Area’s Blacksheep bring Louisiana skills to Iraq

As Operation Iraqi Freedom continues to rage in between the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, discussions regarding the United States’ involvement rage on as well.

Some support the war, while others oppose it. But regardless of what side you’re on, one entity will always receive universal support: our soldiers.

Sure south Louisianans have the whole American military to support, but it gets a little more personal when the citizens of our area can support a local company stationed from just down the road in Houma.

Charlie Company, also known as the “Blacksheep,” is an Army National Guard unit out of Houma that joined forces with the rest of Louisiana’s 256th Infantry Brigade. They were deployed to Iraq for a one-year tour in 2004.

Nicholls State University History professor SGT Steve Michot served in Iraq for Charlie Company. The historian wrote an article on the company that can be read inside the book “Lafourche Country III,” which will be hitting the shelves in June.

“It’s very tough to do that with somebody that was there, because it brings back bad memories and what not, but who else is going to do it?” said Michot. “I feel I have a talent. I’m a historian; I’m a writer, so this did bring back a lot of memories.”

In addition, Michot is working on a separate book that will feature the Louisiana Brigade as a whole, not just the local company.

“I also want to tell the story of the individual stories, the men and women,” he said. “What I do not have a lot of, which I want to tell, are the stories of the folks back home and their experiences.”

Michot will certainly enlighten readers with his first-hand experience working with fellow Louisiana soldiers as well as other American soldiers.

“I saw people rise to the occasion, 19 year olds, 20 year olds that did their job,” he added. “I was 44 to 46. I thought I’d be the father image, well, I learned a lot from those guys.”

Michot feels shipping National Guard troops to Iraq not only boosts the number of soldiers, it brings a special civilian, citizen-soldier element to the war zone.

“Connect with the people to say we’re the good guys, and we’re here to help you. Who’s best that can reach the people and connect with the people?” exclaimed Michot. “You saw the picture with Lt. [Nicholas] Acosta giving that blanket to that young little girl. She’s got the biggest smile on her face, beautiful blanket. This could be after a hurricane or a flood, and we’re going to the local people.”

Along with the experience members of the Louisiana National Guard have with helping victims of hurricanes and floods, Michot said many members received training unique to our area that became great assets in Iraq.

“When we were making the move from Kuwait into Iraq, a lot of the vehicles at that time were not armored. So we got local welders in our unit to start welding metal plates underneath the carriage and on the side,” he said. “Wasn’t army trained, it was simply civilian job trained.”

Michot said in another instance, troops raided a refinery, but they were afraid it could be rigged to explode.

“And you could lose 60 or 90 people in one big explosion, because there was a lot of fuel in there,” he said. “The Army Command System had no idea how to shut the place down. They tasked the guy who was from south Louisiana who worked in oil refineries to go there and figure it out.”

Michot said south Louisianan intuition helped the area’s soldiers as well, when the troops went out on patrols to attempt to find supplies or bombs to diffuse.

“We were hunters and trappers,” said Michot. “Every time we’d go out, we’d find stuff. We said, ‘let’s look in this well,’ and it was stockpiled with ammunition.”

Michot added that members of the Houma and New Orleans police forces serving in Iraq were tasked to train the Iraqi police force.

Blacksheep soldiers (from left) Sgt. Dan Adams, Lt. Jeremy Sonnier, Staff Sgt. Josh Garrett, Sgt. Steve Michot proudly hold a Nicholls flag in Iraq. * Photo courtesy of SGT. STEVE MICHOT