By Sgt. Tracy Ellingsen
311th Expeditionary Sustainment Command
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - Twelve months into a fifteen month deployment, Pfc. Mario E. Rodriguez, an Eagle Pass, Texas native, is proud of his accomplishments, but can't wait to get home.
"Three more months," he said with a smile. "I'm counting down the days."
His work as an Army mechanic with the 2nd Transportation Company has afforded him the opportunity to travel throughout the theater of operations. Though he is stationed in Kuwait, he has made many trips up north to Iraq.
Rodriguez spends his days repairing Heavy Equipment Transport Semi-trailers, "the largest vehicle in the Army," he said. "I spend my nights taking college courses (at Camp Arifjan's education center) and staying out of the hundred-degree weather."
"Any free time we get I go to school," said the 29-year old San Antonio resident. "I'm working on my degree in criminal justice."
On a recent afternoon, Rodriguez and his fellow Soldiers worked in 110-degree temperatures to put a cab back on one of their trucks. While the heavy metal sounds of the band Killswitch Engage pumped loudly in the background, which Rodriguez insists wasn't his choice, the trio of Soldiers expertly manipulated a crane and other heavy lifting equipment to get all the pieces of the vehicle back together again.
Along with the stresses of a hectic, and often dangerous, job; Rodriguez is also dealing with the stress of spending more than a year away from home.
Less than halfway through his deployment, Rodriguez's wife Adriana gave birth to the couple's first child.
Though he could not be there for the birth, Rodriguez took his two week "rest and recuperation" early to get acquainted with his daughter Camilla at the family's home in San Antonio.
Rodriguez joined the Army on Sep. 13, 2006. After completing his basic and advanced training he had only two weeks at home before shipping out to Kuwait. "In the last two years, I've spent only four weeks at home," he said.
Rodriguez not only left his wife and daughter back in San Antonio, but also his cherished San Antonio Spurs basketball team. And while he misses the team almost as much as he misses his family, lately he said it's been easier to handle the distance, "especially now that they are losing."
