By James Rincon

Pflag Reporter

The 36th Infantry Division of the Texas Army National Guard on Saturday celebrated the successful completion of an operation that stationed 700 Central Texas soldiers, many from Pflugerville, in southern Iraq for a year.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson was among the dignitaries present at Austin’s Camp Mabry for the ceremonial transfer of the division’s command after successful completion of Operation New Dawn in Basra, Iraq.

Pflugerville resident Lt. Col. Marvin Harris was among the local soldiers deployed to Basra in January 2011, where the Texas National Guard commanded more than 7,000 active troops as they worked to transfer control of the country’s southern region to the Iraqi Army.

“It was a historic event for the Texas Army National Guard because I believe we were [only the third] National Guard unit in Iraq to command active-duty units,” Harris said. “It made all of us proud to be able to go there and help Iraq. That was one of our main missions, to help them protect their population and then also help their security force with capabilities so that they could protect themselves.”

Harris is an active Guard reserve soldier, meaning he works for the National Guard every day as opposed to the traditional one weekend a month and two weeks a year. In Basra, he worked as a fire support coordinator, assisting troops who ventured outside of the base with radar and munitions support.

Operation New Dawn was a the command and control operation that followed Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The operation was completed without casualties, but Harris said the experience overseas varied greatly for each soldier depending on location and political climates, adding that U.S. soldiers received a mixed reception from the local population.

“Sometimes you wonder why some of the insurgents over there would still try to harm you, when you’re there to help them,” Harris said. “We were no longer doing full-spectrum operations. We were there pretty much to do stability operations. So it wasn’t like when the Iraqi War first started. So that was probably the most disappointing thing, when you’re trying to help somebody and they’re still trying to harm you.”

Harris said the most significant achievement of the 36th Division was turning control of Iraq’s nine southernmost provinces over to the U.S. Department of State.

“We were the last division to command southern Iraq,” Harris said. “Mostly what they did was train the Iraqi army how to fight. We helped the Iraqis to protect themselves and protect their populations, and we had U.S. soldiers actually train the Iraqi army.”

One of the most difficult parts of Harris’ year overseas, he said, was being away from his family in Pflugerville. He communicated with home often via email and Skype, but Harris said he missed out completely on his son Jalen’s final year of high school at Hendrickson High. As a senior at Hendrickson, Jalen excelled in the classroom and on the court, distinguishing himself as one of the city’s best basketball players. By graduation, Jalen had accepted an offer to play basketball at The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

“When you have kids something’s always going to happen. When you have a house something’s always going to break. So it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that we couldn’t handle.” Harris said. “I definitely missed my son’s last year of high school and West Point recruiting him and him going on visits, and then in the summer when he reported.”

Within weeks of his return from Basra, Harris visited West Point where his son is already seeing playing time as a freshman.

Harris said his experience overseas solidified his appreciation for the U.S. in a way he said can only be achieved by visiting a country that does not allow its citizens the same freedoms.

“Be proud that you’re an American. Be proud that you live in the United States, because being over there shows you why the United States is the best country in the world,” Harris said. “People who never have an opportunity to travel to a country like that, I don’t think they understand what our freedoms really mean. They can’t do the things that we get to do over here. I think some people may take it for granted, only because they haven’t had the opportunity to go see another county where they don’t have the freedoms that we do.”