Soldiers home from Iraq adjusting to civilian lifestyle

Bill Hoxworth woke up Wednesday to a bed full of kids. Phillip Patterson went to the gym with his wife and spent the afternoon painting a shelf in the sunshine in his yard. Dustin McDowell grabbed lunch with some buddies and then later watched Zach, his dearly missed 9-year-old brother, practice soccer.

On their first day back in the civilian world, the troops of the 1140th Engineer Battalion were doing everything they could to reclaim the lives they left behind for more than a year serving their country in Iraq.

Some plan to go back to their civilian jobs soon. Others plan to take a few weeks off or longer. All are spending time with friends they have missed and loved ones they have longed for.

"I'm not going back to work for awhile, that's for sure," said Dustin McDowell of Cape Girardeau. "I'm just going to enjoy myself and take it easy."

Before leaving for Iraq, he worked at Pagoda Gardens in Cape Girardeau as a waiter, host and cook. He said he probably won't go back to work there. He plans to start looking for another job in a few weeks.

"I want to catch up with my little brother," he said. "He's learned to ride a motor bike. I want to spend as much time with him as I can. ... I just feel free."

The soldiers have no military obligations for 90 days, said Guard spokeswoman Capt. Tamara Spicer. She said their employers must hold their civilian jobs for 90 days as well.The soldiers will receive military pay until about March 25.

"They are specifically to use the time to readjust to the civilian world," Spicer said. "They need to take a deep breath, give their family and themselves a cooling off period."

The possibility the unit could be deployed again is real, said Capt. Kevin Campos, commander for the battalion's Company B in Jackson. Federal law stipulates that Guard and Reserve members can be deployed up to two years during a five-year period. The 1140th was in Iraq for 14 months.

"They can do whatever they want to in Washington," Campos said.

Counseling soldiers

The military recognizes the readjustment to life at home could be difficult. Spicer said the troops were given extensive counseling during the demobilization process. The soldiers were given counseling on suicide prevention, how not to be sexually aggressive with their significant others and how to deal with children and spouses who aren't used to having them around.

Also, the battalion chaplain is available if they want to talk, she said. Private counseling is available if needed and will be reimbursed by the military.

"But you can't speculate how they will adjust," Spicer said. "Everyone is different."

Sean Winstead, a Guard soldier from the Perryville, Mo., area, said it won't be easy.

"I think it will take some time," he said. "When I came back on leave, even after two weeks I felt out of place. I didn't feel comfortable around people. They would start talking about stuff that's happened that I didn't know about."

But Hoxworth, who lives in Cape Girardeau, said being back home feels natural.

"It was over there that wasn't natural," he said. "Here, I'm home. But it takes some getting used to, even driving. Over there, I didn't drive that much. Here it takes a little longer to adjust to things like that."

Patterson, a Scott City resident, said being home feels a little different, especially considering that they spent their time in the desert.

"For one thing, there's some color here," he said. "Where we were, there wasn't much of that, so that's nice."Adjusting to civilian life may not be as hard for him, he said, because he works as a paramedic in his civilian job.

"There's nothing there that I haven't seen before," he said. "That's an advantage I probably have over most people."

Craig Gatzemeyer, the company commander for the headquarters company in Cape Girardeau, spent Wednesday afternoon playing the board game Sorry with his children.

"I'm in second place in Sorry right now," he said. "So I feel pretty good."

He admitted some soldiers will require a period of adjustment.

"But I think people will work through it," he said. "It will be awkward for awhile. But we'll adjust."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137