CAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq -- Oregon infantry soldiers often leave the wire on routes with only the vast desert outside the window.

The landscape, with only the occasional solitary tent flapping in the wind or the skeleton of a wrecked car laying quietly in the sand, can be mind numbing.

“Just thinking about home,” tank commander Sgt. Jeremy Butler, 26, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, said about what gets him through each day.

“Hanging out with the people I got here, we’re all in the same boat,” said Butler, who is one of many soldiers that jumped on with Oregon’s 41st Infantry just for this deployment.

After several months in the desert, hometown ties aren’t as important as the soldiers in your convoy.

“We forget about what we’re doing,” Butler said of being inside his vehicle with his buddies. “Almost makes it like home.”

But soldiers in Charlie Company, 1-186, 2nd Platoon of Oregon’s 41st Infantry stationed in Camp Korean Village, Iraq, are far from home.

Their mission is to frequently provide security escort for water, food and oil used for US forces in Iraq from base Camp Korean Village to base Trebil, near Jordan’s border.

They escort around 20 percent of the oil transport in Iraq. The soldiers also inspect the transport trucks at Trebil and have the unique opportunity to interact with Jordanian truck drivers.

A day outside the wire
 
Charlie Company meets before 8 a.m. to begin their day. At the motor pool, they perform radio checks and vehicle and weapon inspections, load up equipment like body armor, and fill coolers with ice and water.

“I just make sure my guys are squared away, all the guns are mounted (for the gunners), trucks run properly and the mission gets done right,” said truck commander Corp.  Nicholas Billups, 20, of Tillamook, Ore.

After the convoy is ready, everyone is off to a briefing to discuss the who, what, where and why of the mission.

The ride is usually uneventful. This day there is a swift jolt from underneath one of the Humvees, which turns out to be nothing more than a strange sound.

It is these small incidents that briefly remind soldiers they are in a combat zone.

The routes to Trebil are fairly safe, but according to Jumah “Friday” AbuMathaneh, a Jordanian truck supervisor, there is still room for concern.

“Things are safer now than five years ago, but less safe than two years ago,” he said.

He added, with a shrug of his shoulders, that there are good and bad people everywhere. For the most part the greatest concern for a convoy are blown out tires.

At the convoy’s destination of Trebil, precautions are made to ensure trucks do not break down on the road causing the convoy to make stops and wait for a recovery team to assist.

“We’re making sure the vehicle is going to maintain good condition on the way for wherever it’s going," said tank commander Sgt. James Wilcox, 25, of Roseburg, Ore., "making sure its got fluid for water, oil, break lines, any kind of leak, make sure the tires are good.”
 
Due to rapid movement, the trucks don’t stop long enough to get checked elsewhere. The Jordanian drivers are prone to letting their trucks run until their parts are over-worn.

“If they are not moveable, they will be cut and have to come back another day,” said Wilcox.

The drivers get paid once they leave the motor pool, not once the load is delivered, but soldiers said most do not take advantage of this arrangement.

This day, one truck tire does not meet standards. Within 10 minutes, the tire is changed and the truck is approved.

“It’s just like a NASCAR race,” said Lt. Matthew Branstetter, 34, of Silverton, Ore., about the Jordanians’ aptness and speed when working on vehicles.

“I’ve seen a broken transmission that they rebuilt on the spot,” said Wilcox. The soldiers are also often impressed by the goodwill of the drivers.

“If someone blows a tire they have to stop people (drivers) from pulling over to help,” said Branstetter.

The Jordanians never to hesitate to help fellow co-workers.

The Jordanians not only carry supplies, but also can help soldiers run operations because they are more familiar with the terrain of the roads.

“They can tell you pretty much anything,” said Branstetter. "Many of the drivers have worked in Iraq since 2003. Their livelihood depends on their job."

The truck drivers are careful not to speed, push people off the road or other traffic violations because they can be blacklisted from their jobs. The drivers support their families, which for some drivers include two wives and six children.

“Most of them have large families,” said AbuMathaneh. “They are working, they have a job now, they have a job, they are supporting their families.”

Before they leave Trebil, drivers will wait for two hours at the motor pool by the Jordan border drinking chai and sitting in the shade.

The soldiers stand by their armored vehicles in small groups eating their lunches and sipping energy drinks as an emaciated stray dog wanders through the dirt looking for scraps.

The soldiers will escort these checked trucks back to Camp Korean Village.

No matter how dull or dangerous the missions become, the soldiers have one thing to rely on. “Pretty much it’s all the people there that’s the best part of it,” Butler said.

For American soldiers and Jordanian truck drivers alike, the days go by fueled by friendships and the desire to get the job done.

Cali Bagby embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from the 41st Infantry for KVAL.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly.
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