Kuwait: Minnesota Guard member recalls two decades, two trips

By Army Spc. Bob Brown
34th Red Bull Infantry Division

Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Mellon, a Mobility Warrant Officer from Chaska, Minn., is responsible for moving troops and equipment throughout Kuwait in support of Operation New Dawn. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Bob Brown) (Released)
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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (11/29/11) -- Operation Desert Storm liberated Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's forces over 20 years ago. A handful of Minnesota National Guard Soldiers currently serving with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division also served in the 1991 operation.

One of those soldiers is Chief Warrant officer David Mellon, the Mobility Warrant Officer with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry

His job consists of coordinating the movement of 1st BCT troops and equipment from home station to Kuwait and throughout the countries and locations our troops are serving.

Conducting an air mobility mission with the 6th Battalion, 101st Airborne Division during Desert Shield/Strom, Mellon was a helicopter mechanic. While the Middle East geography remains the same, the experience he had in 1991 is far different from his current tour in Operation New Dawn.

"Huge differences - Desert Storm was a new battlefield; nothing was established- flight routes, logistics channels or the bases we were pulling out of- you hit the sandbox, you didn't fall in on the PX, you didn't have billeting, you had cots and you had tents," Mellon said. "You dug foxholes, the infrastructure was not in place and equipment often wasn't moved as timely and efficiently as we can move it today."

Although his last tour was two decades ago and under much different circumstances, Operation New Dawn holds special meaning given his first action was the liberation of Kuwait.

"Looking back, during Desert Shield/Storm we came here to liberate Kuwait," he said. "Now here I am in Kuwait trying to get everyone out of a theater; I look at the Soldiers that have deployed more than once with the 1/34th BCT, same feelings, they went in early on in the war in Iraq and here they are—a major player in the effort leaving Iraq."

Mellon knows that his job is essential in assisting with the drawdown of U.S. troops and equipment from Iraq and he enjoys it.

"Transportation is a great job to have in the Army," he said. "The motto in the transportation corps is 'nothing happens until something moves' - it's a nice feeling getting soldiers and equipment to the right place at the right time; it's a key part of what makes every mission successful."

All the soldiers of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division are expected to return to Minnesota in spring of 2012.

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