SGT RACHEL BRUNE
101ST SUSTAINMENT BDE
FOB SPEICHER, Iraq -- As a logistics and support unit, the 101st Sustainment Brigade contains a wide mix of companies and missions.
Since arriving in Iraq to support coalition forces, the brigade now contains a mix of branches of service as well.
The 1058th Gun Truck Detachment, Air Force, serves under the 561st Corps Support Battalion to provide gun truck escorts for logistics missions here.
The detachment itself is a motley assortment of airmen from various units, including 25 different bases, according to Capt. Christopher Rosales, detachment commander, from Oakhurst, Calif.
"We're from all over the place," said Tech. Sgt. Allen Jones, a mission commander from Miami, Fla.
The crews start preparing several hours before leaving for the combat logistics patrol yard to receive their briefings and make sure the mission's paperwork is in order.
"We take care of our vehicles, because our vehicles are our lifeline," said Jones.
"It is a high operational tempo," said Rosales. "They run every day."
In addition to an assortment of different bases, Rosales" troops come from a range of Air Force specialty codes, what the Army knows as military occupational specialties.
Many airmen came from the field of transportation, including vehicle operators and vehicle maintenance workers. A large group of security forces, what the Army knows as military police, "add combat flavor," said Rosales.
"We learn to adapt and overcome," said Jones. "I always tell my airmen to look out for each other."
In one of the gun truck turrets, Airman Catherine Karl manned an M240B machine gun. Karl, a vehicle operator from Sierra Vista, Ariz., received training with the detachment, learning skills such as driving in a patrol and manning an entry control point.
"[Training] made a lot of things a lot easier for us out here," said Senior Airman Jesus Soto, an M240B gunner from Las Vegas, Nev. Soto was a security forces airman before joining the detachment.
The detachment trained for the mission at Fort Sill, Okla., then received additional training at Udairi Range in Kuwait, according to Rosales.
This is the third rotation of the detachment. Unlike most Army units, the 1058th was created specifically to deploy to theater, said Rosales.
The detachment consists of two operations flights and one support flight. A flight is a platoon in Army terminology.
As an Air Force detachment under an Army brigade, the troops faced additional challenges.
"When I first got here, I thought it was like learning advanced calculus in Chinese," said Rosales.
The mission brings its own dangers. Every crew has been hit by improved explosive devices, or IEDS, or small arms fire "at least once," according to Soto.
"We're out there giving it all we've got every day," said Jones.
"These guys are professionals and can run like the most seasoned infantry troops," said Rosales.