A SOLDIER'S NOTEBOOK A VIEW FROM THE FIGHTING WAR.

Byline: Curtis A. Wood

AS with any situation people experience, life here in Iraq as a soldier has its ups and downs. I am in a hostile environment, made so by a few radicals who seem to be good at making the media accept and print their version of reality.

I'd like to offer a different point of view. By sharing my own perceptions from my time here, I will try to convey what I have seen and heard since I've been in this country these last few months. I apologize if it differs from the establishment media, but I assure you I am talking to real soldiers, listening and working with real leaders - the kind that you want to follow.

I volunteered to come over here. After 27 years in the military and never having been to a war zone, I needed to know what it was I had trained for. While it's easy to assume how one will act and react in certain situations, you never truly know until the first bullet flies by you or the first artillery round lands loudly from God only knows where.

The irony is that at this point in my career I have risen to a rank where I'm not likely to confront the enemy directly. The young guys get to deal with them. My job over here is make sure that every piece of equipment these soldiers have is as efficient as these fine young people need them to be to stay alive and terminate the enemy. These are some of the finest young people over here that I have ever served with.

The days here are starting to get warm, around 100 degrees, with a thunderstorm every so often.

The interesting part of the temperatures is that there is a tremendous amount of farming and raising of sheep and cattle from the outskirts of all of the cities to the barren countryside. The land around the rivers is green. There are so many palm trees that sometimes they seem to be their own forest, all swaying as the winds whip across the deserts surrounding these savannas. I have flown over some areas, many miles, and this is such a rich historical country of Biblical proportions. Traveling over a stretch of land not far from Babylon, a fellow soldier and I commented on how we could see the Garden of Eden being in this area. But the gardens and grass which are so lush in one area abruptly turn into a harsh desert.

At night, you can see the stars. You also hear the gunfire - practice ranges for soldiers and Iraqi military trainees, as well as the real thing. The mortars fly in periodically, and so far they haven't hit anything, but the more they try, the better the odds they will succeed sometime. We don't wear protective gear very often right now, but time to time we upgrade the level of security based on the anti-coalition attacks.

With the sounds of mortars coming in also comes the roar of our 155mm Paladin cannons returning fire, based on our sensing of the mortar fire's conception point. The equipment we have makes you proud to be an American, because we developed this stuff, and when it works, it works very well.

As we fly over the countryside there is also a sight that isn't reported on: The kids and families that wave at the fast moving helicopters. You wave back, hoping that maybe they see you return their gesture. Driving through the small towns between bases, the kids yell for candy or other treats, and soldiers try to oblige them. Riding with the Italian Army recently, we again saw the kids, who all yelled ``American, American'' as we drove by.

So much for the ``Italy'' spelled out in Arabic on the trucks doors. It seems everyone here is American, whether they like it not.

But driving here in Iraq can be incredibly dangerous because the booby-traps officially known as IEDs and VBIEDs - Improvised Explosive Devices and Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, respectively. (The military loves its acronyms! it takes months just to learn all of the new lingo.)

The driving can also be safe in our secured areas, which is mainly where I drive. We have this race track (that's what we call it) that goes around the International Airport here in Baghdad. It is perfectly normal to be driving along and see Abrahms Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles cruising along the streets with you - trust me, you learn to pass with care. The biggest hazard is the potholes; luckily being from Los Angeles, I am accustomed to nonmaintained roads.

STATUS OF THE WAR

Things do seem to be getting somewhat back on track after the flare-up in April. We are supervised by civilians and follow their orders, even when they seem to contradict our military training. For example, the Iraqi Governing Council worked to quell the insurgencies diplomatically, whereas a military solution would have been to rid the neighborhood of the bad guys. But this is the Iraqis' country. We are here to make a free society for them, and showing them that the military responds when told is also part of the growth process.

The bad guys who don't accept the olive branch when offered pay dearly for their choices, and this can be seen very easily in the Mutada Militia rebels. They will eventually cease to be a fighting force, much sooner than later. The world is getting to see firsthand just how inhumane many of these terrorists are, through the the beheadings and mutilations of bodies. The world is a better place without these thugs - all we are doing is speeding up the timetable.

The sad part about quelling the terrorists is that we're distracted from doing what many of us expected to do when we arrived here, and that is help the local populace. There were school reconstruction programs, building water treatment plants, building and fixing electrical plants as well as highway and road improvements. Many of the elaborate buildings that Saddam Hussein built were not finished, at least not to our standards. We have fixed many of these grand palaces, and at some point the Iraqi government will be able to utilize them. For now, they provide us a work space and safety from the bad guys.

But for reasons of security and safety, most of these help projects have been put on hold for the past month or so. I hope before my time is up that I can get out and meet more of the Iraqi people and show them that we do care, and have no interest other then seeing them free and joining the rest of the world in a free society.

THE MISSION

Am I a flag-waver? You bet.

Do I love my country? Absolutely.

But do I get mad when we make heinous mistakes? Without a doubt.

I was grateful that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently came over to talk to the troops. I had the privilege of sitting in the front row of that talk in the headquarters building. The roar of the soldiers was so exhilarating; no prompting or cue cards were needed. There was electricity in the spirit of the soldiers there.

The audience that day consisted mostly of captains and their subordinates - enlisted soldiers. After the cameras turned off, the mob moved forward to shake the secretary's hand, get a picture, and meet the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I shook hands with both Chairman Richard Myers and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the Commander of Forces here, that afternoon. It was truly a highlight for me, and I know from watching and listening that it was a highlight for others as well. We respect our leaders and we felt respected right back - a nice change from the 1990s under a different administration.

As time goes by I hope to see and experience more of Iraq and its people. This is a rich country worth setting free, worth the time and efforts we are expending. I am glad I came, I miss my family and loved ones but this is worth missing them for.

To all those back home: God bless and take care.

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Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) Major Curtis A. Wood, in uniform at right, is serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq and shares some of his personal photos, as well as his perspective on war.