Super-Bullets reach halfway point in deployment

Courtesy Photo | Sgt John Torres, an ammunition sergeant with the 2nd Platoon, 8th Ordnance Company, 749th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command and an Indianola, Iowa, native, reflects about time spent on Contingency Operating Base Adder. (Photo by: Staff Sgt. Cynthia Mason)  

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IRAQ

05.10.2011

Courtesy Story

310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

By: Spc Victoria Prescott

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – 2nd Platoon, 8th Ordnance Company, 749th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command marked their 7-month milestone May 11 since the detachment deployed to Contingency Operating Base Adder.

Pfc. Jessica Weston, an ammunition specialist with 2nd Platoon 8th Ordnance Company, and a New York, N.Y., native, said her mind was racing with thoughts and uncertainty prior to her first deployment.

“Before we left, I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I wasn’t happy or sad, I just felt blank. But as the time went on, and I became efficient at my job, I began to view each day as a day closer to my loved ones.”

Ammunition specialists under garrison command rarely get the in-depth experience with their job that a deployment brings.

Staff Sgt. Earnest Simpson, a Woodbridge, N.J., native and movement office non-commissioned officer in charge, has two previous deployment experiences. He said he constantly stresses the importance of cautious munitions handling.

“Whether I am physically taking soldiers down to the munitions storage area, giving on-the-spot safety corrections or just giving a class on ammo, I want to make sure every subordinate understands the dangers of being an ammunition specialist,” Simpson said. “We have to make sure every soldier takes advantage of this deployment, because this is the only time we get to perform our daily requirements as ammo [specialists].”

• Date Taken: 05.10.2011
• Date Posted: 05.15.2011 03:59
• Story ID: 70401
• Location: CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