Through his lens: SV native’s role is to record 11th’s moments in Iraq (11th Signal Brigade)

Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Review ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — For now, Spc. John Martinez’s sense of community is this bustling military installation, which is actually a network of a number of camps between the Baghdad International Airport and the International — sometimes called the Green — Zone.

Martinez is one of slightly more than 100 11th Signal Brigade headquarters soldiers from Fort Huachuca who pulled up stakes, trading one desert climate for another for 15 months.

Besides the 11th, more than 400 soldiers of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion from Fort Huachuca, as well as other GIs from the fort, are now serving away from home in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.

For the 26-year-old, his deployment is not just being a soldier who happens to be assigned to the post — like many who call other parts of the U.S. home — for Martinez is a Sierra Vista native.

“I was born and raised in Sierra Vista, graduated from Buena High School in 2000,” he said.

While at Buena, Martinez was a pitcher on the varsity baseball team.

His father, Robert, is a retired Army master sergeant who served in the Military Intelligence Corps.

As for mom, Rebecca, this deployment takes Martinez away from her cooking.

“There is no one who can cook better Mexican food,” he said one day as he patted his stomach.

Keeping trim was difficult while living in Sierra Vista, but in Iraq, he usually only eats two meals a day and keeps his weight, which he said can be a problem, down by running and doing aerobics.

That is the beauty of being on a large camp in Iraq. There are many amenities, such as gyms.

Martinez was the public affairs escort for a news team from the Herald/Review, and those duties meant his daily regime was impacted by the demands of helping the reporter and photographer to get around to do stories.

Martinez was with the team from early morning to late at night, helping to arrange interviews and letting the pair use his office computer to transmit stories and photos.

He, too, benefited from the working relationship with the Herald/Review team in the 11th’s Public Affairs Office, to which Martinez is assigned as a photographer. He had time to call his wife, Lacey, and their daughter, 18-month-old LC, late at night. Wife and daughter are living in Florida with her parents while he is deployed.

“LC has a new best friend,” Martinez said of his daughter. “It’s Murphy, a dog.”

His older brother, Rob, is the assistant editor for The Scout, the Fort Huachuca newspaper, and occasionally some of Martinez’s photos appear in the paper.

Martinez said that during deployment, his main job is “taking pictures of ceremonies, re-enlistments and promotions.”

The work entails showcasing what other soldiers in the unit are doing.

However, he did get to cover Hispanic comic Carlos Mencia’s stop at Camp Victory.

Like many soldiers assigned to the main installations, Martinez looks for ways to “get outside the wire” — the GI expression for going beyond the fairly protected camp environment.

One day, he had to escort the Herald/Review team to the International Zone and back to get their credentials. That meant a less than 20-minute road trip each way outside the wire.

When he came back, many of the 11th’s soldiers asked what he saw during the short excursion.

What he honestly could tell them was not much. The bullet-proof windows of the Rhino, a heavily armored bus, don’t allow for much sightseeing.

The 11th’s Public Affairs Office has been given an assignment to help shoot some Armed Forces Network video commercials about the Signal Corps work in Iraq, which may get him outside the wire again, Martinez said.

In a recent telephone interview, Martinez said it has been raining in Iraq, making everything muddy.

“At least when it rains in Sierra Vista, it stops. In Iraq, it doesn’t,” he said.

Looking forward to his Army future, Martinez said he and his wife have talked about him staying in the service, and it appears that will happen. He will train to become a broadcast journalist, something he has been wanting to do. The field opened, he has the voice for it, and the bonus is good.

He is waiting for a guaranteed assignment to Germany once he returns from deployment, which is a place his wife is wanting to go.

“Boy, mom’s going to be surprised when she reads this,” he said with a laugh.

Each soldier in Iraq sets a timeline for events, most of which is centered around having a leave during the deployment, which Martinez is looking forward to, so he can hold Lacey and LC in his arms and talk to them face to face.

There are many soldiers from Arizona in the 11th. Martinez said there’s another from Sierra Vista, one from Tucson and three from Nogales, who are all waiting to return.

But that will not be until early 2009.

And when that happens, a deployed part of our community will return.

HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4614 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.