Art Leak discusses Iraq experience

By Randy Dillinger

For the majority of 2005, Anderson University Registrar Art Leak was halfway around the world serving in a role far removed from his normal responsibilities at the university. A 27-year member of the Army Reserves, Leak was called up for active duty in Iraq toward the end of 2004. A command sergeant major, the highest rank a non-commissioned officer in the military can attain, Leak was now in command of the 600 soldiers of the 983rd Engineering Combat Battalion (Heavy).

On paper, the battalion would be engaged in the reconstruction effort in Iraq — rebuilding damaged facilities and roadways, repairing bridges, and other construction-related tasks. But on the ground, as Leak explained recently during a question-and-answer session for AU faculty and staff, things didn’t always go according to plan.

“We ended up over there during a period of time when the country was still experiencing a tremendous amount of instability,” Leak said. “The mission quickly changed — from reconstruction to combat support. And by combat support, I mean doing a lot of convoy escorts, camp security on the perimeters, as well as reconnaissance of routes, so that when our forces were going to move through an area, we would make sure that the roads were passable.”

One of the earliest challenges the unit experienced on the ground was the need to “up-armor” the vehicles they would use for a three-day trip from Kuwait to the city of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace, where the unit would be based for three months. They used steel acquired from the United States as well as sandbags and other materials to reinforce the vehicles. The end product was not always pretty, but as Leak explained, “If it gave my soldiers a sense of comfort and protection, I did not care what it looked like, nor did they care what it looked like.”

The battalion operated within the Sunni Triangle, a portion of Iraq that is delineated, more or less, by the cities of Tikrit in the north, Baghdad in the southeast, and Ramadi in the southwest. The region is controlled by the Sunnis and has been the focal point of much of the fighting in Iraq. “Everybody who’s in the Sunni Triangle is experiencing some sort of combat,” he explained.

Operating in that region, the battalion was never far from danger. Every day, the unit would deal with mortar attacks or silkworm missiles, including one that landed just five yards from the battalion’s headquarter building. The weapons of choice for the insurgency, Leak said, are rocket-propelled grenades. “The first time that my heart came through my chest,” he recalled, “was when I had two of these shot at me in Samara. Fortunately, it’s a weapon that is not very accurate, so when it was shot at me, it went high and wide. But needless to say, on that particular day, I was glad that I personally knew the Lord.”

During his comments to the faculty and staff, Art expressed his appreciation for the support he and his family received from the university while he was on active duty. “We do not fully understand the type of institution that we are until we get to the point where we need our family, and how the university community has surrounded us in our time of need,” he said. “Not everybody in the workforce outside Anderson University can say that about their place of employment.”