Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, 660th Transportation Company, drive this front line daily as they leave the semi-protected wire of LSA Anaconda and take supply routes to deliver necessary materials, primarily fuel, to various posts throughout Iraq.
“After we got here,” Staff Sgt. Joshua Lucas said, “we knew we were the front line.”
“If we don’t go, a post will shut down,” said Spc. Albert Sturgeon. “I remember when we went to (Baghdad International Airport) and (our commander) said that we had to go. The roads were black and there was a 100-percent chance we would get hit.”
Above story by Pfc. Abel Trevino, Army News Service So vital are their missions, they face conditions like no other units. The cost for running in these conditions is high. On May 15, Sgt. James W. Harlan was killed on a combat logistic patrol.
There have been numerous attacks, equipment has been damaged and the Soldiers look weary. Yet the Soldiers still have the spirit to drive on.
“It’s not a job,” said Staff Sgt. Adam Cason, “it’s an adventure.”
One of those adventures happened to Sgt. Joshua Plumbar, who was hit by an improvised explosive device while driving a freightliner on a trip from Baghdad to LSA Anaconda.
“We were going up this bridge and there’s a point in the road where it’s blocked and you can tell an IED has already been there,” Plumbar said. “I switch lanes, because I’m not driving near that, and right as I switch lanes 'KADOOSH!' There’s this boom and it throws me in the other seat and my (vehicle commander) against the door.
“I look in the rearview mirror, I’m dazed and confused, and we’re doing about 55 or 60 and I just say ‘Did we just get hit?’ He looked at me and goes ‘Yeah!’ So I’m patting myself down and I’m like ‘And I’m all right.’ I was laughing just a little bit,” he said.
“We’re driving along and the whole time I’m thinking ‘We got hit.’ Then we get back to Anaconda and we stop. The tanker in front of me has a huge hole in the back of the tanker, my tanker has a hole in it, the tractor behind me was hit and my tractor wasn’t touched at all. It hit right beside me, I don’t know how that happened,” Plumbar said.
It has been nonstop adventure for the platoon since their arrival here. Sturgeon commented that he has spent as many as 35 consecutive days on the road.
“We spend more time on the road than we do here,” said Sgt. Jesse Starr, driver. “In the past two or three months, we’ve gotten maybe 15 days at Anaconda.”
Because of their time traveling supply routes, down time has been hard to come by.
“Most of our down time is when we get our fuel downloaded at our destinations. That’s our time to run to the PX. That’s our chance to use the phones and things like that,” said Lucas.
Mission essential responsibilities always have to be completed before they get their personal time.
“We don’t have a whole lot of down time. We have to clean weapons and perform (Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services) on the vehicles. By the time all that is done, we’re worn out,” Cason said.
Worn out and weather-beaten, they usually find themselves sleeping beneath the stars.
“We usually sleep under our trucks,” Cason said. “That’s our bed.”
With so much time on the road, driving has become routine until the recent death of Harlan.
The shock of losing one of their own on the road shakes the relaxed attitude right out of them. Just leaving the gate has become an adrenaline rush.
“I felt like we were getting complacent, but all that has changed. That alertness is back,” Lucas said. “I’m always waiting for something to happen.”
Other Soldiers share his sentiments and mentally prepare for potential scenarios.
“Sometimes when we cross bridges, I think ‘If this bridge goes out under us, how are you going to land? What are the chances of surviving? How deep is this? If I jump down, will I live,’” Sturgeon said.
The potential scenarios have kept the soldiers anticipating the worst when they’re on the road.
“Every situation you could possibly get in, you just think about,” Plumbar said.
Mentally determined, the drivers commit themselves to preventing casualties.
“I think about the road because I’ve got two good gunners back there I don’t want to injure,” Lucas said.
They notice differences in the roads from day to day, said Spc. Steven Sharp.
