139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Story by Spc. Michael Camacho

CONTINGENCY OPERATING LOCATION BRASSFIELD-MORA, Iraq –Military installations throughout Iraq are closing and the land is being returned to the Iraqi government as the drawdown of U.S. military forces and equipment continues.

Contingency Operating Location Brassfield-Mora, now in the final stages of closure, served as a staging point for food, water and other basic supplies for surrounding patrol bases.

The month-long closure process at Brassfield-Mora began mid-July. Now, the previously bustling base is more like a ghost town.

Housing units and T-walls are stacked like dominoes, staged to be loaded on flat-bed trucks and moved to other bases where they can be used.

The 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, out of Contingency Operating Location Speicher, Iraq, provided transportation support during the closure of Brassfield-Mora, said Sgt. 1st Class Tamisha Moore, 264th CSSB chief movement supervisor.

Moore, a Westbury, N.Y., native, said the 264th CSSB provided more than 40 flat-bed trucks from the 70th Transportation Company for the closure.

"We've been rolling out 40 trucks, twice a day," said Moore. "Staging the cargo, locating (the cargo), doing the load plan and getting it loaded up and pushed out."

First Battalion, 98th Cavalry provided convoy security and helped with the coordination of asset movements to and from Brassfield-Mora.

Once the convoys were on the road, it was the 1/98th's responsibility to protect Army and Kellogg, Brown and Root, Inc. vehicles and personnel, said 1st Lt. Jason Odom, a platoon leader with the 1/98th Cav.

After all housing units, barriers and other assets are cleared from Brassfield-Mora, the land will be returned to the local populace, said Staff Sgt. Jill Buchannan, Brassfield-Mora mayor, with the 25th Infantry Division.

Items that could not be redistributed to U.S. forces will be made available to local nationals, who are allowed to sort through those items with a military escort, said Odom, a Mobile, Ala., native.

"There have been locals coming onto the (COL) getting beds, mattresses and furniture," said Odom.

The land will be transferred to the Iraqis, who will use it as a grain silo, Moore said. This will benefit the redevelopment of Iraq's infrastructure, said Moore.

As bases begin to close throughout Iraq, the drawdown becomes more of a reality than a thought.

"I've been hearing about base closures for a couple years, but this is the first time I've actually felt that we really are drawing down," Moore said. "You can see the progress happening."

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