number of great slide pictures of his own, but since they had a reporter and photographer from the Tacoma Tribune imbedded with them, he had the privilege of using a number of professional photographs from the Tacoma News Tribune.

Like his father, Dennis, Jeff is a really optimistic, upbeat person, and his presentation was quite well received.

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