Bullets, Beans and Bandages: Missourians ensure delivery of supplies

By: Jon E. Dougherty
203rd Engineer Battalion Public Affairs


EASTERN AFGHANISTAN - Members of the 203rd Engineer Battalion's Forward Support Company gathered around Sgt. 1st Class Robert Howard for their pre-mission briefing.

Howard, a combat engineer from Longview, Mo., was set to inform his fellow Soldiers on the dangers they might encounter during their upcoming mission.

That mission was to deliver supplies to a forward operating base several kilometers away, through Afghan territory that could be unforgiving. Along the route, crews could encounter improved explosive devices - IEDs - of 30 to 50 pounds or more, Howard warned. Also, he added, the enemy has been known to plant more than one in the same location, "so stay alert."

Continuing, he said there are numerous avenues for high-speed approaches to the main thoroughfare, as well as multiple observation points along the way. At nearly every point, Howard said the patrol of military supply vehicles and Afghan fuel-carrying trucks would be tracked.

It would be the job of the Missouri Guardsmen in their gun trucks to protect the vital supplies and keep the route clear of hostiles.

"Let's make sure we're prepared," Howard said, before turning the brief over to the commander, 1st Lt. Kyle Atha, a transportation officer from Grain Valley, Mo.

"Okay everyone, we'll be running pretty much the same way we have been," said Atha, squinting through a bright Afghanistan sun which was already burning off the morning chill. "There won't be many changes."

As the crews scribbled notes, Atha gave out radio call signs and frequencies, assembly times, and, most importantly, the mission start time for the following morning. Crews would have about 24 hours to prepare their vehicles, weapons and the cargo they would be escorting - plenty of time if there were no problems.

But there are always problems.

The following morning crews began gathering around their vehicles, or "vicks," around 5:30 a.m., well before they were instructed to report. Bundled in sea-green fleece jackets and caps, gloves and neck gaiters to guard against the encroaching cold, the crews juggled rucksacks full of gear, sleeping bags and cups of coffee as they began preparations for the coming mission.

As they labored in the chill of dawn, their breathing made visible as wisps of fog, the crews bantered about with one another. The levity masked the seriousness of their assignment: ensuring the safe delivery of much-needed equipment and supplies to those in need elsewhere.

Even back home in the States, moving military supplies and vehicles from one location to another carries inherent risks to trucks and drivers, but in Afghanistan - where the routes are uncertain and a determined enemy makes the going treacherous - much more planning has to go into such missions because of the risk.

"We have a load plan on every gun truck, to make sure that if we need to find something on any truck, it better be in the same place," said Atha. "We do our battle drills, we do our rehearsals, and me, personally, I create the operations order and present that to the men days in advance."

He added that it was equally important to look at the routes being traveled and get the latest intelligence to "find out where your hot zones and TAIs (target areas of interest) are, and to know where you're going."

And yet, despite the best of planning, problems still occur.

"There hasn't been a single mission out there that we haven't come across an event that we had not expected," said Atha. "It's still the Wild West here, and you've got to prepare for the unknown. Crazy events are just another daily event in Afghanistan."

***

The problems began almost immediately, even before the patrol left the relative safety of the forward operating base.

"Big Dog Six, this is Big Dog Three," came a voice over the radio. "Be advised, Fox Two struck a barricade and blew a tire. We need to stop and fix it, over."

Fox Two, a large diesel-and-trailer rig loaded with pallets of supplies, had cut a corner too sharply and struck one of the concrete barriers that formed a serpentine route out of the base. While it was a tight fit for large military vehicles, the entrance and exit routes were designed that way to thwart would-be attackers and potential vehicle-born suicide bombers.

The collision ruined the rim, forcing personnel to change the tire. Because of the size of the trailer and the fact that it was loaded with supplies, the job took more than hour.

But it would certainly not be the last delay on the journey, or the last problem.

***

The patrol, which incorporated more than two dozen vehicles - most of them Afghan transports hauling, among other commodities, much-needed fuel - crawled along the snaking, narrow Afghan pass, a choking cloud of thick dust roiling in its wake. The convoy traveled slowly partly out of caution, and partly because it was impossible to go much faster than five or six miles per hour along the craggy, rocky, washed out road.

Not an hour passed before one of the Afghan fuel trucks encountered a mechanical problem and had to be left behind. In the Afghan wilderness, convoys that don't keep moving put themselves at risk. Stationary vehicles can become targets for the enemy.

"Those [Afghan] drivers out there are scared and they depend on us to provide them with security to get from Point A to Point B," said Atha. "But the trucks they drive are sometimes ancient, and they break down and really slow down a convoy. It's a tough decision whether to give them the opportunity to fix (the mechanical problem) or have their personnel cross-load so we can resume the mission.

"In the end you try to recover as many trucks as possible ... but on the other hand, you have to keep all your guys safe and make sure they go home to their families," Atha said. "It's a fine balance."

"Completing the mission and ensuring the safety of the convoy is the primary mission," Atha said.

***

It was well past dark when the convoy finally reached its destination. Tired, hungry, dirty crews methodically secured their vehicles for the night, as cargo crews went to work offloading fuel and goods.

