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'Wolf Pack' runs supplies from Adder

Photo By Staff Sgt. Engels Tejeda | Spc. Nicholas Skinner, a truck driver from Albuquerque, N.M., with the 1116th...... read more read more

02.02.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

When the 1116th Transportation Company left Gallup, N.M., for a year-long deployment to Iraq on Sept. 6, 2005, a Navajo medicine man said a prayer for the self-titled "Wolf Pack" that they would do good for others and return home safe. Within hours of departing for training, part of the prayer began to materialize, as the National Guardsmen happened to run into a car wreck and saved the life of a family of four.

Four and a half months later, as the unit approaches its third month in Iraq, the Soldiers continue to capitalize on a combination of luck, training, experience and support while hauling supplies throughout Iraq's dangerous roads.

"We hit the ground running hard," said 1st Sgt. Benny Gallegos, a resident of Rio Rancho, N.M. "Right now the 1116th is the highest tasked of the transportation companies in our group."

Since taking over their mission in November, the National Guardsmen have transported supplies throughout Iraq to include food and water, equipment and medical supplies.

The unit is based out of Logistical Support Area Adder, about 200 miles southwest of Baghdad, and its primary area of operation extends from the Kuwait-Iraq border in the south to Logistical Support Area Anaconda, north of Baghdad. As of mid- January, the unit's trucks had traveled over 100,000 miles.

"They've lived up to every aspect of the mission," said the unit's commander Capt. Harold Klaus, from Carlsbad, N.M. "At any given time, the majority of my trucks, if not all, are on the roads, preparing to go out, or at the maintenance shop recovering from a mission. My Soldiers are truly performing beyond the standard."

They have been doing so without any combat-related injuries, a success that Klaus credits to the training the unit received before leaving for theater and to the experience of his senior leaders.

Before heading to Iraq, the unit spent about two months at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, conducting tactical and truck-driving training.

It was during the unit's movement along I-25 South from Gallup to El Paso that the Guardsmen found the civilian wreck just north of Socorro, N.M. The Soldiers controlled traffic along the road, called for help, and during the 45 minutes that it took for the nearest civilian ambulance to arrive, they applied pressure dressings on the civilian casualties. The Soldiers had just completed the Army's combat lifesaver course, which focuses on first aid techniques.

"I knew that the CLS training would save lives during the deployment, I just didn't expect to use it during the first four hours of our deployment," Klaus joked.

At Fort Bliss, the Wolf Pack sharpened its tactical and truck-driving skills. The intense training environment also gave the Guardsmen the opportunity to come together as a company, Klaus said, noting that about two thirds of the 1116th are cross-leveled from other units.

From Fort Bliss, the Soldiers headed for Iraq. Sgt. Arnold Washburn, a mechanic from Farmington, N.M., described the unit's area of operation as resembling parts of New Mexico.

"I find it surprising how the people live out here without running water or electricity. It's a lot like the life on the reservations a few years ago," said Washburn, who lived most of his life in a Navajo reservation.

Sgt. Dean Schultz, an assistant combat logistics patrol commander also from Farmington, said the scenery is indeed a lot like parts of New Mexico, but that the difference is how terrible the roads are here. And, of course, at home an obnoxious insurgency is not attempting to disrupt the peace.

Schultz, who spent 12 years in the Marine Corps, sometimes conducting scout missions in South and Central America, said the insurgency is not as fatal as some of the enemies he's battled before. Still, he noted, the 1116th faces particular danger because it is constantly on the roads.

"We are usually on the roads anywhere between two and three times per week," Schultz said. "Usually [the missions] are anywhere between 300 to 500 miles and take two to three days."

During these long hours on the roads, the Soldiers have encountered small arms fire, which have become less problematic thanks to new armor on the vehicles.

"We've taken small arms fire but most of the time we don't even know because with the new armor it just sounds like rocks hitting the trucks," said Spc. Sean Kiefer, a truck driver from Maissa, Ill.

More dangerous are the roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices. Not only are they difficult to detect because many of the roads are littered with garbage, but if they detonate, they could cause severe damage. As of January, the unit had not encountered any bombs, and to minimize the risk of coming across one, the unit has relied on techniques that Soldiers with previous deployments to Iraq have acquired over the years.

Ten of the unit's noncommissioned officers had been to Iraq before and the unit picked up about twenty other Soldiers who extended their current deployments.

"We were very fortunate to have 20 Soldiers who decided to extend and who have been very open and involved in helping us establish a good and sound way of working," Klaus said.

Staff Sgt. Dennis Lombardi, a mechanic from Brooklyn, N.Y., was one of the Soldiers who extended his deployment after serving a year in Iraq.

"It came down to three reasons," Lombardi said, explaining why he chose to extend for an additional six months. "One was that I heard the 1116th was short of some people and I wanted to help them out. Two, I wanted to get some active duty time [he's a National Guardsman]. And three, I wanted to make some extra money."

The experience that Soldiers like Lombardi bring to the unit and the training that the unit had before reaching theater, have been instrumental in keeping the Soldiers safe, Klaus said.

Another combat multiplier has been the support the Guardsmen have received from family and friends at home. Staff Sgt. Timothy Wilkins, a senior mechanic from Las Cruces, N.M., said the mail packages he's been getting from home and support sites like www.anysoldier.com have helped keep up his morale and that of his troops. This is particularly important because it is not unusual for the mechanics to work on trucks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Despite the long hours, the Soldiers said they felt their mission was helping Iraq and that progress was on the horizon.

"What I've found is that it's a lot better than I expected. I though the Iraqi people would be more hostile just because of what you hear on the news," said Spc. Eugene Sandoval, a mechanic from Chama, N.M. and the unit's youngest Soldier at 19. "But I think things are getting a lot better because of the elections. A lot less Soldiers have been killed recently and I think the Iraqis are really making progress."

Of course, the Soldiers hope to return home soon and continue their lives. Spc. Christina Saiz, the unit's dispatcher from Algodones, N.M., hopes to return home and have her wedding party. She and her husband Vincent deployed just weeks after getting married.

Vincent mobilized with Task Force Cobra out of Kuwait, and she volunteered to deploy with the 1116th so that the two can have more uninterrupted time when they return home.

Shultz said he also hopes time continues to fly by so that he can return to his wife and two children because he knows the deployment is hard on them.

"I think the hardest thing here is actually being away from your family and knowing that your family has to deal with their problems without you being there," Shultz said. "It's a lot harder on the families than it is on us."

The Wolf Pack is expected to serve a year in Iraq.