Field Service Company Soldiers take pride in their work

BAQUBAH, IRAQ

08.26.2004

Courtesy Story

DVIDS Hub       

By Spc. Sherree Casper

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, BAQUBAH, Iraq -- Nine laundry and textile repair specialists at this base have been repairing Desert Camouflage Uniforms and sewing on combat patches for Soldiers here since February.

The small group hails from the 10th Mountain Division's 590th Field Service Company based at Ft. Drum, N.Y. During their mission in Operation Iraqi Freedom II, the nine Soldiers are attached to the 201st Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. The majority of the 590th is based at FOB Speicher, a place these Soldiers may be returning to soon. That is when they lose their jobs to civilian contracting counterparts with Kellogg Brown and Root. Although these Soldiers are also capable of setting up showers and performing laundry service, KBR workers also oversee those operations.

The small groups of laundry and textile repair specialists appear to work well together."Everyone has come on a one seam standard," said Sgt. John A. Acevedo, as he sat behind a console sewing machine. He said the civilian equipment has been modified a little to accommodate the military mission since they repair everything from uniforms to banners. The textile repair specialists are also tasked with patching tattered humvee seats as well as cargo canvas.

The Bronx, N.Y., resident said sometimes he and fellow launders and sewers get chided for what some Soldiers think is a 'soft" Military Occupational Specialty. However, they are quick to be thanked when a crisis arises.

"When we hook them up, they don't talk down to us," he said with a big grin. Take for example one day last April. A military convoy rolled into FOB Warhorse with one of its truck drivers in desperate need of some clean clothes. The Soldier had been on the road for two weeks and only had one clean DCU remaining."He came in and asked me if I could hook him up with some laundry," Acevedo recalled. "He asked me when he could pick up his laundry and I said at the end of the day.

"Problem was the sergeant with a reserve unit only had a couple of hours before he was slated back on the road.Acevedo understood the dilemma and came to the rescue."

So I said, `Okay, I will hook you up with no problem,"" Acevedo explained. "He said, `Gee thanks" and got all excited. He took off all his clothes in broad daylight -- except his drawers -- and put on his last pair of fresh clothes."

The truck driver then threw the soiled DCU he had been wearing into a bag heaping with dirty laundry. "We took it in and washed it," Acevedo said. The washers and dryers used by the military laundry specialists are designed to clean a large load within an hour. "When he came to pick up [his clothes] he was so happy," Acevedo said. "He said, `You don't know how it is out on the road." I said, `I probably don't because I work around laundry and am always clean."

"Acevedo said it "felt good" to be able to help a fellow Soldier in a time of need. The textile repair specialists can sew on as many as 200 patches a day and make as many as 150 repairs. "I feel that we are making a difference," Acevedo said.And sometimes it's an international one.

They have sewed and repaired clothing for Georgian soldiers as well as local nationals based at FOB Warhorse. He said the foreign Soldiers are very nice people and "â?¦ are just like us. They need what we need."

While knowledge of AR 670-1 -- the regulation for wear and appearance of the United States Army's military uniforms and accessories -- is of little use when tackling badges for wear on foreign fatigues, sometimes body language helps."We play it by ear where things need to be sewn," Acevedo said. "Sometimes we don't know if it is upside down or right-side up."

He said usually by pointing to the way something should be -- whether a patch or a hem -- the communication barrier is usually crossed."

They are just as grateful as anyone else when they get help," he said. And like many of their American counterparts, those who get things sewn or tailored often think there's a fee.

"They think they need to pay us," Acevedo said. "We tell them this is one Army. We don't charge."

Need a 1st ID combat patch sewn on?

Not only is there no charge, but a Soldier needn't bring the patch. The group has an ample supply on hand.

Acevedo thinks it's a waste of military funding to contract out for services that he and other Soldiers have been trained to do. He said the military is also constantly spending money to upgrade the textile repair and laundry equipment.

"I don't see the sense to hire civilians and put them in harm's way when we are trained to handle not only our special skills duty but combat," he said.Those feelings are shared by many of his fellow textile repair specialists.

Spc. Jumoke Johnson, who has sewn on patches for Soldiers from FOBs Warhorse, Gabe and Normandy, thinks KBR may take over his job by the end of the month.

The Warren, Ohio, resident said he's been told he'll probably be relocated at FOB Speicher and tasked with running convoys. Spc. Ulysses Sistrunk of Kinross, Mich., said the six males and three females -- who make up the small textile repair contingent at FOB Warhorse -- have supported the war effort in their own unique way.Sistrunk said he's seen a lot of ripped and torn uniforms over the past six months. And he's also sewed on his fair share of combat patches.

• Date Taken: 08.26.2004
• Date Posted: 08.26.2004 10:52
• Story ID: 285
• Location: BAQUBAH, IQ