Soldiers at Fort Bragg enthusiastic about troop plan

FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- U.S. soldiers at Fort Bragg, the sprawling Army post in North Carolina, reacted enthusiastically today to President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, saying they hoped it would end the war more quickly.

"The war in Afghanistan has picked up. We've lost a lot of troopers over there recently," said Spec. Meggan Zena, 26, of Louisville, over lunch at a food court packed with soldiers.

"I think sending 30,000 troops is the right thing," said Zena, who returned two weeks ago from Iraq with her 82nd Airborne Division unit, which would be up for redeployment in a year's time.

Down the road, soldiers attended a memorial for the latest paratroopers killed in action in Afghanistan, losses that are all too familiar to soldiers such as Zena, whose close friend Staff Sgt. Shawn McNabb recently died in a helicopter crash there.

The 82nd Airborne Division, together with other light infantry units such as the 101st Airborne Division and the 10th Mountain Division, has already served extensively in Afghanistan and will continue to be called upon -- in addition to Marine regiments -- to carry out Obama's revamped strategy there.

Thousands of Army paratroopers from the 82nd are in Afghanistan now, including a combat brigade dedicated to training Afghan soldiers and police and an aviation brigade carrying out critical helicopter missions over the country's rugged terrain.

Soldiers here said the message they hear from their comrades in Afghanistan is clear: We need more troops.

"Given the increased attacks from the Taliban, they need the extra people," said Staff Sgt. Heiberth Quintero, 23, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., who is often in contact with buddies from his old unit, the 82nd's 4th Brigade Combat Team, which is conducting the training of Afghan forces.

Quintero, who deployed to eastern Afghanistan for 15 months in 2007 and 2008, said he hopes the additional troops "will speed things up a little."

Family members also spoke positively of the buildup. "I support it 100 percent," said Ana Martinez, whose husband is serving with a mortar unit in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, said Martinez, who has been apart from her husband for four of the six months of their marriage, the deployments could both strengthen and weaken relationships.

Some soldiers questioned whether the escalation will prove worth the money and worried that it will almost certainly lead to more casualties. "The more they send over, the more they get killed in action, and the more they will have to send," said Spec. Martez Wadley, 20, of Millen, Ga., who is married and has a 4-year-old son.

Several soldiers spoke of Obama's announcement as a pivotal moment in their views of their commander in chief.

"He's a strong man. He's figuring out a lot of the problems we had when he took office," said Spec. Ronkevia Draughn, 22, of Greenville, N.C. "Hopefully, if they get [the insurgency] nipped in the bud, they can go ahead and end the war," she said.

"I could tell his heart and soul was in the speech," agreed Zena, a Republican who said she voted for John McCain last year because of his military experience. "Obama has really changed my opinion. I think he's going in the right direction," she said.