Airman goes from medical admin to vehicle yard boss

An Iraqi contractor motions Tech. Sgt. Julie Bottroff, 732nd Expeditionary Logistical Readiness Squadron, 586th Task Force, to halt after driving up on a semi truck in an armored security vehicle at Camp Liberty, Iraq Feb. 27. This vehicle is a part of a convoy going to Kuwait with approximately 30 semi trucks loaded with all types of military vehicles. Sergeant Bottroff is a Joint Expeditionary Tasking airman who is the yard boss of the Redistribution Property Assistance Team. The personnel at the yard have processed more than a $1 billion of inventory for the Army through their six month deployment. Sergeant Bottroff is a native of Oklahoma City, Olka. and is deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. where she is a medical administrator. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jacqueline Romero)

Airman goes from medical admin to vehicle yard boss

Published March 10, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham
U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- When she received notice of her deployment all she knew was the tasking wasn't for a medical administration position. It wasn't until she arrived in country that she found out that this deployment would be a lot different than her previous ones.

As the noncommissioned officer in charge of TRICARE Operations and the Patient Administration Flight at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., Tech. Sgt. Julie Bottroff usually spends her days filling out paper work and dealing with patients, but when she was deployed as a Joint Expeditionary Tasking airman, she was informed she would not only be working at a redistribution vehicle yard, charged with processing billions of dollars worth of vehicles, but she would also be the yard boss.

"Well I'm medical admin by trade so this is totally out of my arena," she said. "I mess with paperwork back in garrison so learning to drive a forklift and learning all the different vehicles is a challenge ... I mean these (vehicles) aren't something we drive on a regular basis. We get to play with some pretty toys here."

For this Oklahoma City, Okla., native, working at the Redistribution Property Assistance Team vehicle yard here,[it] has been a learning experience.

"It has definitely been a challenge, not knowing where I would be or what kind of equipment I would be dealing and working with people from different career fields, I was a little nervous," she said. "We all came here not knowing what to expect and then we just gel and realize the mission has to get done."

Sergeant Bottroff said, working as the yard boss at the vehicle yard has been a part of her military career that she won't soon forget.

"It has been a good tour, it's a good feeling knowing our war fighters are more equipped and better prepared to perform their mission," she said."

During her tenure as yard boss, the team she leads processed more than $1 billion worth of vehicles ranging from HUMVEEs and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to tanks and other armored security vehicles.