Homeward bound

EDITOR'S NOTE: Five reporters statewide accompanied the Idaho Army National Guard to Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., on Thursday in a C-12 Huron airplane to interview Idaho soldiers who recently returned from Iraq. The soldiers, including those based out of the Post Falls armory, are completing outprocessing procedures at the base this month before returning home. A community "welcome home" ceremony is being planned for late October.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - Outside barracks at this Tacoma base, 1st Lt. James Dorman pondered a new Iraq from six years ago and, better yet, returning to Post Falls.

"The 116th accomplished a lot of good things, and I'm proud of that," the 26-year-old Idaho Army National Guard platoon leader said on Thursday. "But I'll be glad to be back home with my wife Nicole, fresh air, trees and where it's safe. I'm going to get a dog and start a family.

"And it'll be nice to not walk outside and sweat."

Most of the Guard's 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, which has 1,500 soldiers from Idaho including those based out of armories in Post Falls, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, has returned here for outprocessing before coming home in waves throughout this month.

This was Dorman's second deployment to Iraq and he noticed big differences since returning home in 2005.

"We'll never be able to create democracy like we have here - at least not in our lifetime - but it's a much better country now," he said. "There's a lot more services and it's safer. This time the Iraqi army was more structured. They have more checkpoints on the streets.

"Before they were infant and almost a hindrance, but they were actually able to assist us."

Dorman said that, if he's deployed again, he'd prefer Afghanistan over Iraq.

"In Afghanistan, there's still a lot of interaction with the locals and there's work to be done," he said. "I feel like I could make more of a difference there than in Iraq."

Spc. Joel Eggert, 24, a native of Rathdrum who now lives in Moscow, completed his first deployment to Iraq. It wasn't what he expected.

"It was more calm than I thought it would be," he said. "You don't hear gunshots everywhere. It's not that bad, but there still is a threat."

Civilian life, he said, was interesting.

"Almost every car has a dent in it," he said. "They don't look for stop lights."

Spc. Micah Maxwell of Coeur d'Alene said the Iraqi people have family values.

"They're not materialistic," he said.

The 116th won't forget the day in which two Coeur d'Alene soldiers - Sgt. Nathan R. Beyers, 24, and Spc. Nicholas W. Newby, 20 - were killed by an improvised explosive device.

A third Coeur d'Alene soldier, Staff Sgt. Jason Rzepa, 30, was injured in the blast. He had both his legs amputated below the knee and is recovering at a military hospital in the San Antonio area.

"What we could've done better will always go through your mind, but you can't look at the past and have to move forward," Eggert said. "Those guys would have told us to push on with the mission and to make sure everybody else comes home safe."

Eggert said he believes the deployment changed him.

"My awareness levels have gone up and I'm more motivated to get things done," he said. "It will take awhile to get use to civilian life and realize you're not in a combat zone."

He said he can't wait to get back to the great outdoors of North Idaho.

"The air (in Iraq) has a different smell to it," he said.

Dorman believes the United States has created a "fairly secure" environment in Iraq. It's about time to hand off the baton to Iraq's government, he said.

"The ball is in their court, and it's their turn to run with it," he said. "It's time for them to take the lead and run their own country. We've given them the tools for success."