New Dawn: 1st TSC Supports 4/2 Strykers in Historic Iraq Drawdown

Photo By Natalie Cole | A soldier with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division waves as he and his fellow Strykers roll across the boarder from Iraq into Kuwait in the early morning hours of Aug. 19. The 4/2 convoyed their own vehicles out of Iraq after a year-long tour there, bringing troop levels in the country closer to the 50,000 mark. The 1st Theater Sustainment Command played an important role in the withdrawl of the 4/2 by providing facilities needed for the soldiers to clean and ship their equipment to the United States.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

08.19.2010

Story by Natalie Cole 

1st Theater Sustainment Command

Soldiers with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, rolled out of Iraq and into Kuwait Aug. 16-19, bringing troop levels in Iraq closer to the 50,000 mark.

The 1st Theater Sustainment Command and its subordinate units in Kuwait supplied large-scale logistics support for the 4/2 by providing the facilities needed for soldiers to clean and load more than 350 armored vehicles onto cargo ships.

“Our unit has the responsibility to make sure that they [soldiers with the 4/2] have a very safe and efficient transition from Iraq into Kuwait and [to] get their equipment properly ready for shipment back to the United States,” said Brig. Gen. Nick Tooliatos, deputy commanding general with the 1stTSC. The role of 1st TSC in the Stryker drawdown showcases how the sustainment command supports the major movement of people and equipment in the U.S. Central Command area of operations.

The drawdown of more than 3,000 4/2 soldiers indicates the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn. “As we go into … New Dawn the security of Iraq is going to be largely an Iraqi responsibility, so its marked shift in the operation,” according to Tooliatos, who greeted the first group of Strykers as they crossed the border in the early dawn hours Aug. 16.

The 4/2 soldiers are the first brigade combat team since 2004 to drive their own combat vehicles out of Iraq in a process known as self-retrograde. Typically, units coming out of Iraq leave their equipment behind for transportation troops under the 1st TSC to convoy out, according to Tooliatos. However, by doing the movement themselves in a four-day convoy, Soldiers with the 4/2 have contributed to the efficiency of the drawdown. “This unit, in order to (return) flexibility and allow us to conserve some of our fixed wing and rotary wing assets for further operations elected to come out via self-retrograde,” he said.

Pfc. John Fraser, of Milfred, N.H., is a 4/2 infantryman who drove a Stryker in the convoy. After crossing into Kuwait, he said, “It was great being a big part of history. It was an experience.” Amid the steaming humidity and roaring engine noise at the border, he said “It feels great. It feels great to be here.”

Spc. Richard Corbin, a 4/2 Stryker mechanic from Memphis, Tenn., drove a truck in the convoy, an experience he described as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” He added that the 4/2’s safe arrival in Kuwait was possible thanks to the efforts of logistics soldiers. “There was really good support from everybody,” he said.

Receiving the 4/2 Strykers took coordination among military services and 1st TSC units throughout Kuwait. “I’m … impressed everyday with the soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines and the great work that they do out here in very difficult and austere conditions,” Tooliatos said.

Tooliatos, on behalf of 1st TSC Commander Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dowd, greeted the 4/2 convoys to show the 1st TSC’s readiness and pride in receiving the 4/2. “I couldn’t have asked for a better honor than to greet some Soldiers who’ve done great work for a year fighting our nation’s war and just be here and … welcome them and thank them for a job well done,” he said.

• Date Taken: 08.19.2010
• Date Posted: 08.19.2010 00:51
• Story ID: 54815
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW