Lake Zurich soldier: 'It is what we signed up for'

Editor's note: This is the final story in a three-part series written by a soldier who grew up in Lake Zurich and now is stationed in Iraq.

ARAB JABOUR, Iraq -- We rely on the local Sons of Iraq -- locals who have come together to stand against terror in their neighborhood -- or local nationals to give us locations to find most of our caches of enemy weapons.

When we find the cache, the patrol uses metal detectors and then marks all positive readings the device picks up. The soldiers on the ground expose unexploded ordinance and then call to request an explosive ordinance disposal (or EOD) team, which comes out and blows up the rounds using C4 (an explosive). You can hear a controlled detonation for 10 kilometers, depending on how big it is.

The mission to go find a cache is a good one; if it is successful, you have something tangible you can say you completed. This is a big deal. A lot of our successes go unheard and lack that instant gratification that a cache find can give the soldiers.

More Coverage Stories Building trust slowly with the Iraqi people [5/26/08] Local soldier tells of life in Iraq [5/26/08] About the series [5/26/08]

There is always danger when it comes to dealing with explosives, but that is what EOD is for. They are the experts. They are trained to properly destroy ammunition, and they do a great job.

It is more dangerous for the enemy to have the explosives than for us to go out and find them.

Finding a cache is a huge morale boost to most of the soldiers. It is a positive re-enforcement of our successes. Also, it feels good to get weapons off the street. I am sure it is the same feeling a police officer has finding drugs or weapons in a gang member's house.

The other day one of our infantry companies found a cache and the controlled detonation lit up the sky. You could see all the secondary explosions bursting in midair. It looked a lot like fireworks that exploded low to the ground.

We get used to the explosions over here. When one goes off and someone flinches, which is totally natural, they get made fun of and we announce the guy's name and say he was scared -- all in good fun, of course.

When I first came over here, every little noise would wake me up. The booms really wake you up at night.

One night, my roommate jumped up and banged his head on the bunk above him during an explosion. He came to work with a lump on his head and he did not even have to explain, because we all knew what happened. It was very funny over here, where boring is normal.

A standard cache consists of RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), artillery rounds, mortar rounds and maybe some small arms like 7.62 mm rounds, or AK-47 rounds. I know everyone has heard of roadside bombs. Basically, the terrorists use any kind of ammunition they can get their hands on and wire it up to explode on or near our convoys.

The changes I have seen from my last deployment and this one are drastic. We took an IED a day the last time in 2006, but now it is more like one a month. The progress is slow but necessary.

In my opinion, we are here to make a difference, and we have made a difference. The Iraqi government is actually working. It might not be perfect but it is young.

I believe the locals trust the coalition forces more than any other entity in Iraq. Now all we need is for the young Iraqi government to be self-sufficient. That will be challenging, but that is our job. It is what we signed up for.