Contracting officer experiences frontline action in Iraq

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  First Lt. Ed Ruckwardt was in his office, wrapping up some contracts he had worked on the previous few days.

It was typical of the lieutenant's duties. There was nothing extravagant or special about the contracts. He was doing his job.

The quietness of the day was interrupted by a loud explosion that made the ground rumble under his feet and the trailer he worked in shake. The lieutenant grabbed his helmet and flack vest and headed for the plumes of black smoke.

The mortar round landed about 30 yards from his trailer, sending pieces of shrapnel flying like shards of glass through the air.

"There was a Marine already administering first aid to one of the injured individuals," said Lieutenant Ruckwardt, who is deployed from 82nd Contracting Squadron here with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's Quick Response Force Contingency Contracting office. "I quickly turned my attention to the other injured victim. There was a lot of blood from wounds to his face and chest …. I did a quick assessment and realized his leg was broken."

The whole experience gave the lieutenant a new-found respect for medics. It also "left my nerves shot for a while," he said.

Lieutenant Ruckwardt is one of six officers from the Air Force and Navy who are assigned to six different major subordinate commands in Iraq.

The lieutenant's team can approve projects including reconstruction or repair of buildings, office equipment, uniforms, transportation, training and emergency life support for Iraqi security forces, he said.

One thing Lieutenant Ruckwardt said he witnessed in the region is the interoperability of sister services. He said the joint environment has been successful and has made "coalition forces more mobile and flexible" in Iraq.

"The military leaders and (servicemembers) I have encountered have not caved into disruptive service rivalry, which can hinder operations," he said. "Our job as U.S. (servicemembers) is to make the mission happen as one, and so far we have done an amazing job."

The lieutenant attributed part of his success to his squadron here. He said weekly contingency training sessions have proved to be beneficial while deployed.

So far, the lieutenant has contracted more than $3.5 million in purchases for Iraqi security forces to include the Iraqi police, national guard, army and highway patrol, as well as the border enforcement, public order battalions and facility protection service.

He has also assisted in developing Navy Seabee construction contracts worth about $15 million.

Lieutenant Ruckwardt has been in Iraq since October. His job in the western part of the country is no different than at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. The atmosphere, however, is markedly different.

He said he was on a convoy in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, and the group got caught in some heavy traffic. Normal protocol requires all passengers to get out of the vehicles and set up a security perimeter. Regardless of who they are, the lieutenant said when with the Marines, they are riflemen first.

Lieutenant Ruckwardt took his position on one knee next to the vehicle with an ammunition magazine inserted and a round in the chamber.

"At one point, I remember I was on one knee with an M-16, actively scanning, and I thought to myself, 'What am I doing out here? I'm not infantry,'" he said. "Ar Ramadi is one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq, and here I was, an Airman, right in the middle of the action."

Serving with a frontline unit like the 1st MEF never entered the lieutenant's mind, he said. He thought an assignment to an Air Force-run base would have been more likely.

But, he said he would not trade what he has learned while with his Marine brothers.

"Marines are put in harms way daily in the most dangerous areas of Iraq without complaining or hesitation," he said. "It has been a great pleasure to serve alongside (them).”