The mail runners of Iraq
By Staff Sgt. Nate Orme
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 “L” Van Sciver wearing protective gear shuts his truck door in preparation for delivering mail to soldiers serving in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Nate Orme
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BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Oct. 7, 2003) -- Leaving the secure confines of the coalition-controlled Baghdad International Airport each morning and heading out onto the dusty sun-drenched highways of Iraq is a daily adventure for the crew of mail runners.
At the airport, units of the 3rd Personnel Command operate the Joint Military Mail Terminal out of a large hanger equipped with loading docks where mail is transferred in and out of containers on truck trailers. Eight to 14 truck loads averaging about 4,000 pounds of mail each are filled for delivery daily.
Each morning, drivers and their escorts assemble for a safety briefing before heading out. Briefings are not your typical garden variety. Instead, they are full of real-time warnings, life-saving checklists and harrowing stories of recent accidents and ambushes.
Sgt. 1st Class Charity Pope and 1st Lt. Andre Jones, both in the 547th Transportation Company, a Washington D.C. National Guard unit, plan the missions and brief them to the Army and civilian drivers.
Jones and Pope said the unit has driven over 70,000 miles on 34 missions since their unit took over convoy escort duties in July.
The civilian drivers work for Kellogg, Brown & Root. Most of them Roy Bartmess, are veterans themselves. They’re geared up in bullet-proof vests and Kevlar helmets before driving their commercial tractor-trailers. Each of their trucks are equipped with a satellite phone and e-mail terminal for quick emergency contact while on the road.
Terrorists have struck the mail runners —in the form of sniper attacks and improvised explosive devices planted along the roadside and remotely exploded when convoys pass.
Convoys run seven days a week. Drivers work nearly every day, stopping only long enough to re-fuel their trucks and bodies.
Most destinations can be covered in the same day, with convoys returning to the mail terminal before nightfall.
Bartmess, a Vietnam veteran and police officer from Leesville, La., rode into Iraq from Kuwait on the first mail convoy to Camp Bushmaster, about 200 kilometers “across the berm” from the Kuwait border in mid-April.
A mail delivery operation continues from the Kuwait terminal, mostly to service camps within Kuwait, but Bartmess transferred to the Baghdad terminal.
“The living conditions are a little Spartan here, but they’re getting better all the time,” he said.
Bartmess said the vast majority of Iraqis are friendly and often question and offer food and drinks to drivers. “When we first got up here, we got to meet the locals and stop at roadside stands,” he said.
That interaction was halted after a couple of terrorist incidents, Bartmess said.
Mail is delivered to nearly a dozen locations from Baghdad at distances ranging from one to six hours away.
But whether traveling through town or seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Iraqi street hawkers often await trying to sell a plethora of items -- from old bayonets to bootleg liquor.
“In Rasheed we drive right through the market. People will crowd around, buying and selling stuff,” Bartmess said.
Convoys were originally protected by M16-armed Soldiers riding “shotgun,” with the drivers in the truck cabs.
Force protection is now provided by Army transportation units driving gun trucks -- 5-ton trucks modified with M-60 machine-gun mounts -- with a truck in the front, middle and rear of each convoy. Each truck has a driver, assistant driver and a gunner who must stand in the back of each truck on the lookout for trouble.
“I go out almost every day. This mission is highly interesting -- and highly dangerous,”said Sgt. John Flamer, a driver with the 547th.
Two drivers, Spc. Darryl Dent of the 547th and Fred Bryant, a civilian driver, have died since they started making the mail runs. Flamer said his truck was almost hit by an improvised explosive device two weeks ago.
“The road is long, and not a day goes by where I don’t say I’m damn tired. But we still have to forge on,” Spc. James Nielsen of the 515th Transportation Company from Mannheim, Germany, who has been riding for about a month. “I also think it is exciting. It keeps me awake. I’m trying to stay on this as long as possible.”
Bartmess said the civilian drivers and the military escort soldiers have developed a tight bond, even more so since the attacks.
“There were a few rough starts with the gun trucks, but it’s working out real well. They’re with us every day. I respect them a lot,” Bartmess said.
(Editor’s note: Staff Sgt. Nate Orme is a journalist at the 3rd Personnel Command Public Affairs Office in Kuwait.) |
