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Potts Camp man makes difference in Iraq  | Team of Americans and third country nationals.
Leslie
Anderson, a native of Potts Camp, uses his interpersonal and people
skills to ensure uninterrupted logistics support to the warfighters in
Iraq. Anderson is pictured second from right, in a white cap with a
white beard. |
A
native of Potts Camp, Leslie Anderson, is using his leadership and
supervisory skills to support our troops in Iraq while overseeing a
multinational and multilingual staff. Anderson is a local hero who,
for the second time, answered the call of duty. He
first answered this call soon after graduating from Potts Camp High
School in the early 1960s when he enlisted in the Mississippi National
Guard, and now he is fulfilling his patriotic obligation as a
contractor providing logistics support in Baquba, Iraq. Once
Anderson made the decision to support our warfighters, he was
challenged with a series of stringent security and medical screenings.
The security screening ensured that he met all federal requirements to
become a proud holder of a federal identification card issued by the
Department of Defense (DoD) and commonly known as Common Access Card
(CAC). The medical screening that includes over
ten different vaccinations, electrocardiogram, drug tests, and an
overall physical exam is designed to ensure that candidates deploying
to Iraq have the physical and mental stamina to handle stressful
operations in a harsh environment. “I am not a
kid and I really got concerned when I saw that long list of medical
requirements, but I made it through,” said Anderson. As
part of his pre-deployment preparation, Anderson also participated in
over 14 military computer-based training sessions via the Internet in
topics that include Combating Trafficking in Persons, Cultural
Awareness-Iraq, Army Values, Subversion and Espionage Directed Against
the Army (SAEDA), and Fraternization Policy. All
candidates aspiring to deploy to Iraq must undergo medical, hearing,
and vision screening, and attend specialized training at the
Continental United States (CONUS) Replacement Center (CRC) located in
Fort Benning, Ga. During this week,
contractors and military deploying overseas for an extended period,
participate in pre-dawn wake-up calls, and go through the traditional
“hurry and wait” that characterizes large personnel mobilizations at
military installations. The activities during
this week-long training and screening test the mental endurance and the
resilience of those hoping to deploy. Having
met all of the CRC security, medical, and training requirements, Leslie
and others left the CRC to serve our country with more than a great
pride – each one of them signed for a 70-pound duffle bag with personal
protective equipment (PPE) that included a bullet-proof vest, kevlar
(helmet), and an NBC mask! Anderson’s journey to
Iraq with enough personal belongings to stay there for a year and the
duffle bag full of government property was via commercial airline, and
it was over 14 hours later when he landed in a completely different
cultural world at the Kuwait International Airport. Prior
to his departure, he was briefed about what to expect and what not to
do as he moved through a Muslim-controlled airport with many people
wearing the traditional local attires. “It was
a different and surreal experience, and I was apprehensive due to what
I have seen on the news, but the locals were nice to me and everything
went very well,” said Anderson. He moved from
the airport to a U.S. military installation in Kuwait where he
registered (manifested) for a next-day flight into Iraq, and was
assigned a cot in a transition tent – after the long flight this cot
felt like a great bed at a five star hotel. The
next day started with another pre-dawn wake-up and he was ready to get
into a military aircraft into his first destination in Iraq, where he
stayed two days before catching a ride on a military helicopter to his
final destination in Baquba, Iraq. As can be
expected in the hectic combat zone environment, Anderson’s bags did not
arrive with him and he received them five weeks later. In the combat
zone, military missions and the warfighters have priority when using
the limited resources and Anderson’s arrival coincided with a very
hectic period resulting from the drawdown of combat troops in Iraq. Anderson
has been in Iraq since July and has endured sandstorms and daytime
temperatures as high as 130 degrees, as well as mortar and projectile
attacks to his installation – summer nights in Iraq are characterized
by temperatures over 100 degrees and the constant sound of machine guns
and low-flying helicopters. He started
providing logistics support at a military multi-class warehouse along
with other Americans, his grandson Cory among them, and a bilingual
workforce from Panama and Honduras. He quickly
mastered the intricacies of the military logistics system, and his
interpersonal and people skills have served him well when bridging the
cultural divide between the English and the Spanish-speaking
workforce. Anderson’s site lead recommended him to the position of
assistant site lead, a nomination that was accepted by the contract’s
program manager in Baghdad and became effective in late September. Our
local representative in far-away lands where combat is the name of the
game is making great strides and, in the process, letting the world
know about the qualities that make Potts Camp a great place. Anderson
has exceeded the government’s security and health standards, and is now
an unofficial ambassador of our great Potts Camp community. |
