DECATUR - Dressed in blue jeans while astride his riding lawn mower, Daniel Wentworth was the picture of serenity.

It was in stark contrast to the flight uniform Sgt. Daniel Wentworth was wearing just days earlier. The National Guardsman is on leave for two weeks from Iraq, where he's been deployed since May.

Wentworth serves as the crew chief on a Black Hawk helicopter, manning the gun and making repairs on the choppers that transport personnel and escort vehicles through the area around Tallil, west of Basrah.

It was his first deployment, and the first time in his life he was overseas. He's scheduled to complete his deployment in about three months.

"There's no symmetry," Wentworth said. "There are no roads that run east-west like we have here. All the roads here (in Illinois) run one mile by one mile, but there it's, 'Hey, I'm going to put a building here.' "

Returning stateside threw the other differences into sharp relief.

"Everything over there - vehicles, buildings - is tan," Wentworth said. "When I got back here, everything was green and so much brighter. It was raining when the plane landed in Bloomington, and the gentleman next to me said, 'Sorry it couldn't be better weather,' and I said 'That's fine, I haven't seen rain in months.' "

Wentworth said the southern area of Iraq is greener than he expected, and there are marshlands and dry lake beds. It was very different from the pitiless desert many might expect, but his view on what constitutes a hot day has changed.

"It was over 120 or 125 degrees," Wentworth said. "Now, it's cooled down to the upper 90s. It's comfortable now."

And it is not just the weather that is different.

"The environment over there has become more and more garrisoned, meaning more like a post here in the United States," Wentworth said. "We have all the amenities that we need to make us comfortable, but there is still the separation from family that is the hardest to deal with."

For Wentworth's longtime friend Adam Brown, the ease of communication with troops overseas is a marvel.

"I'm amazed at how easily accessible communications are now," Brown said. "You talk to him on the phone, and it's like he's right next door. The technology today makes the globe seem so small."

Wentworth has served in the Illinois National Guard for eight years. He is 25. He joined a month after he turned 17.

Wentworth's outfit, the 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment, Company A, is split between pilots and crew chiefs, like himself. Black Hawk helicopters transport troops and civilians, and he's one of the soldiers whose job it is to ensure they get to their destination intact.

"I ride in the back. I'm a door gunner, and an extra set of eyes," Wentworth said. "I'm looking for bad guys, looking for threats. I'm looking for obstacles, and then I take care of all the passengers we pick up."

Though each mission is technically a combat mission and his company is prepared and outfitted for a fight, Wentworth said he's never come under fire.

"That war has calmed down," Wentworth said. "I wouldn't take it lightly, but I haven't felt threatened."

A day will begin at 4 a.m., with Wentworth and his company rising, inspecting their helicopter and sitting down to be briefed on the mission. From there, they hop aboard and fly, usually between three and six hours. After some more maintenance and getting the aircraft ready for the next day, Wentworth said he's debriefed and then gets a bite to eat.

A day can last from 11 to 13 hours, and at times even up to 16, Wentworth said.

"I've worked 16 hours several times, but it goes by quick," he said.

In the off hours, he said he'll often speak to his girlfriend of seven years, with whom he owns a house in Warrensburg, using a webcam.

The base in Tallil has some of the comforts home, but the months away from family are still hard, even with Internet access.

Wentworth said being away from home takes the worst toll on everybody.

"The single most draining part of the deployment is the relationship," Wentworth said. "I want it to survive. It's hard. She doesn't want me to deploy again."

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