Stryker Brigade News

The platoon from Camp Taji, a U.S. military base about 20 miles north of Baghdad, was accompanying Sgt. First Class Grant Ray. CNN first caught up with Ray at his U.S.-based barracks in 2004, back when he was Staff Sgt. Ray. He had just returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq, during which he was part of Thunder Run, the coalition's charge across the Iraqi desert to strike Baghdad.

Ray lost the tops of two fingers and almost his life when a routine patrol turned deadly and he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Three of his comrades were killed in the ambush, and Ray earned a medal for bravery in recovering their bodies.

Five years later, Ray's role is radically different -- moving from combat in 2003 to an attempt to rebuild a shattered economy. He's something of a contradiction. "I work non-lethal effects along with lethal effects into our area of responsibility," Ray explains. He is armed and ready to kill at all times, but his main purpose is to hand out "microgrants" of $50 to $5,000 to support Iraqi businesses.

Platoon leaders return from the field and suggest businesses to Ray that they feel deserve his and ultimately the American taxpayer's money. Ray assesses the different needs, calculates how much it costs to fulfill them and seeks financial approval from his commander. He acts as a consultant and a bank -- except to carry out his work, Ray must be under the protection of about 20 soldiers.

Armed with an M-4 and a black nylon briefcase filled with cash, Ray ventures out in the back of a Stryker armored vehicle into territory that straddles the Sunni-Shia divide. A year and a half ago, coalition troops in the region suffered heavy casualties amid 150 attacks a week. Today, the number has dwindled to the point where Ray can do his job. [...]