Cross country road trip for annual training

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Soldiers with the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 131st Transportation Company, 228th Transportation Battalion, 213th Regional Support Group, drive 111 20-foot containers of ammunition from Fort Indiantown Gap to Hawthorne, Nevada as part of Army Materiel Command’s Operation Patriot Press, an ammunition redistribution mission involving the movement of ammo from coast-to-coast. During the trip to Nevada and back, 131st TC Soldiers drove more than 50 vehicles approximately 6200 miles with no accidents. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by 1st Lt. Nikolai Ayers)  

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, UNITED STATES

05.08.2023

Story by Maj. Travis Mueller 

Joint Force Headquarters - Pennsylvania National Guard

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics the average summer long-distance trip is 284 miles one way, with one out of 20 trips being more than 1000 miles.

Those road trips are good memories for many, involving time spent with family, stops at landmarks along the way and eating road trip snacks in the family minivan.

For the 131st Transportation Company, their mission for annual training was a 6200-mile drive that took place the last week of April. It was the first phase of Army Materiel Command’s Operation Patriot Press, an annual nationwide ammunition redistribution mission that supports the Army’s overall strategic positioning goals.

“We transported 111 20-foot conexes filled with different ammunition from Pennsylvania to Nevada,” said Capt. Jason Hadley, commander of the 131st TC. “With outstanding support from the 228th Transportation Battalion, we as a company were able to travel with over 50 M915’s over the 6200 miles with no accidents.”

An M915 is a tractor truck used by Army units for moving large containers and other equipment over long distances. It’s not exactly the family minivan, but according to 1st Lt. Nikolai Ayers some of the perks of road trips still applied for the convoy.

“We drove over the Hoover Dam, which was cool, but my favorite landmarks were all the mountains. You could look at a mountain range and not reach the base of it in a day of driving or it could be in a different state,” said Ayers. “This was my last time drilling with the 131st TC, and it couldn’t have ended any better. I’ve been with the company for six years, and to wrap up my time as a leader with a successful mission was exactly how I wanted to leave.”

During the execution of this mission, their convoy passed through 14 different states, which included stops at four Army ammunition depots. Lt. Col. Michael Siriani, commander of the 228th Transportation Battalion, says the 131st TC completed the longest route in the history of Operation Patriot Press. Accounting for all vehicles in the convoy, the company’s total mileage for the mission was over 300,000.

“The actions of the 131st Transportation Company assisted the Army with saving money in transporting the ammunition across the country and assisted with the recycling of ammunition to be used at a later date,” said Siriani.

The 228th Transportation Battalion is a unit under the 213th Regional Support Group, Pennsylvania Army National Guard and is headquartered at Fort Indiantown Gap.

• Date Taken: 05.08.2023
• Date Posted: 05.08.2023 15:48
• Story ID: 444303
• Location: FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, US