Schofield soldier sees value in serving
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Col. Lloyd Miles was taking part in a live-fire exercise at Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1996 when a grenade accidentally dropped by another soldier exploded, taking off Miles' lower left leg, severely damaging his right leg and sending shrapnel into his elbow and face.
He spent a year in Walter Reed Army Medical Center and a year in rehab before, outfitted with a prosthetic leg, resuming command of his old battalion.
MILES
"I've been asked many times since then, why did I stay?" Miles said yesterday. "... My answer would be that it's not about a life of ease, it's not about a life of comfort. It really is, I think, one of service. To me ... leading my soldiers, I kind of thought that was the best way I could do that."
On Wednesday, Miles will fly to northern Iraq to lead 3,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers on a year-long mission requiring similar commitment and adaptability.
The exodus of about 4,000 25th Infantry Division (Light) soldiers for Iraq will be followed in March and April by the departure of 4,500 more Schofield soldiers for Afghanistan, leaving the base with just 1,500 troops in its biggest combat deployment since the Vietnam War.
Miles' soldiers have their work cut out for them.
The 9,200-square-mile region that the infantry soldiers, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter crews and engineers are being assigned to is in the vicinity of Kirkuk, an oil-rich city that has seen ethnic clashes between the majority Kurds and others, and whose stability is seen as key to the reconstruction of Iraq.
The At Tamin province region where the 2nd Brigade Combat Team is replacing the 173rd Airborne Brigade includes a city in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," where many attacks on U.S. forces have occurred.
"That is within our province, so that area obviously will be a little more difficult and challenging in reference to combat operations," Miles, 45, said. "But as you move farther to the west and get to areas where the Kurds are predominant, then I think the challenges will be more along the lines of peacekeeping. So it's a complex environment only because all of these things can be occurring at the same time."
During a reconnaissance trip by Miles to the region last month to check in with officials from the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), which will be leaving the area in several months, two U.S. soldiers were injured in the southern portion of the sector by "improvised explosive devices," and a separate patrol killed two enemy personnel and captured others.
Miles, a West Point graduate who briefly lived in Hawai'i as a child and went to Hale Kula School when his father was stationed here, was with the 4th Division when soldiers captured Saddam Hussein in his hometown of Tikrit.
Miles said the Schofield soldiers are benefiting from a wealth of experience gained by units rotating out of Iraq. Lessons learned included ones as simple as telling soldiers to take off their sunglasses when talking to Iraqis because eye contact is important.
Miles said soldiers are more than capable of the dual peacekeeping and combat mission. "The soldiers are very adaptable, very savvy. They will adapt to their environment pretty quickly," he said.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
