Mission for Md. soldiers unclear with Iraq exit in limbo

The reality had set in for Staff Sgt. John Lane, 39. “It’s harder this time,” he said. “Much harder,” chimed in his wife, Nadine, as she clutched their 8-month-old son, Arian, and called to their 2-year-old daughter, Anais. The last time Lane deployed, to northern Iraq in 2007, the two were newlyweds.

“It was difficult, but it was just me and my wife,” said Lane, a Dell employee in Stafford. “We knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Having two kids creates a lot more emotion.” He added that he hopes this tour, which is expected to include more administrative duties, will bring better access to a computer and Skype to see his children.

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( Aaron C. Davis / WASHINGTON POST ) - Staff Sgt. John Lane prepares to say his goodbye to his wife, Nadine, and their two children, 8-month-old Arian and 2-year-old Anais .

The Lanes, like others, hugged, cried and, at the deployment ceremony last week, avoided the topic of how dangerous Iraq might become if their unit remains after Dec. 31.

The Maryland soldiers will deploy as part of the Headquarters Company of the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade. The unit, which is gathering to a full strength of nearly 2,000 this weekend at Fort Hood, will be made up of National Guard soldiers from more than a dozen states. It will be responsible for overseeing all Army aviation operations in Iraq, which still include everything from routine helicopter transports to air support for Iraqi military operations, and even medical evacuations for U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.

Lt. Col. Peggy Kageleiry, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon, said the 29th is one of four brigades of fresh soldiers still scheduled to rotate into Iraq before the end of the year. All units deploying between now and Dec. 31 plan to deploy for 12 months, she said in an e-mail.

“This strikes me as an effort to be better safe than sorry,” said Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They will have troops who can stay, and if they have to curtail and come home early, nobody will complain about getting to spend more time with their family.”

“But how this all will shake out remains to be seen,” Alterman said. “There has been widespread expectation that we would work out a deal [for U.S. troops to stay], but not any confidence in what that will be.”

Alterman added that unpredictable Iraqi politics could mean a decision could come down uncomfortably close to the wire. U.S. military commanders have been warning since the spring that they will soon need to swing into high gear to extract the equipment necessary to be ready to leave the country by the end of December.

“It’s like moving a ship. It takes time, and that’s the problem,” Alterman said.

Developments this past week could complicate efforts to reach a quick decision.

A spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the government would reopen an investigation into a 2006 raid in which U.S. forces killed at least 11 Iraqi civilians.

In documents newly released by WikiLeaks, a U.N. inspector says U.S. soldiers “handcuffed all the residents and executed all of them.”

In recent days, Maliki has said the nearly 50,000 troops who remain in the country would leave as scheduled. A few hundred will stay under diplomatic protections as trainers, U.S. officials have said.

In an e-mail Friday, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, chief spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, called the deployment of guardsmen from Maryland and other states in the 29th a “normal rotation” to continue aiding the development of Iraqi forces.

“We have continued to replace units here on a regular basis . . . and have kept our troop levels fairly consistent,” Buchanan said. “We have a lot of work still to do and we are determined to get as much done as we possibly can.”