(Contributed photo) SSgt. Christopher Mikiska of Vincennes, Spc. Thomas Gilreath (above) of Worthington, and Spc. Steven Hollifield of Sullivan pose before the start of a mission.

Now that their missions are behind the wheel of a armored vehicle, they don't miss walking in burning heat, but many miss the interaction with the local population.

"Humanitarian missions are so much fun," Staff Sergeant Christopher Mikiska, 27, of Vincennes, said. "That's the only bad thing about convoy security missions."

Spec. James Gilreath, of Worthington, prepares his 50-caliber machine gun for a convoy mission in Iraq.

Mikiska, who was deployed to Iraq during the first year of the war, spoke of working with locals in Nasiriyah, and not just kicking in doors. They conducted what he called "search and greets."

Around the neighborhoods, Iraqis would invite the Indiana National Guard in to have Chai tea and some would bring out old antique weapons to show them.

Beyond, the language barrier, SSgt. Mikiska said a bond was formed.

They knew the people of the area. They went to local schools and dropped off school and medical supplies.

"Last time we controlled our area and they knew who we were. This time we're driving through a lot of places," SSgt. Mikiska said.

The implication is that if the local Iraqis know the soldiers they will be less likely to shoot at them.

"When you go three months in an area, dropping off medicine and school supplies," Mikiska said, "they have a harder time shooting you in the back."

Sergeant Curt McCrary, 27, of Sullivan, who served on the same deployment with Ssgt. Mikiska, said interaction with the locals gives soldiers more of an idea who the enemy is. That's the difference between a guy yelling because he's having a bad day, and a guy who might be waving, but at the same time counting U.S. vehicles to plan an attack.

Sergeant First Class Spencer Kohlheim, 37, of LaGrange, was last deployed to Afghanistan where the Guard helped train the Afghan National Army. Kohlheim said he wished his soldiers could dismount with a provincial reconstruction team to have more interactions.

Specialist Sean Pemberton, 25, of Sandborn, had a similar experience.

"A lot of our movements over there (in Afghanistan) depended on working with children. They'd tell us the latest intelligence (on their villages). I had one of them who would always come to the hillside. By the end he was almost fluent in English."

It might help younger soldiers to see that the majority of the population are normal, working people trying to survive, something Mikiska and Kohlheim emphasized.

"Ninety-nine percent of the population, I would guess, is glad what we're doing," Sgt 1st Class Kohleim said. "One percent is messing things up for everyone."

But the soldiers are required to do the mission assigned to them, whatever that might be. They have a pride in what they do. They don't work with locals directly, they work with equipment that helps the Army run.

The 1st/151st has made improvements on the working maintenance of their vehicles. They run their Humvees and ASVs tens of thousands of miles per week per platoon. After every mission they take apart their .50 caliber machine guns and clean them from barrel to bolt. They do a full inspection and refill of their vehicles.

These are their tools. Lives depend on them.

Recently the soldiers of 1st platoon of Alpha Company of the 1/151 were in charge of convoy security for a team that delivered, MRAPs, the safest vehicle now available to U.S. military to soldiers in the field. First platoon led the convoy which delivered the MRAPs to an outlying base in Northern Iraq where soldiers are responsible for helping to train the Iraqi Army.