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Family, friends, fresh paint greet Soldiers of V Corps' 302nd MI Bn
Story by Spc. Kristopher Joseph, V Corps Public Affairs Heidelberg, Germany – An extra-special treat greeted Soldiers of the Alpha Company of V Corps' 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion when they returned here Feb. 13 at the end of their year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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| Spc. Jeremy Kersey, a member of V Corps’ Alpha Company, 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion, kisses his six-month old son Jacob upon the unit’s return to Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany Feb. 13 from a year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. |
The unit is comprised mostly of unmarried soldiers. As family and friends greeted them, those troops got an added bonus -- newly renovated living quarters for them at their home station on Heidelberg’s Patton Barracks. Soldiers gasped at the sight of their new rooms, or suites, as the troops immediately dubbed them. Fresh paint, roomy showers, full-size refrigerators, microwaves and walk-in closets are accommodations that many people may have come to expect, but the A Company Soldiers looked them over like they were gold. "Being deployed, you always miss the little things the most," said Spc. Edward Dingman, intelligence analyst for A Company. "Coming back to something like this, I really feel loved and appreciated."
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| Spc. Edward Dingman, and intelligence analyst in V Corps’ Alpha Company, 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion, looks with amazement at his new, clean bathroom, part of the newly renovated living quarters at Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany, that greeted his unit’s Soldiers upon their return from the company’s year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. |
Just being able to eat at the Burger King that was opened at Baghdad International Airport was a major treat for Soldiers living in the austere conditions of deployment, added Staff Sgt. Ellis Hudson, the unit's retention NCO and Moral, Welfare and Recreation coordinator. Austere or not, Ellis said A Company’s troops shared great camaraderie during the deployment, and that their leadership really pushed them to work as a team. "When you're in war, you never know whom you have to count on," he said. "Everyone has to be on the same sheet of music, because we were doing all those common soldiering tasks for real down there." Back in Germany with old friends, new rooms, and a new year, soldiers of A Company are looking forward to relishing the little things. "I can't believe I'm going to take a real shower again," said Dingman. A Company, first organized in 1955, directly supported V Corps and Combined Joint Task Force-7 intelligence missions in Iraq.
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| Members of V Corps’ Alpha Company, 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion, rejoice upon returning to their home at Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany Feb. 13 following their year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. |
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