Transportation soldiers enjoy supporting water mission

Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Philip Schmuck, a motor transport operator with 1st Platoon, 15th Transportation Company, 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 224th Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and a Macomb, Mich., native, inspects his vehicle in preparation for the daily water mission, Sept. 16, at Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Lichliter)  

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IRAQ

09.30.2010

Courtesy Story

3rd Division Sustainment Brigade

By Sgt. Randell Campbell

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq— Many soldier’s have asked themselves, “Where does the bottled water I drink come from?” Soldiers with 1st Platoon, 15th Transportation Company, 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 224th Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), run the transportation mission that moves the water on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq.

The bottling plant Oasis on COB Adder has been producing drinking water for service members since its opening, June 8, 2009. There are six Oasis bottling plants in Iraq, which produce an average of 64 million bottles of water each year. The bottles are wrapped in 12-pack cases, and then 64 cases are palletized and staged by the manufacturing date.

“They [Oasis workers] perform an essential function, because if they were not here, we wouldn’t have a good supply of water,” said Spc. Kevin Conner, a motor transport operator with the 15th Trans. Company and an Orlando, Fla., native.

Guards at the bottling plant gate ensure that the paperwork is filled out properly before entering or exiting. The palletized water is transported with tractor trailers to other locations in the surrounding area and various locations on COB Adder. The bottling plant yard is not large enough to stage more than four trucks and also continue storing water pallets. This limited amount of space is where the soldiers with 1st Platoon provide COB Adder with the transportation assets and personnel to move the water that soldiers drink.

After signing in for the daily mission with the gate guard, Conner and three other soldiers enter the water bottling plant with their palletized load system heavy transporter trucks. The trucks are loaded up with 16 pallets of water each, and are downloaded at the water staging yard adjacent to the plant.

“I enjoy doing this water mission,” said Sgt. Philip Schmuck, a motor transport operator with the 15th Trans. Company and a Macomb, Mich., native. “It gives me a sense of accomplishment, knowing that I help my fellow soldiers stay hydrated.”

An average of 196,000 bottles of water are transported per day by the transportation soldiers. The pallets are kept in the staging yard in groups of 10-by-10 with rows of 15 sections, totaling 1,500 pallets per row. From there, they are loaded onto semi-tractor trailers to be distributed throughout southern Iraq.

“The water mission for the soldiers of 1st Platoon, 15th Trans. Company, is an essential step in a simple task we all should be taking part in daily: drinking water,” said Staff Sgt. John Sellen, a platoon sergeant with the 15th Trans. Company and a Dayton, Ohio, native.

• Date Taken: 09.30.2010
• Date Posted: 10.11.2010 10:24
• Story ID: 57893
• Location: CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