AMMO SUPPLY POINT STORES MORE WITH LESS
AL ASAD, Iraq (August 2, 2005) – Combining two Ammunition Supply Points into one, losing nine hardened storage units in the process is not a simple task, but the 21 Marines of the ASP detachment, Combat Logistics Battalion 2, here handled it, albeit it with a little help from the combat engineers.
Combat Logistics Battalion 2 used ASP East was an overflow storage area, but, due to critical missions, had to be given up and all the munitions from ASP East had to be moved into ASP West. However, with the combat engineers and the 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward) ammunition officer, the Marines of the ASP were able to triple the amount of ammunition stored at ASP West.
“When you’re dealing with the storage of ammunition, there’s a lot that goes into it,” said Gunnery Sgt. Tim J. Babineaux, officer in charge of the ASP. “You have to maintain compatibility and quantity distance. The engineers are helping us build appropriate storage areas. With the help of the [FSSG] ammo officer, we were able to come up with a good plan on how to store all of the ammo.”
Maintaining compatibility is done by storing certain types of ammunitions separate from another type of ammunition due to their properties. Compatibility is to ensure safety within an ASP.
“We lost those nine hardened structures when we had to give up ASP East,” said Babineaux, a native of Lafayette, La. “The overall effect of safety and protection from the environment those hardened buildings provided was lost.”
When storing ammunition, ammunition technicians deal with net explosive weight and quantity distance.
“If you’re storing two types of ammo pointed in the same direction, you can’t store as much,” said Sgt. Charles Fernandez, ASP storage chief. “But if you store it all in cells which make up [modular units] you can store a lot more.”
“Modular storage increases capability to store more ammo because of the barricaded berms that provide protection,” added Babineaux. (YES, he added it. He was there when I was talking to Sgt. Fernandez, Cpl. Lawson.)
The 10-feet tall berms of the modular units are being built by the combat engineers of Alpha Company, 6th Engineer Support Battalion Detachment of CLB-2, with a total of 25 modular units being built for the ASP to ensure proper storage of the ammunition
Despite the massive amounts of munitions being stored outside in the harsh elements of the barren Iraqi landscape, the shelf life of the ammo will not be affected.
“It isn’t going to hurt it too much,” said the Grand Rapids, Mich., native, Fernandez. “The only ones you have to worry about are the white phosphorous rounds. You have to make sure they aren’t laid on their side because the phosphorous melts when it gets hot, but at night it cools down and hardens. If it is lying on its side when it hardens, when they go to fire it, the round is lop-sided and won’t travel correctly.”
When moving all the ammo from ASP East to ASP West the Marines used 7-ton (Could that be right or is it seven-ton) truck assets and a lot of help from the Heavy Equipment platoon of the combat engineers of CLB-2.
“It took us about two-and-a-half weeks to move all the ammo,” said Babineaux. “We were working 14 to 16-hour days to get that done.”
Initially, with the movement of the ammunition, the workload of the Marines increased, but has recently been reduced with the ammunition being stored in a central location.
“The key benefit to having all of the ammo here is it made our job easier,” said Babineaux. “The ammo is more readily available, easier to safeguard and is easier to safeguard with it in a central location. It took a lot of man hours to move ammo from ASP East to here to get it ready for re-supply. There are very few disadvantages to storing all the ammo here.”
Supplying ammunition for elements of 2nd FSSG, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and Regimental Combat Team 2, the Marines could be called in at any time to do emergency re-supplies.
“We support everyone here, and this makes our mission accomplishment faster,” said Babineaux. “This group of 21 Marines is one of the most professional groups I have ever worked with. They perform flawlessly and accomplish their mission.”
Houston native thrives on deployment
CAMP HIT, Iraq June 6, 2005) – “You can’t tell at all this is his first deployment can you?” asked Gunnery Sgt. Aaron L. Barthelmas, mess chief for Service Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, 2d Force Service Support Group (Forward), speaking about Sgt. Daniel Johnson.
Johnson, a Houston native is not only a food service specialist, but has a secondary Military Occupational Specialty as a military policeman.
“I was assigned with Military Police Company, [Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.],” said Johnson. “I was with them for about a year-and-a-half and worked my way up from standing at the gate to patrolling in a squad car. They taught me quite a bit there. I saw a lot of stuff too that I wish hadn’t ever. I went to suicides, homicides, pulled people over for drinking and driving. I even found narcotics in a car on its way through the gate.”
