Photo By Cpl. Clayton Vonderahe | Lance Cpl. Steven Fortner, a motor transportation mechanic with 1st Battalion, 8th...... read more read more
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COMBAT OUTPOST CAFFERETTA, Afghanistan - When the convoys of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8, get caught under enemy fire and their vehicle is disabled, there is a special team of men who come to their aid. These Marines brave enemy fire and explosives to accomplish their job, and that is only a part of their duties.
Sgt. Jeremy Johnson, a motor transportation wrecker operator with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8, and Lance Cpl. Steven Fortner, a motor transportation mechanic with the same unit, have their work cut out for them as motor transportation Marines aboard Combat Out Post Cafferetta, Afghanistan.
“When we first got here we were working till’ [1 a.m.],” explained Fortner. “We were just playing ‘catch up’ with the vehicles and dispatching.”
Johnson and Fortner work under a tattered tarp roof, using aluminum pallets, designed to ship cargo by air, as a makeshift floor to perform their vehicle maintenance. The two Marines work with tools in a neatly kept tool chest and perform with experienced hands like mechanical surgeons.
They perform routine maintenance for more than 100 vehicles, as well as drive a wrecker to vehicles that have been disabled during the unit’s operations.
“We just gotta’ keep em’ running, basically,” said Fortner. “We have to keep tabs on all the vehicles, when they need maintenance and where they are at, at all times.”
The Marines have spent the past seven months in Now Zad, elbow deep in vehicles. On top on the maintenance workload, another more dangerous job could come up for them at any time. The Marines recover damaged vehicles, which can likely result in an ambush on the wrecker vehicle they drive.
“We do recoveries on anything that has been blown up,” said Johnson, referring to the improvised explosive devices that can wreak havoc on an unsuspecting vehicle. “They [insurgents] wait until we go for the recovery. Any time we go out they target the wrecker or any support vehicles. They know the wreckers capabilities and they know the flatbed seven-tons as well.”
“They know where to shoot too,” added Fortner.
Their team work has melded their two different jobs into an efficient operation where either Marine is capable of performing the other’s job. Fortner can now perform recovery operations using the wrecker, and Johnson does his part to share the work load.
“I normally give my mechanic a hand,” Johnson smirked.
The Marines have been recovering vehicles, fending off enemy fire, and cranking wrenches for more than half a year. They have been an essential asset to keeping the Marines mobile and protected in a hostile environment. Through their efforts, the wheels of war continue to turn in favor of the Marines.
| Date Taken: | 03.08.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2011 04:20 |
| Story ID: | 66767 |
| Location: | COMBAT OUTPOST CAFFERETTA, AF |
| Web Views: | 262 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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