By 1st Lt. Mike Woodall
526th BSB, 2nd BCT, 101st Abn. Div.
BAGHDAD - The Soldiers of Company A, 526th Brigade Support Battalion, have performed many tasks outside their normal scope of operations since their arrival at Camp Striker.
One of the major operations involved the emplacement of concrete barriers to control traffic flow and provide force protection here.
To achieve the force protection upgrades, the Soldiers delivered mass amounts of concrete to numerous sites around the brigade's area of operations.
"I've pushed more barriers than re-supply since we hit the ground," said Staff Sgt. Benny Bigbee, platoon sergeant for Co. A, of his deployment so far.
To date, Co. A Soldiers have delivered approximately 1,500 barriers. These include Texas barriers, which are emplaced for vehicle inspection points, Jersey barriers for serpentines, and scud bunkers for make-shift guard points. The barriers can be seen scattered all over the southwest Baghdad area.
Initially, Co. A's mission was to deliver barriers to enhance force protection around polling sites in support of the Iraqi National elections in December. The barriers provided protection for the Iraqi army at the polling sites.
That was just the beginning. Observing the success of these barrier operations and the effectiveness of the projects, other commanders in 2nd BCT started developing plans to use barriers in their own sectors.
Co. A Soldiers found themselves swamped with barrier missions, while also setting up traffic control points, guard positions and even closing off roads all together. The company soon required the aid of its fellow BSB companies. Companies B, D and F joined in, using their recovery vehicles as movers for the large barriers almost as frequently as for their recovery use.
The units extended the original purpose of the vehicles and managed to develop better ways to assist in undertaking the barrier movement missions.
"Figure it out," said Capt. Michael Hammond, commander, Company A, 526th BSB, to his troops after receiving the new mission. The company, and the rest of the BSB have done just that.
Taking everything in stride, in addition to their normal duties, the men and women of Co. A continue to excel.
"I just wanted to pass along a note to express my appreciation for your Soldiers" continued work ethic, professionalism and flexibility," said Capt. Steve Cunningham, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, after working with the Co. A Soldiers on one of their many barrier missions.
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2006 12:49 |
| Story ID: | 5964 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 848 |
| Downloads: | 377 |
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