Remembering one of the calls he received, Johnson said he felt very disturbed by what he had seen.
“I was sent out to look for a guy,” said Johnson. “He was on his way out of the Marine Corps. He was on terminal leave and we found him on the highway. His car had flipped and his infant had been thrown from the car. That messed with me when I went home that night.”
Johnson said he spent so much time with MP Co. because he had slipped through the proverbial cracks of the administrative system.
“I was MPs for so long because Food Service Company had basically forgotten about me, but now I’ve been back with them for about a year,” continued the 24-year-old. “I came to this company and some of the sergeants that I work with now were my sergeants when I was a [private first class]. We have a really tight group here and we all take care of each other.”
Responsible for the maintenance of the Marine Corps’ Field Food Service System at Korean Village, Iraq, Johnson has learned new skills including operating machinery not normally driven by a food service specialist.
“He can drive pretty much any vehicle asset needed to get the job done,” said Barthelmas. “He’s very flexible and dynamic. He’s got a whole slew of skills.”
“Normally, he wouldn’t drive a [Tractor, Rubber-tired, Articulated-steering Machine] if we weren’t in a deployed situation,” said Sgt. Juan C. AguilarRichard, a Mission, Texas, native and Camp Hit mess manager. “We would have somebody else drive the TRAM for us, but because the mission requires us to use it, and he knows how to operate it we get the job done. He knows how to work hard and gets done what needs to be done.”
Johnson attributed his work ethic to his leaders at Food Service Company, and his maturity level to some times of trouble as a teenager, kicked out of his parents house.
“I went back and talked with my dad when I was 17,” said Johnson. “I wasn’t a 15-year-old kid doing drugs and drinking beer anymore. I had learned I needed to grow up”
Now, with a wife, Jessica, and two-year-old daughter, Lezlie, Johnson realizes the importance of hard work.
“’Pappy’ knows how to get the work done,” said Johnson, referring to himself with his nickname given to him by Barthelmas.
“He always calls everybody else that, so I thought it was fitting to give it right back to him,” commented Barthelmas. “He’s a hard worker and won’t settle for anything less than success. Always out in front, he leads by example.
“He was a key player in us receiving the W.P.T. Hill Award, being selected as the best field mess in the Marine Corps,” continued Barthelmas.
Johnson said he will be leaving the Marine Corps after his four-year enlistment, looking forward to moving back to Texas and working with his dad.
“I’d like to see him reenlist,” said Barthelmas. “He’s a great Marine, but he’s got a job lined up for when he gets out. I know that he’s going to go out there and do great things.
Reservists watch towers fall, fight back
AL ASAD, Iraq (August 17, 2005) – “I watched it happen. I felt helpless. My friends and I wanted to help out, but I couldn’t go because the fire department, where I’m a volunteer fire fighter, was on stand by. I had to go with the fire department if they went.”
This is the beginning of Lance Cpl. Michael Sprung’s story of what became his journey to becoming one of the few and the proud.
Sprung, a 29-year-old truck driver with Transportation Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward), recalled what happened that fateful September day that rocked the nation onto its heels.
The reservist from Rutherford, N.J., said he wanted to do anything he could to help. He even called the Red Cross to donate blood.
“They used the main road in my town as a route for the medical evacuations,” said Sprung. “For like a half an hour, it was a parade of ambulances. My wife was stuck in the city for three or four days. You couldn’t get in or out of the city at all.”
It wasn’t until he was Christmas shopping that same year when he saw the recruiters in the mall and had approached them to talk about his brother joining.
“The next thing I knew, they were talking to me about joining,” said Sprung. After that he enlisted and made the transition to the reserves keeping his job as a volunteer fire fighter and working for Nestle.
Not quite the same story, but Lance Cpls. James B. Brady and Christopher R. Fazio, both natives of Waretown, N.J., were both in high school when terrorist-hijacked planes smashed into the World Trade Center.
“You could see the smoke from my high school,” said Fazio. “The announcement came over the loudspeaker. It seemed like the right thing to do. Me and a couple of friends were thinking about joining. We were all going to go active-duty.”
Due to problems that arose with his family, Fazio found that joining the Marine Reserves would be the best way for him to serve his country.
“One of our buddies coerced us to join,” said the 21-year-old Brady.
New Jersey police officer J. M. Cabrera was beginning what he recalled as a very surreal 23-hour day of work when he saw what was happening in the distant horizon.
