Soldiers’ return
By Todd South tsouth@timesfreepress.com
Online: Watch a video and see a photo slide show of a ceremony honoring the 591st Transpor tation Detachment. Read previous stories. Comment. Tightly folded flags in small wooden cases lined a table, honors for the men and women who’d recently returned from a year in Iraq. One month after the U.S. Army Reserve 591st Transportation Detachment returned from Iraq, friends, family, veterans and a congressman thanked the soldiers at a ceremony Saturday in Chattanooga. “The work of the 591st deployment is not yet completed,” Col. Brett Nila told the soldiers, who were awarded the personalized, encased American flags. The ceremony was part of the Welcome Home Warrior Citizen program, created in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush and Congress to acknowledge Army Reserve soldiers’ service abroad. The soldiers also received a Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen flag, an Army Reserve Soldier lapel set and a commemorative coin. Col. Nila reminded the soldiers that the next step, their next mission, was to focus on readjusting to society. He said adjusting to civilian life after a long separation from their families would take time. “I think it’s sad that people have forgotten we’re still sending people over there,” said Rhonda Hannah, whose sonin-law Spc. Stacy Thomas deployed with the unit. “We’d like to see more people
recognize them.” The 23-soldier detachment coordinated the movement of equipment throughout southern Iraq, from Baghdad to the Kuwait border. “Basically a UPS with guns,” said Staff Sgt. Timothy Dyer, one of the senior enlisted noncommissioned officers who deployed with the unit. The 591st left for Kuwait in July 2008 and returned to Chattanooga on July 3, 2009, said unit commander 1st Lt. Matthew Roberts. As part of the 330th Transport Battalion, soldiers with the detachment verified equipment and cargo moving in and out of their area, he said. The detachment worked out of a base near the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, where during the 2003 invasion a U.S. Army convoy was ambushed and soldiers were taken hostage. Sgt. Chip Workman supervised the day crew of the detachment. Soldiers worked one of two 12-hour shifts during the deployment. The trip was Sgt. Workman’s first combat deployment. “I didn’t really have a clue what it was going to be like,” he said. “I don’t think we ever fell into a routine; there were always new things, obstacles to overcome,” Sgt. Workman said. Most of the soldiers’ work took place on base as American, coalition and private business entities moved through the area. But soldiers traveled to other bases periodically to check cargo loads for incoming or departing units, he said. Based on the current rotation schedule, the 591st should not have to deploy for at least one year or longer, 1st Lt. Roberts said. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, RTenn., told the assembly the rotation cycle was too frequent for soldiers and their families. “This is a tempo, to be honest with you, that is not sustainable,” Rep. Wamp said. “That’s why we need to be so very grateful that you’re willing to serve.” Staff Photos by Allison Kwesell Pfc. Stephanie Patterson salutes Col. Brett Nila before receiving a flag commemorating her one-year deployment in Iraq.
Sgt. Chip Workman, center, bows his head in prayer at the VFW on Lee Highway during a ceremony to welcome home the 591st Transportation Detachment.
