Airdrop

Photo By Sgt. Robert Baumgartner | An 82nd Sustainment Brigade trooper watches cargo gently touch down near at Badrah, near the Iranian border.  

02.21.2007

Story by Pfc. Robert Baumgartner 

82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade

By Pfc. Robert H. Baumgartner
82nd SB Public Affairs Office

BADRAH, IRAQ – The 82nd Sustainment Brigade coordinated and oversaw an airdrop of critical supplies to the 3rd Border Transition Team "Ghostriders," Feb. 16.

The airdrop to this isolated outpost, consisting of water and food, is intended to find and validate an additional means of re-supply to small units in remote locations.

"The intent of this airdrop was twofold," said Maj. Jared Helwig, effects officer with the 82nd Sustainment Brigade.

"As you move away from the forward operating bases and into the more remote locations, you have small units out there that are vital to the stability of the country," he said.

Helwig stressed the importance of keeping these small but vital units supplied. The BTTs are vital because they work with Iraqi soldiers and the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement to stem the tide of illegal arms and bomb-making material flowing across the border.

Badrah is one of various points of entry along the Iraq-Iran border being used by illegal arms groups to smuggle weapons and other contraband. To help prevent this trafficking, the coalition and government of Iraq consider maintaining a security presence an essential task.

Having the ability to supply these border security units from the sky, considering their remoteness and the potential dangers inherent in the overland routes, is critical to the overall mission, Helwig said.

"To a smaller degree, it was also an information operation," Helwig continued.

The 82nd Sustainment Brigade has to show everybody in the region that it has the capability to support these types of operations anywhere, anytime, Helwig said.

• Date Taken: 02.21.2007
• Date Posted: 02.21.2007 11:47
• Story ID: 9207