Remaining 4/2 Soldiers Leave Kuwait, Complete Historic Self-Retrograde

Photo By Natalie Cole | A soldier with the 4/2 guides a Stryker driver onto a flatbed in the afternoon desert heat of Kuwait Aug. 26.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

09.09.2010

Story by Natalie Cole 

1st Theater Sustainment Command

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - The 4/2 has made history as the first brigade since 2004 to complete a self-retrograde. Typically, units redeploying from Iraq turn their gear in on the ground and then fly home, a process which makes redeployment easier and faster. However, with the push to get people and equipment out of Iraq in August, the 4/2 did the work themselves to free up manpower and resources.

After safely arriving in Kuwait, soldiers got to work right away using the facilities and transportation capabilities managed by the 1st Theater Sustainment Command. First, the soldiers drove their Strykers through the four-corners, a series of assembly-line style customs and cleaning stations set up especially for self-retrograde.

Then, before clearing customs, the soldiers had to clean a year’s worth of sand and debris out of their heavily-armored Strykers. In the final step of the self-retrograde, the soldiers loaded the Strykers onto flatbed trucks for one last convoy to the sea port, where the vehicles will sail back to the United States aboard a cargo ship in the coming weeks.

Because of the relentless day-time heat, the soldiers did much of the heavy lifting and cleaning of the self-retrograde at night. However, some work had to be done in the heat of the day, and the soldiers fought through the high temperatures to get their equipment ready to go. “It might be hard work. It’s a lot of sweat, but this is the end,” said 2nd Lt. Larry Pugh, a unit movement officer who helped load Strykers onto flat bed trucks Aug. 26.

The 4/2 has a special four-soldier team of logistics troops who have been splitting their time among Camp Arifjan, Camp Virginia and the ports to ensure everything and everyone gets home.

Warrant Officer Winston Browne, a mobility warrant officer, is one of the team members. “It takes a lot of patience and … drive to deploy and redeploy a unit” he said. “Especially a Stryker Brigade because it’s so … new to the Army arsenal. There are a lot of files that haven’t been created to match [our] specific needs such as the body armor for the Stryker.” As a result, movement officers have had to manually enter information about Strykers into the Army’s supply tracking system that accounts for equipment.

Browne agreed with Pugh that soldiers have kept up the energy and flexibility needed for the self-retrograde by staying focused on the end reward. “They had a date on the wall, and it may have changed a time or two, but …their drive was definitely getting home to their family,” Browne said.

Pfc. Joshua Allen Ewing, from Lubbock, Texas, drove one of the Strykers across the border and took part in the self-retrograde in Kuwait. The 21-year-old cavalry scout said his focus during the convoy was to “get here as safely, as quickly as possible.” When asked what part of the support for the self-retrograde surprised him the most, Ewing said “the civilians. When we got here, they made the first set of the four corners go amazingly quick. It was a couple hours, and we were told it might be a couple of days,” he said.

Spc. Clifton Daigle, from Bogalusa, La., is a Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear specialist who also rolled into Kuwait with the 4/2. He said the size of the self-retrograde operation was impressive. “I didn’t think it’d be this large of a scale. From the second we rolled in, there have been people running around constantly. I don’t think I’ve seen the same person twice,” said Daigle, 22. “Everything we’ve needed, we’ve definitely got and there have been no troubles.”

For soldiers on the ground, the self-retrograde required driving, cleaning, lifting and loading. Browne said Soldiers’ efforts are now a part of the brigade’s history. “For them to take part in this and how they feel about it … I’m 100 percent sure that they’re filled with pride as far as getting the mission accomplished and getting home,” he said.

Sgt. 1st Class Jaritta Morgan, from Atlanta, is the non-commissioned officer in charge of the 4/2’s supplies and movement. She is also part of the four-soldier team working with the 1st TSC and units in Kuwait. She said as the days have gone by, she has started to feel the significance of her role in the 4/2 self-retrograde and the brigade’s publicized departure from Iraq. “The overwhelming feeling was going online and seeing the pictures of the guys crossing the border,” she said, adding that she recognized the faces of Soldiers she has worked with while deployed. “You get a little welled up inside.”

Browne said he felt the self-retrograde was a once-in-a-lifetime undertaking. “To do this was a unique experience. I will never have an opportunity to do this again,” he said.

The last large group of 4/2 troops flew out of the Life Support Area in Kuwait Sept. 9. Browne, Morgan and their two colleagues – the final stragglers of the brigade-sized operation – are set to leave in the coming days, marking the final departure of the 4/2 deployment. “We have named ourselves the final four,” Morgan said.

• Date Taken: 09.09.2010
• Date Posted: 09.10.2010 05:56
• Story ID: 55999
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW