'We got each others' backs,' Support Battalion paratroopers are unsung heroes of 15-month deployment

Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Falls Church, Va., native Staff Sgt. Loeun Sou, of Company A, 407th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, uses the SureFire light on his weapon to help a crane operator emplace security barriers along a road in eastern Baghdad, Feb. 6.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

02.14.2008

Courtesy Story

82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office

By Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

BAGHDAD – It was four in the morning, and the "Bushmasters" were settling into a groove.

The paratroopers from Company A, 407th Support Battalion, were five hours into a mission to emplace concrete security barriers along a road in Baghdad's Adhamiyah District. After overcoming a few early snags, they were moving with speed and precision to get the huge barriers offloaded and lifted into place.

Staff Sgt. Loeun Sou, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the night's mission, prodded everyone along.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Sou chanted, as the 12,000-pound, concrete slabs crunched into place, one after the other.

At around 5 a.m., Sou and Sgt. Dekito Harris helped guide the final barrier into position. The street was now protected by a wall that is 65 barriers strong and several blocks long.

"That's it. Mount up," said Sou, a Falls Church, Va. native, as he climbed back into his Humvee.

For the Bushmasters, who support the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, it had been an easy night. The Soldiers routinely emplace more than 100 barriers at a time, and have emplaced as many as 140 on a single night. In total, they have emplaced more than 18,000 barriers since the start of their deployment in January, 2007, said Maj. Jeffrey Lovell, the battalion's operations officer.

The results are visible on any drive through Adhamiyah. Barriers now guard roads, protect markets, encircle bases and checkpoints, and in two special cases, completely safeguard formerly war-torn neighborhoods. The barriers have been an unglamorous, but essential, part of the strategy to restore security to Baghdad, said Maj. Miles Townsend, the 407th Support Battalion's executive officer.

"It's a protective measure not just for coalition forces but for the Iraqi people as well," he said.

Ringing roads, buildings and markets with security barriers is a simple but effective way to prevent terrorists from planting roadside bombs or mounting suicide car bomb attacks. It is a strategy, said Townsend, that has worked better than anyone expected. He said IEDs have become much less effective within the 2nd BCT's area of operations, and the overall number of attacks has dropped considerably.

Most of the paratroopers are too focused on the next mission to dwell on what an impact they've made, said Sgt. William Engels, a native of Petersburg, Tenn., who serves with Headquarters Company.

But Sou said the reality would eventually sink in when the paratroopers redeploy.

"It's something they can tell their kids and their grandkids about, that they were part of that historic moment," he said.

"Just the simple fact that we were able to help the people in our sector live better lives – just being able to walk across the street safely – is something we're going to look back on and say, 'I'm proud that we did that,'" said Sou.

The paratroopers of 407th Support Battalion paratroopers are the unsung heroes of the brigade, said Townsend. He used the metaphor of a duck traveling across a pond to describe the battalion's role. A casual observer would notice the duck gliding across the water smoothly, he said, without seeing what was happening under the surface.

"What you don't see are his feet paddling like hell," he said.

The paratroopers in the battalion – not just the ones doing barrier missions, but the mechanics, the armorers, the medics, the drivers and all the others who keep the brigade running – are like the feet on the duck, Townsend said.

"We propel the brigade across the water smoothly," he said, "but we're below the water line. You never see us."

Sgt. Phillip Gastall, a team leader with Company A from Gainesville, Ga., said his Soldiers are too busy with work to worry about being appreciated.

They go out on missions every night, sometimes going a month straight without a day off, Gastall said.

There is nothing glamorous about emplacing barriers. It is hard, grinding, tedious work. Through it all, the paratroopers have remained focused on completing the mission and taking care of each other, Sou said.

"It's a brotherhood and a sisterhood. We've all got each others' backs," he said.

Sou said his job is easy because he has so many junior Soldiers willing to step up and make things happen.

"They do what's expected, and they also go above and beyond," he said. "I don't even have words to describe how proud I am of these Soldiers."

• Date Taken: 02.14.2008
• Date Posted: 02.14.2008 11:18
• Story ID: 16347
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