Former Hadley town supervisor Jeff Trottier returned from the Iraq war last week and he said Tuesday he still can’t stop smiling.

“I’m grinning from ear to ear to be home,” he said. “Obviously, war is never a good thing, but I had good experiences there and I have a better understanding of what our young troops are going through.”

Trottier is a member of the Air National Guard at Stratton Air National Guard base in Glenville.

He was defeated for re-election as Hadley supervisor during a primary race last September with Arthur “Mo” Wright. Wright’s campaign focused on Trottier’s anticipated absence as he was called to active military duty.

Trottier said he was stationed “somewhere north of Baghdad” for six months as part of a military intelligence unit.

Trottier said his job was to write weekly reports on the activities and findings of troops in the field.

“I was one of a few authors who were doing weekly assessments, which were handed to higher authorities,” he said. “The reports get distributed worldwide.”

Trottier said he arrived in Iraq the night before Thanksgiving after two months of training in Arizona.

Even with the preparation he was given by the military and five years of watching news coverage of the war zone, Trottier said he couldn’t predict how he would feel or exactly what he would see when he arrived.

“I was amazed at the amount of concrete that is everywhere for protection,” he said. “Mortar attacks are happening all the time at all military bases.”

Work days were 12 hours long and the work week never concluded.

“We worked seven days a week, but if you needed some time off they would give it,” he said. “I spent most of my down time at the gym working out.”

Trottier said he doesn’t believe he will be called to return to Iraq, although he has re-enlisted in the guard.

“I re-enlisted while I was in Iraq. My son had re-enlisted in the Marines when he was in Iraq and it felt like the right thing for me to do, too,” he said.

Trottier’s son Justin is based at Camp Pendleton in California and has served two tours of duty in Iraq, maintaining military helicopters.

The senior Trottier said he was promoted to master sergeant while he was on active duty this past winter.

“I was promoted on April Fool’s Day,” he said.

Trottier’s 46th birthday was Sunday and he celebrated the day and his return home with family and friends.

He said he can’t speak highly enough about the work being done by the coalition troops, especially Americans, in Iraq.

“The forces are doing a great job training the Iraqi army and police and it looks like things are coming together with the Iraqis taking the lead more and more,” Trottier said. “I saw improvement in the short time I was there.”

Trottier’s wife, Laurie, said her time without her husband was anything but short.

“That was a very long winter,” she said. “I took it one day at a time although I think it was easier because we had good communication through e-mail.”

She said the toughest times were when the military enacted communication blackouts.

“There were blackout periods whenever someone in the unit passed away,” she said. “The military needed time to contact the family.”

She said she can’t imagine what it must have been like for military wives in the past who would go weeks or months without any word on their husbands.

“I give a lot of credit to the wives of World War II,” she said.

Trottier said he appreciated receiving letters and packages from home during his deployment.

“There are so many ways that I was lucky for this experience,” he said. “I was there during the cool season and left as temperatures were getting up in the 100s. It was 112 degrees the day I left.”

Trottier said he’s enjoying running along country roads and enjoying the freedom of movement without fear of being shot at.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do next,” he said. “I may go back to school and get my master’s degree or find a new job, but right now I need a little down time.”