National Guardsman, A.J. Przybyla, back home after Iraq duty

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

Just in time for the holidays, 1st Lt. A.J. Przybyla of Rogers City, returned home from Iraq to reunite with family and friends.

After spending the past 9 months in the Middle East, members of the Saginaw-based Michigan National Guard unit came home December 21.

The emotional reunion featured approximately 130 soldiers assigned to the Company B, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry walking into Delta College to a standing ovation. Przybyla, who served as a platoon leader in charge of 39 men, doesn?t have a wife or children, but got caught up in the moment.

?THERE WAS A lot of happy families,? said Przybyla, who has been back in Rogers City for more than three weeks. ?I enjoyed it more from the aspect of watching my guys see their families.?

Attending the ceremony was A.J.?s parents Tony and Mary, along with some of his college friends from Midland.

After eight months in Iraq, Przybyla was glad to be home for the holidays and proud of the progress he and his fellow troops made in the country.

?It was a good feeling,? he said. ?From the time we got there until the time we left, it changed 10-fold from what it looked like. People actually started to taking a little pride in their community.?

Some of the worst areas, such as the Sunni Triangle, are now probably the safest places to be in Iraq. It was once considered a lost cause a short 24 months before.

PRZYBYLA HAS mixed emotions about being home with the uncertainty of the times and a deep-rooted desire to get back to a regimented lifestyle that involves helping others getting their lives on track.

?If another unit was deploying, I would volunteer to go back in the next couple of months,? he said.

He was based at Camp Ramadi, 110 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. The soldiers started their assignments in Fort Hood, Texas, where they trained as personal security detachment for military and civilian personnel. The unit also assisted with the rebuilding of the country?s infrastructure.

More than 20 Company B soldiers were on their second tour. Company B went to the Persian Gulf in February 2005 and spent the next 16 months participating in patrols, raids, ambush missions, searches and base defense operations near Baghdad.

?When they went back, they couldn?t believe the improvements,? said Przybyla. THE 2001 Rogers City High School graduate joined a ROTC unit in 2003. He was commissioned in January 2007 after receiving his automotive marketing degree from Northwood University in 2006.

Przybyla attended officers? basic training from May to October 2007. ?It made me mature a lot,? he added.

?Having to work with guys 19-years-old, and this is the longest they?ve been away from their family.? He also was in charge of soldiers as old as 40. As platoon leader, Przybyla was in charge of planning operations for the daily missions of his troop.

Interestingly, one of the young men he ran into in the chow hall was Cpl. Nathan Darga, who he had read about in the Advance only days before.

?I?m walking in the chow hall, ready to put my tray away, and there he is sitting there,? said Przybyla. ?It was good seeing someone from the local hometown. It was good, I ran into him four or five times.?

About 1,600 Michigan National Guard soldiers and airmen remain deployed across the globe.