“As I pulled into the command center I was watching the flames from the first tower,” said the staff sergeant with 6th Motor Transport Battalion of Red Bank, N.J., augmented to CLB-2, along with Sprung, Fazio and Brady. “By the time I had got on the roof of the station the first tower had gone down. It was crazy.”
The day had begun just like any other for Cabrera, leaving for work, but when the radios and cell phones went out his initial reaction was shock and disbelief.
“You never thought something like this could happen,” said the 15-year Marine Corps veteran.
Cabrera, who missed fighting in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm by just a couple months, went into the city to help sift through the rubble and deliver supplies to the workers who had already been cleaning up and searching for those who were still in the buildings with a part of the 6th Motor Transport Battalion.
“My wife wanted to help out, but there were just too many people,” said Cabrera. “They had more volunteers than stuff that needed to get done. Literally, people were getting in the way of each other.”
Sprung and Cabrera said their wives were supportive in their decision to do their part in the Global War on Terrorism.
“My wife is supportive and has been through it all,” said Sprung. “She’s even supportive of me wanting to change [Military Occupational Specialty] to infantry.”
Cabrera said his wife knew that she was marrying a police officer and Marine.
“She knew who she was marrying,” said Cabrera. “The difference of being here is the bad guys are different and it’s forty degrees hotter. She doesn’t like being at home by herself with the baby, though.”
Brady said his family, and mainly his dad, can not stop bragging about all the good things he and his fellow Marines are doing here. However, they realize the imminent danger the young men and women face everyday they leave the base.
“They don’t like the danger we’re in,” said Brady, who survived a mine strike that hit his logistics vehicle system. “They’re supportive though, and that’s what helps us here. My dad is constantly telling everybody about what we’re doing here.”
Insurgents have been using mine strikes and Improvised Explosive Devices to hinder the progress of Coalition Forces, and by planting these make-shift bombs and fleeing the scene have become a faceless enemy to the Marines.
“It’s hard because we’re seeing our friends being injured,” said Fazio. “It’s more frustrating than anything because we can’t see who’s shooting the [Indirect Fire] or setting the mines and IEDs.”
“Out here we’re the targets,” added Brady, who was in Reserve Officer Training Corps in high school. “We’d take action if we saw who was doing all of it, but you never see them. It is pretty hard to drive while dodging mortars and worrying about hitting a mine or IED. The [Military Police] have been doing a great job of patrolling before we head out on our convoys, though.”
Brady said that he feels people focus on the negatives too much and do not see all of the positive things coming from their job.
“We’re here to do a job: give freedom to these people,” said Brady. “We’re getting that job done.”
Making that job safer for the Marines has been the use of the Marine Armor Kits, improving the structure of the vehicles used by the Marines, Sailors and Soldiers traveling the treacherous roads between the bases of Coalition Forces.
“This time around things are a lot safer because of the up-armor kits,” said Cabrera, who was also deployed during the beginning of the war in 2003. “The vehicle hardening has been a life-saver.”
Despite the rough times the three lance corporals faced during their time deployed, all three feel they need to come back to continue their supportive roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I’ve already made up my mind,” said Sprung, who used a picture of all the fire fighters who died Sept. 11 as motivation during his time at recruit training. “I’m going to be coming back out here no matter what.”
charlie company delivers barriers, fortifies position
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (May 4, 2005) -- Hesco barriers and sand bags are still a commonly used tool in fortifying coalition forces bases, but new “T” barriers are becoming more noticeable throughout the area. Being place atop Hesco barriers for added protection the “T” barriers seen at construction sites in the United States are turning into an essential piece of the puzzle for protection here.
Along with delivering the barriers, which is no small task, the Marines of Charlie Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2d Force Service Support Group (Forward), conduct convoy operations into the city of Fallujah bringing food and water to the police station.
“We do the city run everyday to make sure the Iraqis have enough food and water,” said Cpl. Anthony Gaede, a truck driver with Black team. “What we’re doing out here makes me feel like I’m doing something. This is my third time out here. Last time we saw a lot more action, but I would still rather be here than back in the [United States].”
According to Sgt. Gary P. Owens, a truck driver and Lehigh Acres, Fla., native, the Marines are always trying to get road time.
“We do runs two to three times a day,” said Owens. “These guys will do anything to get on the road. Being out there makes them happy.”
The mission Charlie Co. has been tasked with is providing direct support to Regimental Combat Team 8, ensuring the units that comprise RCT-8 have adequate supplies.
