2019 Iowa National Guard Truck Rodeo Announced
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
2019 Iowa National Guard Truck Rodeo Announced
The Fourth Annual Iowa National Guard Truck Rodeo, officially named the Transportation Annual Proficiency
Challenge or TAP-C, is scheduled for September 7th, 2019 at the Des Moines Air Base. Teams of two complete
14 events that tests operators’ ability to maneuver through various vehicles, perform hands-on tasks, and
complete written exams, An awards ceremony and social follow the competition at the Camp Dodge Pool
Pavilion. For more information and to register visit www.iatcra.org.
2019 Truck Rodeo Events
Diminishing Clearance
Precision Stopping
Offset Alley Docking
Straight Line Backing
Couple and Uncouple Semi-Trailer
Serpentine and Reverse Serpentine
Left and Right Turns
Precision Flatrack Drop
Tire Change
Palletized Cargo Tie-Down
HMMWV Tie-Down
Preventative Maintenance (PMCS)
General Knowledge Exam
HAZMAT and Special Loads Exam
Weapons Assembly and Disassembly
Past Champions
2018 - D Company. 334 BSB
2017 - 2168 Transportation Company
2016 - 2168 Transportation Company
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
Army Transportation Units in Iowa
Mason City
Sheldon
1133 TC CO(-)
2168 TC CO(-)
Storm Lake
Sioux City
F Co, 334 BSB
2168 TC DET 1 Waterloo
D Co, 334 BSB Perry A Co, 248 ASB
1168 TC CO(-) G Co, 334 BSB
445 TC
Audubon Marshalltown Cedar Rapids
1168 TC DET 2 1168 TC DET 1 E Co, 334 BSB
Des Moines
Council Bluffs A Co, 334 BSB
189 TTP Team 103 ESC Iowa City
1133 TC DET 1
Red Oak
H Co, 334 BSB
USAR Unit ARNG Unit
Iowa Army National Guard Units
334 Brigade Support Battalion
A Company (DISTRO), Camp Dodge
D Company (FSC), Sioux City
E Company (FSC), Cedar Rapids
F Company (FSC), Storm Lake
G Company (FSC), Waterloo
H Company (FSC), Red Oak
248 Aviation Support Battalion
A Company (DISTRO), Waterloo/Muscatine
734 Regional Support Group
1133 Transportation Company, Mason City/Iowa City
1168 Transportation Company, Perry/Marshalltown/Audubon
2168 Transportation Company, Sheldon/Sioux City
United States Army Reserve Units
103 Expeditionary Support Command, Des Moines
445 Transportation Company, Waterloo
189 Trailer Transfer Point Team, Council Bluffs
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
Order of Saint Christopher
Recipients
The Transportation Corps Regimental
Association awards the most distinguished
transporters with the Order of Saint
Christopher medallion. The following
transporters were honored in May with the
award:
SSG(R) Richard Wagner
88M
1133 Transportation Company
SSG(R) Dean Michelson
88M CAMP DODGE, IA - Order of Saint Christopher recipients pose for
1133 Transportation Company a photo following the May 2019 award ceremony at Camp Dodge.
SSG(R) Jenni Gauley From left to right: MSG Ken Gauley, SSG(R) Dean Michelson, SSG
(R) Jenni Gauley, SSG Nicole Lunning, SSG(R) Richard Wagner,
88M
MSG James Shinn.
1168 Transportation Company
Nominate a Transporter for the
88M Spotlight Order of Saint Christopher
Is there a transporter in your ranks worthy of
Elizabeth Morales consideration for the Order of Saint Christopher? Read
Recently promoted SGT Elizabeth Morales is a team below to learn how to nominate others for the award.
leader for 1st Platoon 3rd squad of 1168th Transportation
Award Criteria
Company. As a resident of Chicago, IL, she make a long
Order of Saint Christopher recognizes those individuals
haul to Perry, IA each month. SGT Morales graduated in
who have demonstrated the highest standards of
the top 5% of her BLC class with a 90% grade point
integrity and moral character; displayed an outstanding
average. SGT Morales embodies the spirit of the Corps!
degree of professional competence; and served the
Transportation Corps with selflessness. Any
transporter, past or present, is eligible to receive the
award.
