By Tanya S. Biank
Staff writer

When Pvt. Justin Spears woke up Friday morning, he instinctively grabbed for a rifle that wasn’t there. Other paratroopers who returned home from Kosovo this week have awakened the same way.
 
Staff photo by Marcus Castro
Pvt. Jake Dickison, 20, unpacks his field equipment from his quarters at Fort Bragg after returning from a six-month tour of duty in Kosovo.

On Wednesday, 360 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division returned from a five-month deployment to Albania and Kosovo. The soldiers were part of a 700-member task force of the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, that provided force protection in Albania and peacekeeping operations in Kosovo. The other 350 soldiers in the task force are expected to return at 5:30 p.m. today.

Those who returned Wednesday are still adjusting.

When Sgt. Daniel Fraley walked into Blockbuster Video his first night back, he immediately started counting the number of people inside.

‘‘When you’re on patrols you take in your surroundings as much as you can,’’ he said. Fraley is a 24-year-old infantryman in 2nd Battalion’s Charlie Company. ‘‘And you run through different scenarios in your head on how you will react if something happens. I caught myself doing that in Blockbuster.’’

Many said they felt insecure without their rifles, which over the course of five months had become an extension of their hands.

‘‘You have to be there to understand,’’ said Pvt. Jake Dickison. He is a 20-year-old squad automatic weapon gunner in 2nd Battalion’s Alpha Company.

Some have found themselves looking out for land mines on Fayetteville’s sidewalks.

Others are constantly watching their backs.

‘‘I still do it,’’ said Dickison, who took a break from unpacking his duffel bag in his barracks room Thursday. ‘‘It’s a habit now.’’

Law enforcers        |
To understand these young men, take a look at where they have come from and what they have done.

In Kosovo, they attempted to establish law and order in a region known as the Wild West.

Land mines and snipers were the biggest threats.

‘‘There are people there who don’t like you and want to kill you because you’re wearing that (American) flag on your shoulder,’’ said 24-year-old Pfc. David Cox, of 2nd Battalion, Charlie Company. ‘‘That’s a little unnerving.’’

Many of the soldiers said it was the first time they had contemplated their own deaths.

‘‘When people ask me, ‘What did you do that was so great?’ I’m going to tell them I went to Kosovo -- and I came back,’’ said Pvt. Brandon Quick, a 19-year-old SAW-gunner in Charlie Company.

They are now settling back into garrison life, polishing boots, pressing uniforms and savoring the smell of clean American air.

Since their return, the troops have been marveling at the mundane: traffic lights, flush toilets, pizza delivery, soda machines and water fountains.

They are getting used to the feel of the accelerator pedal and brakes in their cars and trucks.

‘‘I flew my wife all over the passenger side, ’’ Fraley said, describing his first venture out on Fayetteville’s roads.

They have traded MREs for refrigerators, cots for beds and helmets for ball caps.

A weight lifted 
   |
For the first time in five months, they are not loaded down with 60 to 100 pounds of equipment, including a helmet, flak vest, weapon and ammunition.

‘‘I feel off balance,’’ said 19-year-old Pvt. Larry Gafford. He is in 2nd Battalion’s Charlie Company.

For these guys, taking off their boots and sliding their feet into a pair of sneakers is a big deal.

One of the biggest pleasures has been food and the easy access they now have to it.

When a soldier went through the barracks taking pizza and sub orders, Spears and Dickison, who are roommates, just looked at each other in disbelief.

His first morning back, Sgt. William Boberg’s wife, Shawna, asked him if he would like some toast.

The question stopped him in his tracks.

‘‘There was food there just to be had,’’ Boberg said. He is in 2nd Battalion’s Alpha Company.

In Albania and Kosovo, soldiers ate MREs, the military’s packaged food or hot food from a mess hall tent.

Spears and Dickison’s platoon was attached to the 1st Infantry Division as a quick-reaction force. After those soldiers ate, the 82nd soldiers got whatever was left over.

‘‘Once in a while there was enough for us to have seconds,’’ Spears said.

Hot showers have meant as much as a trip to McDonald’s.

Two weeks in Albania passed before Pfc. Bob Autrey ever saw his reflection in a mirror. Another soldier was giving him a haircut next to a Humvees’s side-view mirror.

‘‘I was a little dirty,’’ he said.

A shower means something when you know what it feels and smells like to go without one for four weeks, as many soldiers did.

Some soldiers said they wore the same uniform for so long it could stand up by itself.

Starting over        |

Showers and food aside, not everything about coming home has been pleasant.

Some soldiers were welcomed home with depleted bank accounts and missing wives.

Others are dealing with dead car batteries, flat tires and unpaid bills. Some have found their utilities turned off.

During the last few days they have been given time to deal with those matters. The soldiers will go on two weeks of leave starting Sept. 30.

Many said they will go back to their home towns to visit their families. They look forward to catching up on current events, the latest music releases and TV shows.

Soldiers said they just want to fit back in. They didn’t realize it would be so awkward.

‘‘We can tell stories and show pictures, but unless you were there, you won’t understand,’’ Fraley said.

 

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