“We get a tasker, or mission, which designates what we are going to be carrying, where we are carrying it and what we need to transport it,” said Owens. “Then we get everything set up the night before. That way we can get our brief in the morning and roll out.”
Recently the Marines of Black team assisted 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment establish a safe house and observation post.
“We basically gave them a place to fall back to if they need it,” said Gaede, a Neillsville, Wis., native.
For Owens, the greatest part of being here with Black team is seeing the Marines improve on a daily basis.
“I love challenging the Marines,” said Owens. “This is a really great group of Marines. You can challenge them with anything and they will get the job done. You can see improvement in them daily.”
“The teamwork these guys have is really awesome,” said Sgt. Jim Wood, a Flushing, Mich., native and platoon sergeant for Charlie Co. “These guys are like brothers. They fight like brothers and stick up for each other like brothers. They are a really close family, and you tell them to get something done and they do it, without question.”
Deploying to Iraq Brings Brothers Together
CAMP TAQADDUM, IRAQ (March 2, 2005) – Playful fighting, taking care of each other and the warrior spirit run deep in the Becker family, according to the eldest and youngest of three brothers.
The trio of boys joined the Marine Corps, following in the footsteps of their grandfather, a retired colonel.
Gunnery Sgt. Mathew C. Becker, the 35-year-old company gunnery sergeant for A Co., 2d Military Police Battalion, augmenting 1st Force Service Support Group (Forward) and his youngest brother, Lance Cpl. Kyle Becker, a heavy equipment operator with 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2d Force Service Support Group (Fwd.), met up in the barren desert landscape of Iraq after two years of not seeing each other.
Kyle is just beginning a career in the Marine Corps while his oldest brother has been in the ranks for 15 years. Kyle said that he always looked up to his brothers for guidance when he was growing up. Joining the Marine Corps as they did seemed like a natural decision for him.
Their other brother, Cpl. Andy Becker, who was recently deployed to Afghanistan with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, for Operation Enduring Freedom, is part of the Security and Stability Operations training staff at March Air Reserve Base in California.
Even though Kyle and Mathew’s home base is Camp Lejeune, N.C., they have missed each other due to deployments and various duty assignments. However, Mathew’s absence has given Kyle the opportunity to assist his brother’s family.
Kyle, who claims McCurdysville, W. Va., for a hometown, spent time with Mathew’s wife, Kim, their boys, Seth and Shane, and daughter, Olivia, before his recent deployment.
Right now, it’s Mathew’s turn to take care of his little brother for the short time they’ll be together here. Kyle has just arrived for duty in Iraq, while his brother is packing up to go home and be reunited with his family. Military policemen from B Co., 2d MP Bn., will replace the elder Becker’s unit as the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based I Marine Expeditionary Force turns over command and control of western Iraq to the Camp Lejeune-based II MEF as part of the scheduled rotation of troops.
Today, they are together. Standing outside the older Becker brother’s building, they reminisce of years past, growing up together, serving in Iraq and of their family.
Kyle said they have always had a strong relationship, but he did catch a lot of grief from his older brother.
“Yeah, it was more like he was picking on me and beating me up when I was younger,” said Kyle.
“He was a punk when he was younger, but he’s turned into a great Marine and an even better brother. Besides, we’re happy when we’re punching and beating each other,” commented Mathew with a playful jab to Kyle’s ribs.
The two were engaged in some brotherly hand-to-hand combat, much like what would occur even if they had not been separated for two years, when one was injured.
“He split my eye open here the other day in front of my Marines. I was bleeding all over the place,” said Mathew, as he explained the warrior spirit of his little brother.
Mathew said he felt no apprehension about his brother being deployed to a combat zone.
“He’s a warrior; it runs in the family,” said Mathew, a native of Portland, Ore. “I’ve been here three times now and Andy was in Afghanistan; now it’s [Kyle’s] turn to step up to the plate.”
Becker’s Military Police Company has spent the past seven months providing security for military supply convoys on Iraq’s dangerous roads. His unit also supported last November’s combat operations in Fallujah, helping reclaim the city from heavy insurgency during Operation Al Fajr.
“I’ve been giving him advice about how to be successful out here,” said Mathew. “I told him to keep his eyes open for [Improvised Explosive Devices] and take care of his Marines. He’s a good Marine and I know that he will do awesome things out here. He can think outside of the box and attack a problem from the side, top, bottom or go right through it.”
Mathew’s time here has come to an end and he is returning to Camp Lejeune soon. He said he is looking forward to seeing his family again.
