Star-Ledger January 25, 2003
Marines who drive the trucks of war await their orders
By Wayne Woolley
During the Gulf War, they were called the Baghdad Express by fellow Marines. Now the Middletown-based Marine Corps Reserve transportation unit is gearing up to roll again.
The 6th Motor Transportation Battalion formed a crucial supply chain during the 1991 Gulf War and expects to be shipped back to southwestern Asia as part of the massive U.S. troop buildup within striking distance of Iraq.
The battalion is headquartered in the Lincroft section of Middletown, and most of the 160 members of its Headquarters and Service Company live in the area. They are now preparing to head to Camp Pendleton, Calif., joining other members of the 1,000-member battalion who are now spread from Orlando, Fla., to Las Vegas.
Orders to ship out to California are expected any day. For now, the tour of duty is a year, but it could be extended -- or shortened -- depending on the Pentagon's needs.
Lt. Col. Patrick Hermesmann, the battalion commander, said that if war breaks out, the heavy trucks operated by the unit will be called upon to move everything from ammunition to prisoners of war.
"Anything you can imagine on a battlefield that needs to be hauled, we'll be doing that," Hermesmann said. In civilian life, the 42-year-old father of five is an attorney for Hanover Insurance in Piscataway.
Although more than 1,000 New Jersey Reservists and National Guard members from all branches of the military were mobilized for the war on terror in Afghanistan and for homeland defense, the Marines from Middletown would be the first on-call troops from the state to join the escalating military presence in the Persian Gulf.
Military analyst Patrick Garrett of GlobalSecurity.org said the callup of more than 4,500 Marine Reservists from around the country over the past week was part of the Pentagon plan to escalate U.S. troop strength in the Persian Gulf region from nearly 60,000 to as many as 150,000 during the course of the month.
"When they're saying Southwest Asia, they're saying Iraq," Garrett said. "It's all about Iraq."
If the Marine reservists ultimately end up in or near Iraq, about a dozen of their most senior members will find themselves in a familiar place.
During the Gulf War, the battalion hauled more than 81,000 pounds of supplies and 6,000 tons of ammunition from the Saudi Arabian port of Al Jubail to a desolate patch of desert near the Kuwaiti border called Ammunition Supply Point 5.
The operation, dubbed "the Baghdad Express" by a Marine Corps newspaper, fueled the 1st Marine Division's push through Kuwait.
It was over in four days.
"Everything collapsed. ... Prisoners of war all over the place," said Master Sgt. Cal Carlstrom, 47, who lives in Roselle and teaches at Dickinson High School in Jersey City.
There are only a handful of senior unit members left on duty to remember the first mission. And while they will be leading many Marines who were in grade school in 1991, they are confident past training in the unforgiving desert near Twentynine Palms, Calif., has been good preparation for anything they face on this deployment.
Some of the unit's younger members, such as Cpl. Christine Ferguson, were anxious to get started.
"I've been waiting for this for a while," said Ferguson, 24, who lives in Toms River and works with developmentally disabled children. "My parents are worried, but I'm excited."
Many members of the unit will be leaving behind family and putting careers on hold.
Maj. Daniel Colfax, the commander of the Headquarters and Service Company, is taking the shingle down from the Sparta office where he practices criminal and civil law.
The 41-year-old attorney could have escaped the mission and kept his business open by resigning his commission, an option always open to senior officers. But he says the call of duty comes now. The ability to practice law will always be there.
"I am a Marine," he said.
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