CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT
IMMENSE – there’s no better word for it. The scale of our military’s effort to support our troops in Iraq is a great American success story. And it’s ignored. Not only by critics, but even by those who keep faith with our struggle.
Media attention centers on front-line troops. And they deserve every bit of credit they get. But the tip of the spear has a long shaft behind it. The infantryman leading a patrol couldn’t do it without tens of thousands of other troops working far from the cameras and headlines.
And the work is hard. Living conditions are tough. And in the kind of wars we fight today, the front line is everywhere, anyway.
Here in Kuwait, the support effort’s led by the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC). The acronym may sound bureaucratic, but it represents flesh and blood – the best our country has to offer. CFLCC moves the troops to and from Iraq, runs the supply convoys, unloads the ships (then loads them again), repairs vehicles damaged in Iraq – and even conducts special combat training for units headed north.
It’s an Army outfit. But in today’s environment, that increasingly means “joint.” Our operations in Kuwait are staffed by soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen, active duty and reserve. Twelve thousand of them. Pulling together, they move mountains. Literally.
The numbers tell the story best. Consider just a few of the outfit’s accomplishments over the past 16 months:
* 590,000 troops moved in and out of Iraq.
* 100,000,000 (yes, 100 million) miles driven by nearly 50,000 convoys.
* 160,000 major pieces of equipment and 25,000,000 tons of cargo processed in and out of Kuwait.
* 140,000,000 (yes, million) meals served.
* 66,000 vehicles power-washed (Our troops have to make sure that no germs or contaminants are carried back to the United States – you bet that today’s military operations are more complex than amateurs imagine).
* 20,000 allied troops from 27 countries also had CFLCC’s support as they moved into Iraq to support Coalition operations.
A dozen major sites are involved in Kuwait alone, from ports to gunnery ranges. The Navistar border-crossing point into Iraq is called “the busiest truck stop in the world,” processing 3,000 military (and contractor) vehicles on a busy day, as well as civilian traffic.
But the brain – and heart – of our Kuwait operation is Camp Arifjan, a sprawling, sandy base in the desert where our troops can even fix damaged helicopters or tanks on-site – saving tens of millions of dollars in transportation costs for the taxpayer. Instead of sending equipment back to the States, it’s repaired and sent back to Iraq.
Although Camp Arifjan’s also a headquarters site, it’s far from luxurious. The best of everything goes to the troops in Iraq. So the local living conditions are austere: Technically, the assignment may be in the “rear area,” but even field-grade officers often live in open bays, and the heat and dust are literally stunning in the summer (the troops can get a Starbucks, though – a mocha frappuccino is becoming the postmodern equivalent of the old K-ration Hershey bar).
And these “support” soldiers get into the fight, too. Running those convoys to Baghdad remains dangerous work – although the professionalism of our soldiers has kept casualties remarkably low. The terrorists and insurgents have learned that they lose when they take on our truckers nowadays, but accidents and improvised explosive devices still take a toll.
Sgt. Michael Joseph McMullen of the National Guard’s 243rd Engineer Company was on a convoy run last Christmas Eve. The vehicle ahead of his was hit by a roadside bomb. It went up in flames. Ignoring the risk, Sgt. McMullen dismounted and ran forward to help his comrades. A second IED wounded him gravely.
He later died of those wounds. A Maryland firefighter in civilian life, McMullen received a posthumous silver star and promotion to staff sergeant.
Staff Sgt. McMullen’s outfit – from Baltimore – falls under the command of the Army Reserve’s 143rd Transport Command out of Orlando, Fla. One of the first things you learn here is the criticality of our Reserve and National Guard forces to this effort.
Our Army – and our military as a whole – has been stripped to the bone. If reserve-component men and women didn’t step up, we couldn’t accomplish the mission.
But they do step up. The operations officer of the 143rd, Col. Ross Campbell, is a 58-year-old soldier who came out of retirement to help his former outfit. Soldiers working beside him are barely shaving. But they’re all the most impressive Americans you could meet. Anywhere.
When you have the privilege of spending just a little time among these wonderful fellow citizens of ours, you can’t help feeling impressed. And humbled. Certainly, they’re far better soldiers than my Cold War generation produced. And they’re doing a much tougher job.
If I could have a wish for the day, it would be that everyone reading this column could actually spend some time with our troops. Whatever your political stand you’d come away determined to stand behind our men and women in uniform.
Ralph Peters is covering our troops in Kuwait and Iraq for The Post.
