BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- After the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a need for extra armor on convoy vehicles arose. Insurgents were killing Airmen and Soldiers through roadside improvised explosive devices.
Airmen here have been protecting convoys and the people who ride in them since then by installing extra armor to each vehicle. Now the add-on armor shop here will shut down operations this month after they have armored all they can.
Airmen here are leaving a legacy of making convoys safer on the outside, and saving lives on the inside, said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Pease, a vehicle maintainer with the shop.
“There’s nothing better than that, I think,” he said. “It’s the best part about it.”
The need for the add-on armor shop is dwindling, partly because the vehicles are coming to Iraq with up-armor kits already on them. The shop’s Airmen have armored the rest, more than 1,300 vehicles.
“I’m always glad people are going to have armored trucks because, who knows, next time it might be me out there,” Sergeant Pease said.
The add-on armor shop’s work doesn’t go unnoticed and is not taken for granted, especially by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Morin, a convoy commander who runs convoys daily. He has been attacked and shot at and said the armor has displayed its worth.
“We work seven days a week, 12 hours a day,” said Senior Airman Shawn Musser, who is deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He said the long hours and mechanical labor don’t bother him.
Airman 1st Class Jose Maneiro said he gets positive feedback from the people he meets.
“Sometimes people at the dining facilities ask what I do,” said Airman Maneiro, who is deployed from Moody Air Force Base, Ga. “When I explain, they (really appreciate it.) That is my real reward.”
Sergeant Morin said not only was his life saved by the armor, but countless others’ lives were saved as well.
“Many of the … convoys have been hit even harder … by big IEDs or some pretty serious small-arms fire,” he said. “Nobody (in my convoy has been) hurt and they’ve taken some pretty good hits. So this stuff is pretty good.”