Two deployments to Iraq. Meeting terrorists face-to-face. Homeless children. Families begging for food.
For 31-year-old Army veteran Michael Brennan, the vivid experiences of war not only shaped his life, but etched a desire to give back long after the battles had ended.
Like many American service members, Brennan’s military experience began when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centers on Sept. 11, 2001. He was a 16-year-old senior at Kimball High School in Royal Oak.
‘If someone had to go to war, I would,? he said. ‘I was only 17 when I graduated in 2002, so my parents had to sign for me to join the Army. They were supportive of what I wanted to do.?
Brennan signed up for a six year stint in the Army as an aircraft mechanic and was assigned to Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
‘It was July and the heat was extreme,? he recalls. ‘We knew a lot about the 9/11 attacks, but not much about the country of Iraq. Then my drill sergeant started talking about Saddam (Hussein) soon after we found out what we were doing there and our mission.?
Brennan’s second Army camp was Fort Eustis, Va. where he received training for engine repair for Blackhawks, Apaches, Kiowa Scout and the Chinook helicopters.
‘We were learning that sand was tough on helicopter engines,? he said. ‘We all knew the country was going to war.?
Brennan was then relocated to Ft. Benning, Ga. for paratroopers school.
‘I jumped (out of a plane) five times’I loved every jump,? he said.
In March 2003 the U.S. and its allies launched a massive aerial assault against Iraq’anti-aircraft fire could be seen rising in the skies above Baghdad, according to news reports. Explosions began rocking the Iraqi capital, as the Pentagon announced ‘A-Day? was underway.
In April of 2003, Brennan was sent to Ft. Carson, located in Colorado Springs, Co. and assigned to the Third Armored Calvalry Regiment’the 3rd ACR.
‘When I arrived in Colorado the 3rd ACR had already shipped out to Iraq,? he said. ‘In early August 2003 we flew to Germany then to Kuwait, and from there I was on a Chinook helicopter heading to to Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq. That was my first and only ride on a helicopter. The base was taken by Australian Special Forces during the ‘Shock and Awe? a few months earlier. The 3rd ACR had convoyed out there across the desert and were all set up when I arrived.?
Located in the Sunni western province of Iraq Al Anbar, the Al Asad Air Base was the second largest U.S. military airbase in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
‘They were flying missions in the western third of Iraq from the base,? he said. ‘We were far enough out in the desert where it was safe on the base. Our unit had really good relations with the Iraq people living in the villages and not involved with the conflict’there was no animosity between us and them. My main job was to be a helicopter mechanic?12 hour shifts, day and night, fixing engines getting them back in working order. You never really had a full day off during the week and there were only two phones on the base with a few thousand people. You would have to wait in line and each phone call could last only 15 minutes. Many wrote letters home, but the mail was very slow’even weeks.?
‘I wanted to do something else on the base’so I volunteered for any mission that would come around,? he said. ‘I drove our big Army trucks in a convoy all over the country. I never got shot at, never had a rock thrown at me the whole time. I was lucky’we drove though wartorn towns in Iraq, there were refugees without homes along the roads, many little kids asking for candy or food. Sometimes we had Beanie Babies to give them, they would beg by the side of the road as we drove by. You really can’t understand the carnage until you see a war zone. Those images made me think of the consequences of the wars we were involved in and how all those people ended up as refugees. Still, as a soldier, those people could have been the enemy’you had to be careful. Many times I was in dangerous situations and I was ready for it’we were trained how to defend ourselves. At 18-years-old I figured I was missing out by staying on the base working on engines all day. In hindsight, I was lucky to have survived. Sometimes I was driving, other times I was a gunner on the vehicle’driving down the road was the most dangerous part. It was high stress in the open desert, there could be IEDs (improvised explosive devices) along the road in many places. You just never knew.?
Brennan recalls how disconnected soldiers feel.
‘My unit was very lucky’they had packed video games, guitars, and other means of entertainment before they left the United States,? he said. ‘Then people back home really made a big difference, too, by sending simple things. Those packages meant a lot? chips, candy, little items that reminded you this country had your back. That was important, we were isolated, letters took two weeks to get there, we had a satellite to send emails, but that was on only a short time every few days.?
Brennan’s first deployment lasted nine months, from August 2003 to April 2004.
‘We thought we’d win the war and be back by Christmas 2003,? he laughed. ‘Somehow winning the war was going to happen’just root the insurgents out, clean them up and leave. That was really not the case.?
The 3rd ACR flew home on commercial airlines to Colorado.
‘The homecoming was unreal,? he said. ‘Not only at the airport in Colorado, but when we got back to Fort Carson there were thousands of family in the hangar waiting for us. We marched in and they were waving flags and cheering for us.?
Brennan returned home to Royal Oak on leave in May 2004. He then returned to Fort Carson and prepared for a second deployment to Iraq. In March 2005, the 3rd ACR was sent to Tal Afar, a large city in northern Iraq near the Turkish border. An offensive, Operation Restoring Rights, was launched in September 2005 into Tal Afar.
‘I was still working on helicopters every day,? said Brennan. ‘But I also worked as a prison guard for terrorists that were captured. They (prisoners) were not allowed to talk with each other and their hands were tied all day. We had no weapons, but had batons like police carry to protect ourselves. The terrorists had only razor wire around them with a machine gun keeping them contained. We were an intermediate prison’we really tried to show them some respect, but the problem was you just could not tell if the prisoner was an insurgent or an innocent civilian.?
‘We were starting to understand that winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people was key for us’we built schools for the children and desks, too,? he said.
Brennan’s unit went out in the desert and made contact with the Bedouin, or ‘inhabitant of the desert,? the desert-dwelling nomads of Arabia, the Negev, and the Sinai.
‘They live right out on the sand in tents,? he said. ‘We’d stop by and have tea with them and meet the people. They would have a few goats or sheep and that’s it. The war did not really touch them too much, but we wanted to show them we were on the same side.?
Brennan came home in February 2006 and was restationed a third time to Camp Humphreys, located in South Korea. He finished his six years in the Army at Ft. Drum, N.Y. Brennan returned home to study sociology and anthropology on the GI Bill at Oakland University. He worked on campus in college admissions and went on to earn a master’s degree in counseling.
‘The return to civilian life for me was easy. While I could have continued a career in aviation repair? after my time in Iraq and seeing the impact war has on people, I decided to serve a greater cause in counseling. It’s my way of giving back to the community.?
Brennan recently began working as a guidance counselor at Brandon High School. He and his wife Lisa and their 1- year-old daughter are residents of Lake Orion.