Courtesy Photo | Spc. Michael Dittmar of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, 1/34...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Clinton Wood
1/34 BCT Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE TREBIL, Iraq - This FOB located near the Jordanian border in northwestern Iraq received its name from British soldiers stationed here because of the bone-chilling winters. They pronounced it trouble.
Now, a small team of about 10 Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment operating as the 1st of the 133rd Trebil Inspection Team is using this tiny base to create "trouble" for insurgents.
They are preventing semi truck and trailer convoys hauling everything from diesel fuel to backhoes from breaking down on their trip from here to a base in northwestern Iraq.
Their vigilance in maintenance decreases the vulnerability of their trucks and the battalion convoy escort teams' to insurgent attacks. Each truck driven by mostly Jordanians is inspected for "road worthiness" before it begins its several hundred mile trip. The inspections include ensuring that the trucks have proper amounts of fluids in their engines, working headlights and taillights, good tires, working brakes and no large leaks of fluids like transmission fluid.
Team chief Maj. Todd Aarhus, an Iowa State Trooper from Marshalltown, Iowa, said his mission's bottom line is to prevent truck breakdowns.
"We're trying to prevent (breakdowns) from occurring by eliminating all of the big red flag trucks," Aarhus said. "The ones that have got obvious serious mechanical problems or neglect from the drivers."
His team also has inspected about 20,000 trucks since assuming the mission.
The drivers of the rejected trucks are given a "fix it ticket" with the deficiencies noted.
The company supervisor also is given this documentation. The driver has a few options. He can borrow parts from a fellow driver, or drive his truck into a small area between the two countries called "no man's land" and attempt to repair his truck or have the company bring him the needed part or parts. Once he does the latter, he can be re-inspected.
Aarhus also instituted more inspection points and that the standards sheet is written in Arabic (this is given to the companies who will hopefully disseminate the information to the drivers).
Aarhus said the supervisors of the three companies that haul the goods, who have been in Iraq for several years, told him the difference between his team and the team it replaced is "day and night."
"We've gotten a little tighter on every aspect of the inspection," Aarhus said.
His team really "tightened" up their inspections last summer when it was discovered that drivers were stealing fuel on the trip and selling it for profit ($25 or about three days wages for most Iraqis). They did this by siphoning the gas out of their tankers using their mouths and pouring it back into the cans or external tanks under their trucks or trailers. One day, about 7,000 gallons of fuel was stolen from 12 trucks (each tanker holds 10,000 gallons).
"Think of the millions of gallons (of fuel) that were being lost," Aarhus said.
When Aarhus started investigating, he discovered several of the drivers were carrying several plastic jerry cans and a variety of lengths of hoses. He was averaging confiscating about 300 of these cans daily. Now he finds on an average of only about 20 of these cans per convoy (each driver is allowed two cans).
The drivers who were stealing fuel were banned from entering Iraq forever. The confiscated fuel was burned in the base's generator and the cans are burned.
A representative from the Defense Energy Support Center in Kuwait that holds the Army contract for the International Oil Trading Company visited the team later.
Aarhus said he told him that the company was pleased with his work. In comparison, Afghanistan is losing 30 percent of its fuel to theft from transport. Compared to Al Asad which is losing only 5 percent (some of this is due to inaccurate meters).
"So we're not even on the radar here with fuel loss apparently through Trebil," Aarhus said.
Jordan is on the radar though. It is the quickest of the three transit points into Iraq. The other two are in Kuwait and Turkey. Unlike those two which take a minimum of 45 days to move their cargos to the final destination, Trebil takes less than a week.
In six days, the inspection team will have spent about four days inspecting the trucks. It inspects trucks two days followed by two days of Soldier training in a continuous cycle.
1st Lt. Matthew Guerttman of Spencer, Iowa, a conference services supervisor for Marriott Hotels, said this work cycle goes fast.
The inspection day begins with an Army Movement Control Team coordinating the staging of the trucks in the yard. This includes lining the trucks up in rows, recording bumper numbers and passports of the drivers.
Aarhus' team is divided into four teams of two Soldiers who spend about four hours inspecting each truck. He admits that they didn't have prior experience with commercial vehicles. He said assistance by the unit that they replaced and his team's combined knowledge has helped the team succeed.
The team's non-commissioned officer in charge, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Trenary of Fort Dodge, Iowa, said he has enjoyed working with the drivers the most. He has made friends with one driver and the two have exchanged gifts for their families.
When Trenary and his team are done inspecting the trucks, they head back to their tiny morale welfare and recreation building. Here they can e-mail their families and friends, watch TV, or cook their own lunch in their tiny kitchen. The Marines stationed there as the security force also provide breakfast and dinner.
As Spc. Jason Bixenstine of Lake City, Iowa, said, "You have to make your own entertainment. It is more survival than comfort."
"There is just enough work and relax time," said Aarhus.
And his team's work has saved lives along the way.
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2007 09:44 |
| Story ID: | 9762 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 767 |
| Downloads: | 668 |
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