Courtesy Photo | Cpl. Jermiah Wilson looks toward a traffic-control point watches civilian traffic...... read more read more
CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- Soldiers have always fought against the routine of patrols -- the day-in, day-out repetition; but it is by these "every day" efforts that keep camps and bases secure in war.
The same is true for the Camp Taji Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Soldiers of Company G, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade. On the one hand, multiple daily patrols along the same series of roads can become very repetitive, but these Soldiers work hard to keep Taji safe.
"Sometimes it"s a lot of boring stuff," said Sgt. Isaac Haugen, a Reserve Soldier with the 428th Quartermaster Company out of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, now a team leader with the Company G QRF. "It will get to you, but you eventually learn to find the ways to keep yourself occupied."
"There are times when the Soldiers get complacent," said Staff Sgt. Derrick Wiley, a Reserve Soldier originally with the 223rd Maintenance Company out of Dallas, Texas, now a team chief with the QRF. "But then you"ll find an [Improvised Explosive Device] and that wakes them up."
The "Viper" QRF patrols the heavily used main supply route that runs north to south along Taji. The team conducts traffic control points, performs vehicle searches, is on call to respond to any incidents in the Taji area and, most importantly, keeps a look out for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"We"ll roll for two straight weeks with nothing," Haugen said. "Then there will be a month straight of constantly finding things. It goes in phases."
"We watch for IEDs along the MSR," Wiley said.
With several finds in recent weeks, the QRF feels that they have helped contribute to the security of combat logistics patrols passing through the Taji area of operation, despite the quiet nature of operations going well.
"It makes me feel like I"m actually doing something out here instead of sitting in the motor pool or at a desk," Haugen said. "I think about extending just to do this job."
"It"s a great opportunity to know that you"re making sure people have a good night sleep on the camp," said Wiley, who had volunteered to extend in Iraq for a back-to-back tour just so he could serve on the QRF. "We"re doing our part."
"The enemy that you"re fighting is amongst the good people," Haugen said. "It makes it really difficult. You have to be really strict and aggressive since you can"t trust anyone. But when we go back on camp, we go back to the same people we were before " to the same life."
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| Date Taken: | 05.05.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2006 04:05 |
| Story ID: | 6283 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 913 |
| Downloads: | 584 |
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