Soldier, professor keeps faith during duty

Carrying out the orders of President Obama in Iraq and teaching two online college courses in Arkansas usually do not go hand in hand, unless you happen to be Terry DeWitt.
 
At Ouachita, DeWitt is known as the associate professor and director of the Athletic Training Education Program. He is teaching two online courses this year via the electronic world.
 
In Iraq, however, he is known as Lt. Col. DeWitt, deputy commander of the 90th Sustainment Brigade in Balad, Iraq.
 
“Basically I’m one heartbeat away from being a brigade commander,” Dewitt said. “He’s the boss and I’m the No. 2 guy. There are a couple thousand people in our command.”
 
DeWitt has been in the Army Reserves for 24 years and is on his second tour to Iraq. His first tour was 2004-2005, where he was stationed in Al Kasik on a remote Iraqi forward operations base.
 
“We didn’t have any resources,” DeWitt said. “We didn’t have American food. We didn’t get mail. We didn’t have a doctor. There were a lot of very austere conditions. There were 30 Americans and 3,000 Iraqi soldiers.“
 
DeWitt is currently stationed at Joint Base Balad (JBB) near the Tigris River and his living conditions have greatly improved and the military has made increased efforts to take better care of the service members.
 
“Now, where I’m at there are 25,000 Americans,” DeWitt said. “We have four dining facilities. We have an outdoor swimming pool, an indoor swimming pool and two fitness facilities. There’s also a 5K race almost every weekend. There’s even a movie theaer, there’s not even a movie theater in Arkadelphia. I’m not on vacation, but here at Balad, there are many things to keep people busy and occupied so that they’re not getting in trouble.”
 
Routinely, DeWitt and his brigade are in charge of providing all logistical support for more than 20 forward operation bases (FOB). This includes fuel, ammunition, medical support, dental support and legal support.Right now, however, since President Obama has ordered to remove all combat forces from Iraq, DeWitt’s brigade has been a part of that process.
 
“We’re the ones that are moving them out of Iraq,” DeWitt said. “It’s an exciting time cause we are performing what President Obama said he wants done. Our task is inventorying all of the equipment and material that are on these FOB’s and determining what’s still serviceable that we can send to Afghanistan or we can send back to Kuwait or what we can sell to the Iraqis. We want to make them strong too.”
 
DeWitt encourages Americans that removal is happening, but it is a process.
 
“When the president said he wants all the combat forces out, we’re not just going to wake up one day and get in our vehicles and get on out of there,” DeWitt said. “There’s a sequenced process to close down those FOB’s. I don’t think we’ll ever get out of Iraq. How long were we in Germany after WWII? Or Korea? We’re still there. I think we’ll have a presence there, but not a combat presence. We’ll have more of an advisory role for several years. “
 
DeWitt was home for his 15-day leave of rest and recuperation to be with his family and friends and left Arkadelphia last Friday.
 
“Today is day 15,” DeWitt said last Thursday. “I leave in the morning. It will take me three days to get back to Balad. I’ll stay for eight months and then our brigade is scheduled to leave Iraq in the summer of 2010.”
 
DeWitt’s Christian walk is a big part of staying strong in Iraq.
 
“You have to be strong in your faith and if you’re not you’re going to have a miserable time,” DeWitt said. “It makes you think a lot about what’s important and where your priorities are.”
 
Being away from the United States has really given DeWitt an appreciation for how blessed the citizens are here.
 
“We have it so good here in America and many times we don’t realize how good it is until we walk away from it,” DeWitt said. “It gives me a sense of appreciation for the Ouachita bubble and our community we live in. I can’t wait to come home.”