The 181st Transportation Battalion is stationed in Mannheim, Germany.  LTC Charles F. Maskell assumed command in Jun, 02 and began training the unit for an anticipated war in Iraq.  The battalion conducted four significant training events that prepared the unit for war. 

377th Trans Co (HET) deployed 20 soldiers and a platoon leader to Kuwait on four separate 30-40 day deployments between Jul and Nov 02.  Their primary mission was supporting the download of Army prepositioned equipment vessels, and the movement of Heavy Equipment Transporters and oversized and outsized equipment from the sea port to Camp Doha and Camp Arifjan, which was still under construction at the time.  The missions exposed the soldiers to the area of operations, provided outstanding convoy and land navigation training, and gave them a chance to acclimatize to the desert.  In Nov, the battalion S3, two NCOs, and a safety officer deployed to Kuwait for ten days, and led the 377th soldiers through a desert convoy live fire at the Udairi Range Complex, which was the 3D COSCOM's first desert live fire training event at that time.  Other units followed that example by conducting follow-on live fire exercises.

Another critical training event was a deployment to V Corps' capstone deep-strike attack aviation expercise in Poland, Victory Strike III. 181 Trans deployed a large portion of the 515th Trans Co (POL), two platoons from the 51st Trans Co (PLS) and the battalion headquarters during Sep and Oct of 2002.  The battalion focused on its battle task by deploying via convoy from Germany to Poland, providing C2 over bulk petroleum distribution and critical Class IX movements, and then redeploying via convoy back to Germany.  We also showcased the Army's experimental High Speed Sealift Vessel (HSV) by moving one squad of the 515th Trans Co between Bremerhaven, Germany and Scechzin, Poland.

The third significant collective training event followed closely on the heels of our return from Poland.  51st Trans Co (PLS) overcame all of the training distractors and other challenges to deploy the entire company for one month of extensive tactical training at the Combined Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) at Hohenfels, Germany.  The unit simultaneously supported a brigade as it conducted gunnery training and conducted exhaustive company collective training.  The skills developed during that month paid off handsomely during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) when 51st Trans Co was one of two V Corps PLS truck companies available for the attack into Iraq.

After we redeployed from Poland, V Corps identified 515th Trans Co (POL) as its top priority CSS unit for deployment to Kuwait.  Colonel Joe Brown, commander of the 16th Corps Support Group directed a group wide Road to Readiness Review to ensure units were properly resourced for desert combat operations.  Unit commanders conducted detailed readiness assessments, identified and resolved training and materiel shortfalls, and conducted an exhaustive four hour briefing to Colonel Brown upon completion of the unit-level review. This process ensured company commanders and soldiers at the lowest level were resourced and trained for success in Iraq.

 Phase II. RSOI and Pre-G Day:

181 Trans Bn headquarters deployed to Kuwait in Jan 03 in order to support OIF. The rest of the battalion deployed in January and February.  Our first mission was running all of V Corps' Reception Staging & Onward Movement camps (Camps New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Udairi). We met that challenge with none of our organic equipment, then handed the mission off to the CONUS based reserve element of 19th Support Center in order to prepare for war. The battalion commander, LTC Chuck Maskell and the S3 were the only 181 personnel involved in planning for the combat mission, while the rest of our company commanders and soldiers were task organized under the 19th SC to run the camps until they could get established. We finally pulled the majority of our Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment soldiers from running Camp Virginia about 1 Mar 03, and moved to assembly areas under the command and control of the 24th Corps Support Group.

We established our tactical operations center using tents, generators and vehicles borrowed from other units. We prepared for the pending G-Day (ground attack day) and simultaneously integrated the 418th Trans Co (5 K Petroleum Tankers) from Fort Hood, and the 296th Trans Co (5 K Petroleum Tankers), a Reserve unit from Mississippi. We split the battalion and sent two POL companies (296th and 418th) in direct support of 1st Brigade, 3D Infantry Division in the North. Our HHD moved with the 2d Bde, 3ID on the southern axis of advance behind 3-7 Cavalry Squadron. The 377th Trans Co and 11th Trans Co (each consist of 1/2 of a Super HET Company) were task organized down to combat units, engineers and intelligence units (to move UAVs). The 51st Trans Co (PLS) ran continuous operations in the days prior to G-Day in order to feed the 3ID and all of the Corps separate brigades as they prepared for combat in their attack positions along the Iraqi border. On G-Day, they hauled critical unit equipment and sustainment stocks for he 24th CSG, such as water and fuel bag equipment. Our home station POL unit, the 515th Trans Co did not have its trucks yet, so they remained in Kuwait for a few days until their equipment arrived. They immediately began supporting the 3ID push to Baghdad.

