Currahee helps remote FOB retrieve supplies

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Soldiers from 801st Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, helped Company D, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, retrieve essential supplies of water and fuel dropped by a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft as part of a container delivery system Jan. 30-31 at Forward Operating Base Waza Khwah.

The CDS drop is a supply method in which an aircraft flies low to the ground and releases cargo on pallets from the aircraft’s rear cargo doors. Once the pallets exit the aircraft, parachutes release and slowly lowered the cargo to a specified location on the ground.

This drop was much larger than FOB Waza Kwhah normally receives, according to U.S. Army Lt. Col. David J. Preston, commander of 801st BSB, 4th BCT, and native of Belchertown, Mass.

“The drops consisted of 101 bundles of fuel and 19 bundles of water; about 40 bundles per aircraft,” said Preston. “The fuel should help sustain them for a little over 30 days.”

Preston said his Soldiers supported Co. D, 1st Bn., 506th Inf. Regt., in the supply pickup for a variety of reasons.

“First, it is the Soldiers’ at Waza Khwah job to conduct combat missions,” he said. “If they are all out retrieving the cargo from a drop this large it would detract from their mission. Second, it is my battalion’s job to provide support for other battalions within the brigade, and I was the one who signed them up for such a large drop.”

Since Waza Khwah is a land-locked FOB, all supplies are flown in via helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft.

“To drive through the Gwashta Pass would put Soldiers at a significant risk due to the hazardous terrain,” said U.S. Army Maj. Scott W. McLellan, the plans officer in charge of 4th BCT, 101st Airborne Div. “The terrain in the area favors the enemy and the mitigation of this hazard is utilizing air support.”

“We only are able to receive resupply by air,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Brian D. Gemmill, first sergeant from Co. D, 1st Bn., 506th Inf. Regt., and native of Carmel, Ind. 

“Using these new drop systems is important and very efficient,” Gemmill said. “These drops also reduce the risk to my Soldiers because they do not have to travel too far out of the wire to get supplies, and the fuel makes it so we are able to maintain our mission.”

To the unit, this drop was lifeline extended to their forward operating base.

“We need fuel; without it we cannot survive,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ricky R. Reaser, squad leader from Co. D, 1st Bn., 506th Inf. Regt., and native of Grand Rapids, Mich.

“It may be hard for some to gain perspective on it, but you have to think without the fuel they have no heat, no power, no transportation, no communication and no security,” said Preston.

The supplies are a critical aspect to mission success, he said.

“With fuel, we can fill our trucks and conduct operations,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Ricky J. Spencer, fire team leader from of 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad, Co. D, 1st Bn., 506th Inf. Regt., and native of Amarillo, Texas. “Without it, we will have no heat and will be unable to meet our mission here in Waza Khwah.”

Though the CDS drop delivers the essential fuel, the drop is only part of the process.

After the drops were coordinated, the Soldiers on the ground wait until the bundles have reached a specified drop area, and then go out to the landing zone to bring back supplies, said Spencer.

With the amount of supplies received, Soldiers at Waza Khwah appreciated the aide provided by the support battalion.

“I think it was a great idea to have Soldiers from other battalions out here,” said Reaser. “It gives them an opportunity to get out, see things and do things they normally would not do as part of their specific job.”