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The 16th anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq is almost here, and every March I sit reminiscing about the runup to my deployment. My Army Reserve Civil Affairs battalion was mobilized the previous month. After 17 years in the National Guard-only being called up for disasters-I was actually heading into a combat zone.

I had joined Army ROTC after my sophomore year in college. Serving my country was something I’d wanted to do for a very long time. During the late 60s and early...