CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq - There are times when Army 1st Lt. Jamie Roscoe talks that one can almost see cowboys riding over the wide open southern Oregon plains.
Listen carefully and the images float across the mind's eye like a mist moving ahead of a late summer storm on the high desert mesas.
Roscoe, commander of Company D, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), traces his life on the arc of the cowboy.
He's spent time on long cattle drives, tasted the dust and dirt of the rodeo grounds, and slept more than a time or two out on the wind-blown Oregon steppes under a shovel full of stars.
If there is an underlying sense of justice or a mood of calm determination hovering over his not-too-distant memories of the cowboy life, Roscoe expresses it in subtle manner.
His ethics - the morals of the cowboy, the principles of an uncomplicated western American cattle industry - may seem outdated, even fashionably quaint. To Roscoe, though, the candid expression of those values is second nature; they hold no magic value or easy answers. They are what they are: clear-cut, up-front.
When Roscoe arrived in Iraq he said he wanted to deliver a simple message to his Soldiers regarding their mission: Be respectful and be responsible.
Simple words that drive a philosophy most Americans probably only see in the occasional Western movie on television at night, words that push into the heart of what many people believe is best about America but also see as quaint, old-fashioned and hopelessly lost.
Easy, simple words: "Take pride in your work." Always finish a job. Treat people fairly. Ride for the brand.
Those key messages were conveyed to each member of his company as they prepared to conduct convoy escort missions across central Iraq. The implications of Roscoe's posture remain clear and concise. Treat people like you want to be treated.
Roscoe explained his doctrine carefully to his Soldiers. Especially while on the road they must conduct themselves with honor, he said.
"They [the Iraqis] are humans, just like us, and we don't need to run them off the road," said Roscoe.
Company D's focus is intensely local, he said. Actions on the road - good or bad - can easily reverberate across the city of Tikrit and the villages that surround COB Speicher.
"It is a very local game," he said. "One incident on the road and you will pay for it. Everyone, down to the lowest private, has to be aware of that."
Army Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Carter, the operations noncommissioned officer for Company D, agreed with Roscoe.
"The way the Joes look at it is, if you are not respectful, you can make the wrong guy mad," said Carter. "If you are disrespectful, you run the risk of creating a new enemy."
Respect, Roscoe said, is not just another convenient buzzword for his Soldiers. The word underpins his entire philosophy regarding Company D's time in Iraq. The simple, small things often secure the most value.
"We are being respectful and responsible. We don't throw trash out on the road. I wouldn't want to see someone throwing trash out on a highway in Oregon," he said.
He added that Company D's efforts have paid dividends with local Iraqis.
"As soon as it was recognized, the attitude changed immediately," he said.
Roscoe said he understands the overall mission: guarding supply convoys and assisting in the U.S. military drawdown in Iraq. To do that, he said, his men and women must be alert and prepared for any crisis that may develop. Yet the cornerstone of Roscoe's values come full circle to cowboy ethics.
"We are trying to do the right thing," he said. "We are going to be responsible and do our jobs so my kids don't have to come back here."
In the end, that simple statement personifies the man, the officer and, perhaps, the way most want to be remembered.
Roscoe said he does not spend a lot of time thinking about what's next. After all, he has a job to do.
Then he will go back to Oregon, to those wide open plains where the logic is simple and easy to understand - and the only thing that matters is the next job and doing it right the first time.