ONE STEP, ONE DAY, ONE HELPING HAND AT A TIME
Daggers Edge Magazine Volume 1, Issue 20
By Pfc. Phillip Goral
August 21, 2007
1st Platoon, Alpha Battery, the “Lightfighters,” was built up from the ground up at Fort Riley, Kansas, as part of a 105mm Field Artillery unit using guns we jokingly called, “the Pop Guns.” We trained to fight as artillerymen for a year. We spent countless days in the field shooting numerous fire missions to support the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The Lightfighters knew their job and knew it well. That all changed in November 2006 at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, when we were informed of the upcoming deployment to Iraq.
Even then, we did not know what our mission would be, so some of the platoon trained for an artillery mission while the rest trained for a motorized Infantry mission. All our questions were answered in January 2007 when we found out that we were going to Baghdad and were going to be Infantry. We had one month to train on small unit movement tactics, close-quarters marksmanship and light Infantry combat missions before we made the long trip over the pond to the “Big Sandbox.”
In Kuwait, we received the best Infantry training we could experience outside of being on patrol on the streets of Baghdad. Since then, we have done much to improve our area of operation, the hayy (neighborhood) of Hateen. On the map in our command post, one can see that Hateen is labeled “Aceland.” Aceland is our neighborhood and we patrol it like police officers looking for the bad guys.
For five months, we have worked hard to help rid Hateen of terrorists and to make life better for the local population. We played a part in building Joint Security Station Torch and participated in Operations Arrowhead Strike 9, Ace Strike 1, Patriot Strike, and Alexander Hamilton. We continue to conduct the Patriot Census, an effort aimed at better identifying and understanding the population demographics of our sector. The Lightfighters have conducted numerous combined patrols with the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police, teaching them our tactics to help them better themselves so that one day, they can take over total control of the security of Hateen.
We have escorted civil affairs teams to assess the schools in the area and find out what they need to better educate the students. The platoon also played a role in a cooperative medical engagement, an operation in which Army doctors and medics established a free clinic for a day to help people get proper medical treatment and the medicine that they need to treat themselves for months to come. To the average person, it may sound like we have done our fair share here in Iraq, but we still have plans to do more to improve security and help the people of Hateen.
I think that this has been the hardest change for me while being here – helping the people. I was trained for a fight since basic training way back at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I think everyone comes here for the first time thinking that it will be just like the movie “Black Hawk Down,” but it is really not. Most of the people want us here not just to protect them, but to teach their Army how to accomplish the things that they cannot yet do on their own.
Since the first day I sounded off with the name Lightfighters in formation until now, I have been through a lot - from transforming from an artilleryman to an Infantryman, to getting on-the-job training on the streets of Baghdad. My time here, the sights I have seen and the missions I have been on, these are things that I will remember for the rest of my life. Besides my brothers in arms, who can say that they have done the things I have done or been where I have been? Nobody, that’s who, and that gives me a great sense of pride. It is the same for the rest of the men in my platoon. We all come from different backgrounds, hometowns, and lifestyles, but we have all gathered in this one place to do what is right. We are here to uphold freedom and preserve and promote democracy. We are doing this one step, one day, one helping hand at a time.
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