We received our unit equipment and containers a few hours before we moved to the attack positions (48 hours prior to the attack). We supported the attack without most of our critical equipment, such as NBC detection and decontamination equipment, SINCGARS radios, PLGRs, maps, night vision goggles, and satellite communications systems (in Europe, every one of our trucks had a messaging system, but we did not receive the containers they were in prior to the attack. Believe me when I tell you it wasn't for lack of trying to get our stuff).

Phase III. Attack to May 3:

We had three critical tasks for G-Day - G+2. Establish convoy support center Peterbilt in the vicinity of As Samawah, conduct a division refuel (5 K to HMMT tanker) Northwest of As Samawah, and provide task organized HETs and PLS trucks to move critical combat engineer equipment and in the case of the PLS, corps support battalion equipment and stocks. The Northern task force of 181 Trans crossed the berm into Iraq integrated into the Forward Support Battalion from 1st BCT. The FSB included over 600 vehicles. We began our movement approximately 1000 hours, and drove continuously through that day, the night, and the next day we stopped in the vicinity of Tallil Air Base, the first objective of the lead brigade. The mission was going well, so our requirement to conduct the divisional refuel at As Samawah moved earlier. We task organized to move with the two lead battalion task forces of the lead brigade (at this point, 1BCT). The battalion S3 led one group of twenty tankers along Highway 8 along the western bank of the Euphrates. The commander of the supply company in Forward Support Battalion led another group of twenty tankers.

The battle for As Samawah did not go well, and the group with the S3 spent the night along the road just southeast of the city as the task force tried to fight through.  Early the next morning, we moved through As Samawah with the 3ID Tactical Command Post that was held up on the same stretch of road. We peeled off on the far side of the city, and stopped to check if the battalion headquarters beat us to the tentative location of CSC Peterbilt on the west side of the city. We found a troop from the 3-7 CAV actively engaged in a fight for a key bridge across the Euphrates, Kiowa warriors were attacking targets within 1 kilometer, and the tentative site for the CSC was unsuitable due to unexploded ordnance and the tactical situation. We moved to the tentative site for the divisional refuel operation. All of the terrain in the area was inaccessible due to elevated roadways and muddy terrain.  We set up the tankers along the road that connected the two Alternate Supply Routes in the area, and effectively chocked off traffic in order to conduct the refuel. Although the refuel limited traffic flow, there were no better alternatives, and the 3ID Assistant Division Commander for Support spent a large part of the day prioritizing the refuel of divisional tankers and movement of divisional units along the ROUTE ROVERS (BOSTON).  The fuel tankers were empty approximately 1400 hours, and we prepared to move south along the ROVERS to get fuel in the vicinity of Tallil Air Base. Just as we prepped to move, we were attacked by mortar fire, and one soldier from 296th Trans Co was MEDEVACd as our first casualty of the war. She had shrapnel in her knee, but here outlook was for recovery was good.

While the line companies and the S-3 were task organized to travel North with different units, the battalion headquarters with attached elements moved as part of the 2d BCT, 3ID march column.  The battalion headquarters along with an attached Logistics Task Force (to provide support at CSC Peterbilt), Signal Node Center, Counter Intelligence Section, and Movement Control Team crossed the Line of Departure at approximately H+5 on G Day.  The battalion headquarters traveled along the Southern route for 36 continuous hours, arriving just south of As Samawah at dusk on 22 March.  The battalion commander linked up with the 2d BCT TAC and was informed that the fight for As Samawah was still on and it would be several hours before the 3-7 CAV, who controlled the battle space, would allow the 181st to move towards the CSC.  Later that night, the 3-7  CAV squadron commander relayed through the 2d BCT TAC that he wanted the 181st to wait until daylight to move to the CSC.  As a result, the headquarters conducted a night move with NVGs to the 3-7 CAV field trains.  At dawn, the battalion was informed by the 2d BCT that we would be guided to the CSC by a representative from the Cavalry Squadron.  Later, the 181st was granted permission to move unescorted to the CSC site (a civilian cement factory).  As the battalion headquarters approached the factory, it linked up with the battalion S-3.  BG Weber from the 3d ID informed the 181st Battalion Commander that the proposed CSC site was unusable due to battle damage and the width of the roads in the factory.  LTC Maskell quickly moved to find alternate terrain upon which to establish CSC Peterbilt. He picked a spot about 10 KM Northwest of the original site, and quickly established the TOC and a refuel site in order to provide fuel, one MRE and water to each convoy moving through.

