Ron Barr and Sports Byline USA LIVE from Iraq

BY RON BARR

August 26, 2010-- In my previous broadcast visits to Iraq the military effort was primarily combat. Their mission was to go after al-Qaida and to control the sectarian violence that erupted after the fall of Saddam. Neither was easy and nearly 4,500 soldiers have lost their lives and countless others have been injured trying to accomplish that mission. This is the first time in my four visits to Iraq that I don't feel like we're in a day to day active war. The fight has changed from being an American one to now being up to the Iraqis. Continue story...

This day started off with hooking up with Lt. General Bob Cone. We accompanied him to four star General Ray Odierno's office in the Al Faw Palace. General Odierno is an imposing, tall man. His stature and demeanor is that of a General. He is “Da Man” here and has been for sometime. He's been in country for nearly four years. By all accounts he's a brilliant tactician, fully understands this kind of warfare and is admired and respected by all who serve under him. He's a West Point man and loves sports. His time is valuable so I figured we'd spend 10 or 15 minutes saying hi and then move on to the rest of the day. No. He engaged us in an interesting and lively discussion on a myriad of topics ranging from his time in Iraq, to where the country is at this time, to his concern about the battle pressures and scars the soldiers have faced and continue to. He knew everything about each of us and of course sports was part of the conversation. The clock is ticking down on his command. September 1st General Lloyd Austin will take over. He's no stranger to me. I met him in a previous visit, as did Brain Billick, Randy Cross and Spencer Tillman. I still laugh when I think of what Billick said when he met General Austin. A tall, well built man who played football at the Point, Billick said, “Damn, I would have drafted you.” It would have been a good pick.

A final observation. General Odierno is like the great athlete. Like Michael Jordan once said to me, “When the game is on the line I want to be the one to determine the outcome.” In the military world, Ray Odierno is the “great athlete.”

We spent a good portion of the day with General Cone and he showed us how the military's mission had changed and what it is now. Also, important to him was that we, as “celebrities”, see the soldiers who normally don't get to have our type of visits. He has always thought of the soldiers first and I respect and admire him for that.

We helicoptered down to a U.S. Forward Operating Base (FOB) south of Baghdad. Colonel Roger Clothier is the commanding officer and General Cone told me he's doing an outstanding job of implementing the new military mission. The key thing to understand here is the downsizing of the troop levels has dropped Clothier's command from 4,000 soldiers to under a 1,000, and he's being asked to do more with less and to train and prepare the Iraqi military and police to take over. A large task with fewer people to do it. That's the new mission and to accomplish it, the effort means working side by side with the Iraqi soldiers and police. That means training with them and working and living with them in the field. The goal is to build their confidence and to make them a positive influence with the public in order to gain the Iraqi people's trust and support in rooting out bad elements who make their daily lives dangerous and deadly. The “trust” part is particularly challenging since for many years Saddam Hussein's oppression was administered by the military and the police.

After Clothier's briefing we saw first hand how the military is now executing their new mission. We went to the firing range and watched as a group of Iraqi soldiers and police, along with U.S. Army soldiers went thru the same combat exercises. All of this done in searing heat of nearly 120 degrees. Credibility with the Iraqis comes from sharing the effort and the pain.

All of us then got a “hands on” chance to use various weaponry the soldiers use. Antonio Freeman, Bob Delaney, Jim Miller, and I got a chance to fire off rounds at targets. You could see the soldiers at the firing range had a sense of humor and were decidedly Green Bay Packer fans. For Freeman's benefit since he was a former Packer star, they put a picture on the Minnesota Vikings mascot on one of the firing targets. The soldiers later signed the target for Freeman, where it didn't have holes in it.

We then helicoptered to see the military's “new mission” in action. In what used to be a U.S. Army FOB, but now has been turned over to the Iraqi Army, we met Iraqi General Ali. He's the youngest Iraqi General and General Cone was extremely complementary of his efforts in going after the bad guys and gaining the people's confidence. After having the “traditional tea” with him and his staff, he gave us a briefing on his challenges and successes. It's obvious to me that the future of Iraq depends General Ali and others like him being able to execute and be successful in both the military and the social mission.

Within the now Iraqi FOB is a small area where the American soldiers live and work with their Iraqi counterparts. Again showing the military is “talking the talk and walking the walk” in embracing their new mission. We had lunch with them and again the soldiers were surprised not only have us there but to be visited by their 3 star General. General Cone made a Commanders' Medal presentation. A Commander's Medal is important and special in military culture. Commanders, officers and non-commissioned officers alike, give out medals to soldiers who go the extra mile in effort and service. It's a big deal, so to have Commanding General Cone give it to them made it even bigger.

I saw something here I've never seen in any of my trips to Iraq or Afghanistan. I introduced Freeman, Miller and Delaney to the group of about 50 soldiers. Freeman and Miller are “rookies” on this trip and both have military connections through family members who have served.  As each spoke to the soldiers at this small outpost, they got choked up and tears were visible in their eyes. It was a human and touching moment I'll never forget, and I know the soldiers and General Cone appreciated the moment as well.

We helicoptered back home to the Al Faw Palace after a long, hot, dusty and inspiring day. As I looked over the landscape and the city of Baghdad, I lamented and wished everyone could better understand and appreciate what we had seen this day. I know they never will, but for the five of us, we will.

A good day and time to get ready to do the show.