By Sgt. Daniel W. Lucas
203rd Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE 8J, Calif. – The words "Petroleum Specialist" bring visions of a man in overalls asking if you want regular or unleaded. Quartermaster Soldiers don't fall into this stereotypical role.
"It might not be a glorious job being a petroleum specialist, but tanks won't drive without fuel. Airplanes won't fly without fuel. The Army can't move without it," said 1st Sgt. David Lovato with the 877th Quartermaster Company.
If fuel were the blood of the Army, then the Quartermaster would be its heart, especially during Pacific Warrior.
For instance, the 877th QM Company from Albuquerque, N.M., has a platoon of mechanics, cooks and petroleum specialists to set up and handle everything they might need to run a camp.
They are also refueling all the operational equipment, such as fuel bladders and generators, on all the bases. All the fuel they use to service the bases are brought in by two trucks from Los Angeles. When time permits, they are also undertaking vehicle recovery missions.
This isn't all they are doing.
They are also participating in exercise scenarios to train Soldiers to react to the situations that might happen during a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Even during their off time, the Soldiers continue to stay busy doing Common Task Training to brush up on their Soldier skills.
For more than 85 percent of these Army Reserve Soldiers, a deployment into a combat zone holds more memories than questions. During exercise Pacific Warrior, they are beginning to share new memories as they prepare for their first deployment together.
"This exercise gives the Soldiers some real time, real world training in preparation for possible deployment," said Chief Warrant Officer John Jaramillo, the unit commander. "This is one of the better exercises we have been on. We get the opportunity to setup, live, and operate in an environment that has a higher realism to a combat zone and that experience is very valuable."
For some of the Soldiers, it was easy to get back into the routine of heat and dust, reminiscent of their time overseas. For some of the newer ones, this experience is unlike anything they have done.
"I'm confident in the training and cross-training I've been getting from some of the more experienced Soldiers," said Spc. Justin Watts.
"I've been learning a lot of vehicle maintenance tasks on vehicles I wasn't exposed to in my Advanced Individual Training. They are really good about the hands-on training for real-world missions so I can learn from my mistakes here so I don't make them in a combat zone."
The better the Soldiers are, the better the individuals and the unit as a whole will do when faced with the challenges of a deployment.
"If a Soldier is smart and trains hard, my unit is more powerful," said Jaramillo. "They manage themselves better... and allow me to divide and conquer major missions with ease."
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2008 16:38 |
| Story ID: | 20615 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 512 |
| Downloads: | 347 |
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