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Unit comes together through gun truck mission

Photo By Staff Sgt. Engels Tejeda | Spc. Lance Green, a motor transportation specialist with the 414th Transportation...... read more read more

01.26.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

For members of the Army Reserve's 414th Transportation Company, a deployment to Iraq has been about team building and self-discovery.

Approximately 130 Soldiers, less than a dozen of whom belonged to the original group, mobilized to Iraq about nine months ago. Their mission was to keep combat logistics patrols throughout southern Iraq safe.

"Becoming a unit is an ongoing process. We are still working on that," said Sgt. 1st Class Tony Echevarria, the company's first sergeant. "When we first got together, it was very tough. But there is a lot of cohesion in the teams, the gun trucks. They are close because they are out there covering their backs."

The teams" cohesion was evident when a civilian 18-wheeled truck swerved in front of a 414th's truck during a mission to Kuwait. The gun truck hit the civilian truck twice and then caught on fire. The truck's gunner, whose head was sticking out of the truck's roof, went unconscious. The truck's passenger broke his elbow. The driver, Spc. Jesse Turner, managed to regain control of the truck and pulled over. He helped the passenger out of the vehicle, dragged the unconscious gunner to safety, and then got a hold of a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

"I was just a little shaken up because my buddies were pretty banged up," Turner said. "But I didn't really do anything special."

It's mighty talk for a 22-year-old who did not think much of the military before.

"I've matured a lot since I came over here," Turner said. "I used to be totally against the military. My dad was in the military. My brother is in Afghanistan with the military. But I didn't really think much of the military."

Now he and his battle buddy, Spc. Lance Green, are planning to join the active Army and eventually become rangers. Their decision to go active reflects the transformation through which many of the Soldiers have gone. Spc. Craig Neasbitt, a motor transportation operator, said the deployment has helped him strengthen his faith.

"You do a lot of thinking out here, especially if you've been in the firefights," Neasbitt said. "I think I've definitely changed since I got here."

Neasbitt, 19, joined the Army after what he describes as a troubled youth. He said he reacted to family problems by getting in all sorts of trouble. Then, last September, he was on a nighttime escort mission when insurgents attacked him.

"It was a shock, just realizing what was happening. I had dirt all over my face," Neasbit said recounting the attack. He was on the lead truck. "I had seen the insurgents but I couldn't return fire because there was another convoy in the way . . . You could hear the rounds passing by your head, like flies."

It was enough of a rush to make him question his faith.

"They say there aren't atheists in the foxhole. Now I know why," he joked later.

He now plans to become a teacher and work with troubled high school youths.

Like Neasbitt, most of the gun truck teams in the 414th have encountered insurgent attacks ranging from improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs to small arms fire.

The average Soldier in the unit is between 19 and 23 years old, and most of them are fresh out of training. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Bryan Beard, the unit's maintenance officer and a former Marine, has been on patrol with the Soldiers when they have encountered fire. His assessment of their performance is that they've risen to the occasion.

"They did exactly everything they were trained to do," Beard said of the Soldiers" reaction to the insurgent attack that Neasbitt described. "They executed their battle drills, we didn't lose any of the vehicles we were escorting, and I think it actually improved their morale because they were some fired up troops when it was over."

The statistics back up Beard's assessment. The unit has filed over 140 award recommendations for the troops, including 23 Bronze Stars.

They've had two Soldiers compete and win battalion-level competitions. At least 10 Soldiers will receive the mechanic's badge and 75 percent of the drivers will receive driver badges. The average driver has driven between 4,000 and 5,000 miles. But their biggest accomplishment has been battling out insurgents without losing anyone. Capt. Keil Scott, the unit's commander, said he was more than satisfied with the troops" work.

"My biggest concern, of course, has been the Soldiers " making sure that we all can go home safely and come together as a unit," Scott said. "We still butt heads, but that seems to be the norm in every unit and considering that over 100 of them were cross-leveled, we've done exceptionally well."

Though based out of Orangeburg, S.C., the 414th has Reservists from 18 different states and Puerto Rico.

The troops" background is as diverse as their zip codes. Spc. Mathew Ingle, 19, a gunner, never quite made it to college. He was called up two weeks before school started. Spc. Chris Pack, 22, a driver, was a sophomore at Middle Tennessee State College. He had been dating his girlfriend Megan for a year when he was called up. Staff Sgt. Timothy Morrow, 43, a patrol commander, is the father of six children. And Sgt. Rolanda Freeman-Ard, 35, a gun truck commander, is a mother of four who works for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Diverse as they are, in the field, they've become close.

"We've become like family since we got here," Turner said. "It was rough at first, but they are like my brothers and sisters here. I would go to war with any of them again "cause I know they've got my back."

The unit is expected to return home by April.

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