Heroes Welcome

Welcome home to Ariel's (Bailey, now Lively) husband Jim and ALL of the Marines he was deployed with on this year -long stint (his second that I know of)!

Major Lively led a 16 Marine MIT Team (Military Instructional Transition Team). In layman's terms, he and 16 other Marines were embedded with an Iraqi Battalion to advise them about their operations etc... and help them become autonomous. It was NOT a very safe place when they arrived but below is a description in his words of the improvements they saw in his year there.

To summarize the year in Ramadi would be difficult and I know that most of you have been stayed informed via the IDL. I recently told a senior Marine officer that my year as a combat advisor was by far the most rewarding and challenging year of my 10 year Marine Corps career. In a word – phenomenal. As I left Iraq, the city of Ramadi was continuing to move towards greater stability and increased security. Schools that were rubbled in October 06 were open and full of children in September of 07. Our neighborhoods that had no civic leadership because of the fear of murder and intimidation at the hands of Al Queda when we arrived last year now have a thriving neighborhood council that cooperates with the city government and the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police. The police themselves are probably the biggest accomplishment in Ramadi. There was not a single, blue-shirted police officer in our area of operations when we arrived. When we departed there were over 1500, and many more waiting for training and equipping. Are they perfect? No, but they’re effective and they’re fighting with us and not against us. Thousands of men in their 20s and 30s are uniformed and working hard to prevent an Al Queda resurgence….and they’re accomplishing that. When we arrived last year the city was literally a giant trash dump and portions of the city were completely ravaged by fierce fighting. When we left, the enormous piles of trash – in one case in our neighborhood a trash pile was actually surrounding and partially covering one of the schools – were cleaned away and the city’s trash services were beginning to operate effectively resulting in hundreds of jobs for men who previously could turn only to the insurgency for a paycheck. Millions of dollars in reconstruction funds were committed to rebuilding streets, walls, water plants, irrigation systems and other key infrastructure. Probably the greatest sign to me of change was a simple 5K race, not unlike you’d see around White Rock Lake in Dallas. Prior to the war, the men of Ramadi ran a 5K road race each year as part of pre-Ramadan (an Islamic holiday) celebrations. Well, for the first time in at least 5 years they were able to run that race again. I saw with my own eyes hundreds of men in their running suits streaming down the main street in Ramadi – ecstatic at the safety and security that allowed them to enjoy this simple pleasure. That same stretch of street in central Ramadi was one of the top three most frequently IEDd spots in all of Iraq when we arrived!!! Now Iraqi men were safely running a road race.

As an advisor to the Iraqi Army I’m proud to report that the Iraqi Army played a huge role in all of these things. Our forces provide guidance and some resources, but the Iraqi Army in Ramadi is a viable and competent security force. These men are fearless soldiers and are proud to serve their great nation. It was a great pleasure and honor to serve along side them. It was also a great privilege to serve along side the Marines, Sailors and soldiers on my team. They are the true heroes of this deployment. By God’s grace, they all returned home and only one was slightly wounded in action. They performed with honor and distinction and eight of them received awards for valorous action in the face of the enemy. I’ve never served with a finer group of men. You’ll never imagine my thankfulness that they all returned home.

All of these things were a bi-product of your fervent, disciplined and faithful prayers. Please know that I’m eternally grateful for your vigilance here at home to cover me and my men while deployed. Thank you and praise our Father for His provision, protection and faithfulness.