Photo By Spc. Grant Okubo | Pvt. Ryan Thompson, a mechanic from Washington, Ill. assigned to Bravo Company, 94th...... read more read more
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By Spc. Grant T. Okubo
4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Divisoin
FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq — For the Soldiers of 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, keeping a smooth operation doesn't happen on its own but rather requires daily efforts of support elements.
The Soldiers of Company B, 94th Brigade Support Battalion, "Bulldogs," work behind the scenes, ensuring vehicles and equipment work properly.
Search and recovery, engineers, automotive, armaments, communications and electronics all go through the Bulldogs and are coordinated through the shop office, said Staff Sgt. Gary Polk, a Co. B maintenance control sergeant from Houston. The Bulldogs support all units operating out of Forward Operating Base Rustamiyah, and their equipment continues to run because of the efforts of these mechanics, engineers and technicians.
The bulldogs are tasked with numerous jobs within any given week, said Polk. Just last week their automotive sections performed maintenance on more than 100 vehicles. Likewise, last week the communication section had about 80 work requests for communication devices and welders had about 50 jobs.
Search and recovery teams play a pivotal part in supporting units on the FOB. Spc. Joshua Myers, a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck recovery team member from French Settlement, La., understands the importance of his job. If a truck breaks down, the vehicle crew needs a recovery team to retrieve it, and they need mechanics to fix it, explained Myers.
Sgt. James Young, a Terre Haute, Ind. native and recovery team member, is on his fourth deployment and has seen his share of changes. However, the way recovery operations are conducted has remained mostly the same, he commented.
Achieving "speed and safety (through) minimizing the amount of time you're on the ground," are key to success, Young has learned from past deployments. Young encourages his younger, less experienced Soldiers to be aware of their surroundings, because everything is changing "out there," he warned.
Young is confident in his guys. On average, Young goes out with the Soldiers he supervises twice a week, he stated.
Myers, a recovery expert, focuses more on safety than speed. It is more important to get the job right the first time rather than having a "he who finishes the fastest wins philosophy," he said.
Bulldogs' engineers work on various types of tasks to support the brigade in making its missions successful.
"We're the ground support shop," said Sgt 1st Class Teddy Odle, non-commissioned officer in charge of the engineers section from Panama City, Fla. The engineers work on power generation repair, water purification, fire suppression kits, hydraulics lines and repairs on armored vehicle air conditioning systems, explained Odle.
To Odle, upkeep of air conditioning units is quite important, particularly during the summer months when the temperatures rise into the high 100s, because these units help keep both Soldiers and equipment in High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles cool.
Sgt. Michael France, an automotive shop foreman from Austin, Texas, is confident with his Soldiers and their work. France's Soldiers deal with automotive problems ranging from changing tires to fixing armor on vehicles, although many of the repairs vehicles need are suspension related, due to the terrain on which the vehicles drive, explained France.
The Bulldogs' mechanics help units on FOB Rustamiyah ensure their vehicles are kept in great running condition. "We are very proud of what we do (in) keeping these vehicles going," said France.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2008 19:49 |
| Story ID: | 15695 |
| Location: | RUSTAMIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 242 |
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