Last boots on the ground

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melanie Bulow-Kelly
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  On Dec. 18, 2011, after nearly nine years of conflict, the final convoy, consisting of 100 vehicles and 500 troops, crossed the Iraq-Kuwait border. This signified the ending of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

As the anniversary approaches, four Airmen from the 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron reflect on their part of this historical moment.

This time last year, Tech. Sgt. Jason Gregory, Tech Sgt. Shane Monterosso, Staff Sgt. Brett Bolton and Senior Airman Eduardo Flores, 6th LRS vehicle operators, were preparing for their last mission to Iraq.

They were a small Air Force element attached to the Army and were assigned to the 387th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, 70th Medium Truck Detachment located on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

Their mission was to transport cargo from numerous forward operating bases in northern and southern Iraq, and bring it back to Kuwait.

"When we were here (MacDill AFB), we were picking up aircrew and delivering parts. When you're there (Kuwait), it's real life. You're working with Army doing convoys. It's definitely night and day, from carrying a pen to carrying a weapon," Gregory said.

Gregory has deployed six times, three of which were from MacDill. This deployment was different from the rest because he was in a leadership role. As the mission planner, he prepared the crews by accomplishing the mission manifest. He coordinated and tracked more than 183 combat convoys.

Bolton was a loadmaster and radio telephone operator while deployed. This was his second deployment to Kuwait.

"It was nice to see the mission go full circle. When I joined in 2006, we had been in Iraq for four years. My first convoy deployment was shortly after joining; I saw it at its worst and its best," Bolton said.

Bolton and Gregory's previous experience brought them to Iraq more prepared than Monterosso and Flores.

While deployed, Flores was a convoy commander driver and radio telephone operator.

"That first time crossing the Kuwait-Iraq border is so memorable in my life because I didn't know what to expect," Flores said. "I found myself in limbo, a state of uncertainty I never experienced before."

According to Monterosso, he was the lead vehicle navigator for one of the 10 convoy teams assigned to the 387th ELRS.

"Deploying with the guys I work with every day here (MacDill) was very helpful; it's like bringing your family with you," Monterosso said.

Over a span of 26 missions, the three convoy teams traveled more than 21,000 miles, delivering 60,800 tons of cargo throughout Iraq.

The efforts of these four Airmen, along with approximately 500 other Airmen and Soldiers, were significant to the successful completion of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"It never really sank in until after I got home, what we actually accomplished," said Bolton. "I was watching a documentary and thought to myself 'I was a part of that.'

"It's cool to be part of something that big that changed so much. You sit there gripe and complain because you been up for 30 hours, and you don't want to do anything, but seeing it like that made the big picture look a lot clearer."

As these Airmen reflect on how they impacted Operation Iraq Freedom and how it impacted them, they know the mission could not have been accomplished without the team effort from all branches of military service. The experiences of these four Airmen are just a small representation of the efforts and sacrifices put forth by all service members.