Photo By Sgt. Allyson Parla | Sgt. Carlos Meza, right, a gunner for the PSD, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th...... read more read more
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – The 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command’s Personnel Security Detachment set out on their first mission March 31 to Victory Base Complex.
The operation allowed for the brigade’s command team to conduct battlefield circulation, enabling the new commander to visit subordinate units, gain familiarization with operations, and have soldiers meet their new leadership. It also enabled the new brigade’s PSD to execute a convoy with the staff they have trained to protect.
“It was the first mission for everyone as a group and as a team,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Robbins, the lead vehicle commander for the PSD and a Washington, D.C., native.
“It was an important stepping stone,” Robbins said.
Although the PSD primarily conducted the mission independently, they had the support of the 3rd Special Troops Battalion’s Personnel Security Detachment, from the 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 310th ESC.
“They did excellent,” said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Denton, the operations noncommissioned officer and lead vehicle commander of the 3rd STB.
“I’d go to war with any one of them,” Denton said. “I feel confident leaving here that they’re going to fill our boots and do just as well as we did.”
Other PSD members agreed with Denton’s sentiment.
“I consider the mission a success,” said Sgt. James Rubio, the rear-truck driver for the 77th Sustainment Brigade and a Las Cruces, N.M., native.
“It was a new experience for me,” Rubio said. “I was able to see some new things.”
Rubio, who enlisted in the Army after high school, has served for the past 11 years. He predicts that the next mission will run even more smoothly due to this experience.
Members of the 3rd Sustainment Brigade’s PSD said they had similar views about their replacements.
“I’m very proud of them,” said Spc. Slade Shadle, gunner for the 3rd Sustainment Brigade’s PSD and a native of Early, Texas.
Shadle has completed two tours conducting similar operations in both Operation New Dawn and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In less than two days, the 77th Sustainment Brigade PSD team successfully emulated their counterparts’ actions, conducting the mission to Victory Base Complex while taking advice from the 3rd Sustainment Brigade’s PSD. Their skills grew immensely in a short amount of time, Shadle said.
During the ride to VBC, the PSD faced challenges such as traffic and communication. The 77th SB’s PSD team is still learning the ins and outs of their mission, said Spc. Christopher Tooley, driver for the 77th Sustainment Brigade and an intelligence analyst from Suffolk, Va.
“The more we work with one another, the better off we are going to be with communication,” Tooley said.
The mission was an overall success, and both PSD teams learned from one another, gaining useful knowledge.
“They’re sponges,” Denton said. “They absorb things. They picked up a lot of knowledge.”
He added that exposure to the new environment, particularly the
routes, will prepare the team for the mission ahead.
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2011 03:53 |
| Story ID: | 68513 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 381 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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