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By BILL NEMITZ, Staff Columnist Sunday, April 22, 2007

It's hard enough being a Mainer in the 100-plus degree temperatures commonplace in Kuwait. But imagine how a native Alaskan must feel.

Spc. Matthew Augline, 39, is one of 120 members of the Alaska National Guard's Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry, assigned to provide perimeter security here at Camp Navistar.

"I'm used to the cold," said Augline, who is from a village in the lower Yukon River valley. "Every day, we've been so hot here. And the dust!" he continued, just warming up. "We don't have dust like this (in Alaska). It gets in my eyes, in my nose."

Augline's company, about 80 percent of whom comes from one of several native Alaskan tribes, arrived here in October for a one-year deployment. Meaning, with summer fast approaching, the worst is yet to come.

"I hear it will be 140 degrees," Augline said with thinly veiled trepidation Saturday evening while serving guard-tower duty in the fading twilight. "I told my wife it was going to be 140 degrees she said, 'Boy, I wouldn't live there!'"

Augline said the Alaskans do everything they can -- shade, water, air conditioners -- to try to mitigate the heat. But really, 140 degrees?

"At night, people say 'It's cooling off,'" Augline said, shaking his head in disbelief.

His response?

"I say, 'No, no!'" he said. "It's never cool for me!"

MAINERS SEE SITES:

Mainers serving with Alpha Company, 1-121 Field Artillery, have learned to make the most of the down time when a convoy gets delayed.

At Camp Cedar, about 150 miles up into Iraq, that can mean a side trip thousands of years back in time.

"See that mound off in the distance?" said Sgt. Lenny Hanson, 31, of Crawford during a stop at Camp Cedar Friday. "It's actually the mound where the Temple of Ur sat. And the House of Abraham is about 150 meters to the west of it. You can actually look down into the catacombs that have been buried over time. And it's got the gardens and everything "

Peering across the dusty desert, Hanson added, "It's too bad we're not staying tonight. I could have taken you over and shown it to you."

Maybe in the next millennium.

AGE PLAYS A ROLE:

Maine soldiers here display two noticeably different perceptions of the danger that lies just over the border in Iraq -- and which one you hold tends to depend on how old you are.

Talk to the younger soldiers and they'll tell you they're not afraid, that the high-tech armored Humvees and ASVs (armored security vehicles) in which they travel can stop just about anything.

But bring up the risk factor with older soldiers and a noticeably more cautious -- and at times spiritual -- tone sets in.

"We can handle the stress part a lot better than the young fellows," said Sgt. Paul Woodman, 47, of Perry. "They'll always be saying, 'Oh no, we're not nervous.' But you know, when an IED goes off, you can tell."

As he spoke, Woodman was preparing for a five-day (give or take) convoy to Baghdad. Joining him was another old-timer -- 45-year-old Sgt. Guy Marquis Jr. of Easton.

How do they handle the pre-trip jitters?

"If the man upstairs says it's time to go, then it's time to go," Marquis said.

Woodman nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"Every time you go outside the gate, if you put your hand in his hand, you're good," he said.

Safe travels, sergeants.