Stryker Brigade News

“The resupply is huge for morale,” said 1st Lt. Peter Walther, a Mililani, Hawaii native, who serves as the platoon leader from Company B, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd SBCT, who added that it is the little things that make living here good.

“Fresh food and good food like honey buns, coffee and fresh outhouses are what make it better out here,” he said.

The Soldiers who transport the supplies said it makes them feel great when they see the reaction of the Soldiers living in the small compounds when new supplies arrive.

“Doing this makes me happy because they’re so happy to see us come with the supplies,” said Spc. Staci Warde, a native of Trinidad, Tobago, who serves as a supply specialist with Co. A, 225th BSB. “I feel like Santa Claus when I go on these missions. They’re like kids in a candy store when we arrive.”

Bringing supplies places may seem easy, but a lot of planning goes into getting them to the Soldiers who need them.

“We start planning these missions 96 hours out,” said 1st Sgt. Eric Vidal, a native of Bronx, N.Y., who serves with Co. A. “We do our best to utilize all of our resources to the maximum of their ability. We fill the trucks as much as we possibly can so by doing that, we have fewer trucks out on the mission and fewer people in danger on the mission.”

Vidal said the Soldiers regularly resupply the units at the joint security stations.

Sometimes, he said, the BSB needs additional help to handle larger loads.

For heavier missions, Vidal said the unit coordinates with some of the civilian contractors in the area because they have the trucks that can handle the heavier loads.

“We don’t have the vehicles to carry the concrete walls for the perimeter of the outposts, so we call the civilian contractors, who have larger trucks to help us out,” said Vidal.

Although the Soldiers living at the MND-B outposts and joint security stations go without many of the comfort items they have at home, Walther said he and his Soldiers have learned to adapt to their environment and take life on the outpost with a grain of salt.

“When life sucks out here, it’s the small things that make all the difference in the world,” he said.

Those small things are what the Soldiers from Co. A supply.

“We bring out a big supply of comfort foods, like chips, sodas and honey buns, to help boost their morale,” Vidal said. “Something as simple as a soda makes all the difference when you live out there.”