Army sergeant returns home after three tours of duty in Iraq.

By Matthew Fleishman, Yardley News Editor


After finishing up his third tour of duty in Iraq, Sgt. First Class David Wood was welcomed home with a gathering of family and friends at the VFW Post 6393 on Sunday, Oct. 4.

For the previous 13 months, Wood was part of an 11-man Military Transition Team (MTT), which had the job of training the new Iraqi military force on how to protect their country from insurgents.

While Wood has seen action all around the world, and made 93 paratrooper jumps, he said that “dumb luck” was the reason he was able to make it home to his family this time.

“There was a 10,000-pound truck full of explosives that got into the camp that morning,” said Wood. “It came through the gate and wouldn’t stop. Rounds were fired at the truck to stop the driver, but the explosives were on a timer and exploded.”

Wood said that five Americans and nine Iraqi trainees were killed, and three buildings were completely leveled in the explosion.

“Our 11-man team was supposed to be there that morning,” said Wood. “It was just dumb luck we weren’t there because we had to do maintenance on our vehicles that morning so we decided to do the training in the afternoon. It blew up right where we would have been.”

Wood’s first tour of duty in Iraq occurred during the first Gulf War, in which he was assigned to work convoy security, helping protect convoys heading from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.

In the second tour of duty, Wood made a jump into Iraq on March 26, 2003, less than a week into the invasion.

“I had just completed jumpmaster school, and we got the alert,” said Wood. “We didn’t know if we were going to make the jump because of a storm, but there was a two-hour window and we made the jump into Northern Iraq to seize an air field. We were supposed to be there for 30 days, but it wound up being 14 months.”

In between his first and second tours of duty in Iraq, Wood made a jump into Kosovo to seize and air field near the Serbian border.

“We jumped onto a snow-covered mountain, did our job, and then jumped on a helicopter and were sent out on patrol on a different mountain,” said Wood.

In his most recent tour, Wood and the rest of his MTT unit were supposed to be stationed in Baghdad, but because of the improvement in safety in that area, and the increase in violence in Mosul, the unit was sent to the area with the greatest need. Wood’s unit taught the Iraqis how to properly clear buildings, search vehicles and plan out operations.

“When we got there, there would be flare-ups four or five times each day,” said Wood. “It’s now once or twice per day. The police are doing a much better job because of our training.”
Now that Wood is home, his family could not be happier.

“It’s awesome!” said Colleen, David’s wife. “We’re truly blessed to have him back once again. He returned to us mentally and physically sound, just as when he left.

“It’s been very hard for us,” continued Colleen. “The one part that has always made it easier is that no matter what he was doing or where he was, he has never missed a birthday or holiday because he always sent us a card to tell us that he was okay.”

After 17 years of marriage, David and Colleen, along with their three children, are going to be stationed near their families, at Fort Dix, N.J. The family has lived in Italy and Germany, in addition to having been stationed around the United States.

“This is the first time they have been close to home,” said Bob Baxter, David’s father-in-law. “Having them at Fort Dix is wonderful.”

Now that Wood is home, he is hoping he won’t have to go on another tour of duty overseas, but due to a potential promotion, he might have to make one last tour. In the meantime, he said that he is enjoying being with his wife and their three sons.

“It’s incredible!” said Wood. “After being away from them for almost 19 months, it’s great to be back. It’s also great being stationed up north. I was able to have a long visit with my dad for the first time in nine years.”