NEW FEATURE Soldier from Valley to write about her experiences in Iraq

As a woman and an attorney in the Army, she has a rare perspective on Iraq.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Army Capt. Patricia D. Cika, stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, is writing a series of weekly columns for The Vindicator called Iraq Diary, starting Thursday.
As an attorney in charge of operational law for the 82nd, Cika, of Liberty, has a rare perspective of what's happening in Iraq.
She will use that insight and her writing skills, honed at Liberty High School as a staff writer and art editor for the school's student newspaper, The Leopard's Roar, to bring area readers the real experiences and views of an American military woman in Iraq.
Cika's topics will include:
UWhy she is in the military and how her hometown and her dad affected her feelings about patriotism.
UWhat it's like being a lawyer in Iraq dealing with court-martial, detainees and training Iraqis on the concept of freedom.
UArmy chow and other military cuisine in the war zone.
UWhat it's like being a female soldier in a foreign land such as Iraq.
UThe Iraqi culture, language, customs and surroundings.
UWhat she plans to do when her tour of duty ends. At the top of her list is her marriage this spring to a fellow soldier, also in the 82nd.
A number of area teachers will be using Cika's column as a learning tool in the classroom as part of The Vindicator's Newspaper in Education program.
What she does
Cika's job with the 82nd is to interpret the Law of Armed Conflict for U.S. troops in combat and teach criminal procedure and the concepts of freedom and basic human rights for the new Iraqi police force.
She also helps U.S. commanders determine which targets to hit and what types of weapons to use around sensitive sites, such as mosques or hospitals.
On occasion she acts as a trial counsel, the military equivalent of a prosecutor, in criminal cases that arise at her base.
Recently she handled a court-martial case in which the defendant, a sergeant first class with 17 years of service, was found guilty of sexually harassing new female soldiers and of indecently assaulting one while she slept. In addition to the criminal charges, the sergeant was charged with cruelty and maltreatment of a subordinate under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
She said the sergeant was sentenced to six months' confinement, was reduced in rank to private and forfeited his retirement. Also, he will have to register as a sex offender.
Cika, about whom The Vindicator published a story on Christmas Day 2003 (accompanied by A Letter From Iraq, written by Cika), is a self-described "hometown girl" who said she "misses Y-town and Ohio like crazy."
Her family
But she said she willingly lives on the other side of the world to defend her country.
She said she acquired her "fierce love of country and the military" from her father, Andrew Cika, and her uncle Frank Adaswic, both World War II veterans.
Her father served a tour in the Army before the United States entered World War II, and re-enlisted and served in the Army Air Forces in Saipan, China, during the war.
Adaswic served in the Army infantry, arriving on the beaches of Normandy with the waves of soldiers that followed the initial invasion of France. He served as an acolyte at a Mass in the chapel at St. Mere Eglise during the thick of the war, she said.
"In the 82nd Airborne, we hold the town of St. Mere Eglise close to our hearts as part of our history. Our streets, our drops zones and even the base camp in Fallujah, where my fianc & eacute; is located, bear the namesake of St. Mere."
Dangers
Cika said there are obvious dangers in serving in Iraq.
On Dec. 11, 2003, the 82nd's headquarters was attacked by a car bomb, and there is enemy fire almost every night. The unit's helicopters are targeted constantly, and everyone knows that explosives threaten U.S. forces every day, she said.
"The danger is always there, so you tend not to discuss it. It would be like working on a fishing boat in Alaska. It's dangerous work, but you don't sit around and talk about how dangerous it is. You just do your job as well as you can and try not to become complacent," she said.
Everyday living is a challenge as well.
"I think what most soldiers miss on deployment is their personal freedom. You spend a lot of time not being able to leave a small area, not being able to exercise as you would at home, not being able to wear a pair of jeans, not being able to wear headphones when outside, not being able to go see a movie or pick up the phone and call your family," Cika said.
"Many soldiers live in open bays with several others less than four feet away. Those who have children are missing out on time they can never get back, and scores of soldiers miss babies being born as well as holidays and weddings," she said.
"There is a sense that life is going on without you, but we try our best to get each other through," Cika said.
"On the other hand, if you are going to go to war, whatever your job -- from cook to engineer to rifleman -- you might as well earn the right to deserve peoples' assumptions that you contributed to the mission. It would be a horrible feeling to say, 'I went to war, but I only did the minimum I had to do to get by.'
"So, we all just wake up every day and try to remember to keep our heads and hearts in the game," Cika said.