We are quite used to hearing about deployment from the United States to places like Iraq and Kuwait especially over the last decade or so. What I want to relate to you in this article is the importance of understanding redeployment and the enormous amount of planning and work that goes into it.

Camp Victory -2004

Back in 2004 this small little Camp about 70km north of the city of Kuwait which would take you about 45 minutes to drive, and incidentally you would be taking your life in your hands to drive the highway to get there. I will now go on record to say the the Kuwaiti drivers at that time were the worst in the world that I came across. It was a normal sighting when heading out to any of the camps I worked in to arrive upon an accident. When we refer to an accident in the US or Europe we think of a fender bender, no not in Kuwait this was usually fatal for someone. I now believe its much better as the authorities have introduced a speed limit and hopefully have saved many lives. 

The Camp itself had a constantly changing population ranging from at least 600 to 15,000 troops along with equipment and vehicles. This one square mile of camp set in the desert North of Kuwait and about one hour South of the Iraqi border became a hive of activity and of joy. This camp was where the troops arrived in from Iraq along with their equipment and they now knew they were on their way home and away from the perils of war. Here they would purchase their military rings, have them designed with their deployment details from Operation Iraqi Freedom dated like this example OIF 2004-2006.

Camp Victory – Military Rings

It’s not the most picturesque place in Kuwait but for many soldiers on the return journey back to the United States and their families it probably seemed like heaven, here they would receive a well earned rest in a safe environment after having served in one of the most hostile regions of the Middle East namely Iraq. The responsibilities of the camp was to provide security, billeting, food services and various other logistical services that you would expect.

Camp Victory – Redeployment.

The redeployment of a unit or brigade does not happen overnight, in actual fact it can take anywhere from 15 – 25 days to go through the process. Equipment has to go through a cleaning and sterilizing process before it can be loaded on the ships for the long journey home. You will see soldiers who haven’t had a moment to realize what they have been through until now, some have lost their comrades and you or I can’t even begin to imagine what these fine young men and women have gone through but you can see it in their eyes.

Tonight think of them and say a prayer and thank them for our gift of freedom. Remember someone died for it!