Authorized newspaper of Joint Base Lewis-McChord
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After a busy year, the Soldiers of the 513th Transportation Company got a lesson in waiting Saturday. Returning from a year based in Kuwait, the “Roadrunner Warriors” spent nearly three hours at McChord Airfield attending to administrative requirements before moving to their friends and loved ones at Wilson Sports and Fitness Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord North.
“We kept them a little longer than we intended, but I hope we built the suspense,” said Maj. Barbara G. Haines, commander of 57th Transportation Battalion Provisional Rear, once the 139 Soldiers finally arrived. “Thank you for all you’ve done.”
All they’ve done was considerable for a single year. The transporters of the 513th performed more than 300 missions and logged more than 7 million miles from their base at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
“I told them during the transfer of authority ceremony a few days ago that it was no coincidence that they left Fort Lewis the Roadrunners and returned redesignated the ‘Roadrunner Warriors’ by the Institute of Heraldry,” said Capt. Parker S. Moye, commander of the 513th.
“Since these Soldiers have left the comfort of their friends and families, they have become just that — warriors, among the very elite of their trade.”
“They’ve been under good care, first with Capt. Herken, then under Capt. Moye,” Haines said.
Moye took command of the company during its year in theater. Captain Bryan Herken deployed with the Roadrunners and led them for two years, capping his command tour by spearheading what Moye called “the largest military drawdown in world history.”
As part of Joint Logistics Task Force 57, the Roadrunner Warriors moved all classes of supply throughout Iraq and delivered ammunition for shipment to Afghanistan. Running that many missions made it challenging to stay in touch with loved ones during the year.
“He was a very busy Soldier,” said Ashley Davis, wife for two years of Spc. Richard Davis, an 88M motor transport operator, “always doing his job.”
Davis managed two calls per month between missions, but e-mailed daily. Counting their courtship, he just completed what was already his second combat tour. This one, she said, was far more difficult. Seven months into the deployment, their daughter was born.
“It’s been five months since he’s seen her,” she said, bouncing a smiling Lillian Nicole on her hip. “He got to come home for her birth.”
Despite the hardship, the couple is considering making the Army a career.
“I’m not a huge fan of deployments, but otherwise, it’s good stuff,” Ashley Davis said.
She looked forward to family time. At her husband’s request, they planned to “veg” on the couch and not leave the house for a week.
Another driver, Spc. Andrew Matson, had more success with staying in touch, but at greater expense.
“(We communicated) through the Internet, thank God,” said Tiffany Matson, “Webcam and phone calls, which are insanely atrocious (expensive). It’s worth every penny, though.”
She stayed busy while he was in Kuwait, working and going to school. The Matsons have also been married two years, but have decided on staying an Army family.
“It’s a career. He’s been in about seven years already,” Tiffany said. “He re-enlisted. He’s going to keep doing it.”
That sense of duty gave the 513th the continuity that led to accomplishment of its missions and a collective air of pride in the formation Saturday.
“Roadrunner Warriors, congratulations on a job very well done — safely,” Moye said. “You deployed, gave 100 percent of yourself, but more importantly, y’all returned safely to your loved ones. You should feel proud of what you accomplished and that you accomplished it with integrity and professionalism.”
Visit the 513th returns gallery for photos of Soldiers reuniting with their families:
513th Transportation Company Redeployment Ceremony
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