Editor's note: Return from War is an occasional series about local soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Today we feature Christopher Holven of Woodland.

Christopher Holven

Age: 29

Hometown: Woodland

Personal status: Married, 6-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son.

Military branch and rank: National Guard, Specialist

Education: Attended Ridgefield and Clatskanie high schools. Earned GED four years ago.

Mission history: Returned in July from nine-month tour in Iraq. It was his first tour.

Q. What was your job while you were in Iraq?

A. I worked in convoy security. I was a gunner and driver on a Caiman MRAP (a six-wheel armored truck). There were three guys on a truck at a time.

Q. What does that job entail?

A. We escort semi trucks down to a base in Q-West. We were responsible for the safety and lives of the drivers. We’d escort 90 of those semis at one time, then come back with a different 90 trucks. We had 10 gun trucks, so there were about 30 of us. There were some times your convoy was stretched four or five miles down the road. You’re only going 30-35 mph max speed. They were paved roads, but they had potholes all over. We’d go out and hopefully not get blown up. (But) it happened a couple times.

Q. You were attacked and hit several times?

A. (The Improvised explosive devices) barely did any damage to the trucks. All we found were IEDs. We never really found out who the hell it was.

Q. What was the most eye-opening thing you experienced?

A. We found two (live) IEDs in one day. The second one we found was pretty damned big. That made me realize these guys aren’t messing around, they want to hurt us. I don’t think it would have hurt anyone in a truck, but it definitely would have rattled them a bit.

Q. Where would the IEDs be placed?

A. They’d place them in the (highway) median. Over there, everyone throws their garbage in the medians. It’s like if somebody made a freeway through a landfill and you’re driving through the landfill. You’re looking through garbage for anything that looks like a bomb. (On each trip) you make a mental note of where everything is. You look for anything that looks out of place.

Q. Where were you stationed?

A. Mosul.

Q. What was Mosul like?

A. The base wasn’t bad. It actually had trees and grass.

Q. What was it like stepping off the plane in Iraq for the first time?

A. When we first got off the plane it was really an eye-opener. The first thing that happened was the base got mortared and sirens went off and everything.As we got off the plane, an ambulance was dropping off a soldier that had been killed. I’m like, OK, this isn’t the first thing I wanted to see in Iraq.

Q. What did you do during your free time?

A. We had TVs and DVD players and some X-Boxes. We played a lot of Call of Duty. We always had a blast playing that. We would barbecue a lot. The whole platoon would get together and hang out and barbecue and talk about stories from back home. You can’t drink beer, so that was kind of a bummer. But we got really good at making our own marinade for the steaks.

Q. What are you doing now?

A. I am part owner of the Tire Exchange, so I’ve been working pretty much every day since I got back.

Q. Is there anything people should know about what’s going on in the Middle East?

A. There are Iraqi people that want to make a difference in their country and live a better life. They’re trying to do the best they can with what they have. But you’ve got these insurgents running around being dumb-asses.

Previous Return from War features:

Patricia Bradford, Kalama

Walter Posch, Rainier

Steven Hunter, Longview

If you have a friend or family member you’d like to see featured in our Return from War series, please e-mail City Editor Andre Stepankowsky at andre@tdn.com or mail your request to him at The Daily News, P.O. Box 189, Longview, WA 98632.