Traveling With Oliver North & FOX News

By Chuck Holton

CBN News Reporter

December 6, 2007

CBNNews.com - CBN News Reporter Chuck Holton gets the latest on the war as he travels with troops in Iraq. Read his journal below:

Our day began early at Baghdad's Camp Victory. We'd managed to grab six hours of sleep, albeit in a large tent on plastic-covered mattresses without bedding or pillows. But after being up for two days straight, it hardly mattered.

After an early morning "hit" on Hannity and Colmes, we ate an ample breakfast in the incredibly well-stocked dining facility. Part of the warrior's creed displayed prominently around the base promises that no soldier will ever be left behind. The cooks have apparently adapted that motto into "no one will ever be left hungry." In my two trips to Iraq, despite the crushing extreme temperatures, the breakneck operational tempo and the twenty-plus hour days, I've never lost weight.

After breakfast we stopped briefly at the post exchange, which is easily the size of a K-mart back home. And it sold just about everything a K-mart sells, with the addition of a large selection of tactical gear. I bought a backpack and a knife. I'm sure my wife will be stunned by that piece of news.

For the soldiers stationed on these rear-echelon bases, life can seem relatively normal, since in the five years since the invasion these bases have taken on all the look at feel of a military base back home - here on camp victory there is a taco bell, burger king, a coffee shop, and wireless internet access. But despite this sense of "normalcy," there is always the threat of random violence - just a week ago there was a firefight between the Iraqi army and some insurgents in a bad neighborhood outside the camp. a stray bullet came over the wall and struck a soldier who was just leaving the base gymnasium - killing him instantly. The soldiers I've interviewed here seem to accept these risks though, and look at them with a philosophical eye.

Back at the Media Operations Center, we packed up and headed to the military airport called "BIAP" which stands for Baghdad International Air Port. Obviously someone worked really hard on that one.

We were directed to two black hawk helicopters that were idling on the ramp. A crew chief wearing a full-face helmet that made him look for all the world like a star wars storm trooper beckoned us over. He pulled his darth vader mask aside and yelled over the screaming engines, "two of you will have to ride in the second bird. Which of you will it be?"

"Does it matter?" I screamed back.

"Well, the second bird is the one that usually gets shot down," he answered.

Of course, when he put it that way, there was only one answer I could give. That's how Colonel North and cameraman Mal James ended up in the second bird. Just kidding. Andy Stenner and I bit the bullet and rode in "Chalk two." Both aircraft had black widow spiders painted on the fuselage. One of our crew chiefs was from Charleston, West Virginia, near my home town.

We took about four short hops around Baghdad, and I never quite figured out why. Then a longer flight brought us to our destination, FOB Kalsu. Our pilots were on their third tour here, and know the skies around this area like their hometowns.

This Forward Operating Base was formerly a Forward Arming and Refueling Point in the 2003 invasion. Then it was abandoned and the area was taken over by insurgents. Even three months ago, this was considered "cowboy country," and there was virtually no coalition presence here. Today, it's a maze of high concrete T-walls, satellite dishes and growling generators, and houses more than two thousand troops.

These soldiers have been hard at work - organizing the local citizens into "concerned local citizen groups." Again, someone must have stayed up all night thinking that one up. But what the name lacks in creativity, the people make up for in practice. Suddenly it seems everyone is eager to get the fighting over with and get on with living - and they've realized that the shortest path to that objective is by helping us help them so we can bring our troops home. One soldier told me of the dramatic changes they've seen just in the last 90 days. Where before they were getting several IED attacks per week, now they've been over a month without any at all. They've rounded up hundreds of anti-iraqi forces, formed neighborhood watch groups and are recieving tips daily about the whereabouts of weapons caches, AQ strongholds and IED's. One of these tips led to the discovery and capture of a large supply of bomb making materiel - enough to construct more than eighty IED's.

The media back home has been digging deep to find bad news to report about the war. Lately, stories broke on AP about the high number of desertions being suffered by the military. At that time it smacked, to me, of a classic case of finding the cloud in the silver lining. I had that feeling validated when I arrived here and started interviewing the troops. I had the priviledge of speaking with three separate soldiers today, a Staff Sergeant, a chaplain, and the company executive officer. Though all of them have spent years away from their loved ones in the service of our country, none seemed the least bit depressed about it. The Staff Sergeant had just re-enlisted, the chaplain spoke of the high morale he sees in the troops, and the Major explained why - these men and women are seeing the fruits of their labors and feel they now "own" a piece of history that will be remembered forever.

And they aren't resting on their laurels. These brave Americans are eager to capitalize on the momentum that they are seeing and finish this job once and for all.

Indeed, soldiering may be one of the only jobs in the world where the objective is always to work oneself out of a job

Translate Page