Interpreters assisting US forces in Iraq must often conceal their identities. Click the photo for the article
"Who is that Masked Man?"

The author with Iraqi General Ali Adnan (center) and US Army Colonel John Bogdon (right). Click the photo to read "Building Bridges to the Iraqi Police."

Major Mike Indovina and Captain Tedrick by the dart board in Joe's Cafe. Click the photo to read "After the Patrol - Conversations at Joe's Cafe."

Colonel John Bogdon has a few thoughts on why the air is so bad around FOB Rustamiyah, and it "ain't" the cigars. Click his photo to read "Bad Air - Cigars at FOB Rustamiyah."

Soldiers at the 18th MP Brigade befriended this wounded seagull.
Click the photo to read the article
"A Seagull Named Rocket."

The Face of War: Women in Combat      
by Gordon Cucullu

For several decades the issue of women in combat has been debated, often harshly, in America. We're not going to review the progress of that debate in these pages other to note that it was long, contentious, and persists to this day. However, experience on the ground is slowly changing some minds.
        
When I arrived in Iraq I was aware that this Army looked different from the one I had served in for two decades. I was not aware of how sweeping some of the changes had been, primarily relating to the deployment of women in combat.

Since the Gulf War we've seen women flying fighter aircraft and armed helicopters and in increasingly dangerous roles in ground warfare. While women have become involved in combat in the early phases of the Iraq War, much was circumstantial. When a convoy bring up supplies from the rear got lost and was ambushed, women became involved in combat because of a series on unplanned events, not because of policy decision.

Present-day Iraq reveals an entirely different situation. Military Police units roll every day with women assuming direct combat roles. And this is certainly in accordance with Department of Defense, Army, and Multi-National Force - Iraq policies and regulations. Once again, the evolving reality of the battlefield has bypassed the debate about women in combat.

During my embed with the 18th Military Police Brigade I participated in approximately 16 combat missions. I rode in with a woman company commander, Captain Liz Cain of the 54th MP Company; worked with women officers in the 716th MP Battalion, Captains Becca Beard, and Katie Graves; rolled in three Humvees with women turret gunners; was attached to a squad of the 728th MP Battalion led by Staff Sergeant Eleanor Huerta; and watched women in full battle-rattle roll out of the wire every day prepared to fight - and win.
        
At Camp Speicher, north of Baghdad, the 728th MP Battalion commander (BC) logs thousands of miles on the road visiting his vast area of responsibility. Leading the squad that escorts the BC is Staff Sergeant Huerta. She is on her third combat tour and according to her squad members is "as tough or tougher than any man you'll meet." They are proud to work with her. Prior to every mission she briefs her soldiers, insisting that they be ready to fight the moment the convoy rolls through the wire.

Also on her third combat tour of duty is Sergeant Kristin Loeffler, a squad leader with the 95th MP Battalion. The Washington state native has been on active duty for 4 years, most of that time deployed. "I like the independence I have working with Iraqi Police," she said. "At the station we work I am responsible for carrying out our mission of making them into a quality police force. We teach community policing, basic techniques, investigative procedures, and how to work with the people. I review training status, select classes to teach, and make certain the training is done properly."

Loeffler enjoys working with Iraqi women. "The women here have second class status and that's too bad. They make good policewomen but don't have all the opportunities the Iraqi men do. We're trying to work with that but there is a lot of cultural bias here that we won't be able to change in the short term."

Like their male colleagues, the war scars the women too. Specialist 4 Evelyn Rodriguez, a member of the 1132nd MP Company, a National Guard unit from North Carolina, has seen her share and more of combat tragedies. Her platoon suffered a run of ill fortune and lost 4 soldiers to IED attacks within weeks. "We were hit by an IED on 17 March," she related. "Then another on 18 March. Everyone made it okay. Then on 22 March we lost three guys." Less than two weeks later a fourth IED strike killed the gunner in a truck in front of her.
        
"The IED flipped the entire truck over on top of him. There was nothing we could do." Since that day Rodriguez has found it increasingly difficult to roll out on missions. Her platoon is scheduled to rotate back to the States soon, and she is performing her duties faithfully, even though the tragedy of the losses weighs heavily upon her. "Those guys were like brothers to me," she said stoically. "I'll never forget them."

All soldiers come to combat with self-doubt - they wonder how they will perform when tested by combat, and worry that they will let their fellow soldiers down in a fight. The several women I interviewed shared similar concerns as did male soldiers. They also knew that being women they were facing challenges that service women in the past did not have to deal with.

That they are performing well on the battlefield is now an established fact.
        

Bad Air - Cigars at FOB Rustamiyah Colonel John Bogdon has a few thoughts on why the air is so bad around FOB Rustamiyah, and it "ain't" the cigars.	The Face of War: Women in Combat Though it may still be controversial, Military Police women are potentially engaged in the fight every time a convoy rolls outside the wire. Hear the stories of several MPs in Iraq.	Who is That Masked Man? Despite their intimidating appearance, Interpreters are unarmed and rely completely on soldiers to protect them.
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