JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — As soldiers complete their pre-mission checks and get everything loaded for transport, it would seem the job of escorting supply trucks from Joint Base Balad to Contingency Operating Site Mosul is just another mission for the Soldiers of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.
Today, however, marks a rare occasion not only in the 149th Inf. Regt., but in the military as a whole. Today, a father and son are going out together on not only the same mission, but in the same truck.
“It’s a unique experience for sure to actually be doing real-world missions with your son as a gunner and seeing him in that atmosphere,” said Master Sgt. Micah B. Mason, an assistant operations noncommissioned officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 149 Inf. Regt., a native of London, Ky.
“It’s something very few parents get to do. I’m excited to actually go on a mission and experience it first-hand with my son.”
Master Sgt. Mason, 46, who has served in the Guard for over 28 years, usually watches convoy escort missions unfold as a shift battle NCO in charge of the 149th Inf. Regt.’s tactical operations center. However, the unit sent him on this mission as part of the their ongoing efforts to ensure everyone in the tactical operations center is able to see what goes on first-hand during the missions they monitor on a daily basis.
“I have a lot of concerns…if something does happen [on the mission], said Master Sgt. Mason. “I’m glad I’m there with him, though.”
Master Sgt. Mason said he’s only told two people back home about him and his son doing this mission together and that “they’re just in awe.”
“I didn’t know he was going ‘til I saw him sitting out by the trucks,” said 22-year-old Pfc. Micah J. Mason, a gunner with Delta Company, 1/149th Inf. Regt., also a native of London, Ky. “It just makes me happy to actually do something with him, to let him see what I do on a day-to-day basis.”
Pfc. Mason said he had been waiting to be able to go on a mission with his father, as not many people can say that they have done that.
After the mission, Master Sgt. Mason had only good things to say.
“Things went very smooth,” he said. “The convoy escort team knew their jobs very well and were professional every step of the way. Being out with my son was the chance of a lifetime. It was very strange to see him doing his job, being in control. But in the same sense, I was very proud.”