Unit integrates into operations on LSA

Photo By Staff Sgt. Ty Stafford | Soldiers from the 322nd Maintenance Company inspect the cab of a vehicle at the Joint Distribution Center at Logistical Support Anaconda.  

12.22.2005

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

The 322nd Maintenance Company (Direct Support) arrived at Logistical Support Area Anaconda in late October and has since integrated itself into the operations of several areas.

Based out of Arden Hills, Minn., the unit is augmented with their detachment based in Illinois.

The unit provides direct support maintenance and repair parts for non-divisional units assigned to a corps element.

"Our normal mission would primarily be running in and out of the fence recovering vehicles and maintaining the KBR [Kellogg, Brown and Root] vehicles. Here we are just doing organizational maintenance," said 1st Lt. Punnarin Koy, 322nd company commander.

Some elements of the 322nd are performing maintenance recovery missions at forward operating bases in Taji, Charlie, Cedar and Bucca.

Working for the 3rd Corps Support Command has given the unit a new mission on Anaconda.

The unit is responsible for two guard towers on the perimeter at Anaconda, said Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Vandal, a platoon sergeant in Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 322nd. They also provide security at the Joint Distribution Center.

At the JDC, teams are split between the front and back gates.

The Soldiers check all vehicles for proper identification and make sure no unauthorized items are taken from the JDC yard, said Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Plante, NCOIC of the JDC force protection detail.

Inspecting the large number of vehicles that run through the distribution center leads to bottlenecks at the back gate. The 322nd is beefing up the detail to help with the flow of traffic.

"We will be adding more Soldiers to the detail to help get the trucks through the lanes. People don't want to have to sit in line waiting for an inspection," Vandal said.

Besides the added force protection details, the company has redistributed 50 to 60 Soldiers to help support the maintenance staff of the 181st Transportation Battalion.

"We also sent some of our certified welders to help assist the Skunk Werks shop and we also have cooks who were organic to us that are currently working at DFAC 2 helping with force protection and other tasks they need help with," Vandal said.

"There's not much free time â?¦ but you do what you have to do to get the mission done," Koy said.

The 322nd is adapting and overcoming mission requirements and will continue to do its part in Operation Iraqi Freedom and support LSA Anaconda.

• Date Taken: 12.22.2005
• Date Posted: 12.22.2005 08:56
• Story ID: 4171