Troops' return makes them the news

Troops' return makes them the news
Guard unit staffed press hub in Iraq
By Jonnelle Marte
Globe Correspondent / September 8, 2008

NEWTON - Dressed in camouflage gear, about 20 National Guard soldiers marched across the gymnasium floor in the West Newton Armory, a moment captured by journalists jotting notes and flashing cameras.

These troops - who spent the last year in Baghdad setting up press conferences and hosting reporters at a communications center in Iraq - were used to working with the media.

But as they were officially welcomed home at a ceremony yesterday afternoon by steady rounds of applause and whistles from family members and supporters, the soldiers from the 65th Public Affairs Operations Center had no major news to relay. And this time, the reporters took care of themselves.

Specialist Charles P. Espie said that since the unit returned in June, he has been focusing on his normal life: spending time with his family, studying at Framingham State College, and cherishing the small things he had to do without while he was overseas.

"When we got off the bus at the airport, just to smell the grass . . . Sometimes it's the little things like the breeze," said Espie, 27.

"The best thing is just coming back, stepping on the ground. The air - everything - is bright and colorful."

The soldiers were a part of a team that ran the Combined Press Information Center, a two-story garage in the Green Zone that was converted into a major media hub. The top level is stacked with satellite dishes and the lower levels house studios and serve as temporary housing for reporters from Iraq and all over the world, said Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Perenick Jr., commander of the unit, who calls the facility the Cape Canaveral of communications in Iraq.
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