FORT CARSON — Eric Altreche, 10, knows why his dad is returning to Iraq this December.

"He has to go. It's his job to protect the country," said Eric, a fifth-grader at Widefield Elementary School.

Eric's dad, Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas Altreche, is among 3,700 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division heading to Iraq in December for up to 15 months.

It will be Altreche's third trip to Iraq and his fourth deployment during the war on terrorism — he was among soldiers who cleared the Taliban and Al Quaida out of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"It's kind of like being a plumber. You have to do a septic tank once in awhile," Altreche, 41, said Tuesday. "I have to go back. It's my job, and I'll continue to do so as long as I'm in the military."

Members of Altreche's unit learned July 31 they were being redeployed later this year. They returned from the unit's second deployment just before Thanksgiving. Their first deployment was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Altreche's commanding officer, Col. John Hort, told reporters Tuesday that the unit's role will be slightly different this time. They'll be spending more time meeting Iraqis in Baghdad neighborhoods as part of a strategy to win local support, Hort said.

That strategy risks attack from people who don't want Americans in Iraq, Hort said.

"I obviously don't like it very much," Altreche's wife, Shawna, 31, said of the new deployment. "I worry all the time." The Altreches were eating in the dining hall, where Hort spoke to the media.

In addition to Eric, Shawna will be taking care of Aaron, 9, and Lindsey, 12. They are also in Widefield schools. Two grown children do not live at home.

Shawna, who grew up in Houston, works for a telecommunications firm.

Raising a family alone is difficult, she said. Eric and his siblings helped their mom move the family from Texas to Colorado during Nicholas's last deployment to Iraq. Eric promised to help her around the house this time, too.

"I miss him a lot," Eric said.

The Altreches, married since 1999, communicate by e-mail when Nicholas is away. They also send handwritten letters, like couples in America's previous wars.

"She makes me keep every letter," Altreche said.

He joined the Army after Iraq invaded Kuwait, setting off the first Gulf War in 1991. He was working as an electrician for the state of Texas at the time.

"I was a recruiter's dream," Altreche said. "I walked into the office and said, 'When do I leave?'"

Actually, the war was over so quickly, Altreche never got to go. But he served in Somalia, Bosnia and South Korea.

He is with the artillary. He selects the targets.

So far, he's unscathed.

During his first deployment to Iraq, the unit was stationed in Sammara, two hours north of Baghdad. The unit was taking three mortar rounds a day for months.

"It was a bad place to be," he said. "You could call it lucky I'm still here."

Altreche said he's optimistic the United States will prevail in Iraq. American troops win most of the confrontations with the terrorists, although that doesn't always get through to the folks at home, he said.

"My biggest heartburn with the media is that we've never lost a battle, yet we're getting defeated in the media. I don't understand that for the life of me," he said.

The war is worth fighting, he said. A stable Iraq will be an American ally, able to police terrorism within its own borders and be a force against terrorism in the region.

Most soldiers understand the mission, Altreche said.

"We all knew what we were doing there," he said.

When the next deployment ends, Altreche will be about 18 months from retirement.

"I told him, once he gets out of the Army, he's never going away again," Shawna Altreche said.

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

Size: 3,700

Base: Fort Carson

Next deployment: Iraq in December

Number of tours: 40 percent are going for the third time, 20 percent for the second time and 40 percent for a first tour.

Previous deployments and fataliies:

March 2003 to April 2004. 35 killed.

November 2005 to November 2006. 18 killed.

Combat pay: Soldiers get about $600 a month, including a separation allowance and hazardous duty pay. When they return, they collect $3.50 for every day they spent in Iraq. Up to $10,000 can be placed in an Army savings account that pays 10 percent interest. The payments and the interest are tax free.

Source: Army spokesman

morsonb@RockyMountainNews.comor 303 954-5209

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