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FORT HUACHUCA — Two medical soldiers from this southern Arizona Army post returned home after performing their life-saving skills in Iraq.
Capt. Douglas Simmons used his nursing skills at the 228th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul.
Staff Sgt. Robert Hatch was called upon to teach combat first aid to members of the Iraqi police force.
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Monday, the two Raymond W. Bliss Army Community Health Center soldiers were part of 22 post GIs who were honored with a welcome home ceremony at the gazebo area of Brown Parade Field.
Unlike many soldiers who deploy as part of a unit, some of those assigned to Fort Huachuca go over as individuals.
Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast said it is time the individual soldier who deploys and returns home receives a welcome back ceremony.
So, the commander of the Intelligence Center and the fort, initiated the first Quarterly Soldier Recognition Ceremony to honor returning GIs, and when the occasion calls for it, civilians as well.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” Fast said.
Units such as the 11th Signal Brigade on the post usually deploy as a group and when they return, they are rightfully greeted by family and friends, Fast said.
But, the individual who deploys also needs a welcome home pat on the back, she added.
Of the 22 returning soldiers, 20 of them were from the intelligence community. The majority of those were interpreters for infantry and military police units and other organizations in Iraq, including one who was a translator for one of the American generals in that country.
At least one of the returnees helped set up the military intelligence academy in Afghanistan.
“It’s easy to get lost when you return as an individual,” Fast said.
She remembers the time when she was stationed in Germany and units and individuals deployed to Bosnia. Like today, returning units were greeted with fanfare and the individuals overlooked.
However, one senior American general in Germany gave permission to ensure individuals were welcomed back and that is the idea Fast said she is bringing to the fort. As the returned soldiers sat, the 36th U.S. Army Band played appropriate music.
Some family members joined their soldier spouses for the Monday event.
The spouses received a single yellow rose and those who couldn’t be at the event had the single bloom given to their soldier for presentation later.
Fast praised the family members as being important in today’s world of deployments.
Looking at the redeployed soldiers, Fast said, “Welcome home to Fort Huachuca. Welcome every one of you back here.”
Lining up, the soldiers individually saluted the general, received a certificate of appreciation from her, shook her hand and shook the hand of the center’s command sergeant major, Franklin Saunders.
After the ceremony ended, Simmons and Hatch looked back at their time in Iraq. Simmons was deployed for a year and Hatch for seven months.
The Army combat support hospital Simmons was assigned to saw its share of small arms fire and improvised explosive devices.
Not only were American GIs treated but so were Iraqis, the nurse said, adding he got to use a lot of his skills during his year deployment that he has not used during his assignment at Fort Huachuca, which does not have a hospital.
The 228th is an Army Reserve unit and it was the first time reservists and active duty medical people served together in that unit, Simmons said.
“It’s a nuts and bolts facility,” he said, adding the more seriously wounded people are given great treatment before being sent to higher care medical facilities like the one at Balad. The wounded are then transported to Germany.
What is facing GIs and Iraqis, especially children, is an uncaring enemy, he said.
“Insurgents focus on easy targets and nothing is easier than children,” Simmons said. Hatch said his job was to train Iraqi policemen how to administer basic combat first aid. The police are major first responders and they have to have a knowledge of how to treat wounds.
As part of the training program there were 10 American soldiers assigned to every 320 Iraqi policemen, the staff sergeant said.
The Americans were providing a number of different types of training.
Like Simmons, he also saw the aftermath of IEDs, gunshot and other wounds.
In February, the sacred Shiite Askariya golden dome mosque in Samarra was bombed and Hatch was on the scene.
For more than an hour he was the only trained medic in the area, as he was patrolling with some Iraqi policemen.
People have a tendency not to want medical treatment and circle around an injured person, crying, praying and chanting, Hatch said.
“I had to force my way into a circle,”he said.
What Hatch found out was he had to overcome the Iraqi culture when it comes to treating people.
Culture and a view that things happen because “it is God’s will,” is difficult to understand, the noncommissioned officer said.
It took a while for the Iraqi law enforcement officers to grasp the importance of providing basic medical care to an injured civilian, the NCO said. However, once they began to understand the importance, especially if there was a good interpreter available, the police members did well.
And, he also learned from his deploym ent as he was able to use skills in a combat environment he hasn’t used for some time. “I got to hone my own medical skills,” Hatch said.
SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615.
or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
TheSilverRose wrote on Jun 27, 2009 10:22 PM:
Thank You! "