A soldier's story: SGT Jessy Carr, Launcher Gunner C/1-94 FA (MLRS), 1st AD, in Iraq.

Sergeant Jessy R. Carr from Ramona, California, is a Military Occupational Specialty 13M Launcher Gunner for C Battery, 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery (Multiple-Launch Rocket System) in the 1st Armored Division, deployed from Germany to Iraq from 6 May 2003 until 20 June 2004. He is 23 and has been in the battery for three and one-half of his four and one-half years in the Army. This is his story.

I joined the Army initially to fight for my country. Then, after about a year, I began to like the Army a lot--it is a thrill to work with inexperienced younger Soldiers to teach them the things I've learned and make sure they can do their jobs right. Basically, I really get attached to the Soldiers I work with. Taking care of Soldiers is the best job there is.

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When we first got to Iraq, the battalion set up camp and, for about a month, guarded an ammo depot. The depot we guarded did not have other troops based there, so it didn't have a real perimeter defense--fencing or anything like that. We had to set up OPs [observation posts] and checkpoints and have dismounted movement patrols to verify security 24/7. Slowly we moved the ammunition to the larger depot at Camp Doha.

Then we began transporting UXO, unexploded ordnance, all the stuff the insurgents like to make IEDs [improvised explosive devices] out of. We got the UXO out of people's backyards and found ammo depots that nobody knew where there and moved them to the bigger depots.

While we were in Iraq, we had many different missions. We conducted patrols, convoys and some cordons and searches, although we never had to bust down the front door or anything.

What was it like in Iraq? As a 13 Mike, my job was very different than what I expected. At first I was "bummed out" because I thought we were going to shoot rockets. Well, we did shoot rockets, but they were training rockets, "telephone poles," just for certification.

But, close combat, reflexive fire and moving dismounted or in a HMMWV [high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle], tooling through the streets of Baghdad, was a real thrill.

It was hot in Iraq, real hot. With your flak vest and gear on, you add about 10 degrees. All that dust being kicked up gets in your nasal passages. You can become dehydrated easily. We spent the first two weeks in Kuwait "acclimating," but you never get used to that heat.

We went everywhere as a team--you got assigned to teams and had to get used to working with that team. If one team member wanted to go to chow, the whole team went to chow.

You had to know exactly what to do as a team to accomplish the missions--know your drills. We had to take what we learned in basic training and go about 10 times in depth--down to actually how to move across streets, clear houses and other Infantry tactics. We had to learn urban warfare.

The platoon sergeant knew about the same about urban warfare as his newest privates and had to spin them up as he learned. Our unit did very well because everybody helped each other. And platoon sergeant always said, "If you can think of something better, speak up because this isn't just training now."

When I first went to Iraq, I was a specialist. I only had to worry about my buddies and myself. Well, as an NCO, it's different.

In Iraq, I did every job from driver to team leader and for one day about 12 months into the tour I was the acting platoon sergeant. Before we left the gate, I checked all my guys--PCCs [precombat checks] and PCIs [precombat inspections] to make sure everyone had his equipment and was ready to go. I had to ensure the HMMWVs had the proper maintenance and equipment, that my Soldiers had MREs [meals ready to eat] and everything they needed if they had to camp out somewhere or leave the trucks and go on patrols and much more. That's a lot of responsibility.

I could do the job because I had watched my platoon sergeant doing the job for the past month. That's what I teach my Soldiers to do: train for the job one level higher than yours and watch that next higher leader do his job.

My biggest challenge was leaving my wife and six-month-old daughter back in Germany. It was tough when the order said we'd be gone for 12 months, and after a year rolled around, they told us it was going to be 15 months. That hurt, but I got over it.

I would advise other Soldiers going to Iraq to accept everything they have to do over there and work as a team--listen to your NCOs and get the job done. If you don't, you are never going to feel comfortable--you have to count on yourself, your NCOs and the guy beside you.

Learn everything your NCOs teach you because very soon you're going to be doing it. Now is the time to learn just a little bit more.