Home » Archives » "Back home from duty in Iraq"

Back home from duty in Iraq

Jan-22-2006 » Filed Under: TF Freedom

MAJ South's unit served as part of Task Force Freedom alongside the 1/25 SBCT in Mosul.

Link to Full Article
LOU MUMFORD, Tribune Staff Writer

COLOMA -- As manager of the Coloma Transportation Service Center for the Michigan Department of Transportation, Paul South knows a thing or two about roads.

Now, he knows something about road-side bombs as well.

A major with the National Guard, the 37-year-old South just returned with his Gary, Ind.-based 113th Engineer Battalion from a year-long military mission in Iraq. He's believed to be the highest-ranking official in Michigan state government to serve with the military in Iraq. [...]

But South, the executive officer in charge of the battalion's day-to-day operations, did have some close calls. Perhaps they were to be expected, given the battalion's mission of supporting Stryker Brigade Combat Teams as the units sought out and destroyed improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

South, 37, said he or the commander would occasionally accompany platoons on bomb disposal assignments.

"Once, I was discussing something with a Stryker platoon when someone said they were taking fire from that location,'' he recalled. "I said, 'Since when?' and then I heard bullets hitting above my head on the Stryker (an eight-wheel infantry carrier).

"I think a couple of guys were taking pot shots at us.''

Although South never heard if the insurgents were located, the IED was a dud.


Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements