One hundred and seventy four days.

      More than 100,000 miles.

      Numbers for most people.

      Not for Tech. Sgt. David J. Barnes, Staff Sergeants' Juan Lubrani and James Waller, along with Senior Airman Brian Tunis.  Those numbers represent one hundred and seventy four days driving more than one hundred thousand miles in Iraq.

      From Feb. 22 through Aug. 14 the four Airmen from the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, served with the United States Army as Gun Truck Escort Security Team members for the supply convoys that ran the gauntlet between LSA (Logistic Support Area) Anaconda, located at a former Iraqi air force base in Balad, and the various Army camps and posts spread throughout the Sunni Triangle.

      The Army has the primary responsibility for providing convoy security in Iraq, but when demand for services outstripped capability, the Air National Guard responded to the Army's call for help.

      Before being assigned to LSA Anaconda, the 177th Airmen underwent training at Udari Range located in Kuwait.  There, they attended the Army convoy training course, which introduced them to the basics of convoy operations - compass and map reading, radio communications, the weapon systems they would be using in the field and safety.    After successfully completing the course, the four Jersey Air Guardsmen were part of the fourth Air Force unit to complete the Convoy Live Fire Training course at Udari Range.  At the Range they learned how to fire everything from M-16A2, Mark-19 grenade launcher to the venerable 50 caliber machine gun.

      After graduating, they were sent to Balad, Iraq and assigned to the 2632nd Air Expeditionary Force Truck Company, 7th Transportation Battalion in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  As part of a 16-person fire team they were responsible for providing escort and security to U.S., contractor, third country national and local truck convoys.  Balad is located approximately 45 miles north of Baghdad.  LSA Anaconda has become a major supply point for servicing the various military posts.

      Their first mission, which served to familiarize them with the territory, also gave them a taste of what was to come.  "We were riding Freightliner tractor trailers (18-wheelers) with the 1742nd - an Army unit from North Dakota," began Senior Airman Tunis.  "We drove from Balad to Arifjon, Kuwait round-trip 1,300 miles, no motels."

      "At night we would circle the trucks like a wagon train and we would sleep in the center," continued Tech. Sgt. Barnes.

      The first leg was uneventful; the return trip would not be.

      Senior Airman Tunis continues: "We would try to avoid towns because that is where you could get bogged down or shot at.  This time we had to come back a different way.   It was more dangerous.  When we hit the third town, the lead truck noticed that no one was around (a sign that there was going to be an attack by the insurgents) but by then it was too late.   IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) started to explode with a lot of shrapnel hitting some of the trucks.  Some of the drivers were wounded but we made it through."

      "On the next mission we served on the gun trucks," said Staff Sgt. Lubrani.

      "Speed and distance were the only things in our favor," observed Staff Sgt. Waller.   "We would take over the road and drive down the middle of the highway."

      "You always tried to keep the Iraqi drivers on the passenger side," noted Senior Airman Tunis.  "It made it harder for them to shoot at the drivers."

      For the next 125 days the dance remained the same.  "It was the same pattern to Balad, Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah, Samara and Baghdad," noted Staff Sgt. Barnes.  "Throughout the Sunni Triangle there wasn't a mission where you weren't being shot at or had IEDs exploding."

At the same time the Air Guardsmen became the go-to guys.  "We earned ourselves an aggressive reputation," said Staff Sgt. Barnes.  They were also the first Air Guard unit to serve under Army control since World War II.  "The Army specifically requested us - the Active Duty got to see what we - the Guard - could do," stated Staff Sgt. Waller.  "We came with the look that we were going to do what we were asked to do and we got it done."

      By the middle of the tour they knew each other and the other members of the Gun Truck Teams better than their families.  "If you had your eyes closed and someone walked by, you could tell who it was by the sound of their walk," observed Tech. Sgt. Barnes.  "You knew how that person drove, how they shot, what they ate.  We were closer to these people than some members of our family."

      "We got into a groove where we so familiar with each other," observed Tech. Sgt. Barnes.   "We almost knew what the other person was thinking."

      By the end of the tour everyone was itching to get home.   "You quit counting missions because it was depressing," stated Staff Sgt. Lubrani.

      "Toward the end, just when you could see the light at the end of the tunnel, then everyone got nervous," continued Tech. Sgt. Barnes.  "You didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize your getting out of the country.  No one wanted to get hurt."

      Everyone agreed that it was their ability work as a team that got them through the tour.   "You appreciate the people around you - it made the difference in how quickly the time went by," mentioned Staff Sgt. Lubrani.

      "We are one family and nothing will change that," said Staff Sgt. Waller.