The Spartan Brigade, On Guard in Fallujah
Soldiers Were First Into Baghdad, but Not Going Home Yet

 Listen to Eric Westervelt's report

 Photo Gallery: The Spartans, on Guard and Passing Time

Lt. Ryan Kuo of the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor on a patrol outside of Fallujah. Photo: Charlie Mayer, NPR News

"I'll believe it when I see it. We're still not gonna go home no time soon. We've been jerked around so many times since we been here." Spc. Shane Brooks, on rumors his brigade will return to its home base in Ft. Steward, Ga.

Soldiers rise at 6 a.m. for physical training -- the only time of day cool enough to exercise. Photo: Charlie Mayer, NPR News

July 23, 2003 -- The 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division -- dubbed the "Spartan Brigade" -- was one of the first units sent to the Persian Gulf region. During the war the brigade often led the fight to topple Saddam Hussein's government, and they were the first U.S. troops to enter Baghdad.

Elements of the 3rd Infantry Division have been in the region for close to a year. So the division's troops had hoped to be the first to leave the Persian Gulf -- but it hasn't worked out that way. Just today, the Pentagon announced that the 3rd Infantry Division will be returning home in September. But soldiers have been told only that they will regroup in Kuwait to serve as a reserve force.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports on the mixed reaction among the brigade's soldiers, now that they are one step closer to home.

"We've been here for four months in a combat zone, and with the frequency of attacks that we've experienced, that's quite a bit," says Lt. Col. Eric Schwartz, who commands one of the brigade's combat battalions. "So... a movement south to Kuwait puts us in a protected environment back there. And that's gonna feel great."

But some of the brigade's soldiers feel frustrated by what they see as a string of broken promises. They've been told they were going home several times before -- that the way home was through Baghdad. But after the fall of that city, the brigade was sent to Fallujah, where anti-American feelings run high and patrols come under almost daily attack. A soldier from the brigade was killed Friday by a roadside bomb.

"I'll believe it when I see it," says Spc. Shane Brooks. "We're still not gonna go home no time soon. We've been jerked around so many times since we been here."

The soldiers keep busy with physical training, patrols of Fallujah or guard duty. Otherwise, they pass the time watching movies on laptop computers, playing cards and sleeping away the sweltering hot afternoons. Many soldiers think about the families they left behind.

"I've got a 17-month-old at home that I don't even know," says one company commander. "I've had enough."

In Depth

 Hear NPR reports by Eric Westervelt.

 NPR News Coverage: Beyond the War in Iraq

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