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'Outside the wire' with a Stryker brigade

Jun- 3-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By Carla Kelly, Times-Record Staff Writer

As his squad patrols in Iraq, Spec. Ebe Fornes, U.S. Army 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry (Light), spends his day at the office sitting inside a locked-down hatch.

He's the driver of a Stryker, an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) that epitomizes the army's transition to a fast-moving, small-unit force - the kind of mobile army equipped to deal with insurgencies.

Accompanied by a gunner, Ebe drives a nine-soldier squad on periodic patrols "outside the wire" (Forward Operating Base Courage), in the restless city of Mosul, north of Baghdad.

Son of Merlin and Eunice Fornes who farm near Fort Ransom, Ebe is on his way back to Iraq after a two-week leave enjoying home cooking, rest and relaxation, and a seat in the 12:01 a.m. first showing of George Lucas's blockbuster, "Revenge of the Sith."

He got into Fargo on May 18 in time to grab a shower, eat something, and get to the first showing of "Sith" in the wee hours of May 19. "That's going to make me the envy of my company," he joked.

Ebe's brigade arrived in Iraq last September, and is due to rotate back to Fort Lewis, Wash., sometime this fall. In his eight months in Iraq so far, he's noticed more construction, and a general cleanup of the community.

The article continues...


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