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Professionalism is hallmark of American soldier

Sep-17-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

[Link to Full Article]

By KEN McLEMORE, Hope Star Writer

Editor's note - Following is the first of two parts from an interview with U.S. Army Sergeant Ben Wise of Hope.

U. S. Army Sergeant Ben Wise, of Hope, is proud to be a professional soldier.

Wise, home on leave from the 2nd Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade, 5/20th Infantry Battalion deployed in Northern Iraq, said in an interview that combat is his job. He is assigned to a Stryker brigade unit which typically conducts combat scouting missions.[...]

He said the insurgency which has attempted to destabilize Iraq appears to be imported. Weapons of choice among insurgents appear to be rocket propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.

"Iraq isn't America, but they do have access to a lot of weapons," Wise said. "They pretty much have open borders. I don't know where the get them or where they come from; but, suffice to say, they are very easy to get."

But, Wise emphasized that the Iraqi people are not the enemy.

"You can't generalize the stability of the Iraqi people because it depends on where you go and when you go," he said. "Obviously, I can't be very specific, but there are people within Iraq that obviously don't, for whatever reason - a lot of it religious, don't want us there, and don't like what we're doing. But, I believe there are a lot of them that do.

"I believe the majority that do are not out trying to harm us," Wise added. "You don't see them out much; they're going on about their lives. I think it's a minority that is taking aggressive action against us."[...]


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