Corporals take charge: Two young soldiers responsible for logging over 1,500 miles during missions

Photo By Spc. Brittany Gardner | Cpl. Khai M. Tran and Cpl. Kelly M. Doyle, Army Reserve soldiers in the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, Southfield, Mich., return from one of their local-national escort missions in support of the U.S. State Department and consulate general at Contingency Operating Base Basra July 26. Tran and Doyle have completed more than 300 missions and logged over 1,500 miles since arriving here in December. (Photo by Spc. Brittany H. Gardner)  

BASRA, IRAQ

07.26.2011

Story by Spc. Brittany Gardner 

362nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BASRAH, Iraq – It’s not every day corporals get to be in charge, but these two young soldiers are trusted with that responsibility daily here at Contingency Operating Base Basra.

Cpl. Khai M. Tran, 19, and Cpl. Kelly M. Doyle, 21, both Reserve soldiers in the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion out of Southfield, Mich., are in charge of planning and coordinating local-national escort missions for the U.S. State Department.

“We are the military-support element for the State Department and the consulate general here,” Tran said. “We are their liaison between them and the military to coordinate and plan whatever they need to do their mission.”

Although there are about ten service members in this support element, Tran and

Doyle have been working as a team on a daily basis for more than seven months providing escort missions to people visiting the State Department facility. Together, they have escorted more than 1,000 visitors onto COB Basra since they arrived, said Doyle.

“We’ve been here since Christmas Eve,” said Doyle. “We’ve logged over around 300 missions, about 1,500 miles worth of missions, and we’ve been able to accomplish bringing visitors to the consulate general safe.”

Teamwork between these two soldiers has been essential in completing their local-national escort missions, Doyle explained, but the camaraderie came easily.

“Tran and I are like brother and sister,” Doyle said.

Although this team has been successful in their mission, Tran and Doyle said that their rank of corporal could have been an issue had it not been for their colonel.

“Anything that anybody wants to say about us being lower ranked,” said Doyle, “he’ll back us up to the fullest, and the same with our chain of command.”

With the responsibility these soldiers have learned during their deployment, and only four years combined military experience between the two, both plan on deploying to Afghanistan in the near future.

• Date Taken: 07.26.2011
• Date Posted: 07.27.2011 10:20
• Story ID: 74379
• Location: BASRA, IQ