Incoming Multi-National Corps - Iraq Command Sergeant Major visits Wranglers

Photo By Sgt. John Ortiz | Command Sgt. Maj. Frank A. Grippe, meets with command sergeants major Erik R.R. Frey with the 4th Sustainment Brigade, from Fort Hood, Texas; Gilbert Adkins, with the 28th Transportation Battalion from Mannhiem, Germany and Kenneth Melton, with the 6th Transportation Battalion from Fort Eustis, Va., during a tour and brief of the vehicles used to accomplish the distribution mission to raise his situational awareness prior to his assumption of responsibility for Multi-National Corps - Iraq.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

03.27.2009

Story by Sgt. John Ortiz 

4th Sustainment Brigade

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – For an incoming leader, there is no better way to get a feel for a deployed environment than talking and listening to Soldiers whose job is to deliver crucial supplies throughout Iraq and Kuwait.

4th Sustainment Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Erik R.R. Frey hosted Command Sgt. Maj. Frank A. Grippe, the I Corps Command Sergeant Major for a tour and brief of the vehicles used to accomplish the distribution mission, and raise his situational awareness prior to his assumption of responsibility for Multi-National Corps - Iraq.

During his meeting, Soldiers assigned to the Wrangler Brigade gave Grippe a walkthrough of the various vehicles the brigade uses to push supplies and equipment to units dispersed throughout the Iraq theater of operations.

His first stop was with Soldiers of the 594th Transportation Company, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) where Soldiers greeted Grippe with shouts of 'Air Assault' for the former division command sergeant major.

He was given a tour of the MRAP, the newest vehicle in the Wrangler fleet by Sgt. Kelvin Valentine, a truck commander for the MRAP with the company.

After giving the tour, Valentine said, "I was proud to give a tour to my former division command sergeant major," and noted that "he is a Soldier's [command sergeant major] who genuinely cares for the Soldiers underneath him."

After his brief, he went on to tour various other vehicles in the brigade, meeting with each of the Soldiers along the way.

Grippe shook the hands of the Soldiers at each stop and talked with them briefly of their units, mission, and hometowns, often leading to conversations of those topics before a brief was conducted.

During the event, Grippe met with the 513th Transportation Company assigned to the 593rd Sustainment Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., which will take the reigns from the Wrangler Brigade and take charge of the theater distribution mission.

Grippe said he was glad to see a Fort Lewis unit here and told the transportation company to learn as much as possible about the mission during their training with the unit they are replacing.

At the end of the tour, Grippe called all the Soldiers around him and told them how proud he was of everyone, thanking them for taking time out of their day to help him increase his situational awareness prior to his assumption of responsibility.

• Date Taken: 03.27.2009
• Date Posted: 03.27.2009 12:16
• Story ID: 31698
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW