Brigadier General Dan Hickman
Commander, 30th Brigade Combat Team
Operation Iraqi Freedom
April 11, 2004
Dear 30 BCT Friends and Family Members,
The Old Hickory Bde has completed its arduous trip across hundreds of miles of desert and a few confrontations with the enemy. The dangers of this mission were brought home with the tragic loss of SPC Jocelyn Carrasquillo. We all mourn his loss and will carry his memory with us as we continue our important mission.
We are now operating in a region that, while not entirely safe, is a much more stable area than where we were ambushed on the way up here. We are now operating over an area larger than the state of Massachusetts. The terrain ranges from flat expanses of desert to rugged hills resembling something out of an old western movie. To our east can be seen high mountains that are just out of our area of operation. The few roads in our area are fairly good so that, when we are moving, we can move swiftly. The weather has actually been cooler here since our arrival but is now turning warmer again with temps hitting the 90s as I write this letter. Finally, the sand (dust) storms that seemed an everyday occurrence in Kuwait, are less frequent here, so we are all breathing a little easier. It will soon turn very hot and we are bracing for the famous Iraqi summers with temps hitting 130 degrees.
We arrived at camps (FOBs) that were not prepared for the number of soldiers in the 30th BCT. Many of our soldiers had to endure additional hardships for the first few weeks as we worked hard to improve our quality of life. Like our fathers and grandfathers in Vietnam, Korea, and WW II, we have in many cases improved our situation simply by soldiers and junior leaders seeing a problem and using their own ingenuity and whatever materials they could find to improve things. There were not enough latrines initially – we built more. There were not enough showers and hand-washing stations – we built more. The tents that were set up for us are hot, dusty, and in most cases without electric power – we have a large generator being brought in to provide power and lights. Gravel is being brought in as well to help with the dust. There was a small mess hall on one of the four FOBs, but it was inadequate for the 2300 soldiers on that FOB so we are all eating field rations. As of today, we are improving the field rations (UGRs) with a fresh fruit supplement, bread, and occasionally, salad. I hope to see cereal, milk and juice added soon. We were eating outdoors without tables, chairs, and the things most civilians associate with consuming a meal. While we had been eating like this for several weeks, we recently established dining facilities in large tents with tables and benches so now most of our soldiers can sit down and relax a few minutes over their meals. I eat with the soldiers everyday and most are accepting of the austere conditions because they know we are in a war zone and some hardships come with the job.
We will continue to improve our camps the entire time we are here. Safety improvements are our highest priority. I intend to make it as hard as possible for the enemy to attack us where we live and work. Second, the improvements will also focus on getting services improved for every soldier. We will continue to increase the number of latrines, showers, and over the next two months, will get as many soldiers as possible into hard shelters rather than tents. We are also drilling our own wells to provide additional water and may create our own ice-making capability to take the edge off the heat when it comes. Each battalion has been authorized $2500 per month in morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) funds and has begun purchasing gym equipment, items to show movies, and other things to enhance soldiers’ lives. This will continue as long as we are here. After a couple of weeks we will assess the camp services to determine if they meet our quality standards. Our phone and Internet center is small and non-existent in some FOBs, but we have additional centers on order and will begin to increase the capacity and ability to communicate with loved ones. The internet is free and the phone lines range from 5 to 50 cents per minute. Finally, we have hired an Iraqi contractor to do laundry and it will be free to all soldiers.
While we have focused a lot of energy on quality of life, we have also started doing what we came here to do – conducting combat and stabilization operations. Despite all the dire news coming from Iraq, we are settling into a routine. We are working closely with Iraqi Security Forces and have already captured numerous prisoners ranging from terrorists to smugglers. In addition, we have discovered several large weapons caches with thousands of shells that will no longer be available to the enemy. While this work exposes soldiers to a certain amount of danger, each successful mission improves our safety and takes us closer to our goal of creating a better environment for the Iraqi people. We are fortunate to have the cooperation of the Iraqi Security Forces. They are strong allies in accomplishing our mission and our goal is to eventually turn all security issues over to them so that we can return to our families, homes, and jobs. In the meantime, I remain dedicated to ensuring the safety of our men and women. I enlist and appreciate your many kind thoughts and prayers and will report to you again very soon.
Sincerely,
Dan Hickman
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