Stryker Brigade News

How so?

"We still have a lot of pieces hanging out there," he said, noting that even after the third wave of soldiers returned here Saturday morning, a detachment of 22 would remain in Kuwait for a few more weeks to shepherd the 133rd's equipment onto ships for the long transport home.

And until the last of them returns - two soldiers will actually ride the cargo ship back to the United States - the battalion commander will consider this a work still in progress.

Fair enough. But as the man who led this unprecedented deployment, isn't he relieved? Has he taken a moment to close his eyes and exhale the tension that transformed the city of Mosul from relative calm into one of Operation Iraqi Freedom's most dangerous hotspots during the 133rd's 12-month stay there? [...]

Jansen, who stood on this same frozen installation a year ago and, like everyone else, wondered what fate had in store for his battalion, will come home with the second wave. Yet he will remain a man on a mission until the last two soldiers get off a transport ship weeks from now and quietly come home to Maine.

Still, the 133rd's commander is smiling - more, some might say, than his duties allowed him to in Mosul. The soldiers he predicted 12 months ago would make themselves, their families and their home state proud have done just that - and then some.

"Toward the end, I just got bombarded with compliments (from other units) about the 133rd," Jansen said. "Our mission was a positive one - and the soldiers I've talked to feel pretty good about what they did over there."