Col. Heidi Brown will be redeployed to Iraq in 2008. (Victor Calzada / El Paso Times)
The woman who led Fort Bliss air defenders into combat during the 2003 Iraq invasion -- and most recently was the post's deputy commander -- is taking a new assignment that will send her back to Iraq, where she's likely to be responsible for security during that country's 2009 election.

Col. Heidi Brown, an El Paso native with multiple tours of duty at Fort Bliss during her 27-year career, said last week during an interview with the El Paso Times that she probably would not be reassigned to the post, and that leaving was "bittersweet."

Brown, a brigade commander who led a ground force into war, also bore responsibility for the 507th Maintenance Company, which lost nine soldiers to wounds suffered in a March 23, 2003, ambush in Iraq.

That ambush revealed weak nesses in Army training routines, which have since been transformed. Now all soldiers -- including those without combat arms specialties -- learn weapons skills and convoy tactics in basic training.

Brown points out that no matter how carefully soldiers are trained, the enemy adapts.

She is heading to Fort Lewis, Wash., where she will learn a new job -- combat support operations. She will be in charge of sustainment for I Corps, which includes all the logistics, all the maintenance, all the convoys, detainee operations and military police.

She is scheduled to return to Iraq next spring and remain there through that country's elections.

Brown was born in 1959, a year after her father, a field artillery soldier

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who served at Fort Bliss, retired to El Paso. She attended Crockett Elementary and Austin High.

Although her first choice for a military career was military intelligence, she said she is glad she decided on air defense.

Air defense "had lots of opportunities for women that other combat arms (units) didn't have," Brown said. "I knew it wouldn't be a desk job."

In the late 1990s, Brown took a Patriot missile battalion to Saudi Arabia and Ku wait, where the unit was "at battle stations almost the entire time, because the Iraqis had violated the no-fly zone."

After a stint at the Pentagon, Brown returned to Fort Bliss to take command of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

"It was about three weeks into the brigade command (that) I went to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to visit one of my battalions that was deployed, and that's when I found out there were war plans and 31st Brigade was mentioned in them," Brown said.

As the deployment drew near, she was informed that she would take only her headquarters and two Patriot battalions from other units. One was a Fort Bliss unit that included the 507th Maintenance Company.

"I knew with great confidence the training level of my headquarters," Brown said. "I was uncertain of that training level of the two battalions I inherited. But I trusted that they were at a high level of readiness.

"But what I would tell you is, bad things happen in war and everyone kind of expected ... no air defenders would be killed."

The ambush was a lesson learned the hard way, she said. But it changed how soldiers train and fight, and the knowledge gained from that incident has saved uncounted lives, she added.

Bullet holes in the Hum vees and trucks showed the need for more armor. The 507th soldiers had gotten lost, demonstrating the need for global positioning equipment in every vehicle. The soldiers' weapons were jamming, indicating the need for more-rigorous weapons training.

Brown wears a black wristband in memory of the soldiers who lost their lives in the ambush.

"For five years I thought about it, and in my heart, and when I look in the mirror every day, I know I did the best I could and yet the enemy gets a vote," Brown said.

"Would I change the outcome? Oh, my God, yes. Of course, I would. Would I trade places with them? In a heartbeat. In a heartbeat."

Chris Roberts may be reached at chrisr@elpasotimes.com; 546-6136.