Nomination Process
1. Determine if the applicant meet the criteria
2. Visit www.iatcra.org to view example packets
3. Submit the completed packet to OSC@iatcra.org
4. Selection board convenes to review packets
5. Selection board sends the selected packets to
Fort Eustis for approval
6. If successful, the award is presented at a
dignified ceremony
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
On the Road to Victory: The Red Ball Express
Logistics Operations Following D-Day
With the arrival of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, we European Theater could have dragged on for years. At the
remember the extraordinary efforts and sacrifice of so peak of its operation, it was running 5,938 vehicles
many Soldiers. We can also take an opportunity to carrying 12,342 tons of supplies to forward depots daily.
appreciate the logistical challenge presented to the Allied
commanders to sustain the fight as troops pushed further IN THE BEGINNING
into Europe. The article below is an excerpt from Fort Lee At the onset, there were not enough trucks or drivers. The
they outline one solution to long lines of communication Army raided units that had trucks and formed provisional
following the invasion at Normandy: The Red Ball Express. truck units for the Red Ball. Soldiers whose duties were
not critical to the war effort were asked, or tasked, to
ADVANCE ACROSS EUROPE become drivers.
After the breakout of Normandy in July 1944, an acute
shortage of supplies on both fronts governed all The first convoys quickly bogged down in civilian and
operations. Some 28 divisions were advancing across military traffic. In response, a priority route was
France and Belgium, each ordinarily requiring 700-750 established - two parallel highways between the
tons a day. Patton's 3rd Army was soon grinding to a halt Normandy beachhead and the city of Chartres, France.
from lack of fuel and ordnance. The key to pursuit was a
continuous supply of fuel and ordnance, thus leading to It was critical to move supplies north. An American
the Red Ball Express. infantry division required 150 tons of gasoline per day, and
an armored division 350 tons per day. Some of the supply
The Red Ball Express was conceived in a 36-hour brain- lines were thousands of miles long, and the amount of
storming session. It lasted only 3 months, from August to provisions and munitions numbered thousands of tons,
November, 1944, but without it, the campaign in the nearly ten times that of World War I.
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
running over C-ration cans. Many trucks were run on flats
to the nearest maintenance point. By war’s end, the supply
of tires was almost non-existent.
Vehicle repair along the road was endless. Over 1500
repairs were being made daily by Ordnance pit-stops. More
than 600 of the vehicles under repair were being replaced
with exchange vehicles. Most of the vehicles brought in for
repair were the result of wrecks and not mechanical
failures, primarily from driving too fast, not staying with
convoys, and improper maintenance.
Traffic control points were set up in main centers along the
route of the Red Ball Express. These control points
monitored traffic, regrouped straggling trucks, and gave
soldiers a rest from the long hauls.
A marshalling yard where convoys assemble in northern France, 1944.
NEW LINES AHEAD
When the Red Ball Express ended on 16 November 1944,
PUSH ‘EM UP THERE
truckers had delivered 412,193 tons of gas, oil, lubricants,
Speeding was part of the mystique of the Red Ball
ammunition, food and other essentials. New Express lines
drivers. "Push 'em up there," was a popular
were formed to feed the ever lengthening lines of supply.
slogan . Drivers and mechanics removed the governors on
the trucks' carburetors (that restricted them to 56 mph),
A generation after World War II, Colonel John S.D.
allowing them to reach speeds of 70 mph. Speeding,
Eisenhower, a veteran of the European war and son of the
inexperience drivers, and overloaded trucks caused
supreme Allied commander in Europe, wrote: "The
numerous accidents along the route of the Red Ball
spectacular nature of the advance [through France] was
Express.
due in as great a measure to the men who drove the Red
Ball trucks as to those who drove the tanks." Colonel
Weight restrictions were ignored as well. Some of the
Eisenhower concluded, "Without it [the Red Ball] the
trucks were so overloaded that they swayed going down
advance across France could not have been made." As the
the roads, and boxes would bounce around.
saying of the day went, "Red Ball trucks broke, but didn’t
brake."
ALONG THE ROUTE
At a fuel depot on the Red Ball Express route, GMC convoys
arrive to load 5-gallon jerry cans (18.9 liters). This center
was supplied by rail transport, and had a daily distribution
capacity of 250,000 gallons (945,000 liters).
A gas and oil service station near Reims (eastern France),
belonging to the 3939th Gas Supply Company, was probably
one of the largest US gasoline supply points. Using 78 gas
outlets supplied from 12 x 7,000 US gallon tanks, it was able
to refill more than 400 vehicles an hour. German prisoners
checked tire pressures and oil levels, or cleaned
windscreens.
