At Ease - Wisconsin National Guard Department of Military Affairs

Been there, done that, got the patch
Petty Officer 2nd Class Nat Moger, U.S. Navy
JTF Guantanamo Public Affairs
They’re called combat patches. Worn on a Soldier’s right
sleeve, they tell a story of time served in a combat zone. In
the 112th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, like many other
Wisconsin Army National Guard units, the majority of unit
members are authorized to wear one.
Capt. Kim Kleiman has the most combat deployments in
the unit. She first deployed from October 1990 to July 1991 for
Operation Desert Storm and earned the 7th Corps patch.
“We hauled ammo and supplies to wherever the 82nd
Airborne went,” said Kleiman. “We moved every month… built
a berm around us everywhere we went… made our showers
by putting a pallet on the ground, a tarp around it and a box of
water on top.”
She returned to Iraq in December 2004 with the 1158th
Transportation Company, Wisconsin Army National Guard,
moving heavy equipment from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, to
convoy support centers and forward operating bases in Iraq.
When the unit returned in December 2005, she stayed on as
battle captain for an active-duty transportation brigade, finally
returning in July 2006.
Spc. Christina Beerman, whom Kleiman did not know at
the time, was also in Arifjan, shepherding embedded media
for Armed Forces Network Europe from December 2004 to
February 2005 as an active duty Soldier, and earning her 1st
Infantry Division patch.
Staff Sgt. Jim Wagner deployed to Kandahar and Kabul,
Afghanistan, with the 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment,
covering the 82nd Airborne Division as editor of the base
newspaper from December 2002 to August 2003.
“History was unfolding and the Taliban just fell,” said
Wagner. “We were making positive steps to rebuilding the
country.”
Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Emily Russell was at Bagram Air
Base, Afghanistan, to do logistics and supply work for Special
Operations Command from March to July 2003, earning the
right to wear “the tip of the spear” on her right arm.
Another Operation Enduring Freedom veteran is 1st Lt.
Sarah Cleveland, who deployed to Bagram from October
2005 to January 2007 as part of Wisconsin’s 232nd Military
Intelligence Company under the 10th Mountain Division.
“I can say I grew spinach in Afghanistan,” said Cleveland.
“We lived in these wood huts and someone mounted a TV stand
and filled it with dirt. People sent me seeds in the mail and we
made a garden.”
Back in Iraq, Sgt. 1st Class Vaughn Larson served with the
121st Field Artillery Battalion, repurposed for convoy security
missions, from July 2006 to July 2007. He had to make sure
his people, who were escorting 45-truck supply convoys, had
proper training, rest and equipment.
Larson was no stranger to the area. After flying out of
Milwaukee on Christmas Day, 1990, Larson earned his first
combat patch as part of Wisconsin’s 132nd Military History
Detachment, documenting 7th Corps activities in Operation
Desert Storm. The 7th Corps was disbanded in the early 1990s,
shortly after the First Gulf War.
“Seventh Corps did the sucker punch,” said Larson. “They
were the guys that got up and moved around and came in from the
North.”
Spc. Erica Isaacson worked in the 3rd Army personnel shop
in Doha, Qatar, compiling strength reports for U.S. Army Central
Command from February 2004 to February 2005.
“If you were a Soldier in Iraq and lost your ID card, you had to
come to my office to get one,” said Isaacson. “We would be the first
girls that a lot of these Soldiers had seen in six months, so I heard a
lot of stories that they probably didn’t tell their friends.”
Staff Sgts. Brian Jopek, Mary Flynn, Gretel Sharpee and Sgt.
Sara Roeske deployed with the 139th Mobile Public Affairs
Detachment from February 2004 to January 2005 and were
attached to Task Force Olympia in Mosul, Iraq. “We did stories on
everyone,” said Jopek. “1st Stryker Brigade, 3rd Brigade of the 2nd
Infantry Division, 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division.”
First Lt. Adam Bradley deployed with Wisconsin’s 128th
Infantry Battalion from late 2005 until late 2006 at Camp Navistar
at the same time Larson’s convoys were making their way through
the area.
The patches adorning the right arms of these Soldiers embarking
on their second, third and even fourth deployments tell of a unit rich
in experience, like most units in today’s real-world, 24/7 Wisconsin
National Guard.
Right-arm patches represent Soldiers’ times serving with particular
units in combat zones. Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nat Moger
March 2009 67