Covering more than one million miles across Iraq, the 1221st Transportation Company has definitely earned their name of the ?Road Warriors?
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Covering more than one million miles across Iraq, the 1221st Transportation Company has definitely earned their name of the ?Road Warriors?
The unit, from Trenton. Dexter, Centertown and Jefferson Barracks, mobilized in March 2003 and arrived in the theater of operations at the end of June 2003.
?At first, the hardest thing to get used to was the extreme heat,? said Sgt. Jeffrey Gardner of Brookfield. ?Other than the heat, it was what I was expecting.?
The unit was initially stationed at a base camp in Kuwait, but was moved to a base camp in southern Iraq.
?I think we have a great unit and it is exciting to visit another country and see how they live,? said Spc. Laura Cooper of Dexter, whose husband is a platoon sergeant in the unit.
The 1221st, a medium truck company, provides transportation support to units across Iraq and Kuwait. The unit has traveled as far north as Mosul, as far west as Al Asad and as far east as Kirkuk.
?When we were first mobilized, I thought we would be over here for the war,? said Spc. Matthew Newcomer of Marshall. ?So I was expecting it to be a lot more hostile. The roads are still dangerous, but not like I thought they would be.?
Living conditions for the soldiers range from sleeping on a cot underneath a trailer while they are on mission, to rather comfortable tents at their base camp. During August, the 1221st was tasked with establishing a base camp near Ad Diwaniyah, in central Iraq. At that point, the soldiers created a safe living environment from scratch, putting up tents, establishing fighting positions, eating only MREs (meals ready to eat), and going at least two weeks without any showers. While at Diwaniyah, the 1221st provided transportation support to the recently restored railhead operations in the town. Rail operations were a vital role in helping Iraq become more self sufficient.
?I think the hardest part of this deployment was when were at Ad Diwaniyah, living in that dust hole,? Gardner said. ?We had no contact with our families, and that is pretty hard.?
Most camps across Kuwait and Iraq have phone centers and Internet availability where the soldiers can keep in contact with their families in Missouri.
?The military seems to work hard to make the camps as nice as they can be,? Newcomer said.
In October, the 1221st began a rest and recuperation leave program, allowing soldiers to return home for 15 days leave. The 1221st was fortunate because every soldier that wanted to travel home on R&R leave was offered the opportunity. Several soldiers did not want to take leave because they felt it would be too hard to return to Iraq after the 15 days was over.
The Road Warriors hauled thousands of pieces of equipment and containers for dozens of different units. When the new Stryker Brigade moved into Iraq, the 1221st helped transport them.
?Sometimes I get frustrated because units like the Stryker seem to get so much more support than we do,? Gardner said. ?We run the same roads, only with less armor on our vehicles. We have proven the National Guard does just as good a job, with fewer assets to work with.?
The soldiers of the 1221st have had many different experiences with active component soldiers, reserve components from various states, different coalition forces, local nationals and third country nationals working for the U.S. military.
?I have got to know a lot of the nationals,? said Cooper. Cooper is a food service soldier and she had a lot of exposure to the third country nationals that work in the dining facilities. ?At first I was leery because I didn?t know what to expect. But they are just people, like you and I. Without this deployment I would have never had the experience of getting to know them.?
To date, the unit has experienced only a handful of encounters with Improvised Explosive Device the greatest threat to convoys in theater. Unit leaders chalk that up to soldier readiness and prayers.
The 1221st Transportation Company has seen many milestones pass while deployed, the birth of several children, the death of parents and the holiday season separated from loved ones.
?Even though I am here with my husband, I still think about my family and my job back home,? Cooper said. ?I wonder how much everything will be changed when I finally get back home.?