During these initial days of the war, the 377th Trans Co was our most forward deployed force.  They were task organized all across the 3ID providing critical movement of combat engineer equipment in direct support of the maneuver forces. The 11th Trans Co was primarily supporting the follow-on V Corps separate brigades.

Within a few days, the 3BCT commander responsible for local security in our area arrived at our CSC and warned LTC Maskell that an attack by the Fedayeen Saddam was imminent. As the senior tactical commander in the area, he ordered the battalion to relocate the CSC.  We tore down the battalion TOC and the entire CSC within three hours, and co-located with 3BCT's Forward Support Battalion about 10 KM Northwest of our location.  This was complicated by the fact that most of the rest of the battalion had finally arrived after completing their G-day and follow on missions.  There were also approximately 50 "customer" vehicles that were refueling at the CSC when the battalion was given the order.  After getting everyone moved out of the old location, the battalion CSM, Communications NCOIC, and several other senior NCOs returned to the old CSC to post a sign to warn incoming convoys not to stop at the now deserted CSC.

The next morning, we received a message to move the battalion to Logistics Support Area Bushmaster. That was the large, furthest forward LSA designed to support the 3ID attack through the Karbala Gap and through the destruction of the Republican Guard's  Media Division.  We were ordered to report to the 3D Corps Support Command Commanding General, BG Fletcher.  He tasked us to set up a CSC to provide support for trucks as they arrived at that distant node, and gave us the additional mission of ensuring the rapid turnaround of all sustainment convoys, regardless of whether or not they were 181 Trans units.

To accomplish this, the S3 remained with the 3 COSCOM Assault Command Post (ACP) in Bushmaster, while the 181 Trans set up their TOC a few kilometers away.  At this point the battalion controlled 5 POL transportation companies, one PLS company and the two HET companies.

The battalion's primary mission was to fill the fuel bag farm on Bushmaster and provide support to the 101st Airborne Division's various Forward Arm and Refuel Points, and moving food and ammo for the 3ID. However, the HETs were still working in DS to various 3ID and Corps separate units, and they would be attached to various units for days at a time.  Because of the scarcity of ITV devices, it was very difficult to track these vehicles.  We had also lost a significant number of fuel tankers along the cross-country movement on G-Day-G+2. While the soldiers had been recovered, the tankers (mostly old M818s remained mired along the route)  The HETs were moving critical combat engineer assets, as well as tanks and bradleys.  A small number of trucks from the 377th Trans were in direct support to a special operations task force that had the mission to take down key members of the regime, and they drove through the firefights on the streets of Baghdad in late March and early April.  They also moved equipment to BIAP and were there during many of the early counter attacks on BIAP.

Within a few weeks, we jumped again to LSA Dogwood, which was the site of the 3ID Division Rear Headquarters and the 24th CSG headquarters. While there, we supported the fuel bag farm on Dogwood, a bag farm on recently established Foward Logistics Base ELM (101st Airborne Division) just south of Baghdad. As the 3ID was fighting for the city, the 181 Trans Bn was hauling critical fuel to support the fight. Many missions involved arduous trips to the bag farm near Tallil Air Base, because the theater and other Corps POL units could not push adequate amounts of fuel to the bags on Dogwood. There was no mistaking the importance of the mission as we were located on the same map sheet as the United States Government's primary objective, Baghdad.

The 51st Trans Co continued to provide critically short dry cargo transport to the most forward deployed forces.  If soldiers in 3ID ate it or drank it, the odds were the 51st Trans Co hauled it to them.  They also executed critical ammunition moves, and in particular they supported a high priority push to the 82d Airborne Division in their bitter fight for As Samawah. 

