FORT A.P. Hill, Va. - Originally named the Petroleum Oil and Lubricant Exercise, the Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise began over 30 years ago. The exercise’s name changed in 2004 with the addition of the water mission. This year’s QLLEX was the first multi-component and multi-service exercise within the continental United States.
Service members from 64 units participated in the event, which was conducted at eight locations across the country.
Several observers toured the training areas of the exercise at Fort A.P. Hill, Va.
“QLLEX will focus on all individual soldier skills and tasks by incorporating safety training elements, other sister services, as well as Active and National Guard components,” said Maj. Gen. Peter S. Lennon, commander of the 377th Theater Sustainment Command in Belle Chasse, La.
QLLEX is being utilized this year as a testing platform for new capabilities, which are being analyzed for the liquid logistics community. These include the Early Entry Fluid Distribution System (E2FDS) and the Army Fuel Automated Management System.
“Our platform lends to this expandability that allows us to train as we are going to fight,” said Maj. Gen. David W. Puster, commanding general of the 84th Training Command in Ft. Knox, Ky. “We are testing out different communication systems here and if they don’t work, we are not going to be able to fight very effectively.”
Although QLLEX participants included the Army Reserve component and other services branches, there was also an observer from the British Army.
“The equipment used is very similar to the equipment used by the British Army,” said Lt. Col. Paul Smith, a liaison officer for the British Army at the Pentagon. “It is pretty easy to conduct exercises together as the equipment is complementary,” said Smith.
Smith was impressed by the demonstrations of the new equipment such as the E2FDS, which exponentially increases the deployment and retrieval rate of fuel servicing hoses. In addition, he hopes to incorporate some of the training observed at QLLEX into his Reserve Support Element.
Looking to the future, Smith wants to observe or participate in more joint training opportunities. He says learning and developing better training is what it’s all about.
“The future of this exercise is not only to accommodate functional training, but to tie in total force training across the board,” said Maj. Gen. Peter S. Lennon.
| Date Taken: | 06.20.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.21.2014 07:44 |
| Story ID: | 133906 |
| Location: | FORT A. P. HILL, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 185 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The future of QLLEX, by SGT Nicole Paese, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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