Three Iowa National Guard members from Manning will gain a personal view of Middle East geography as they join a special Guard deployment to the region.

Local Guardsmen sent to Middle East
BY CHUCK SIGNS TODAY EDITOR

War had been child's play for young National Guardsmen who were boys when Desert Storm raged. Ten years later, three boys who made Manning backyards their pretend foxholes are soldiers on their way to that same desert in a U.S. military peacekeeping mission.
Jason Knueven, 21, Brandon Doyel, 19, and Chris Wegner, 18, joined the Guard for the college tuition benefits, not to be sent to one of the world's military hotspots. Still, each eagerly volunteered for the perhaps once-in-a-lifetime experience.
They are part of a rare overseas deployment of approximately 120 National Guard infantry soldiers from southwest Iowa, including several from the Carroll and Denison armories. They are being sent to Kuwait to perform security duties, backing up U.S. forces who are enforcing the "nofly zone" imposed on Iraq.

Iowa Adjutant General Ron Dardis spoke Thursday at send-off ceremonies at the National Guard Armory in Denison, home base for Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry. The soldiers said good bye to loved ones before boarding buses for Fort McCoy, Wise. They will receive final training there for about two weeks before being transported to Kuwait. Their return is expected sometime in June.

As the nation marks the 10th anniversary of the conflict with Iraq, the Manning trio remembers Desert Storm mostly as a television spectacle. "I remember seeing the missles launched. I don't remember much. In sixth grade I was having fun playing Army games, but I never thought I would be going somewhere like that," said Knueven.
"All I remember is seeing it on TV. They'd show missles going up at night," said Wegner. Along with classmate Brandon, he was in third grade at the time. "I don't remember much about it, said Doyel, who graduated from Manning High School with Wegner in 2000. He is the son of Tom and Denise Doyel.

The three said the prospects for additional money for college was the prime motivation for joining the National Guard.
"My recruiter almost guaranteed that the National Guard would never be deployed anywhere. He said it had been 30 years since the Guard was deployed overseas," Doyel noted. "That really made my parents say, 'yeah you can join.' "
A few months ago, the announcement was made that volunteers from the company were being sought for overseas duty. "I talked to Chris and Jason and some other guys and asked them what they thought about it," said Doyel. "It made you think that hey, we can actually go somewhere with the National Guard. Once that opportunity came up, I jumped right into it.

"The training was fun and all, sometimes hard work, but now we get to put it to use," Doyel said.
"When I joined the Guard, my recruiter told me the same thing as they told Brandon. He said that chances are you would never be mobilized overseas. That made my parents more comfortable with the idea of me joining, too," said Knueven, the son of Gary and Linda Knueven.
"I basically thought I'd do six years of doing the weekend thing and two weeks in summer and that would be it. When this (overseas duty) came up, at first I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. I figured I'm still young, still undecided about where my life is going. I figured it was an opportunity and I'd regret it if I didn't take it.

"Just seeing a different part of the world, different culture. From what we know so far it's the complete opposite of how we live," said Knueven, a 1997 Manning High School grad.

"When am I ever going to travel around the world and see these things? It's not really a vacation, but it kind of is. We get paid to do it, and there is really no threat over there right now. It's a good opportunity," said Doyel.

"The only thing I had going on was college coming up. That was the thing I was debating on. My dad (Craig Wegner) told me that it will be good experience and college will always be here. So, I figured I'd go over there, make some more money, and come back here, finish up with college and get on with my life," Wegner said. His mother is Rhonda Wegner.
"The only place I've been my whole life is Manning. Getting out of Manning and going to another city is fun, but getting out of the country, that will be good. It's going to be a good experience going over there. I'm going to gain knowledge. Already, from the training, there is a lot to learn. It seemed like a whole lot at first, but it's all falling together. It's getting easier every day."

College had been in Brandon's post-high school plans, too. "My counselor said it's actually a little better to take a year off from high school before you go to college. It doesn't affect me that much. Like Chris said, college is always going to be here," Doyel said.
Besides, Brandon added, the Middle East mission will likely result in a well-deserved enhancement of the National Guard image. "They called us weekend warriors," he said, a moniker that will no longer apply.
In general, the mission of "Charlie Company" is to provide security for the existing U.S. military bases in the area, the three said. The U.S.has maintained a military presence there since the end of the war with Iraq.
"A lot of what it's about is searching vehicles," Knueven said. "Terrorism is a big threat there right now."

The three are well aware of the risks involved in the mission. "There are concerns. It can always happen, but you gotta have faith in the other soldiers that they're not going to let that happen," Wegner said.
"When you sign up for any branch of the military, you're saying that you're willing to give your life for your country. Whatever happens, happens," Wegner said.
"At first it really didn't hit me when I signed up, about the threat, because they made it sound like there is really no threat over there. Then in the last two weeks going through training at Camp Dodge we've been going over everything that could happen. It makes you think. This is real life," Doyel said.
"Like Chris said, you've got to have trust in everybody else that they're going to do their job just as you are going to do your job."
The recent terrorist explosion on the USS Cole in which U.S. servicemen were killed was a tragic reminder of the continuing dangers in the region.
"When I saw that on TV, that was after we had signed up. I realized it was pretty close to where we were going. The threat of something happening is there, but I'm pretty confident that nothing is going to happen," said Knueven.

The overseas mission is an unanticipated development for parents, too.
"When Brandon came home and told me he had signed up, I said, are you nuts?' At first I was definitely worried. I didn't like it at all," said Denise Doyel.
She said her fears were eased after talking with local Guard recruiter and participation at "family weekend" program last weekend at Camp Dodge. Now, she says, "I think of it as a good experience for him."
"I was a little surprised when he told me," said Linda Knueven. She recalled asking Jason about three weeks after he had volunteered, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Jason's reply: "Well, Mom, I don't have a choice now." Later, though, Jason's attitude changed. "He is excited about it," she said.
Linda said that after observing the interaction with other soldiers in the company, she knows Jason is in good hands. "It seems like they are already a group. They seem really close. They will be looking out for each other." Jason's father, Gary, a 10-year military veteran along with his wife, said this degree of reliance on the National Guard is "an indication of what's happened to our national military."
He predicts a positive experience for Jason and the other young men. "They will be proud to be part of the national security, part of a select few," he said. "They will be able to say `I served my country' in that capacity."

In the days just prior to the sendoff, the trio was anxious about the overseas opportunity. "I really don't have any regrets (about volunteering)," except for "leaving a lot of loved ones behind," Brandon said.
"It's not like we're going to be gone forever, but for that time it's going to be kind of hard. You are so used to seeing these people every day. But we'll be back soon."

A look back in time at Camp Dodge during WWII

Lined up two abreast as far as the eye can see, these Iowans are typical of those taking pre-induction physical examinations at Camp Dodge, Ia., at a rate of approximately 1,000 a day. This scene is reenacted every day as the men march to the 11 a. m. mess call after a half-day of examinations.

From all sections of the state, butchers and bankers, ditch diggers and professional men are drawn into the pool of men for the nation's armed services. The big push of registrants at Camp Dodge now is occasioned by the current campaign to build up a reserve of acceptable men sufficient to fill calls for at least 45 days.
During February, less than one man in four examined failed to pass physical and mental tests.
Staff Photo by Jervas Baldwin.