  • Read a question-and-answer piece with Army Col. Heidi Brown

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    The following is a partial transcript of an interview with Col. Heidi Brown, former Fort Bliss deputy commander and deputy commandant of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center and School, who is taking a new assignment that will send her back to Iraq early next year. She is a 27-year Army veteran who led an air-defense brigade into Iraq during the invasion. Her command included the 507th Maintenance Company.
    Q. Why did you decided to go into air defense artillery?
    A. For combat arms, air defense had at the time -- and has expanded greatly in the last 27 years -- they had lots of opportunities for women that other combat arms didn't have. And that's why I"stayed in it. Because it's, I"knew it wouldn't be a desk job
    Q. Are you satisfied with the opportunities you have had in air defense. Did you want to be in combat?
    A. I"did. I was stationed at West Point during Desert Storm and I was a tactical officer, and the "tacs" were told don't even go there, you're not going, quit volunteering. So, I"thought, doggone it, I had some of my cadets that were now lieutenants going off to desert storm and here I"am a pretty senior captain, and I"thought, I"have all this experience and I'm here and here are these young men and women and they're going to go and I"feared for them and so I"wanted to go because I"had experience. I'm not a war monger, I'm just somebody that, you know that's what we train for ... and so, with (Operation Iraqi Freedom, or OIF), when I"found out that my brigade was deploying, personally and professionally I"was very happy. And I'm about ready to go again in early winter and I'm looking forward to it to see the difference too.
    Q. Did you feel the need to be there so you could be a better instructor?
    A. Oh, yeah. Because, when I"look back at my OIF"experiences and when I"look back here, I"flipped my training huge, based on the experience I"had with my soldiers. I"knew better what I"needed to focus on.
    Q. What were the circumstances of your first battalion command?
    A. I"came out on the battalion command list there (at the Pentagon) and I"came back here (Fort Bliss) to command a Patriot battalion that I"wound up taking to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, during Desert Thunder 2 and Desert Fox. We were basically at battle stations almost the entire time, because the Iraqis had violated the no fly zone. So that was high adventure.
    Q. What about your command of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade?
    A. It was about three weeks into the brigade command (that) I"went to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to visit one of my battalions that was deployed and that's when I"found out there were war plans and 31st Brigade was mentioned in them. And so then I"focused on getting a brigade ready, to wind up only taking my headquarters and receiving two different battalions (one of which was a Fort Bliss unit that included the 507th Maintenance Company) and support folks in theater.
    (Suddenly Brown breaks off from answering the question.)
    "The 23rd of March, 2003, (when the 507th was ambushed and nine of its soldiers were killed) changed our lives forever."
    Q. Has time changed the way you look at that incident?
    A. I"can talk about the 507th and not, and not, you know, start crying. I"didn't used to be able to get through that. I think that time heals wounds, but you never forget and, as I"told my mother, you live with it forever, you live with what happens in war forever and it's hard to explain to somebody.
    Q. Has that incident changed the way the Army trains soldiers?
    A. It transformed the way the Army does things, huge. We didn't have unarmored vehicles, we didn't have the protective vests, we only had certain numbers of those protective vests. We are ruthless in how we train for (improvised explosive devices). We didn't even do that before we deployed because that just wasn't something that we had encountered. We are ruthless in every one qualifying not just with their individual weapon, but with crew-served weapons (such as a large-caliber machine gun), so they are at least familiarizing themselves with crew served weapons that they may end up having to use. ... Yes, it transformed the Army, and rightfully so, I"guess, it's a matter of the enemy uses different tactics than what we train for, so we change the way we train.
    Q. How did it change the way you did things at Fort Bliss?
    A. Privates are going through convoy live-fire. The first time I"went through convoy live fire, I"was a battalion commander. So it's across the Army now. When I"deployed the 31st Combat Support Hospital the plan was for those doctors and nurses and support folks, they were going to share weapons, and I"said, "Not on my watch." So I"went to the Forces Command weapons locker, if you will, and I"got weapons for everybody. I"was just ruthless with, I mean, set everybody up for success. I was going to make sure I"had done everything in my power. (The) 31st CSH went through convoy live-fire before they deployed. (The) 745th Forward Surgical Team went through convoy live fire before they deployed.
