Spc. Manuel Garcia, a 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment soldier, is welcomed home to Vilseck early Tuesday morning by, from left, son Jaiden, wife Jennifer, daughter Jelissa and sons Drew and Jaxton. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
VILSECK, Germany — Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment are coming home to a community that has changed drastically during the 15 months they were deployed to Iraq.
At Vilseck, the post exchange — once the heart of the Grafenwöhr-Vilseck community — has been replaced by a furniture store. A new mall, including a PX and commissary, opened at Grafenwöhr. The 172nd Infantry Brigade arrived at Graf over summer and is preparing to embark on its own Iraq mission next month.
U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr spokesman Franz Zeilmann said the community is preparing for the Strykers’ arrival and reintegration.
"USAG Grafenwöhr used the deployment of the soldiers to update soldiers’ facilities and their working places with a very intensive construction program," he said.
Garrison agencies will offer many extra programs to the returning troops including Outdoor Recreation trips, free child care, and sales and giveaways at the PX and commissary. Local German communities are also planning welcome-home events, he said.
The new facilities, new people and community activities were not the first things on the minds of some of the first Strykers who made it home in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
One of them, Staff Sgt. Robert Cruz, 37, of Guam, said he was looking forward to spending time with his wife, Geri, nieces Jenna, 11, Benita and Benicia, both 16, and nephew Isaiah, 3.
Cruz’s extended family greeted him warmly when he marched into the Memorial Fitness Center with a group of other soldiers, putting a traditional Pacific Island lei around his neck and talking about plans for welcome-home celebrations.
"We are ready to party and barbecue," Benicia said as family members clustered around a beaming Cruz.
Another Stryker who got home Tuesday, Spc. Manuel Garcia, 28, of Miami, said he was looking forward to driving a regular car.
Garcia spent his time in Iraq driving a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle out of Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Diyala province, he said.
The armored personnel carrier handles all right on paved roads, but it’s not an off-roader, he said.
"(Off-road) everyone in the vehicle is bumping around all over the place," he said, adding that he’ll be driving his family around in a Mazda van in Germany.
Garcia needs a van to move his expanding family including wife Jennifer, sons Drew, 14, Jaiden, 12, and Jaxton, 6 and daughter Jelissa, 18 months.
"I’m going to spend time with them. Whatever they enjoy doing ... and get to know my daughter," he said.
Jelissa was only a few months old when her father deployed.
The other kids have changed, too, Garcia said, pointing out the fuzzy moustache growing on Drew’s upper lip.
While his dad was gone, Drew broke his arm and it got better. Now he wants to show his father his football-tossing skills, he said.
"I just don’t want him to leave again," Jennifer said as the family prepared to drive back to their home in Eschenbach. "I’m just going to enjoy the time I have now while I have him."
