Truck Driving in Iraq

Below is a letter from my brother stationed in Iraq describing what he's doing in Iraq:

My name is Specialist Timothy Staddon and I am with the 123rd Main Support Battalion under the First Armored Division. I am 20 years old and graduated high school in the year 2000. I have been stationed in Dexheim, Germany since November 2000 until my unit was deployed to Iraq on May 2, 2003. I would just like to share my experiences with you back in the states.

I am a truck driver and my mission in Baghdad is to haul supplies, parts, and food to the forward support battalions located in the center of Baghdad. First of all, we perform maintenance on our tractor trailers and our 5 ton trucks. This usually consists of changing tires, adding fluids, and doing operator level corrections to the vehicles. Sounds easy until I mention that these trucks date back to the early 1980's and my squad of ten soldiers is responsible for keeping fifteen tractors up and twenty-five thirty foot trailers up; that's a lot of maintenance!

Let me tell you about driving a big truck in Iraq's congested highways and byways. Our farthest trip is about 25 minutes away at the Baghdad Olympic Stadium. As soon as we leave the front gate we get consumed in the Iraqi traffic. Just imagine about 15 trucks going as fast as they can through unimaginable traffic. I've also been shot at twice while driving my truck. There's nothing more scary than having a sniper shooting at you and you don't know where he is. Another tactic that anti-American rebels like to use is daisy-chaining 155mm shells together on the side of the road and blowing them up as we pass. We've had one soldier killed this way. Many others have been wounded.

The closest I have been to death is when I was asleep at a FSB(forward support battalion). I rolled my sleeping bag out on the end of a semi-trailer and soon fell asleep. Around midnight I was horrifically awakened by the deafening sound of mortars exploding around me! Gravel was kicked up on me but no shrapnel touched me. Everyone was okay but in the morning I found an unexploded mortar shell laying about ten feet from where I slept! If that shell would have detonated I would not have been alive to write this letter!

Another mission I do is bring the infantry troops to designated raids all around Baghdad. These missions are the most exciting because we roll out in the dead of night. When we start nearing the target zone we shut off all our lights and have to use NVG's (night vision goggles) to navigate our trucks to the raid. We get there and let the infantry troops out of the back of our five ton trucks and they quickly disperse into the night. We then wait until they return, usually with contraband such as mortar shells, mortar tubes, and AK-47's. They usually bring back prisoners also.

Well, I hope this brief article helps you understand what a 88M (truck driver) does in the war against terrorism. I will be leaving Iraq on February 2nd to take leave for 30 days before I move to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to attent Jump school and be stationed there. You better believe I'll be having a "Back from Iraq" party when I come back home in February. I love to receive mail so if you have any questions or just want to write a soldier, my address is: SPC Tim Staddon, B Co 123 MSB, Unit 92885, APO AE 09324-2885

Note: After writing this letter, he received a 120 day extension in Iraq. He's expected to end his tour in Iraq in early September.