CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan - Arriving to the motor pool around an hour and a half prior to the starting point, the team meets to prepare the vehicles for the trip. Starting up the blue force tracker system, loading up the M-240B machine guns, and doing preventative maintenance checks and services on the vehicles are all part of a routine for the 16 members of the 196th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade's Movement Team.
"The drivers, gunners and truck commanders work together to make sure the trucks are all ready to go," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Cunningham, South Dakota Army National Guard. "This is important to get done so we make sure we don't have any breakdowns on the road and we can complete the mission without any problems along the way."
With more than 380 missions completed since June, this is one routine these Soldiers have performed several times before.
"We have to make sure we do a good PMCS because if our truck breaks down, it's not only our lives that are in danger out on the road, but our passengers as well," said Army Spc. Matthew Stevens, a gunner on the Movement Team.
Most of these passengers are other Soldiers of the 196th, who help support more than 9,000 U.S. and coalition forces stationed throughout 11 bases in the capital of Kabul with installation management and daily operations on each camp.
Since the Sioux Falls-based unit cannot oversee all activity from their primary location at Camp Phoenix, personnel have to travel on a daily basis to ensure other camps throughout the city are functioning properly.
"[One] of our biggest customers [is] the directorate of public works," said Cunningham. "They oversee all the (construction) projects in the Kabul Base Cluster."
After preparation is done on the vehicles, the team then moves to their staging area. This is where the team meets, picks up their passengers, and receives a brief from the convoy commander.
What routes the convoy will be taking, possible threats along the way, and other necessary precautions about the trip is all vital information included in the brief before loading up.
"There are two new vehicles on the BOLO list [be on the lookout for]," said Army Staff Sgt. Thomas Ascher during a convoy brief Feb. 23. "Be advised of any of these vehicles while traveling," he continued after reading descriptions of the vehicles.
"If there are no convoy questions, then let's get loaded up," finished Ascher.
Crawling over passengers to assume his position in the gunner's hatch is Stevens, where he will maintain his sectors of fire until reaching the final destination - Camp Eggers.
After checking all personnel's proper protective equipment, briefing passengers on medical instruction, and ensuring all Soldiers are buckled in, ready for the ride, Cunningham, truck commander, yells "all clear," to driver, Army Spc. Samuel Mayo, as he shuts the back end of the mine resistant, ambush protected vehicle.
"As a truck commander, my job is to ensure the truck and its passengers get to our destination safely," said Cunningham, Movement Team noncommissioned officer in charge. "I have to advise each passenger on certain procedures, such as securing my gunner if there is a rollover, and where the medical bags are in case of an attack."
Preparing to move out, Soldiers in the back of the MRAP put on their head phones, turn on their weapon close combat optics, and plan mentally for any attack that might happen along the ride.
Once passengers are secure and the vehicles are escorted down to the gate, Cunningham and Ascher join their drivers, gunners and passengers inside the vehicle before heading out to the city streets.
"Looks like traffic is pretty [congested] today," said Cunningham, while leaving the camp gates after receiving confirmation for departure from the base operations center.
While driving down Jalalabad Road in Kabul, miscellaneous chatter continues to be spoken over the radio, but silence lacks between the team members as Stevens and Mayo keep vigilant by scanning for enemy activity and vehicles on the BOLO list.
Other conversation about possible demonstrations and explosions in the area keep all personnel conscious about the enemy while traveling.
Coming up to the most dangerous traffic circle in Kabul, Massoud Circle, Ascher prepares to move his convoy into the gates of the "green zone," a secured area of military installations and government offices.
Also located in the green zone is Camp Eggers, the final destination for this mission. Here, the team drops off its passengers and begin their waiting game.
"Basically, once we get to the camp that we are going to visit for the day, we just sit, hang tight, and wait for our passengers to get done conducting their business at the camps," said Cunningham.
While waiting, the team occupies themselves before getting ready to move out and return to Camp Phoenix. Some read and relax, while others entertain themselves with extracurricular activities.
"It gets to be a long day sometimes, but we play a little bit of wiffle ball, football, and play catch with a baseball," said Cunningham. "We have come up with some pretty creative ideas; sometimes we watch movies on the PSP [Playstation Portable], listen to music, hang out, or just tell stories."
After several hours of waiting, the passengers accomplish their business, report to the vehicles and all personnel load up to start the journey back to their home camp.
Unlike their passengers, the Movement Team's job doesn't end when arriving back to camp.
"When we get back to Phoenix, we unload our passengers at the clearing barrels, fuel our trucks up to top them off and make sure they are ready for the next day's mission," said Cunningham. "After filling up we go back to the motor pool, wipe down weapons and do another look over our trucks to make sure everything is serviceable for the next day."
Finishing out the day, the team settles down and quite a few spend their nights hanging out together.
"Several members of the Movement Team participate in a MWR [morale, welfare and recreation] volleyball team, which helps to build the camaraderie between the team," said Cunningham. "We are a pretty tight group and we don't mind hanging out with each other. A lot of people at the end of the day just want to get away from their other co-workers, we're not like that - we all hang out together."
Keeping personnel safe while traveling from point to point is the ultimate goal of the Movement Team, but watching these Soldiers grow as a team and look out for one another has been an invaluable experience, ended Cunningham.