Chris Erbe watched the tall buildings while guarding convoys in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk in the northern part of that country.
The tall buildings were where the snipers could hide.
When the convoy stopped to inspect suspicious objects along the road, Erbe and others spent several tense moments scanning danger spots, all senses heightened.
Now, the Naval Station Everett chief petty officer says that tenseness is finally evaporating after he has been back two months from his nine-month deployment in Iraq.
“I’m starting to slow down,” said Erbe of Marysville, who is a military policeman.
He was the featured speaker Thursday at a naval station celebration of military veterans for Veterans Day.
Erbe and veterans from other wars shared stories and compared their receptions home after serving abroad.
Erbe said he was humbled by the other veterans’ stories.
“I felt like I did 1/32 of what they accomplished,” Erbe said.
Besides, Erbe had an advantage that made things easier for him in hostile territory – a naval station program geared to make sure sailors who volunteer for missions in dangerous places are prepared going in, are getting support while there, and are getting the help they need when they return.
The base calls it the Individual Augmentation Program.
“We want everybody we send out there to come back safe and sound,” said Master Chief Petty Officer John Gross, who heads the program for base commanding officer Capt. Eddie Gardiner.
Over the past 18 months, about 70 sailors from the base have volunteered to fill various jobs in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Those jobs include: military police, cooks, electricians and mechanics.
The program started after Gross returned from his deployment in Afghanistan in 2005. He served at the joint operations center for forces in Kabul.
“I had a lot to say,” he said.
Gardiner listened, liked what he heard and asked base training officer Gross to put things in place to help others.
Sailors ordinarily work and train with the crew and on the ship they then deploy with. The individual deployments, especially among ground forces, are new to the Navy.
“The captain had some good ideas how to prepare our sailors” for individual deployments, Gross said.
Gross knows what he’s talking about.
Upon his return, he spilled a cup of coffee and nearly ran off the road while driving because of an unexpected truck noise that almost made him panic.
Gardiner said he saw a need to “provide special support to these sailors and their families before, during and after their deployment. The senior enlisted (staff) really stepped up to the plate to make this happen.”
Before deployment, sailors are paired with somebody who has been in the region to which they will be sent so they know what to expect. The base goes all out to make sure that pre-deployment affairs are in order: wills, military orders, powers of attorney.
While the sailors are deployed, Gross or someone at the base is in at least weekly contact with them, usually by e-mail. At the same time, somebody is assigned to check in with a family member of the sailor each week.
Upon return, the sailors are met at the airport and family members are quickly ushered through security to the gate.
Within 24 hours of landing, the volunteers get individual attention by a base counselor and then attend a series of group meetings with others who have been deployed.
Erbe’s main job in Iraq was providing security at a prison for suspected insurgents called Fort Suse. The entire security detail was made up of sailors from around the country, including four others from Naval Station Everett.
Erbe said he was better prepared for Iraq than most, and he was comforted by the e-mail contact while there.
“A lot of commands just sent them there with hardly any support,” he said. “It made me feel like the (naval station) really cared how I was doing and how the family was doing when I got back.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
