A new meaning to the term, Highway Patrol

Taking a trip into town

Imagine donning full combat gear, a flame resistant hood for your head, and the outside air temperature is hovering around the 120 degree mark.  But wait, that's not all.  Now, jump into an Assault Amphibian Vehicle (AAV) and shut the lid.  You are now in 140+ degrees of sand and sweat while riding with some of the hardest working Marines that patrol around Fallujah.  Pfc. Brian Jones takes us for a trip with Team Gator as they pound the pavement:

“Team Gator is very essential to the objective in Iraq,” stated 20-year-old, Brownfield, Texas native, Cpl. Matt K. McClure, a crewman with 3rd section, 3rd platoon of Team Gator.

Team Gator ‘highway patrol’ is on the hunt. Anyone who attempts to deliberately disrupt traffic and operations along the roads and highways of the main supply route that they patrol will find themselves in the most uncompromising of positions.

 

Lending a hand

Conducting 24-hour patrols, providing quick response teams, escort units and supporting route clearance missions to sustain operations and clear the way for progress is no easy task, but the committed Marines of Team Gator, A Company, 2nd Amphibious Assault Battalion with Regimental Combat Team 6, don’t hesitate to get the job done.

“Team Gator’s mission is to provide security for freedom of movement along the MSR that we patrol and interdict in any (anti-coalition force activity) and coordinate with adjacent units to help their operations in support of the regimental combat team,” explained Capt. Timothy F. Hough, the commanding officer of A Co.

“They are the best Marines,” the Stafford, Va. native, bragged. “They’re the most flexible. They can do anything they need to. We can do anything we’re asked to do… we’ll accomplish the mission without fail no matter what’s asked of us.”

 “I’m glad to be serving with Marines in combat and serving around great Marines like those in Team Gator,” Hough said with pride. “We’re ready to take the fight to the enemy anytime and do anything the RCT needs.”

Highway Patrol Vehicle

1 comment

Team Gator provides 300 dedicated Marines to the fight. They operate the tank-like Amphibian Assault Vehicle P7A1s that are hot and cramped, but reliable, armored protected vehicles each day covering hundreds of miles of hardtop road and enduring the day’s heat. These rumbling beasts can be seen rolling down the highway anytime of the day or night on patrol to secure all obstructions in the way, search out possible improvised explosive devices and the enemy that places them.

“Without us patrolling 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the convoys would be getting hit,” said Pfc. Daniel J. Tomlinson, a crewman with 3rd section, 3rd platoon. “It would be easier for them to place IED’s and stuff like that.”

“We take the hit for them and we rather take the hit than the supply convoys,” Tomlinson said as an example to their almost fearless devotion to their job. “If you’re not scared you’re not human. If someone tells you they’re not scared they are just lying to you. You have to be scared.”

The 23-year-old, Amsterdam, N.Y. native went onto add, “With these big vehicles rolling down the road 24 hours a day it’s hard for these guys to place IED’s and ambushes because they have to worry about us catching them and if we catch them they’re (done).”

The MSR stretches all the way from Baghdad to Jordan connecting key cities, such as Fallujah and Ramadi and many tribes and villages along the way. These Marines have learned these stretches of road like the back of their hands, perceptive to even a single rock that’s out of place.

“It’s a very important battle space route to keep clear for Coalition Forces to move upon,” said Master Sgt. Thomas D. Boore, the company operations chief. “I think our biggest success has been a show of presence that has put a halt to IED emplacers. Everybody knuckles up as a company. Team Gator as a whole does a phenomenal job.”

Local nationals travel the MSR by day. Patrols and convoys travel it by night.

“Providing that freedom of movement for the RCT has huge implications on how well they can resupply, move logistical convoys as well as providing security for the local nationals moving up and down the highway,” Hough explained.

Crewmen such as 23 year-old, Fort Worth, Texas native, Lance Cpl. Brandon J. Shoemaker aren’t blind to the

Driving on a sunny day

significance of the route either. “It’s very necessary to keep the supplies running; keep the blood flowing of everything that is going on,” he said.

When Team Gator first arrived they were getting hit pretty heavily by large IEDs, but in the last few months activity has slowed down tremendously leaving the MSR a quiet route to travel upon.

“When Alpha Company, Team Gator showed up we were attacked a lot,” Hough said. “Right in the beginning we were tested by the insurgency and over the past four or five months, ‘knock on wood’, we’ve seen a dramatic drop in the number of IEDs. I think that it’s not only because of adjacent unit operations, but because we’re working our tails off and we’re taking it to the enemy everyday. The Marines in this company…have done great things here and should be recognized.”

The team is currently working with Iraqi police in combined efforts to track down vehicles under the suspicion of wrongful acts.

“The IPs are a lot more aggressive and involved now,” Boore said about their partnership in protecting the highway.

Just in recent weeks the Marines have been witness to kids spending time outdoors in areas near the highway without the fear of threat for the first time.

“You get down about things sometimes and you start seeing only the bad things and then we’ll stop by a house and hand out food and water and candy to the little kids and you get to see the smiles on the little kid’s faces,” McClure said about one of his favorite parts of his job.

Cursed by their own success by being tasked with many objectives, Team Gator rolls on making the best of it with their minds set on the missions ahead of them, taking pride in all that they do.

“I’m absolutely humbled by what they do day in and day out through the extreme temperatures, through some hardships we’ve gone through with the respect to the loss of some Marines and seeing them go out everyday without question, without complaint and complete the mission going above and beyond what is expected of them.” Hough said. “That’s the best part of my job, just being with the Marines.”

A band of brothers. "Ladies, is this the way to the gym?"

16 comments

Tomlinson ended declaring, “This is the greatest job in the world. It’s been the greatest time of my life. I love being with

 these guys. They’re the best bunch of guys you could meet and it’s been one heck of a ride.”

Often tested, always faithful, brothers forever.