Arkansans in Iraq find job exceeds nuts, bolts
By Amy Schlesing (Contact)
CAMP ADDER, Iraq - Some Arkansans who wear Army uniforms but hold no rank work in a massive tent hangar here, adding combat accessories to the newest weapon in the U.S. military arsenal.
The civilians work for the Red River Army Depot near Texarkana on the MRAP - the Mine Resistant Armor Protected class of vehicles billed as the answer to roadside bombs.
“At first, it was about the money,” said Michael Ennis of Texarkana. “When I got overhere, everything changed. Guys [survive blasts and] get to go home to their families because of these trucks. It gives you awhole new perspective.”
The Department of Defense said roadside bombs have increased dramatically in the past year, while deaths from such attacks have decreased by nearly 17 percent, according to a recent Associated Press report. Over the same period about 3,000 Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicles have been distributed to units throughout Iraq.
The men in the hangar aren’t Department of Defense contractors. They work for the Department of the Army and don’t receive the same tax-free benefits afforded defense contractors and soldiers.
Army civilians like them have been in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Their one-year tours in Iraq are considered part of their normal jobs.
The Red River Army Depot retrofits and supervises the distribution of all Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicles in Iraq. Its employees retrofit each vehicle with gunner turrets and electronic warfare devices that jam signals, and check for manufacturing deficiencies.
The depot in September began shipping mechanics and welders to various locations inIraq specifically for the job.
“We got here with nothing,” said Billy Boler of Wilton in Little River County, referring to the demand for Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicles. “We didn’t even have enough folks to do it at first.”
But the program has steadily grown since then.
The facility at Camp Adder prepares all of the mine-resistant vehicles for troops in the southern part of Iraq. Those troops include members of Arkansas’ 151st Cavalry, 39th Infantry Brigade. Most of the more than 50 mine-resistant vehicles parked in a line along the facility’s fence are headed to the 151st. The squadron is turning in some of its older armored humvees for the brand new armored vehicles.
“We’ve spent some 21-hour days [working on] these,” David Oliver of Fouke in Miller County, said, pointing to the trucks.
Lee Sharps of Dierks in Howard County, the shop welder, builds mounts and brackets for much of the equipment added to the vehicles.
“It’s tough,” he said. “There’s some folks who took a cut in pay to come over here. But it ain’t about the dollar.”
Many of these workers left other jobs to work for the Red River Army Depot and go to Iraq.
The 62 trucks that the facility’s 19 workers have completed over the past two months have been put together using mostly hand tools and daylight. A dust storm a month ago tore down part of the tent hangar, knocking out the electricity. They hope to have repairs made this week.
“We’re doing a lot of good that a lot of people won’t do or can’t do,” Boler said.
Being in Iraq is personal for all of these men.
“I’ve got teenagers. If either one of them come over here, I’d want them to be safe,” said Mike Kelly of Texarkana. “It’s not just a job; it’s being a part of a bigger picture.”
Kelly is a mountain of a man with an easy smile.
“When you have a guy as big as I am come up and hug and thank you,” he said, “Well, that matters.”
A 19-year-old soldier who had been in one of the mine-resistant vehicles, and survived an attack, did just that not so long ago.
“I had to go off on my own after that,” Kelly said. “All he got was a scratch on his elbow from the blast. That right there. That’s what it’s all about.”
Oliver remembers the day a similar experience happened to him, Dec. 27.
“That will make you change your whole outlook on the truck itself,” Oliver said.
For Curtis Baggett of Conway, the job is one he’s known well as a former mechanic with Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade.
Baggett was one of more than 1,400 Arkansas soldiers who U.S. Army officials deemed unfit to deploy with the brigade earlier this year. He was sent home, unable to join his fellow soldiers on their second deployment to war. The brigade deployed from 2004-05 to Baghdad as part of the 1st Cavalry Division.
“My soldiers here, I hope they use these trucks,” he said. “My guys are over here, I wanted to come with them. This job allowed me to come over here and support my guys and get a little extra money.”
Baggett was injured the last time the 39th was in Iraq, and the lingering shoulder pain from that injury led to his disqualification from the brigade’s current deployment. He doesn’t like to talk about it. He’d rather focus on the job he now has.
Col. Kendall Penn, commander of the 39th, was frustrated by the number of soldiers disqualified from deploying. The high rate of disqualifications caused a scramble by brigade officials to fill out the brigade.
Several hundred soldiers extended their tours to join the brigade’s ranks. Hundreds of others were called back into service from the Individual Ready Reserve and a pool of former active-duty soldiers.
“Obviously we would have liked to have [Baggett] with us if he had met the Army standard,” Penn said.
Baggett’s job working on the mine-resistant vehicles is similar to what he would have been doing with the brigade. The requirements for Army civilians to deploy is different from those for soldiers, who have to be capable to go into combat.
“That’s the key defining factor for the Army, to have the capability to do everything a soldier would need to do, not just the most likely job,” Penn said. “I admire him for being here.”
All of these men joined the Red River Army Depot for different reasons. Some are longtime employees. Some took the job for the money. Others for the opportunity to deploy to the war.
“My mom and dad didn’t want me to come,” said Greg Colvin of Magnolia. “I told Mom it was time for me to step out.”
He’d lived in Magnolia for 38 years until the day he stepped on the plane bound for Iraq. It was his first plane ride.
“There are not many chances in life to have a defining moment,” Boler said. “And this is it.”
This article was published Wednesday, May 28, 2008.
Front Section, Pages 1, 9 on 05/28/2008
