By JOSEPH KELLARD
A public-relations officer and first lieutenant in the Air Force, O'Brien, 24, joined a weapons effectiveness assessment team that, following the fall of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, evaluated the coalition's bombing of Iraq. Rather than being confronted by hostile Iraqis or foreign terrorists, O'Brien came away with an experience quite different than some who met with condemnation, bullets and bombs.
"The Iraqi people were incredible," O'Brien said from his station in Dayton, Ohio. "They were hospitable, and they had very little or nothing, but they would offer us soda and water while we were out inspecting the sites. These people were honestly glad we were there and were happy with what we accomplished."
The assessment team, comprising American, British and Australian personnel, combed through selected sites in Baghdad in an effort to determine the accuracy of their intelligence on targeted structures, the effectiveness of the weapons used and their explosive power, the accuracy with which the targets -- whether an entire building or a single room -- were hit, the effects of collateral damage, and other areas of interest. The team's mission was to learn how to improve these factors to further assist their militaries in future campaigns. As a public-relations officer, O'Brien acted as a liaison between his team and any members of the press who showed up at the sites.
Among the Iraqis he crossed paths with were young soccer fans wearing David Beckham jerseys, who expressed to him their anger at the horrific treatment Iraqi athletes suffered -- including torture and murder -- at the hands of Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusai.
"When they told me about the Hussein brothers, you could see how filled with venom they were," O'Brien said.
O'Brien was struck by the number of Iraqis who spoke English (though often broken), and how infinitely easier this made communicating with and getting to know them. "I think that the overwhelming majority of the Iraqis are great people, hospitable, and loving," he said, "and I don't think we're getting that [fact] out enough."
Nevertheless, O'Brien and his team were fully aware that they were in a war zone where, following the fall of Baghdad, there were continued deadly attacks on coalition forces. "Every day you left the installation, you would have to treat it as if it was your first time out and have eyes in the back of your head," he explained. "I wore a bulletproof vest and a Kevlar helmet. It was definitely scary."
Facing this ever-present uncertainty, the desert heat, and food that was far from five-star quality, O'Brien took inspiration, in part, from the dedication with which his team performed its tasks, meeting with the people who developed the weaponry that was used and who "cared so much about how they performed," he said. Moreover, at the Air Operating Center in Saudi Arabia, where he spent time before being deployed to Baghdad, a wall was created with photos of every person killed on Sept. 11. Above it was a sign that read, "Why We're Here."
"Every once in a while I would catch the word 'Oceanside' next to somebody's name," he recalled. "Whenever I was feeling down, seeing that made me say that we're here for the right reasons."
O'Brien's road to Baghdad began at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997, where he trained in leadership, parachuting and survival in addition to going through boot camp. He graduated with a degree in Russian language and political science in 2001, and earned the status of commissioned lieutenant in the Air Force.
That summer, he attended the Defense Information School at Fort G. Mead in Maryland, where he graduated as a public affairs officer and was immediately eligible for deployment. Not long afterward came the attacks of Sept. 11.
O'Brien was stationed in Dayton before he was deployed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany in February 2003. Prior to landing in Baghdad, he was transported first to Saudi Arabia, then Qatar, serving as an action officer whose duties were to coordinate interviews between air force personnel and news outlets such as MSNBC and Fox News.
It was before he even found himself in the bombed buildings of Baghdad that he came across some of the most troubing wartime scenes. "One night while I was in Germany, I helped unload a plane of wounded coalition forces," O'Brien said. Despite the blood they had shed, he recalled, the wounded were in good spirits, knowing they'd receive good care and be able to talk with their families.
On another night in Germany, O'Brien was present when Jessica Lynch was transported there from the Middle East, and he prepared the private's flight crew for interviews with the media. "She was a tiny little person," O'Brien recalled about the glimpse he got of Lynch.
In Qatar, some 10 days before he was to leave for Baghdad, O'Brien learned he'd be part of the weapons effectiveness assessment mission, and discussed it with his parents. "The mission didn't guarantee that I would be coming home," O'Brien said. "And I talked with my folks, and my father told me this [was] an opportunity I didn't want to pass up and that I'd be kicking myself if I did. And that really hit home, because I look back so fondly on that experience."
Susan O'Brien, who occasionally received calls from her son while he was in Baghdad, said that during his deployment she felt at once worried and proud, but that the latter emotion more than balanced the former. "I felt very proud, because he was very proud to be part of the mission," she said. "So that made it easier for me while he was over there. That was comforting to me."
For O'Brien, being in the central battleground in the war on terrorism was a life- and perspective-changing experience. "I think what we see on TV is only part of the story," he said when asked to elaborate. "The Iraqis are great people and ... were in such good spirits, and were willing to give us things even though they have little or nothing to give. And being an American and especially a Long Island kid, we come from such privilege and sometimes we take that for granted."
O'Brien is currently attending graduate school at Wright State University in Dayton, and has about 30 more months to serve in the military, enough time for him to decide whether he wants a career in the Air Force or might possibly turn to teaching high school. Until then, there's always the possibility that he may be called back to the Middle East.
"Wherever the nation feels its troops are best served," O'Brien concluded, "I'll be happy to serve in any way possible and keep fighting the good fight."
