125th FSB isn't your average support battalion

TAJI, IRAQ

07.08.2005

Courtesy Story

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Spc. Matthew Wester
3-1 AD PAO

TAJI, Iraq -- For every combat arms Soldier on the ground, there are many Soldiers behind the scenes, making sure these troops are well supplied, healthy and their war-fighting equipment is working.

The 125th Forward Support Battalion provides that support for 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, and they also have taken on additional responsibilities to ensure the brigade can meet its goals during this deployment.

"Our mission is to support the brigade. It's something I try to impart to everyone who comes into the battalion," said Lt. Col. Jack Hinkley, commander of 125th FSB and a native of Turner, Maine.

"Support covers a wide range of subjects. We have our normal maintenance, supply, medical functions, but this rotation we're picking up a lot of transportation, and we're picking up responsibility for the Brigade Detention Facility."

"Just about anything the brigade needs that is support-related, they call us," he said.

One of the main needs of any combat brigade is to have operational equipment ready for missions.

The battalion's B Company makes sure that happens.

"We conduct direct support maintenance for the entire brigade," said Capt. Craig B. Boston, B Company commander.

Boston, from Saco, Maine, said his company replaces major parts on vehicles, maintains and fixes weapons systems, repairs communications equipment, and recovers damaged vehicles outside the post.

"We have a bay shop which consists of six teams, and we have five teams with the supported units," he said. "We have our normal mission, which is maintenance, but we also have our missions which are not doctrinal."

The company provides Soldiers to staff the Brigade Detention Facility and the battalion's Personal Security Detail.

"Maintenance is very important. This is a very harsh environment on the vehicles and equipment," Boston said. "Being a mechanic is not a glamorous role, but the fact is, people couldn't operate without us."

Mechanics can't repair equipment without the proper parts.

The 125th's A Company is in charge of organizing those parts and getting them where they are needed.

"On a daily basis, we are providing different classes of supplies for the 3rd Brigade," said Capt. James E. Gee, commander of A Company and a native of Winona, Miss.

Gee said a large portion of the company's job is to store, track and deliver Class IX supplies, which are repair parts for combat vehicles.

The company runs warehouses and a supply yard on post. It also recovers vehicles that have broken down or been damaged on the roads outside Camp Taji.

Keeping vehicles and equipment running is a major part of what the 125th does, but keeping 3rd Brigade Soldiers healthy is also part of its mission.

The battalion's medical component, C Company, staffs the "Cobra" troop medical clinic on post, embeds medics with the brigade's combat units, and provides various other medical services.

"We provide combat health support to the brigade. We are "Level Two", the next level above a battalion aid station," said Sgt. 1st Class Henry W. Chapman, a Columbus, Ohio, native and first sergeant for C Company.

Chapman said the company has been able to take over an existing site and turn it into a well-stocked, efficient treatment facility.

The clinic provides all the services of a battalion aid station plus a lab, dental, x-ray and trauma services, said Capt. Peter A. Ramos, commander of C Company from Ft. Riley, Kan.

"The bulk of our mission has been sick call," he said. "We have had some trauma. Thankfully, it hasn't been much."

"We treat any traumas that come through the door," said Dr. (Maj.) Gregory Martin, a San Antonio, Texas, resident and clinic physician for C Company. "We try to stabilize the patient and put them on a helicopter for definitive care."

The company is prepared to deal with medical emergencies outside the clinic as well, rushing to Soldiers who need medical treatment on or off Camp Taji.

"At all times, we maintain two ambulance crews, ready to roll on a moment's notice," Ramos said.

The company's medical providers also care for the detainees at the Brigade Detention Facility.

"We see the detainees daily," Martin said. "We provide very good care for the detainees."

The 125th not only provides medics to treat detainees, but also provides Soldiers to guard them.

This isn't a typical duty of a support battalion.

It is one of the extra tasks the battalion has taken on to support 3rd Brigade.

"What we've done to man the (Brigade Detention Facility) is pull people from throughout the battalion -- cooks, mechanics, clerks. We've brought them all together, given them military police training and made them our staff out there," Hinkley said.

"We've put them under our Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and it's been working out really well," he said.

Sgt. First Class Jonathan Horsager, first sergeant for the battalion's HHC, said the Soldiers have become a good team and young leaders have emerged in the platoon-sized element that runs the facility, which temporarily houses brigade detainees.

Another additional task performed by the battalion is staffing a personal security detachment.

The PSD accompanies the battalion commander on missions off post and escorts other troops who need extra security on operations outside the wire.

"Any time there is a brigade asset that doesn't have a security element or doesn't have enough vehicles to make up a convoy, we will augment them, take them where they need to go, and provide security for them," said 1st Lt. James McWherter, commander of the battalion's personal security detail.

McWherter said his detail is made up of Soldiers from diverse military occupational fields, who have received new training and come together to work as an effective team.

The battalion as a whole is just as diverse.

Strong leadership is required to effectively manage a unit with such a variety of tasks and troops, and that leadership starts at the top with the battalion staff and commander.

"There are approximately 70 different military occupational specialties in the battalion," Hinkley said. "No two platoons in my battalion are alike."

• Date Taken: 07.08.2005
• Date Posted: 07.08.2005 15:00
• Story ID: 2325
• Location: TAJI, IQ