specialreport
BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
Now that’s military
support
Four tales from the front illustrate
how troops of the 101st Sustainment
Brigade, a logistical support unit, are
working to make life a bit better and
easier for their fellow soldiers.
THIS MONTH MARKS THE 11TH HOLIDAY SEASON
in which U.S. troops have been stationed in Afghanistan as
part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which, after Vietnam,
is the longest overseas military conflict in U.S. history.
But 2011 has been different from the years preceding it.
The killing in May of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden,
followed by President Obama’s announcement in June that
he would authorize a drawdown of 10,000 troops by year’s
end, have fueled hopes of many American service personnel
that this Christmas would be their last there.
Those who man the supply lines, such as the “lifeliners”
of the U.S. Army’s 101st Sustainment Brigade, share the
same dream. Yet each day they put those thoughts aside and
continue to do the work needed to keep things moving, to
lay the foundation for the free flow of trade and commerce
after they leave, and to provide their brothers and sisters in
arms with some of the comforts of home in a strange and
unforgiving land thousands of miles away.
The stories that follow illustrate the creativity and
resourcefulness of troops of the 101st Sustainment
Brigade—which provides logistical support to the legendary 101st Airborne Division—as they make life a bit
