Beans, bullets and Band-Aids

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Logistics, the detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities or supplies, has alwaysbeen important on the battlefield. The movement of supplies across a combat zone evolved over the course of the military’s growth.

From moving supplies via railways to airdropping supplies in the remotest locations around the globe with precision and accuracy, it’s the Army’s logistics soldiers making it happen.

A military occupation often overlooked is transportation management coordinator, or 88N as the Army calls them.

Staff Sgt. Thomas Wanket, an 88N, a resident of Pea Ridge, works in the Combined Joint Task Force-1 Joint Transportation Office, or JTO, which is responsible for supplying units with equipment necessary to make them combat effective.

As the non-commissioned officer in charge of the shop, it’s Wanket’s responsibility to monitor the divisions KC-130 aircraftmoving equipment and personnel.

“Basically everything transporting in or out of theater, it’swhat we do here,” said Wanket.

A 16-year veteran of the Marine Corps, Wanket joined the Army for more opportunities. His combined time in the Marines and the Army has called him to deploy six times. He has served five deployments to Iraq in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, and is currently serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

“No two days are the same,” said Wanket. “There’s always something changing, always something that keeps you thinking.”

“I’m here to support the warfighter on the ground, to make sure he has the beans, bullets and Band-Aids to continue the fight. I keep thesupplies moving so the guys on the ground can keep doing what they’re doing,” said Wanket.

Wanket’s military experience in both the Marinesand the Army has been in logistics with a tour as a recruiter. With over 20 years of military service, retirement is Wanket’s next step.

“I plan to retire in Arkansas to tend my 60-acre cattle ranch with my wife and do a little transportation work on the side,” said Wanket.

The Wanket family lives on his wife’s family farm on Patton Road northeast of town.

Wanket’s wife, the former Angie Sheppard, said she is a native of Pea Ridge and graduated Pea Ridge High School in 1993. The two met in California when he was serving in the Marines and she was in California visiting family, she said. He said he moved to Pea Ridge in June 2004 and the couple was married Sept. 4, 2005. He was on reserve dutyfor the Marines and worked at the Rogers Post Office.

He has a daughter, Jaqueline Wanket of Illinois and the two have a 3-year-old daughter, Riley Wanket.