Official: Troops OK in noncombat roles

Of a group of 79 medically troubled soldiers who were sent last year to desk jobs in Iraq and Kuwait with Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, most remain in the Middle East and are doing fine, the unit's commander said in a telephone interview from Iraq.

Short on deployable soldiers, the 4th Infantry Division, which oversees the brigade, made the controversial decision to send the 79 to serve in noncombat jobs, freeing healthy troops for combat roles.

More than two dozen of the 79 have been sent home for treatment of their problems, which ranged from wrenched backs to foot injuries. And the Army has all but stopped deploying additional soldiers with medical problems to war in the wake of controversy stirred by the 3rd Brigade's move.

Col. John Hort said even with extreme care in picking which soldiers to deploy some mistakes were made, but he defends the decision to send the 79.

"There isn't one of us who wants to hurt a soldier," Hort said, noting that when it became clear that some of the injured soldiers weren't getting the care they needed they were sent home.

Next week, when the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team departs Fort Carson for Iraq, it will leave hundreds of soldiers at home who were deemed nondeployable. The brigade's commander, Col. Butch Kievenaar, said this week that his 3,800-soldier unit will be "somewhere in the vicinity of 85-88 percent strength" when it leaves for war.

He's hoping to be at full strength early in the deployment as more of the soldiers being left behind are deemed ready to go to war and replacements filter in.

Hort's brigade was at about 90 percent strength when it arrived in Iraq. The brigade suffered serious personnel issues last year when its deployment schedule was accelerated, meaning it had to leave for war before lastminute replacements could arrive to fill its ranks.

That also meant that some soldiers who would have otherwise stayed home were sent to the Middle East.

"From every leader from myself down we deployed those soldiers that were medically fit to deploy, and if a doctor said the soldier should not deploy, they didn't," he said. "That's why we had 500 soldiers who did not deploy with this brigade."

Now, Hort said, the brigade is at more than 100 percent strength, thanks to a low casualty rate that has accompanied a relatively peaceful summer in Baghdad and to a steady flow of Fort Carson troops who have been sent to war after recovering from the injuries that prevented their deployment.

Just over halfway through the brigade's deployment, Hort is focused on keeping his soldiers healthy.

The 3rd Brigade's troops saw vicious fighting in Baghdad this spring during a nearly two-month battle against radical Shiites in the Sadr City neighborhood.

Hort said the peace in Baghdad now is a testament to the success of his soldiers in that battle, which saw 800 tank rounds and thousands of smaller munitions expended in battles that killed as many as 800 insurgents.

But the colonel says the near-constant fighting took a toll on the mental health of his soldiers, who are being closely monitored for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Hort said the number of PTSD cases appears low so far and he is crediting a combination of easy access to medical care and commanders who are providing soldiers the comforts of home on the battlefield.

Hort said even austere combat outposts now have amenities including televisions and Internet access, and morale, as reflected in a high re-enlistment rate, is solid.

While a new set of enemies is emerging in eastern Baghdad, Hort is confident the increasing abilities of Iraqis to police their own country will keep onceseething neighborhoods at peace.

But Hort remains dogged by allegations that his use of otherwise nondeployable soldiers to fill desk jobs amounted to maltreatment of soldiers.

"Probably the most painful thing I've experienced, and continue to experience is allegations that we're not caring for our soldiers" Hort said. "When I look at what we do in terms of caring for our soldiers, I just don't know if there's much more that we can do."

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Contact the writer: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com