Tires took a real beating on the roads. Roads were littered
with shell fragments, C-ration cans and bits of barbed
wire. Trucks were overloaded and being driven faster than
they should. Ten percent of the tires replaced were
beyond recapping. Sixty-five percent were due directly to GMC 6x6 trucks load fuel cans at a depot in northern France, 1944.
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
ROUTE RECON
Pictures and stories from the field
PHOTO TOP - Fort Riley, KS. A thermal image shows
Soldiers from A Co, 334 BSB complete night tables
during May’s Convoy Protection Platform gunnery.
PHOTO TOP RIGHT - Fort Riley, KS. The .50 caliber
machine gun rings loud as Soldiers from A Co, 334 BSB
complete gunnery in May.
PHOTO RIGHT CENTER - Camp Dodge, IA Soldiers from
A Co, 334 BSB conduct sling load operations with a UH-
60 Black Hawk during April drill. PHOTO ABOVE - Guernsey, WY. Soldiers with the 1168th
PHOTO ABOVE - Sheldon, IA. A Soldier from 2168th Transportation Company pose with operators from the Marine
Transportation Company searches a simulated Raider Battalion following a training exercise. These Soldiers
detainee during Army Warrior Task training in April.. acted as local nationals, receiving training such as dismounted
operations, small unit tactics, and patrolling.
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Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
Where in the World?
Iowa transporters are on the move!
PHOTO TOP - South Carolina. Soldiers with the 1133rd Transportation
Company pose for a photo after moving 39 pieces of equipment for the
734th Regional Support Group over Easter weekend. This missions was
in support of Operation Saber Guardian, an overseas mission to
Romania. The 1133rd Transportation Company has completed several
missions this year as part of Year Round Annual Training.
PHOTO TOP RIGHT - Virginia and North Carolina. A truck team
from 1133rd Transportation Company performs maintenance on a
M915 tractor to keep a mission to Fort Pickett, VA and Fort Bragg,
NC on track. A small team of six Soldiers gave up their Memorial
Day weekend to transport equipment for the 3655th Maintenance
Company’s two-week annual training.
PHOTO ABOVE - ROMANIA. The 734th Regional Support Group
establishes a base camp near Cincu, Romania in support of
Operation Saber Guardian.
PHOTO LEFT - WYOMING. Soldiers from 1168th Transportation
Company makes sure their snowman is visible after a May
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Contact us at info@iatcra.org blizzard during their annual training at Camp Guernsey, WY.
Official newsletter of the Iowa Transportation Corps Regimental Association SUMMER 2019
Executive Board
Monthly Meeting Schedule
June 11, 2019 at 4:30PM
July - no meeting
August 13, 2019 at 4:30pm
September 10, 2019 at 4:30pm
October 8, 2019 at 4:30pm
November 12, 2019 at 4:30pm
December 10, 2019 at 4:30pm
SHELDON, IA - Soldiers at the 2168 Transportation Company in
Meeting notes are available on www.iatcra.org
conduct a briefing with a lightsaber in celebration of May the 4th.
TC History Corner
Want to become an IATCRA Member?
The book Convoy
The chapter is open to any current or former Army Ambush Case
Motor Transport Operator (88M), 88A or supporter of Studies, Volume II -
the Transportation Corps. Iraq and Afghanistan
chronicles the
1 Year Social Membership - $10 lessons of both wars
1 Year Full Membership - $25 and describes
incredible feats of
heroism of truck
Social Membership. Benefits include invitation to the
drivers defending
Truck Rodeo Social, the semi-annual newsletter, and
truck drivers.
free coozie.
Full Membership. Benefits include above entitlements, Each ambush recounts in vivid detail incredible
national level membership card, copy of “Spearhead” acts of heroism by both military and civilian truck
and eligibility for the Order of Saint Christopher. drivers as they struggled to survive under
harrowing conditions and knowing they would go
Payment can be made online at: back out on the road again the next day.
www.squareup.com/IATCRA Download the book for free on the Fort, Lee
Iowa Chapter of the Transportation Corps Regimental Association
Executive Board
Daniel Kelly, President Reuben Garza, Membership Chair
Matthew Berry, Vice President Tony Smithhart, Senior Officer Advisor
Dan Fehr, Treasurer Katherine Sykora, Senior Warrant Advisor
Tim Allen, Secretary /Webmaster Debra Verdi, Senior Enlisted Advisor
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