The base was pitch dark, part of a security measure that calls for the dousing of all structural lighting in order to thwart an ever-present and watchful enemy. Only the occasional small red, green or blue handheld light could be seen dotting the landscape - the only visible evidence of life.

And it was beginning to get cold again - very cold.

Atha and Howard were busy directing vehicles to their parking spots while a first lieutenant from the 211th Engineer Company (Sappers), South Dakota Army National Guard, began directing the cargo and trucks to where they would be unloaded.

It was a long day - well over 10 hours - that was made longer by mechanical and navigational problems, as well as potential encounters with the enemy. But, the crews noted, it wasn't a day out of the ordinary.

In fact, it was just business as usual.

Most of the men were sent to a "clam shell" tent - a large portable shelter that resembles its namesake - where they would be berthed for the night. Some sought nourishment, some cleanliness, and others only a cot and sleep. For tomorrow they would return to their own forward operating base and another long day.

***
The next morning, at about 8 a.m., crews prepared their vehicles - and themselves - to enter hostile territory, never really knowing whether or not they would encounter the enemy or just another long, bumpy, dusty ride home.

"Our mission is basically to support the battalion by getting the logistical assets they need to several FOBs where our Soldiers are stationed, which are out in, for lack of better words, rural areas," Atha said.

"For logistical supplies that can't be air-dropped, it is the combat logistic patrol's mission to deliver them," he noted. "Bottom line is, the customer comes to us and tells us what they need, and we haul it."

And the customers -U.S. military personnel scattered around the 203rd's theater of operations - are wholly dependent on teams like those manned by Atha, Howard, and their crews.

***

Two tense hours later, the radio in "Big Dog Two," an armored RG-31 gun truck, crackled: "All War Dog elements, be advised, there is a burning truck ahead. The route clearance package is investigating, over."

It was the voice of Sgt. William Russell, a combat engineer from Kansas City, Mo.

"Keep an eye out as you pass," Russell added, no doubt remembering the pre-mission brief warning that potential IED sites could feature two or more explosive charges.

Staff Sgt. Gary Rhodes, of Wyandotte, Okla., the truck commander, pondered what may have happened to the hapless transport.

"Might have been attacked but it most likely struck an IED," he said over the vehicle's intercom.

"Probably an IED," Spc. Wayne Crow, of Kansas City, Mo, answered. Crow, the vehicle's gunner who was manning a Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher in the turret above, added: "No one said anything about bullet holes, so I'd say it was probably an IED."

"I would imagine," Rhodes offered.

A short while later Big Dog Two made it to the site where the shell of the Afghan truck continued to burn. Spc. Justin Ehrsam of Lamar, Mo., the vehicle's driver, maneuvered carefully around the smoldering hulk.

Could the burning truck have been one left behind the day before? No one knew for sure; it was burned beyond recognition, and nobody - or bodies - were in sight.

"I know we hate to leave them behind, but sometimes there's really no other choice," Rhodes said.

As if to punctuate the point, 20 minutes later the radio crackled again. A separate route clearance package on a different route reported finding an IED. At a distance of just three kilometers, to these veterans the IED may as well have been on the moon.

***

Big Dog One, the lead element, inched its way up and down the arid expanses of Afghan roadway when someone up ahead announced the presence of local nationals walking along the route carrying a pick and shovel.

"Wonder what they've been burying," Crow said.

Atha ordered the patrol to halt while sending a team with a hooded Afghan interrogator forward to question the four Afghans - two boys and two men. The interrogator wore a hood to protect his identity; the Taliban have, in the past, taken retribution against any Afghans known to be aiding U.S. and coalition forces.

Big Dog Two moved up to provide cover for the dismounted team on the ground. Sgt. First Class Tyler King conducted the interrogation.

Only one national, the older man, was questioned and photographed for later reference. But the Guardsmen were satisfied all was well and that the local nationals were not involved in anything sinister. Following 10 minutes' worth of questioning, the team released the nationals and rejoined their gun truck.

Besides being ready for hostile action and split-second decision-making, U.S. Soldiers must also be reasoned diplomats.

***

Shortly after 2 p.m. the convoy pulled back into its base, its crews worn out and a number of vehicles needing maintenance. The routes are tough on even the toughest of vehicles, as Crow discovered part way through the first leg of the mission when the gear that drove his gun turret broke, forcing him to physically hold and move the heavy metal encasement for the remainder of the mission.

Had he been needed to deliver firepower downrange in defense of the convoy, it would have been difficult - if not impossible - to hold the turret steady while providing cover fire.

"My wrists are killing me," he said.

In addition, his headset was malfunctioning for most of the mission. And the dust had been choking him, and the other crews, for hours, as indicated by his frequent coughing.

But most importantly, the mission - despite unexpected problems and setbacks - was a success.
And in any event, the crews knew that, following a few days' rest and a rehabilitation of their vehicles, they would once again be called upon to deliver vital supplies to needy bases throughout their sector.

Here, no one feels sorry for themselves or complains about what they must do. They accept their responsibilities with pride and professionalism.

And they get ready to deliver more bullets, beans and bandages.