JBM-HH motor pool roster driven to perform while having fun

By Jim DresbachOctober 2, 2014

JBM-HH motor pool roster driven to perform while having fun
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JBM-HH motor pool roster driven to perform while having fun
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A cohesive link exists to provide dignified funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery. U.S. Army 3rd Infantry (The Old Guard) and The U.S. Army Band, "Pershing's Own" work Monday through Friday accompanying fallen service members and veterans to their hallowed final resting places.

And the nine bus drivers of the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Motor Transportation Section - otherwise known as the JBM-HH Motor Pool - are along for the rides.

The drivers who comprise the motor pool are also tasked with other daily assignments throughout the calendar year. They handle morning and afternoon rush hour shuttle routes to and from the Pentagon and when a field trip or a foreign officer asks for transportation around the Military District of Washington or to Fort McNair's National Defense University, the assignment goes to the joint base motor pool.

"We're in the cemetery about 75 percent of the time, and that 75 percent of the time, we're hauling Soldiers to the funeral ceremonies," explained JBM-HH bus driver Alvin Perry. "The other 25 percent of the time, we're transporting dignitaries around the D.C. area. That includes the foreign officers, the folks from [Fort McNair's] War College or anyone in the area who needs transportation."

The other facet of joint base mass transportation involves the A.M. and P.M. Pentagon shuttles. Sixty-four-year-old bus operator Jerome Harrell is dutifully behind the wheel before sunrise to pick up and drop off passengers at JBM-HH's four shuttle stops. Harrell, on Fort Myer, JBM-HH and Arlington National Cemetery roads since 1989, has had a memorable view of Army life from his driver seat. Known as "Dad" or "Mr. Harrell" by his frequent passengers who mainly work at the Cody Child Development Center, the commissary and Radar Clinic, he has been a presidential inauguration shuttle driver since George H.W. Bush's swearing in and was in Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 on Sept. 11, 2001.

"The Army Band and I were in the cemetery when the plane hit the Pentagon," he said. "They were at a gravesite, but I was sitting there [on the bus] when the plane hit. I believe I was down in Section 60. I didn't see the plane hit the Pentagon, but I sure heard it. After that run was over, they made us go down to the Pentagon to pick up the kids at the day care."

The base motor pool bus operator roster once numbered close to 30 drivers, but over the past decade, retirements and drawdowns have whittled the number down to single digits. Still, many of the drivers feel they have the best jobs supporting the Army.

"This is the best job I've had my whole life. If I could work here in a wheelchair, I would," 30-year government employee James Johnson said followed by a big laugh. "For this type of job, you have to have the perfect attitude to work here. If you have that laid-back attitude, this is the perfect job. It does take a lot of patience."

To Perry, the bus-driving job is so wonderful he commutes from Atlanta, Ga. That's right, he works in Arlington, Va., and picks opportune weekends for a 10-hour drive to north central Georgia.

"My only problem with this job right now is that it's not in Georgia," Perry said with a smile. "I live in Atlanta, Georgia, but I work here. I've flown once. I always drive home. Normally, I'd go home in conjunction with a holiday."

When there is down time, the drivers make the most of bonding in the break room and the conversations get lively. From sports and Monday morning quarterbacking to retail shopping, a subject will get comprehensively covered by the men who cover JBM-HH and Arlington National Cemetery with their Myer Flyer buses known around the motor pool as 44-pax because they are designed to hold 44 passengers.

On Monday mornings in the fall, the drivers may pick apart a Washington Redskins game plan following a loss or the conversation may be dominated by where to shop for affordable eyewear.

"This is like being on the block, and that's good that we have such a relaxed environment," said Perry. "We really understand one another and we're comfortable working with one another. That way, we get things done."

While getting their missions accomplished, Harrell - who is approaching retirement - wants the joint base to understand that dependability is one of his main goals while running the shuttle.

"They [the riders] need someone they can depend on," he said. "When it snows, I come in here. They know they can depend on me. That [shuttle] run, we have to have that one right because people have to get to work."