State soldiers are among first to get new leaves

SPOKANE — Hunter Cloke is one of the lucky soldiers.

He arrived in Clarkston this week for a 15-day leave from Army duty in Iraq, one of the first to get home under the military’s new leave policy intended to boost the morale of soldiers.

Also back home for a 15-day break is Pfc. Jeff Brown, 26, of Sedro-Woolley, a member of the 101st Airborne.

Cloke, 21, on Wednesday night stepped off an airplane at the Spokane airport and saw his infant daughter, Kolbie, for the first time. He also got reacquainted with daughter Morgan, 1 1/2. He’ll go out to dinner with his wife, Ketura, and maybe get in a day of deer hunting near his southeast Washington home.

Then it’s back to Iraq for what Cloke hopes will be the final four months of his deployment with the 10th Mountain Division.

"We’re going to go to the Alan Jackson concert in Pullman on Saturday, and have a dinner for family tomorrow," Cloke said in a telephone interview from his family’s home in Clarkston on Thursday. "Friends and family are coming on Sunday."

Cloke graduated from Clarkston High School in 2001 and signed up with the Army just in time to serve in Afghanistan and now in Iraq. The Army specialist arrived in Afghanistan on Feb. 2, 2002.

He returned home in August 2002, and was present when Morgan was born. He left for Iraq last March, shortly before Kolbie was born.

The son of Mike and Janet Cloke of Clarkston, Cloke is normally based in Fort Drum, N.Y., where he serves with the 511th Military Police Company. But home most recently has been Mosul, Iraq, where he guards and transports prisoners and performs other jobs.

"We just cleaned out an old building and we live in there," he said. "Since we were the first unit in Mosul, we got pretty much first choice of where we wanted to stay."

One of their tasks is keeping Iraqis and Kurds from killing each other, he said. The duty is dangerous. Cloke’s company comes under periodic fire from hostile forces.

In one incident, Cloke and two others were sent to guard a cache of weapons. When they arrived they found a group of Iraqis taking the weapons and ammunition.

The three U.S. soldiers were fired upon. Cloke tried to fire back with the Humvee’s machine gun, but it jammed. He took out his 9mm sidearm and advanced on the Iraqis.

A grenade landed at his feet, and Cloke picked it up and threw it. The grenade blew up about 10 or 15 feet away, injuring his face and eye with fragments, Cloke said. But he continued to advance, forcing the enemy to retreat.

He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for that.

Getting home required flying from Iraq to Kuwait to Greece to Germany to Baltimore, and then across the country to Spokane, he said.

When he leaves in two weeks, Cloke will have to serve until March to complete a one-year tour of duty. But he acknowledged it is not certain he will be sent home after that.

"If we do a year, they probably won’t send us anywhere for at least a year, we’re hoping," Cloke said.

He has three years left on an original five year hitch that he signed up for to get some money for college. He might re-enlist in the Army, or he might go to school to become a fish and wildlife officer, he said.

In their free time, soldiers dine on "pretty good food" in a cafeteria operated by a military contractor, he said. They sleep a lot, talk on the telephone, watch the occasional movie or play basketball or volleyball. There is also a gym and access to the Internet.

Asked if the locals object to them in Mosul, Cloke said "some do and some don’t."

"It depends on the day."

In Sedro-Woolley, about 60 miles north of Seattle, Brown has been getting reacquainted with family, friends and his golf clubs.

"My time’s been occupied by the golf course," he said. "Playing golf, sleeping in and hanging out with friends. It’s been kind of nonstop, but it’s been great."

He did not completely give up golf during his deployment in Iraq.

"I do have some golf balls and a couple clubs over there," Brown said. "The folks at the country club have been sending me a couple boxes of balls."

While other soldiers have declined the brief vacations, Brown could not resist.

"Some, when they leave Iraq, they want to leave it forever," he said. "I can understand that, but I wanted to see my family."

He also has just four months left to complete a year in Iraq.

His mother, Barbara Woiwod, is overjoyed at his return.

"I go by and I touch him. He just smiles," she said. "I say, ‘Oh, I just have to make sure it’s real.’ "