    Everybody came away from the war ... and said, wow, we really need to change the way we're doing stuff. Like I"said, IEDs, I"didn't even know what an IED"was. But when we got back, I"told my guys, use your imagination. Use a dead coyote cactus and put an explosive in it and let's see what our guys do. Put a Coke can on the side of the road and see what our guys do in the middle of the desert and see if they pick it up, and go, "Wait a minute, we're in the middle of the desert, but there's a Coke can." That might be, may not be (a threat), but it should trigger you. So we really changed a lot.
    Q. Have you been unfairly blamed for the 507th incident?
    A. It's an interesting question, because I"will tell you this, a commander is held responsible for all things a unit does. What goes well and what doesn't. ... What I would say to folks is, I"didn't have time to train them. I"took a unit and rehearsed a unit and the unit did something not expected.
    The brigade commander who was responsible for their training was held accountable and he retired the day that he relinquished command. I remember my mother telling me, "You're not responsible." And I"said, "Well, I'm the commander." ... I"knew with great confidence the training level of my headquarters, which is all I"took to war. I"was uncertain of that training level of the two battalions I"inherited (5th Battalion, 52 Air Defense Artillery, from Fort Bliss, and the 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery from Germany). But I"trusted that they were at a high level of readiness. But what I would tell you is, bad things happen in war and everyone kind of expected that no soldiers no air defenders would be killed, nothing bad would happen to our units. And I will tell you this, I"really thought that if anything was going to go wrong, it was going to happen in the Karbala Gap, because that was kind of Saddam Hussein's release. That was the line that we were told was the release for, most likely, for chemical weapons. And so, what I"prayed for every day was that I"would be able to bring my soldiers back. And so, that's what's so hard. I"lost soldiers and, you know, would I"do anything differently than what I"did? I will tell you this, I"would not. I"did everything within my means to make the right decisions, and with the information I"had, to rehearse every one to the best of my ability. I"did everything that I"knew how to do and still the enemy gets a vote. And now, and I"say that because I"really have thought long and hard, for five years I"thought about it, and in my heart, and when I"look in the mirror everyday, I"know I"did the best I"could and yet the enemy gets a vote. Would I"change the outcome? Oh my God, yes. Of course I"would. Would I"trade places with them? In a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. Whether it would be the POWs or whether it would be my soldiers who were killed, I"would have traded places with them if I"could have. Any of these young folks, and I"think I"was older than everyone who was killed (voice breaks). There's not a day that goes by that I"don't think about each and every one.
    Q. Did the ambush change the way the Army fights?
    A. Absolutely. Unarmored vehicles, probably, because of bullets through the vehicles. Communication in every vehicle, (global positioning equipment) of some sort in every vehicle, more crew-served weapons, all that stuff. But you learn. I"think we've learned out of every war. But it doesn't mean we're not going to have people killed, because we have people killed each and every day.
    Q. So, what's in your future?
    A. I'm going to be the deputy commander for sustainment (for I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash.). I'm filling a (deputy commanding general) position up there. ... I'm going to take over sustainment, which right now potentially includes all the logistics, all the maintenance, all the convoys, detainee operations, and I"think I'm going to take over the national elections in November of '09. So it is going to be a very, very interesting job. It's going to be an incredible job and I"am so looking forward to it.
    We're going to have several divisions under us when we deploy, that'll come from different places, actually, I"think Fort Drum, (N.Y.) and Fort Hood, so we will take over from XVIII"Airborne Corps, who's over there now. But I"have a lot to learn. ... I've got to learn everything I"can between now and when we deploy on logistics, maintenance, sustainment, you know, I'm a sponge and I'm just going to soak it all up and rely on very smart folks to walk with me.
    Q. When do you deploy?
    A. In the spring, early spring.
    Q. What will be your specific responsibilities for the Iraqi election?
    A. I"honestly don't know yet. I"think what I"will wind up doing is talking to folks who have done it in Afghanistan and other places. I"just really don't know, it's probably the overseer of the whole process, whether it be working out details for securing polling sites, all that kind of stuff."
    Q. Even ensuring ballot boxes aren't tampered with?
    A. Probably. I"would imagine the whole thing.
    Q. Anything you'd like to add?
    A. The last thing I'll say is, chances are this is my last assignment at Fort Bliss, and I"have loved each and every one. It is very bittersweet to leave here.