Iraqi Exiles Go to War
HAYES, STEPHEN F.
Iraqi Exiles Go to War . . . Led by an impressive Special Forces colonel. BY STEPHEN F. HAYES Near the Iraqi border A GROUP of bleary-eyed soldiers has gathered at 3:45 Thursday morning in the...
...As we talked, several soldiers formed a ring around us, standing just outside "the circle...
...Stephen F. Hayes is a staff writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...They responded in unison, "Hoo-ah...
...There's nothing fake about me...
...Mancini carve out a small circle in the sand...
...I think to myself, Did I do everything I could to train them well...
...This cause has found the men...
...Hammack is short and well built, with sharp, well-drawn features...
...Get the f— out," Hammack barked...
...I get emotional and I have to drop my head...
...There's a phrase in the military, SWAG—it stands for silly, wild-ass guess, and it's the way some people work," says Capt...
...His normally well-coiffed hair is tousled, shooting out in several different directions...
...Army reservist and university professor tasked with taking the three to hostile territory...
...Each night here in the desert, Ltc...
...That's the basis of trust...
...But creating unit cohesion, establishing common goals, and instilling firm discipline is done only through strong leadership...
...I ask him about leadership, then about training the Free Iraqi Forces...
...They've come together for the most serious of purposes—to send soldiers to battle...
...I'm never acting...
...We all come here by fate, even you...
...They are near the front lines...
...Hungary is Hung-gary, Saddam is Sad-damn...
...He ended by telling them he was proud to serve with them, and by asking the group if they were ready for battle...
...No matter—there are handshakes and hugs all around...
...Michael Maguire...
...A commander has to be solid in his resolve, decisive in his thinking...
...When a second soldier toed the line, Hammack shot back with a warning glare...
...Steady...
...Hammack is characteristically blunt when I ask him about the risks to those newly minted soldiers...
...I can see that he has the courage, but he also cares, like a father...
...He owns a heavy construction company in Edison, Georgia...
...March forward...
...As the group breaks up, Ham-mack turns to Mike, a beefy Iraqi from Windsor, Canada, who is one of the three going forward in this group...
...I'm not pretentious...
...No one is allowed inside the circle unless invited, and, naturally, what is said in the circle stays in the circle...
...Hammack says, 'F— it, this is my mission, and I'm going to accomplish it.' He walks into a room and people can feel the confidence level rise, and people will help you do anything if you have their confidence...
...Its impact, though, endures...
...He gets up there and there's silence...
...Their classroom, at an air base in rural Hungary, was a shuttered section of a warehouse bigger than a football field...
...Hammack's southern drawl is prominent...
...He speaks in crisp, short sentences...
...Hammack and Sfc...
...Married with three children, Hammack is now in the Army reserves...
...Be ready...
...See you in Baghdad...
...To be sure, the Iraqis brought a detailed knowledge of their native land, specific information about the enemy, and an unparalleled desire to rid the world of Saddam Hussein...
...But when Hammack entered the room the noise disappeared...
...When one of them inched his toes across the line in the sand, he was greeted with a swift reprimand...
...He snaps his hand to his forehead, and the four men return the salute...
...We are ready, sir...
...One man on hand Thursday morning to bid his colleagues farewell is Hakim, a leader of the Free Iraqi Forces...
...Some men look for causes, some causes find the men...
...Hammack's speech, all nine words, is directed primarily at the Iraqis: "Listen to Doc...
...So Hammack sends them deeper into Iraq with a few words, a salute, and a handshake...
...He continues...
...There's a lot of stress in a combat environment...
...It is currently being run by his father and the company's second in command...
...His uniform is decorated with what his troops call "scare badges"—Army Ranger, Airborne, Special Forces, pathfinder, Halo Wings, Combat Infantryman's Badge...
...It was a good-natured scolding, delivered with a laugh, but no one questioned his seriousness...
...You could hear his feet hitting the floorboards," says Sergeant First Class Curtis Mancini, another trainer...
...It keeps me up at night...
...The exception is Lieutenant Colonel Dan Ham-mack, a Special Forces officer commanding this ad hoc unit of Free Iraqi Forces and the Americans who've spent the last two months training them...
...There are limits to the friendship...
...He takes out his wallet, and a picture of his family because he knows how important family is to the Arabs...
...The entire speech lasted four minutes...
...On Wednesday, I was invited into the circle for the first time (and maybe not the last, since I recently returned to our camp with a box of 25 "Romeo y Julietas" from Havana...
...BY STEPHEN F. HAYES Near the Iraqi border A GROUP of bleary-eyed soldiers has gathered at 3:45 Thursday morning in the truck bay of the firehouse they call home...
...Men need a leader, but they need someone who cares about them...
...Hammack and his cadre of supporting officers helped transform this group of Iraqi-American volunteers, many of whom came with no military experience, into a significant asset in the current war...
...The military trainers strained to be heard over the din...
...Hammack is a man of few words, in a relatively formal setting like this one...
...I see his face and I almost...
...The line was not breached again...
...one of the Iraqis is late, raising his hand as the others lower theirs...
...Not only a leader, but also a friend...
...Hammack's group, known around here as Task Force Hammack, has placed most of the Free Iraqi Forces with units now well inside Iraq, including the 1st Marine Expeditionary Forces and the 101st Airborne...
...The temperature outside was 9 degrees Fahrenheit, and large heating vents noisily pumped in air to keep the troops warm...
...The bedhead doesn't seem to distract those standing at attention before him—three members of the Free Iraqi Forces, Iraqi Americans who've volunteered to help coalition forces liberate their people, and "Doc" Snyder, the u.S...
...He waits patiently to head further north, confident in the training he has received and grateful for Hammack...
...Be safe...
...They stand inside, smoke cigars, plan their mission, and consider life's big questions...
...Most of the American soldiers gathered here sport a "high-and-tight," military jargon for a crew cut...
...Some of them will die...
...When we say goodbye to those guys, I watch his eyes, not listen to his words," he says of Hammack...
...You're going to what we like to call Indian country," Hammack says...
...But you can't dwell on it...
...He tells them he expects them to go back to their families, too...
...When he was first introduced to the Iraqis he now calls his men in mid-January, I'm told, the normally boisterous group fell silent...
...They didn't know what to make of the colonel," Mancini continues...
...And he tells them that he expects to go back to his family when he's done...
Vol. 8 • April 2003 • No. 29
