Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Bryant Maude | Capt. Fredrick Kelo, a Gurney, Ill., native, and the detachment commander for the...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. Bryant Maude
1st Sustainment Brigade
TREBIL, Iraq – Located a few hundred meters east of Jordan on a very small plot of dirt, in the shadows of a tall Muslim prayer tower, sits Trebil; an outpost that houses 120 Soldiers, Marines, and civilians who ensure cargo arriving from Jordan en-route to coalition forces in Iraq and to the war fighters located in Multi-National Forces - West, gets through without a hitch.
Col. Kevin O'Connell, a Clinton, Md., native, and commander of the 1st Sustainment Brigade, asked me to visit the 266th Movement Control Team to get their story. The 266th MCT, a Fort Riley unit, falls under the command and control of the 1st SB, but since deploying to Iraq has been attached to the 330th Movement Control Battalion, 316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).
After seven days of travel, I was happy to finally arrive in Trebil and wasn't sure what to expect. I was greeted by Staff Sgt. Ethan Braud, a New Orleans native, and a movement control supervisor with the 266th MCT, and escorted down some winding, dusty roads into the maze of small buildings, wood huts, and tents they call home.
Our first stop, after dropping my gear in a room, was the main living area where I was delivered to the office of Capt. Frederick Kelo, the commander of the 266th MCT, and a Gurney, Ill., native.
Kelo graduated with a meteorologist degree from Iowa State University and was commissioned into the Army as a transportation corps officer in 2003. He was working in the supply office at the 1st Infantry Division in the early months of 2007 when he received his three-weeks notification to deploy.
"It took me by surprise, yeah," said Kelo. "And originally I was thinking we would be up at the border of Turkey."
He discovered later that his team would be going to Camp Taji to manage fixed-winged operations in and out of the airfield.
Six weeks after his 18-person team arrived in Camp Taji, their airfield mission was scrubbed and their team was split in two; five members went to Al Asad and the rest of them went to Trebil.
"The mission of the 266th MCT at Trebil is to control the movement of cargo and personnel through the border separating Jordan and Iraq," said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Lynch, an Enfield, Ct., native, and detachment first sergeant with the 266th MCT.
Lynch is a friendly guy with a quick smile who knows a great deal about the mission and his Soldiers.
There was much to learn early on for the Soldiers and no formal training offered by the unit they relieved. Kelo and his team interact with about a dozen agencies and 35 private companies, and as a result, they have had to learn as they go.
"Since there's so many variable from day to day, you learn to adjust fire as needed," said Kelo.
Life in Trebil took a little getting used to at first; since there is not much support for the Soldiers they learn to be content with what they have.
"Mail runs every two weeks or so if you're lucky and the mobile PX pulls into Trebil once a month if it makes it," said Kelo.
"There's not much selection other than cigarettes, chips, and sodas," explained Lynch. "The guys will go buy something just because it's something to do."
To pass time, Soldiers read, e-mail friends and family or play basketball, ping pong, and video games.
"I'm the best Halo player in MND - West," said 1st Lt. Brandon Lundrum, a Newport News, Va., native, and the support officer for the 266th MCT.
Lundrum gave me the two-dollar tour of the post when I arrived and I was welcomed by everyone; it felt more like a family than a duty assignment.
As I interacted with the Soldiers at Trebil, I found that most of them were content with the slow pace and relaxed environment.
"It's better to be at a small post like this for me," said Pfc. Darrell Wilson, a San Antonio native, and movement control specialist, "even if we don't get the PX that often."
Lots of improvements have been made at Trebil since they arrived a year ago. One of the early wins was reducing the turnaround time by five hours for the security escort teams coming in and out of Trebil. Five hours may not seem like much, but for Soldiers who are on the road for four days, that five hours makes the difference of them getting a hot meal in Camp Korean Village or a cold one at Trebil.
Braud played an instrumental role in those improvements.
A husband and father of two boys, Braud arrived a few weeks after the rest of the team. After some careful observation, he started conducting informal meetings between the various elements involved in the hand-off process to see if he could make improvements on the way trucks moved in and out of the yard.
"I noticed a lot of information on the manifests that was confusing and not very important to getting trucks in and out," said Braud.
He eliminated unneeded information on the manifest, making it simpler to read and understand.
"I wanted anyone to be able to look at the manifest, read it, and without any help, understand exactly where any vehicle was in the yard regardless if they did this job or not," said Braud.
"Our Soldiers have done an outstanding job at building the manifests," said Kelo. "The accuracy and proficiency of how they do the task is important because this is the first time these trucks enter Iraq and what the Soldiers mark down on the manifest gets passed along to all the other locations in Iraq they travel to."
A second win for the team was reducing fuel pilfering by an estimated $75 million a year. Shortly after they arrived, it was brought to their attention by the 507th commander that there was a massive amount of fuel disappearing somewhere between the border and Trebil. Kelo and his team set out to discover why.
"Everyone knew it was happening, but no one knew to what degree," said Kelo.
The Soldiers started scrutinizing everything on the trucks and paid close attention to the seals on the tanks. They discovered that the seals were being broken along the route and the drivers would sell up to 500 thousand gallons of fuel, and replace the seal without anyone catching on.
"The Soldiers started paying attention to the seals," said Kelo. "And you couldn't just stop 70 percent of the trucks and turn them around because we needed the fuel to support the mission. So we had to get the outside agencies and the Jordanians involved."
It was discovered that the seal manager in Jordan was taking bribes and selling extra seals to the drivers. People were fired, new safeguards were put into place, and the pilfering was reduced to almost none.
"The drivers know now that if they do things that are illegal they will be removed from the list of drivers who can cross into Iraq so they are very careful to do what's right," said Kelo.
"They don't want to be banned," said Lynch.
To this day the Soldiers are watching for anything suspicious.
As the sun set on my second day in Trebil, and I sat outside my room, I discovered a quiet calm that I found refreshing. And although it might be difficult to get mail, and there's no Taco Bell, Subway, or Green Bean Coffee nearby, I couldn't help but think that this might not be a bad place to be stationed.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2008 10:54 |
| Story ID: | 20438 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 341 |
| Downloads: | 275 |
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