“I heard those guys had a family reunion while I was out here,” said Mathew, who works on the opposite end of Camp Taqaddum, a former Iraqi military airbase now occupied by U.S. forces, from his brother.
“We did get together, but we were thinking of you the entire time,” said Kyle to his brother in a reassuring tone about the reunion he missed.
According to Mathew, Kyle did a good job helping his wife take care of his kids. “He was out there turning wrenches with my boys who race motocross; they’re already asking about him. They miss him.”
With Mathew’s deployment knowledge being passed to Kyle, they said they are thankful for their time together and their commands have been very helpful, allowing the brothers to be together as much as possible before they go their separate directions again.
“I’m just happy that I can pass on the knowledge that I have about being out here to my brother before I go home,” said Mathew.
Ordinary man becomes super marine
CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (March 18, 2005) -- Private First Class John Super, a reservist ammunition technician, general support ammunition platoon, Ammunition Company, 4th Supply Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group from Topeka, Kansas, started in a manual labor position at a company and eventually worked his way up to middle management before trying college. He did not finish college, but had a grade point average that would rival most astute students. Why did he choose to join the Marine Corps?
“When he told me why he joined the Marine Corps, I had a new-found respect for him,” said Lance Cpl. Christopher Stein, a mechanic with 2d Maintenance Bn., 2d Marine Logistics Brigade (Forward). “He told me that he was at home watching TV when he thought to himself ‘There are kids younger than me in Iraq dying. That ain’t right.’”
However, for Super, he had an uphill battle right from the start. At the age of 27, Super, through lots of exercise and watching what he ate, lost 120 pounds before he walked into the recruiter’s office.
With a father and uncle in the military before him, both in the Army, he decided to look into what the Army had to offer.
“I went in to the Army recruiter’s office and found out that they could offer me money,” said the 28-year-old Marine. “I’m the type who likes to weigh all my options. I went to the Marine’s office and asked them what they could offer. The recruiter said, ‘I can give you the pride of being a Marine.’”
From then on, the decision was a “no-brainer,” but he still had to decide whether he wanted to be part of the active duty or reserve component of the Marine Corps.
“I thought about it for a week, called up the recruiter and said ‘let’s do it,’” said the five-foot ten-inch Marine.
Now Super finds himself assigned to the Provisional Rifle Company with Headquarters and Service Battalion, 2d Marine Logistics Brigade (Forward).
“I volunteered to be activated; I wanted to go to Iraq,” commented the blue-eyed Marine, taking off his sunglasses barely long enough to catch a glimpse of his eyes. “I just never thought that I would be standing on an observation post.”
For Super and Stein, the vast open space gives them a chance to learn about each other, but not too much, as their position is an integral part of the security for Camp Taqaddum.
“We pay attention to even the dumbest stuff,” said Stein, a 19-year-old native of Richmond, Va.
“If you look at our log book, we have a bunch of entries,” said Super. “It’s the dumb stuff that becomes important over time.”
“I’m a little worried about [the Marines and Soldiers on observation posts] getting complacent,” said Army Sgt. Christopher Hampton, duty noncommissioned officer, Sergeant of the Guard, 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry, 36th Armor. “I’m not worried about Super and Stein though. The best thing to do when on post; find somebody you can trust. It seems like those two have got a good thing going.”
While on post, the Marines spend eight hours together with nothing but conversation and reports back to higher headquarters to keep them from becoming complacent.
Marines form bonds only Marines can understand, said Super. “Nobody but Marines understand the camaraderie between two Marines. Civilians could sit and listen to two Marines talk and not get a word of what they were saying, but the two Marines will be laughing their heads off.”
Comedy is something Hampton is used to being when he is around his two Marines who man observation post eight.
“He’s a character,” said the Arlington, Texas, native. “He’s definitely got a good sense of humor.”
According to Stein, that is just Super being himself. “He’s funny. We can joke about the same thing for hours and it doesn’t get old. Sometimes there is the off-color humor, though.”
“I’m all about the off-color humor,” said Super.
“We can keep it under control,” commented Stein. “The other night the chaplain came on deck and we didn’t swear or anything for an entire 11 minutes.”
When the two Marines are not joking around they talk about books and life.
“He’s always got something to say,” said Stein.
Even in death, Super has something to say.
“I want a Viking funeral,” exclaimed Super. “When I die, put me on a ship, light me on fire and push me out to sea. Then drink and party, for Super has passed on to Valhalla!”