TF Lethal company fuels the fight

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class andrew guffey | U.S. Army Sgt. Jay Wheeldon, a refuelling specialist, assigned to Company F, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Lethal, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, TF Duke, and native from Missouri Valley, Iowa, refuels a mine resistant ambush-protected vehicle at a check point in Gardez, Afghanistan, May 12. Co. F resupplied three checkpoints with rations and fuel daily during an eight-day mission to disrupt Taliban activity. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Guffey)  

PAKTYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

05.21.2011

Courtesy Story

Combined Joint Task Force 1 - Afghanistan

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. and Afghan National Security Forces completed a week-long operation to expand resupply routes in the Gardez District, Afghanistan, May 16.

Company F, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Lethal, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, TF Duke, alongside their partnered ANSF personnel, added three checkpoints to their supply routes, and delivered more than 2,000 gallons of fuel and 4,000 pounds of food and supplies.

Coalition forces set up the checkpoints to keep insurgents from disrupting security force operations and increase security for the local populace who use the roads on a daily basis.

“If we did not get these supplies, we would have to return to base to get refitted which would give the enemy the freedom to move through the area,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Devin Jepsen, a Schleswig, Iowa, native, and senior noncommisioned officer of 3rd Platoon, Co. A, TF Lethal.

Co. F keeps the rest of the 168th Inf. Regt. stocked with the supplies they need to operate. This latest operation only represents a fraction of the amount of supplies Co. F transported through the area.

Since their arrival in theater in October 2010, they ran more than 80 resupply missions, travelling more than 100,000 miles and delivering 900,000 pounds of supplies throughout TF Lethal’s area of operations, said U.S. Army Sgt. Eric Wendt, a truck driver from Shelby, Iowa, with Co. F.

Spending that much time on the dangerous roads of eastern Afghanistan can’t be done alone, so before each supply run, a route clearance patrol checks the road for threats like improvised explosive devices, said Wendt.

“Luckily, we’ve only been hit by three IEDs since we’ve been here,” he said.

• Date Taken: 05.21.2011
• Date Posted: 05.20.2011 18:49
• Story ID: 70795
• Location: PAKTYA PROVINCE, AF