Cpl. Kyle Harris: A Marine in Babylon

Proud to be a marine— (Left) Kyle Harris served two tours in Iraq, beginning in 2004. (Right) Harris in front of his Anti-Armor Humvee in Iskandariya, Iraq, near Babylon.

After graduating high school in 2001, Kyle Harris tried community college, but he felt restless. He wanted to do something different. Two years later, Harris joined the Marine Corps — just in time to deploy to Iraq.

Harris was a member of a Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT) in the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. The CAAT platoon’s job was to destroy enemy tanks with machine guns and TOW missiles mounted atop Humvees. Since there was not much of a tank threat, Harris’ unit was assigned security missions for VIPs and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) teams.

“Whenever someone would call in a roadside bomb, we’d escort EOD out there while they defused it,” Harris said.

During his first deployment to Iskandariyah, Iraq, Harris’ unit suffered mortar attacks on a daily basis.

The base had a staging area where the Humvees would drive up, the platoon sergeant would go into the building where orders were issued, and the unit would leave on its mission.

“The day we switched our staging areas, the area we usually staged at got mortared, and I remember there was a mortar hole where either the truck ahead of us or my truck would have been,” Harris said. “I guess I would attribute that to God.”

One thing Harris enjoyed about his first deployment was visiting Babylon.

“There’s not a whole lot of historical Babylon left,” he said. “A lot of it is reconstruction, but still, it’s cool to be able to say you’ve been there and seen the ruins at least.”

After seven or eight months in Iraq, Harris returned home to North Carolina. He felt the pressure of knowing he would be returning to combat, and roughly six months later, Harris was redeployed.

This time, the unit was in Hit, Iraq, but he said it was a much easier deployment.

“We were only there two months, and the area we were at was relatively calm compared to our first deployment,” Harris said. “It was a much better experience, and I had a lot more fun.”

After leaving active duty, Harris eventually enrolled at Liberty University as a government major. He is set to graduate this May and is considering a career with a government agency such as the Department of Homeland Security or Department of Defense.

While he has had a hard time readjusting to civilian life, Harris enjoys the camaraderie of life on dorm six, and he likes to unwind like most college guys — playing Call of Duty or practicing his guitar.

Although he has been through a lot, at the end of the day, Harris said he is glad to be a Marine.

“Where else do you get paid to blow stuff up and work out?” he said.

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