When Makaila Borrell got married to her husband Guelmys she knew she only had a short time before he would have to leave. Guelmys Borrell is an Army Engineer and two months after their wedding he was off to Iraq. He was gone for a year.They had been married two months.

When he came home last week he didn't come alone. He brought two of his Army buddies from the 18th Engineers with him, Steven Brown and Justin Holland and the dangers they faced provide some insight into what soldiers there face daily. They are all based in Joint Base Lewis- McChord.

Makaila, whose mother, Kari Sabye lives on Alki, planned a big welcome home party for him at her mom's apartment. That's when her aunt Chantelle Leetch got involved. Leetch an avid painter, spent 9 hours creating an amazing mural on the windows of her sister's apartment, including their names, the American flag, and more. When the guys arrived they were happily surprised.

While the welcome home party was a happy occasion, these men faced dangers you can't imagine on a daily basis. Working out of Baquba, Iraq as engineers it was their job to clear routes, including the roads before other troops arrive. That means they were the first in, and if the deadliest weapons of that war were there, the improvised explosive devices (IED) they were the ones who must deal with them. The exceptions for this role are the larger weapons that are handled by another division EOD (as portrayed in the film The Hurt Locker though all three men have major issues with the way that film portrayed that mission). "We would search for IED's, and clear the routes so it was safe for the infantry to enter an area," Holland said.

Borrell pointed out that their mission also involved training others. "Our primary job was to turn the power over to the Iraqi forces, so this year we spent a lot of time training the Iraqi Army," he said.

Despite the winding down of the war there, Iraq remains an incredibly dangerous place. Borrell was "blown up four times" during his tour of duty. That means his vehicle, a Buffalo, described by Holland as a "big eight wheeled chunk of metal" and Brown added, " the most up armored vehicle the Army has," encountered road side bombs that exploded as they passed. Two of the incidents were IED's and two were Rocket Propelled Grenades. Brown was shot at in a mixup over being able to identify who was who one night possibly involving friendly fire though that's unclear. He was doing route clearance when at one point two tracer rounds (bullets that leave a glowing trail) passed a foot over his head. Luckily none of the men suffered any injuries.

After facing danger routinely, while it is never taken for granted, all three men acknowledged that they came to accept it. They would hear an explosion go off, go into a heightened state and then feel great relief when a loudspeaker on the base would say "Controlled det complete," meaning a planned explosion was carried out. "It got to the point where you'd hear an explosion go off and you'd roll back over and go to sleep, " said Holland.

Their jobs often utilized robotic devices to find and deal with explosive devices. These devices have extendable arms that can pick up 25 pounds when fully extended. We would use those and we'd find 155 rounds (155 mm ammunition shells) on the side of a road and we'd put some C4 (explosive) on the claw and the claw would carry it out, place the explosive, drive the robot out backwards unspooling the det cord, all the trucks back up about 20 meters and then, a big explosion," said Holland.

Once disposed of, they would move on but within 15 minutes, another explosive device might be placed in their wake meaning coming back was almost as dangerous as going in.

They remain in the military and may have to return to Iraq or another mission but likely won't be called up for that until early spring of 2013.
"It can always change," Borrell added," If we're in critical conditions they can make us go to Afghanistan."

If you are looking for the definition of patriotism, these young men are where you start. All of them said they hold America in high esteem and felt it was their duty to serve. Brown said he volunteered for the Army because, " I was there to serve my country and it was also in honor of my Grandfather who served in World War II. His name is John Kinnear."

"I volunteered because I wanted a new look at life, try something different and see where my life would take me and the military has been a great experience. It's a great job. It's a great life," said Borrell.

Holland said, "I wasn't the best role model for my younger brother going through high school and when I saw him following him in my footsteps I joined the Army hoping it would help him change his life."

The party came about for these men because of Makaila's friends who all came together to make it happen. "Everybody who is here is part of my support team," she said. "I was a mess when he left so they pretty much took shifts," she said laughing.