At this time last year Matthew Barcak was playing for the Binghamton University Rugby Football Club. This semester he’s been deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, and is set to remain there as an infantry soldier for the rest of the semester.
Barcak, who is set to return to BU in the spring, has been deployed for the second time — he was sent to Iraq his freshman year. Barcak said that his base in Afghanistan is much more developed than the one in Iraq, as he has access to the Internet, a gym, adequate dining and other facilities.
Aside from the difference in amenities, the mood of the two camps is different, and Barcak said he wished his current one was more like that of his first deployment.
“Kabul is an interesting place because of the relative safety that it provides,” he said. “[While the rest of Afghanistan is experiencing] increased fighting, Kabul has [remained quite] calm.”
The atmosphere is not necessarily one Barcak hoped for, because without any stir it’s harder for him and his infantry to make the “real difference” they were hoping for. The conditions he encountered in Iraq were much more dangerous than those he is currently facing in Kabul, and he said that with increased danger levels, the level of satisfaction also increases.
According to Barcak, the unit’s responsibilities in Kabul include patrolling humanitarian aid missions, such as food and clothing drives, and helping out in some medical assistance missions where doctors and medicine are brought in for civilians.
Barcak’s infantry also is in charge of monitoring security around Camp Phoenix.
“We patrol Kabul and the cities around it, respond to anything that happens in the Kabul area and conduct surveillance on certain areas of the city,” he said.
While stationed abroad, the BU Devils player has interacted with the local people of Afghanistan on several occasions. Barcak said that in doing so he’s also had the chance to meet with community leaders in Afghanistan, and to learn about what the Afghan people need.
Barcak didn’t have a choice when it came to his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“When your unit … is called up, you go,” he said, adding that although he had to make some adjustments when he found out about his deployments — like rearranging his finals schedule and leaving behind his fiancee, friends and family — he would have done the same thing if given the choice.
Don Johnson, an ROTC representative at Cornell University who’s been involved with the military for more than twenty years, said that those who enroll are aware that they’ll be deployed “sooner or later.” Barcak is not in ROTC.
“They come into the program knowing they’re going to be deployed to a war zone like Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said.
Barcak said he receives a great deal of support from his fellow rugby players back at BU. When Barcak was home for his two-week leave in July, he said many of his teammates visited him in Binghamton. They have also sent him care packages.
Last week was Barcak and his fiancee’s five-year anniversary. To keep the day special, his friends visited her at work and brought along lunch and two dozen roses on Barcak’s behalf.
“I can’t describe how much stuff like that helps,” he said.