DVIDS Hub works best with JavaScript enabled

Recovery

Photo By Staff Sgt. Miles Elder | BAQUABAH, Iraq March 10, 2006) -- Staff Sgt. Jason Manthe (left) and Sgt. Jeremy...... read more read more

BAQUBAH, IRAQ

03.27.2006

Story by Staff Sgt. Miles Elder

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Spc. Lee Elder
133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAQUABAH, Iraq (March 11, 2006) - It's a call they hope they never get, but when the phone rings Soldiers with the Company B, 64th Brigade Support Battalion Recovery Team are ready to roll.

Such a call came early one recent morning. A 5-ton truck had been disabled by a roadside bomb, and all attempts by the convoy members to tow the vehicle themselves had failed. The vehicle's front passenger side wheel had been totally destroyed by the blast.

That's when Staff Sgt. Jason Manthe and Sgt. Jeremy Sanders stepped in. Manthe got the first notification and he was able to secure Sanders from his normal role as a heavy wheeled mechanic.

"We are on standby all the time," Sanders said. "We get our grid coordinates and we're gone."

Driving a 5-ton wrecker, the pair quickly made it out to the site of the damaged vehicle. Its driver, Spc. Booker T. Johnson III, had managed to get the vehicle away from the area of the blast to a more secure location.

Less than an hour after the blast, Manthe and Sanders were on site. They quickly assessed the situation and went right to work.

They labor as a team, quickly and with very few words exchanged. First, they prepare the damaged vehicle to be towed and then they begin hooking it up.

"We worked together last deployment," Manthe said. "We've always worked well together.

"We know how each other operate, and know what each other knows."

On this dreary morning, Iraqi Police had stopped traffic around the halted convoy. Convoy members banded together to form a secure perimeter so the duo could do their work.

For his part, Sanders, an 8-year veteran from Port Lavaca, Texas, said the support makes all the difference. It speeds along the task at hand.

"This rotation is not so bad," Sanders said. "We've got a lot of security this time.

"The last time we were out here, we didn't have a whole lot of security. We had to pretty much keep the civilians away from us at the same time while we were hooking up to a vehicle."

While they are always mindful of the tactical situation, they must focus on the work at hand. Not to do so, could cause problems.

"You've got to have your mind set on what you're out there to do," Manthe said. "We had to have faith in the security element so we could pretty much do our job.

"We have to have faith in the security element so we can get them back safely and get ourselves back safely."

The job is not without risks. Operators must work quickly, but they must also be careful.

"You've got to be pretty quick on your feet," Sanders said. "You've got to get in, hook it up and get out as quickly as possible.

"Staying safe is the main thing. We want to make sure nobody gets hurt while we're hooking up.

Manthe, who has also served in the Army for eight years and hails from Jefferson, Wisc., said he went to school to earn the "H8" additional skill identifier for recovery. However, he credits years on the job with honing his skills.

"You really don't get good at it until you get your hands on it and start playing with the equipment," Sanders said. "The more familiar you get with the equipment, the easier it gets knowing what to use to hook up and what to hook up."

Sanders never attended the school. He jokingly said he learned the skills by "getting stuck on a wrecker" during his Army career.

"I've just kind of learned as I go," Sanders said. "A lot of people have taught me a lot of things."

Because the vehicle was upright and had only sustained minimal damage, Manthe said Thursday's operation "was really a pretty simple hook up." However, both have dealt with flipped vehicles or those with more severe damage.

"A vehicle that is rolled over is more time consuming," Manthe explained. "You've got to deal with the damage that is done to the vehicle.

"You may have to hook up the axle and do a hasty tow."

Despite the difficulty of some missions, both Soldiers said they enjoyed the challenge of the recovery mission. They don't look forward to getting the calls, but they know more will come during their rotation here.

"I like to get off the FOB," Manthe said. "I look forward to the missions out there."

While both like their jobs and their shop mates, their daytime jobs pale in comparison to the excitement of leading a vehicle recovery.

"You get the adrenalin going," Manthe said. "You know you've got to go out there and hook up to a vehicle.

"You don't know what's going to happen. The adrenalin gets going and it's kind of a rush."