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                         March 5, 2004

Petraeus led 101st into combat and rebuilding phase in Iraq

Story and photo by Spc. Eric S. Bartelt
Features Editor 

Eight commanding generals have taken the remarkable mission of leading the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) into combat during the storied history of the division.

Last March, Cornwall-on-Hudson native and 1974 U.S. Military Academy graduate, Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, led the ‘Screaming Eagles’ into another rendezvous with destiny.

His Soldiers took on the daunting tasks of taking down a regime and revitalizing a nation that has suffered through war and  years of a brutal regime.

Petraeus returned to West Point Saturday to share his Iraq experiences with cadets in the advanced international relations class and as the honorary guest speaker at the 100th Night banquet.

As a West Point grad and former instructor here, Petraeus felt compelled to tell cadets about the enormous responsibilities ahead of them.

“There hasn’t been a West Point class since the 1960s that has faced the absolute certainty that they will lead American Soldiers into combat within a year of graduation,” Petraeus said. “That’s a daunting prospect for them and it’s one for which they need to be serious about as they prepare for it over the next few months.”

Petraeus led the 101st through the southern part of Iraq into Baghdad and into their final destination in Mosul. That’s where the 101st took responsibility over four northern provinces .

Through many bumps in the road, Petraeus said his division completed more than 5,000 projects that included refurbishing more than 500 schools, medical clinics and hospitals as well as several hundred kilometers of roads.

The troops also rebuilt the irrigation system for 200 acres of farmland, banks, border ports and bridges.

One of the easier tasks was bridging the gap between the Soldiers and the Iraqi people, Patraeus said, although he doesn’t believe the American people fully understand the great job Soldiers are doing.

“When we got back, we realized the American public did not fully understand what our Soldiers did in Iraq,” Petraeus said. “They don’t fully understand the size of the tasks nor the complexity of completing those tasks.

“We worked well with the Iraqi civilians, we had tremendous Iraqi partners and I get the sense the American people think that all Iraqis want to blow us up or run us out of the country,” he continued. “They appreciated our Soldiers, which is something that Americans need to understand.”

What the Soldiers understood is the need to be flexible and adaptive, which is something the commanding general wanted to reiterate to the cadets.

“Four qualities are the hallmarks of our Soldiers: initiative, determination, innovation and courage,” Petraeus said. “There was no challenge, no shortage of hardships sacrificed by our Soldiers and they displayed an extraordinary courage in the face of a determined enemy that could be suicidal or homicidal to achieve its demands.”

Company commanders who had to expand their missions tenfold by getting cement, sulfur, asphalt factories going or the grunts who had to deal with stamina of wearing body armor while trying to survive 135-degree sweltering heat showed that courage. Yet the one thing none of them could prepare for was the loss of a Soldier.

The 101st alone lost 60 Soldiers and had nearly 500 wounded, and that’s something that can’t be easily forgotten, the general said.

“We had some real highs and some real lows and there’s nothing that can prepare you for the loss of 17 Soldiers in one night as we had November 15 when two Blackhawk helicopters collided,” Petraeus said. “It was a true roller coaster existence, but the greatest privilege I had was leading the 101st through the enormous responsibility that was needed to do our mission.”

And that’s the importance he wanted cadets to keep in mind as they move toward their military careers -- it’s not about the classrooms anymore, it’s about life-and-death.

“I wanted them to know about the experiences of their predecessors out there doing great things and what their Soldiers will want in a leader at that level,” Petraeus said. “There are going to be many hardships and frustrations, but they must have a quiet pride in what they must achieve.”

Petraeus is preparing to head back to the 101st to finish his last five months of command.

He said he gets inspired every time he comes back to the academy.