For Army, it's Operation Stretch

Lieutenant Harms of 4-64 says he has a number of soldiers in counseling or group therapy, many of whom are troubled by grisly episodes from their days with tank units in Iraq. He also observes subtler, almost Darwinian maneuvers by combat veterans to form teams of stronger soldiers to boost their chances of survival. "They are dealing with serious issues of trust," he says.

A full 50 percent of the division's soldiers have already served in Iraq or Afghanistan. While few are eager to return to Iraq, most have accepted the idea and are dedicated to their jobs - in fact, 3ID is exceeding many reenlistment goals.

Yet with more than 15 percent of soldiers in the Iraq war screening positive for traumatic stress, according to a December 2003 report chartered by the Army's surgeon general, it is not surprising that the looming deployment is highly troubling to some 3ID veterans.

Army psychologists aren't sure how those with combat fatigue will react to returning. "We're into really new territory," says division social worker Capt. Ronald Whalen. He says some soldiers are in aggressive treatment aimed at "finding out where [their] recovery has stalled out."

Meanwhile, senior enlisted men are monitoring the soldiers to ensure they are not a threat. "Wednesday, I spent two hours talking with a guy who is still having a hard time," says Stanley, sergeant major of 4-64. "I ask them straight out: 'Will this cause you a problem that could hurt another soldier?' They say 'No, sergeant major, I just need to get my head right.' "

As with any deployment, a few soldiers have sought a way out - citing family concerns and health problems and even faking pregnancies. But Harms says he must be strict in granting reassignments.

"Once you let one go, it opens the floodgates," says Harms, a new chaplain who himself did not choose to be assigned to 3ID. "I'm not excited to go to Iraq and leave my wife and kids," he admits. "But I look at these soldiers in the face every day and tell them they need to keep their promises, so I take my oath seriously." Indeed, one of the soldiers' biggest concerns is the immense hardship that year-long absences place on their families.

On the tree-lined streets of Hinesville, Ga., where much of the 3rd Infantry Division is based, posters are still up from the unit's homecoming less than 18 months ago. "Welcome Home 3rd Infantry Division - Thanks!" reads one sign at a local gas station. Now, Army officials are preparing families to say goodbye again, urging soldiers to complete their wills and make sure spouses can change the car oil and balance the checkbook. "If we can survive, we can help the soldiers survive too," says 3ID deployment expert Bess Stone.

Yet Army commanders know that if families are separated too long, too often, even the most devoted soldiers will quit. "I have extraordinarily talented people who come and tell me, 'Sir, I love the Army, but ... I'm not going to abandon my family,' " says Roth, the 4-64 commander. In surveys, 3ID soldiers say deployments of eight months every two years would be more tolerable. "We have to get as close to that as we can," says Webster.

For now, though, all that's visible on the horizon is another grinding year in the desert. Resigned but not despondent, many 3ID veterans whose bold charge to Baghdad began the war share a single hope: that they might help end it.

"My daughter just left for basic training, and I'm petrified," says Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Coker, a 30-year Army veteran from St. Petersburg, Fla., who ended his last Iraq tour in Fallujah. "I don't want there to be an OIF 5 [a fifth rotation to Iraq]," he says. "Maybe we can fix it."

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