Iraqi-American Returns To Home Country As US Army Soldier
“It didn’t feel strange because it’s all about the unit and the team that you’re with,” Ahmed said. “You keep your emotions in check because you have a job to do. I was focused on my job.”
California Army National Guard, Sgt. Aqeel Ahmed, arrived in Iraq with Soldiers of the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, returning to the country of his birth for the first time in 10 years.
(Photo credit : Maj. Jason Sweeney)
Ahmed is an 88M motor transport operator in the California Army National Guard. Due to his language skills, he was asked to deploy to the Middle East with the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) to serve as a unit linguist and cultural adviser in the brigade’s intelligence section. Ahmed was born in Baghdad to a traditional Middle Eastern family. His father worked and his mother stayed home to raise him and his siblings. When coalition forces liberated Iraq in 2003, Ahmed was a 13-year-old middle school student. The arrival of the U.S. military turned his country and his life upside down. The school was suspended and everyone was sheltered at home. The immediate effect was a loss of security as Iraqi security forces were dismantled.
“Groups started fighting against the Americans. When they conducted an attack on the Americans, most likely there was other damage.”
Sgt. Aqeel Ahmed poses for a photo while deployed to the Middle East with the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.
A small American forward operating base (FOB) was located in his neighborhood in west Baghdad. The FOB was under constant attack. Ahmed was in front of his house washing the family car and hanging out with his friends when an 82 mm mortar round fired by an insurgent group missed its target and detonated near him.
“All I remember is I woke up coughing and everything was completely black because of the smoke and the explosion. I couldn’t breathe. My body was wet because I was hit in multiple places.”
Two of his friends were killed by the blast.
“When you wake up in the darkness, you find bodies right next to you not breathing. I started screaming. I lost it. Trying to stand up, I fell because my leg was broken. I noticed the shin was not straight.”
Pieces of shrapnel were lodged in his back, leg and neck. His leg was badly broken. He was taken to a hospital but it was overwhelmed with patients and little care was available for him. It took him four years to recover from his injuries. Today, the shrapnel in his body sets off alarms when he walks through metal detectors at airports.
(Photo credit : Maj. Jason Sweeney)
“You can’t find a greater organization than the U.S. Army to join. I found an opportunity to change my life. Physically and mentally, I struggled a lot after my injuries. The military put me back on track, got me in shape. It’s not about yourself anymore. It’s all about the team.”
After his long recovery, he went back to school. He attended the University of Baghdad’s school of languages, majoring in Spanish with a minor in English, graduating in 2014. That same year, he and his parents were allowed to immigrate to the United States as refugees. They were sponsored by an uncle who lived in Sacramento. They settled in Modesto, where Ahmed got a job as a Spanish-to-English translator at a mental health agency and a second job at a school where he worked with special needs children. He had always been attracted to the discipline associated with military service. In 2017, he joined the Army National Guard, choosing the Guard over active duty so he could remain close to his parents.
He became an American citizen in 2018. In 2021, he was picked up for the nine-month deployment to the Middle East with the 40th CAB and was stationed at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. He served as a translator and cultural adviser for the brigade and put his military occupational specialty to work running the headquarters company motor pool.
As his deployment in the Middle East came to an end, he said he planned to remain focused on his career in the National Guard and on returning to his job at OMI. He completed his deployment with the 40th CAB in late December when he left Camp Buehring for demobilization at North Fort Hood, Texas.
He said maybe one day he will return to Iraq. His siblings, their spouses and kids still live in Baghdad and he often thinks about their safety and security.