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Time as the enemy

Feb-26-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Kimberly Johnson, USA Today

MOSUL, Iraq –- I see few equalizers in this war, but those that exist are potent.

Every soldier here must deal with the frustrations of being away from loved ones and the realization that death can come with all the accuracy of a game of Roulette. Daily they also face a very real dilemma of how to fill out their day beyond their work. Here in Iraq, time can stretch an eternity. During downtime, soldiers are forced to find little ways to be a little less here and a little more back into themselves, even if it’s for a few moments each day.

It never occurred to me, however, that would include the seemingly obscure winter sport of curling.

The men of 4-23 have fallen head-over-heels for the Olympic sport. I’ve witnessed soldiers searching online for Armed Forces Network television schedules to plan their week around the matches. I’ve seen them stand in clumps around a television set, watching slack-jawed in intense concentration as stones slide across the ice behind a scrubbing whisk broom. At chow they discuss the game’s rules and if there would be any real potential in enticing the U.S. women’s curling team to come out to Mosul for a U.S.O. tour. [...]


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