Kennesaw State's David Carper is helping other veterans join him in making the long journey back from soldier to civilian.
Iraq war veteran David Carper graduated from Kennesaw State University with his degree in human services Wednesday on the eve of Thursday's formal end to the war in Iraq.
Now he plans to pursue a career helping other veterans as the transitions coordinator for Kennesaw State's Veterans Resource Center.
"What makes the center unique is that everyone is a veteran," Carper says. "We’re not Army-specific or Marine-specific or Navy-specific. We have a very diverse culture. In the military, you only have one ethnicity, and that’s green."
Carper says veterans are used to taking classes, following orders and working hard, "but we're not used to having to do it on our own with little guidance. We’re not used to doing it without support of fellow soldiers."
Like thousands of other veterans, Carper still struggles with the transition back home.
"You’re never ready for combat. As much training as they can provide, you’re never truly ready for combat—for what happens, for what needs to get done."
According to a 2011 Pew Research study, 27 percent of veterans reported having difficulty re-entering civilian life. That number swelled to 44 percent among veterans who served after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Post-9/11 veterans reported even more difficulties with the transition than did their Vietnam and World War II predecessors.
“We’re not asking to be seen as heroes or have ticker-tape parades or whatever they are,” Carper says. “We just want people to understand that when we’re ready, we’ll move forward.”
From Civilian to Serviceman
Carper, who lives in Acworth but is from Miami, enlisted in the Army at 18. He completed training as an infantryman in 2001, 10 days before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Carper served in the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry, part of the Florida National Guard, and didn't know how the attacks would affect him as a soldier.
"We knew we were an infantry unit, a combat unit, a high-priority unit," he says. "I don’t know if we were ready. But we were all willing."
The mobilization for Iraq began in January 2003. Carper was one of nearly 150,000 U.S. troops deployed during the initial invasion that March. His unit was attached to the 3rd Armored Calvary.
"You’ve got people who were just weeks prior security guards, nurses, construction workers that are now thrown together into combat," he says.
"I liked to have thought that I was ready. But you’re never ready for combat. As much training as they can provide, you’re never truly ready for combat—for what happens, for what needs to get done."
Deployment to Iraq
Carper’s unit set up in Ramadi, a city in central Iraq just west of Fallujah.
"We weren’t sure what to expect," Carper says. It was the initial invasion, before roadside bombs came into play.
Days in camp in Ramadi consisted of taking out canisters of feces and burning them. The first form of entertainment involved counting the bugs that got stuck in the flytraps hanging from the ceiling.
"We would spend hours," he says, laughing. "Then it would get broken up by mortar fire."
Internet and phone access didn’t arrive until December. Carper made his first phone call to his mom on Christmas. He was on the phone for only a few minutes when the alarms went off for a mortar attack.
Becoming a Soldier
Carper’s first combat came on his second night in Ramadi. He had gone at least 24 hours without sleep and had just finished guard duty when he returned to his bunk.
"All of a sudden, I just hear this loud boom. I see everybody scrambling around. This was the first time we had taken fire.
"I start running out to the wall, and (I'm) about halfway out the building, and I just see this string of fire going across."
It wasn't until his platoon sergeant told him to get dressed that Carper realized he was wearing only underwear, a flak vest and a helmet—rifle in hand.
This blog is brought to you by
Atlanta Marketing Experts.
Lilburn Marketing Experts create and execute promotional activities by engaging the target market’s lifestyle. We understand the patterns of behavior for work and leisure. We know where they practice leisure pursuits including where they eat, drink and spend their money.
