Photo By Sgt. Marshall Thompson | Sgt. Jacob Vigrich, a wrecker NCOIC with the 584th Maintenance Company, stuck his...... read more read more
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq - When a vehicle breaks down, rolls over, or is hit by an improvised explosive device on the roads around Forward Operating Base Speicher, the 584th Maintenance Company will be there for the recovery.
"When we get called for recovery, I have to make sure that the TCs [truck commanders] are ready, and I have to make sure that I'm ready," said Sgt. Jacob Vigrich, a wrecker NCOIC with the 584th.
Vigrich said that pre-combat checks and maintenance on the vehicles is done at the first of each day to ensure that when the recovery team gets the call, they can leave the gates in no less than one hour.
One of the first things the recovery team has to do when they arrive on the scene is to secure the area with their gun trucks. Vigrich said it's an advantage for the recovery team to have its own security element.
"They're embedded in our recovery team so we go out with the same people every time." Vigrich said. "It works out well because we know who we're going out with."
Spc. Luis Flores is a gun truck driver in the 584th. After finishing a tour in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom I, he said he found it hard to get used to the traffic rules back in the U.S.
"I tried to drive in the middle of the road," Flores said. "If I saw a broken down vehicle on the side of the road, I would go in the far lane and speed."
Now back in Iraq, Flores has found good use for his driving instincts while setting up hasty traffic control points during recovery missions.
Flores and Vigrich talked about one of their longest days when they got two calls for recovery missions in one day.
The first was an armored vehicle that broke down when an IED hit it. The second was a third country national oil tanker.
The recovery team had to put out some fires and then deal with towing the truck while the road was covered with oil.
"Oil was all over the road and it made it really slick," said Pfc. Ramon Germosen, a gunner for the 584th recovery team.
Germosen, a native of New York City, said he likes being able to get off the base and see what Iraq looks like from the road. So far, he said, he prefers American roads to Iraqi roads. Still, Iraqi roads are better in some respects.
"The actual roads are not bad for the most part," Germosen said. "I'm from New York and have potholes and hills, those are bad streets."
In general, the recovery team has a thankless job. They said that they hope they never see anyone on the road because if they're there, it's because something has gone wrong. Once, Germosen was able to talk with a Soldier who was in a vehicle his team had recovered, but that is a rare occurrence.
In the end, the recovery team is happy just to help.
"They're in a hostile situation," Vigrich said of the Soldiers and civilians they help. "We
have to go and get them out of there as fast as possible."
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2006 04:42 |
| Story ID: | 6439 |
| Location: | TIKRIT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 233 |
| Downloads: | 34 |
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