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The soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division were excited to return to Fort Stewart after capturing Baghdad in 2003. They planned to hug their families and friends, mourn their lost comrades, replace broken equipment and repair their battered armored vehicles.

Then came a surprise. Instead of going home, 3rd ID was going to Fallujah. The lightly-equipped 101st Airborne Division had shot up the town, and commanders had decided to send the rolling thunder of Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks.

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But the division wasn’t ready. They’d waited weeks for spare parts that never came. They were not combat-ready.

I’d been embedded with the 3rd ID since they’d crossed over from Kuwait two months earlier. Sergeant majors and staff officers knew me........

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