President Obama led off his State of the Union address Tuesday night with a nod to American soldiers, saying that for the first time in nine years, none of them are fighting in Iraq.

It was an applause line for the audience at the Capitol, but not for Specialist Chris Jordan. Speaking outside Fort Campbell, he says he just returned from seven months in Baghdad serving with the Kentucky National Guard.

“Ok, we ended it. We were taking bets over there, between a year and a half and three years before we’ll be back.”

Units based at Fort Campbell were almost continuously deployed during the Iraq War. Last night President Obama said ending that conflict allowed the U.S to strike what he called “decisive blows” to al-Qaida, ultimately leading to the current “wind down” in Afghanistan. Still, elements of Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division remain deployed today.

Leaving Iraq and killing Osama Bin Laden were President Obama’s Defense Department applause lines. But he also touched on budget cuts at the Pentagon that will eventually trickle down to places like Fort Campbell.

The President said his strategy saves nearly half a trillion dollars while maintaining what he called the “finest military in the world.”
Staff Sgt. Jason Rochelle, who is part of the 101st Airborne Division, tends to agree that less money isn’t all bad.

“Being a drill sergeant, I just got done with a lot of that. Cutting soldiers that weren’t – normally they’ll let them come in out of shape and stuff. Now since they’ve started doing that I like it a lot better because we’re getting rid of some of the guys that don’t deserve to be here.”

Rochelle says he would like to see a pay raise for soldiers who do make the cut.

The Secretary of Defense is expected to begin outlining his own ideas for the Pentagon’s 2013 budget later this week.