As the general manager of U92 , West Virginia Universitys campus radio station, Kim Harrison is used to getting feedback from students and alumni.

But from an Army captain in Iraq? That was unexpected.

It turned out, the captain was Deron Haught, a West Virginia native from Harrisville, Ritchie County, and a lifelong Mountaineer fan. He was deployed to the Middle East about five months ago.

Currently, he conducts combat patrols and raids of suspected targets in and around Altun Kupri, an Iraqi town roughly the size of Oahu, his home base in Hawaii.

Haught recently e-mailed Harrison to let her know he was having trouble connecting to U92 s Web stream. In hisdown time,he hoped listening to WVU baseball games would be a distraction from war.

That was a few weeks ago. Since then, Haught has been able to successfullytune in U92 , and the Mountaineers have finished their season with a 10-16 league record.

In an e-mail to WVU s News and Information Services, he wrote:I am really looking forward to WVU football. I think weve got a great team, and when the season starts, Ill know Im closer to home. Thank you for all you do.

Haught has served in the Army for 14 years. He commands a troop of 32 men and five translators. At last check, he expects to be home by February or March.

Until then, he is keeping the faith and he hopes Americans are too.

I dont think the news of Iraq accurately reflects all that we are doing,he said.We have rebuilt schools and arrested gun runners, provided villages with clean water and fought counterinsurgency. It has been, thus far, the most intense, frustrating and rewarding mission I have ever been on.