2nd SCR’s Havoc Platoon trying to stay busy at end of deployment

Spc. Thomas McCready gets ready to leave Iraq at the end of his tour with 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment's 3rd Squadron.


2nd SCR’s Havoc Platoon trying to stay busy at end of deployment
By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, October 25, 2008

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq — It was the first break for Havoc Platoon in 15 months, but the howling wind and blowing dust threatened to stretch it out longer than they would have liked.

"Nothing is certain," said platoon leader 2nd Lt. Nicholas Kane, a statement that summed up a day of delayed flights and shifting plans.

For 15 months, Havoc Platoon and the rest of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment have been fighting their way across Iraq, dodging sniper fire, grieving for fallen friends and, more recently, working with local Iraqis in the hopes of making their gains against the insurgency stick.

Now they are heading home.

Havoc Platoon is part of 2nd Stryker’s 3rd Squadron, a group that lost 12 soldiers. The soldiers ride in the regiment’s namesake vehicle, an eight-wheeled, heavily armed behemoth that looks like a mix between a tank and the amphibious "Ducks" used in World War II.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58372%2e