Yard sale yields important item for National Guard unit

Dick Benoit

Thursday, March 8, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

The latest acquisition by the newest unit in the Nevada Army National is not high tech. As a matter of fact, both the rehabilitated old truck and the mission of Nevada's 440th Cable and Wire Company are throwbacks to pre-satellite and pre-wireless days of communication.

But, says Nevada Guard spokeswoman April Conway, "Don't think for a moment they're useless. Army contingencies can take place anywhere, and in hilly or mountainous regions, high-tech communication isn't always reliable. An old-fashioned pole truck with soldiers trained to operate it is."

Nevada's 440th Cable and Wire Company is one of only five such units in the Army. The unit's mission is to string fiber optic cable or wire when other communication avenues aren't feasible. With the pole truck, trained soldiers can dig the holes, plant the poles and then, standing atop the truck's boom, string the wire.

Pole trucks, however, don't come cheap, and such acquisitions are not exactly on top of the Pentagon's wish list. New trucks commercially cost up to $350,000. Military-contracted versions ran about $70,000, but the military hasn't ordered any in years.

Members of the 440th got its through a yard sale.

Last summer members of the unit were training in South Dakota, and a soldier happened upon an old rusty pole truck parked in the weeds. When he asked around, he found that the truck was considered "unserviceable but repairable."

That's all the 440th needed to hear. Following transport to Carson City on a flatbed truck, the attention of a few good mechanics and nine gallons of green paint, the 1976 International Harvester is ready to go. Total cost? About $10,000.

It will be a workhorse at the Las Vegas Armory for the 80 current members of Nevada's newest Guard unit, which, notes Sgt. Maj. Jim Hayes, is authorized for 180 troops.

Once the 440th is up to strength it will be able to support the Nevada Guard's annual training.

In brief

* Ronald Cook, the son of Donald Cook of Reno and Leslie Fields of Las Vegas, recently graduated from the the Army's automated logistical specialist advanced individual training (AIT) course at Fort Lee, Va. The soldier was trained in the skills and knowledge required to receive, store, issue, ship, and account for subsistence supplies.

* Three Las Vegas sons recently graduated from Army basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. Kyle Skala, the son of Gale and Thomas Skala of Las Vegas, Justin Humble, the son of Renee Cooper of Las Vegas, and Kai Hendrickson, the son of Kathleen Westover of Las Vegas, received training in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, combat skills and battlefield operations and tactics using various weapons.

* Brian Brooks, the son of Steve and Toni Brooks of Las Vegas. has graduated from Air Force basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He received military and physical fitness training and studied the Air Force mission, organization, and customs earning credits toward an associate degree through the Community College of the Air Force.