Shortly after the battalion established itself at Dogwood, the S3 moved forward with the 3D COSCOM ACP to the next significant, and eventually permanent, base at Balad South  East Airfield about 1.5 hours north of Baghdad. The base was named LSA Anaconda. We coordinated for the rapid establishment of a 1.2 million gallon fuel bag farm, pushed 40 trucks north to Mosul and supported the deployment of the 101st and the reception of the 4th Infantry Division.  When the 4ID arrived south of Baghdad on Heavy Equipment Transporters, they were greeted by their divisional Air Defense battalion, and the 181 Trans Bn. We provided rapid refuel for the HETs as they dropped their loads on the northbound lanes, turned through the median, fueled in less than 20 minutes and departed for Kuwait.

Through this entire time, the 181 Trans Bn was still running missions south to pull fuel from the bag farms, supported various 101st Airborne Division FARPs and bag farms, the two corps aviation brigades, the 3ID, and everyone else in V Corps who needed fuel. All told, the battalion transported over 18,000,000 gallons of fuel in those initial months of the war.

May 3 to Current Ops:

In early May, the battalion moved to Anaconda, and was dramatically reorganized to become the Corps' primary dry cargo unit. We gave up control of all POL units, and took command and control of 4 PLS companies, 2 medium companies, two light medium companies, one provisional truck unit with 100 Iraqi contracted trucks, one trailer transfer detachment, and the headquarters detachment. At one point our task organization included 15 units and over 1500 soldiers. That eventually dropped to approximately 840 soldiers and 200 Iraqi contract drivers, where it remains today.

All classes of supply going to all the divisions and separates in the Combined Joint Task Force (formerly known as V Corps) are hauled by the 181 Trans. The supplies come to LSA Anaconda, are downloaded in the Corps Distribution Center, and then uploaded on hundreds of 181 Trans trucks.  At this point, our fleet of Iraqi trucks has grown to 200, and they are our heavy-lifter, moving tons of cargo to the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Division, 4th Infantry Division, and 101st Airborne Division. We also established and ran a daily trailer transfer operation between Kuwait and Anaconda that provided 20 hour delivery from one end to the other. This mission, called SUSTAINER PUSH, operated continuously 29 May - 8 Dec 03.

The 181 Trans Bn has driven over 10,500,000 miles and delivered over 18,000,000 gallons of fuel. Our soldiers endured the brutal heat of the Iraqi summer, and always got the job done despite 160-degree temperatures inside their cabs, constant enemy attacks, and minimal repair part support. All told, they repelled 69 enemy attacks, of which 18 were Improvised Explosive Devices and 31 were small arms engagements resulting in the award of 17 Purple Hearts for combat injuries, with an 18th pending approval.  These soldiers have earned their battle-hardened reputation as the best damn transporters in theater, and they continue to make us proud every day. Our soldiers know the routes through the dangerous "Sunni Triangle" better than anyone, and have earned a reputation as soldiers who face danger with courage and lots of firepower. Many times other units come under attack and junior leaders in the 181 Trans provide lifesaving medical evacuations and roadside assistance. When the military police were unwilling to stand and defend a disabled convoy north of Baghdad, a California National Guard NCO seized the key terrain and provided overwatch until the 1st Armored Division could arrive. Their detailed spot reports of enemy activity are unmatched within the COSCOM, and probably throughout the Corps. These soldiers face everything the enemy, the weather and the chain of command throws at them, and they do it with pride and professionalism. They are truly ROAD WARRIORS!

The 181^st Transportation Battalion is currently located in Mannheim, Germany and is the largest truck battalion in the Army.  They continue to provide line haul transportation for movement of bulk petroleum products, ammunition, heavy and oversized equipment, major end items, general cargo, and personnel.

The distinctive insignia of the 181^st Transportation, an hourglass, symbolizes time and refers to the Battalion’s motto: “Any Time, Any Task.”  The tire stands for the organization’s major mission of motor transport.  The fleur-de-lis, symbol of France, refers to the unit’s initial war service, which was in France during World War II.  The colors brick red and gold stand for the Transportation Corps and the color blue for the Battalion’s former service as a Quartermaster organization.

Campaign Participation Credit
World War II: Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe

Decorations
Army Superior Unit Award for 1995-1996