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Brown: 113th has key role

Jun-25-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

Embedded reporter W.S. Wilson has published the following interview with COL Robert Brown, commander of the 1/25 SBCT in Mosul.

Link to Full Article

BY W.S. WILSON, Editor, The Sentinel

Col. Robert Brown, a strapping West Pointer, is in charge of U.S. Army operations in and around Mosul, Iraq. The Indiana National Guard 113th Engineering Battalion is one of the units he directs.

This interview was conducted in Brown’s office, located in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces. The U.S. Army now calls the complex Forward Operation Base Courage.

Sentinel editor W.S. Wilson spent three weeks embedded with the 113th, which is based in northern Indiana and about halfway through what is expected to be a year-long tour of duty in and around Mosul.

SENTINEL: I’ve sensed a little bit of rivalry between the Guard and regular army units.

BROWN: You know, I would tell you that before I had this experience I had only gotten to see National Guard to occasionally train and occasionally work with them back in the States, and you had just like active duty, you’ve got great units, you got average units, you got some that need a little bit of work. You know, it is kind of very similar.

What I found here is the Guard brings a whole other dimension to the battlefield that we (regular Army) don’t have: the experts from the civilian world in their regular jobs. You know, they’ll have electrician’s, they’ll have guys that are financial guys, guys that run companies. We got guys that are, you know, that are like “Big Country,” the vice principal of a school (Sean Begley, of Lake Central High).

All of that is extremely valuable to have, and really brings a great dimension to the battlefield and the complications that you have here. As you can see we are dealing with everything every day from electricity, power, gas, food and then the insurgents.

It’s been fantastic and I’ve been nothing but impressed by the 113th. You know, the 113th came in at a critical time. We were all worried. I’ll be honest. We had a great unit from Virginia, and the 113th came in two weeks before elections and we were kind of nervous. I’ll tell you what, they were amazing. The 113th – they have been terrific.

There's much more, so be sure to follow the link. To view a complete archive of Wilson's articles, you can visit the Sentinel's website.


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