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GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Every morning, when Sgt. 1st Class Wanda Scott turns on her computer, it greets her with a list vehicles in the motor pool. Some of the vehicles need a new transmission, or simply more fluids, but whatever the diagnosis, it’s Scott’s responsibility to ensure the needed part is available.
“It can be difficult,” said Scott, “but normally it’s a very easy process.”
Despite her modesty, ensuring a vehicle part’s obtainability entails a great deal of work that sometimes goes unnoticed. The job may seem small, but Scott represents one part of the group responsible for overseeing the supply system for the 1st Brigade Combat Team.
“We’re the ones people tend to forget,” said Master Sgt. Chastity Bingley, the noncommissioned officer in charge of support operations for the 115th Brigade Support Battalion. “We’re the one behind the curtain like…'The Wizard of Oz.' You hear the voice and you see things happening, but a lot of people really don’t realize the work that comes with it.”
Although Scott executes her job behind the scenes, the support operations shop plays a large role for the brigade during the multinational training exercise, Combined Resolve III.
The support operations team, or SPO, provides and tracks all of the support elements for the brigade, encompassing smaller elements within the logistical system such as: maintenance, transportation, ammunition and medical operations. Furthermore, the SPO crew advises the brigade commander on how to make the unit logistically successful.
In order to set conditions for success, the SPO team arrived in Germany several weeks before the main force to ensure everything was prepared for Combined Resolve III and Atlantic Resolve. However, coming from Fort Hood to Germany to assist the brigade with Combined Resolve III, and adding multiple other nations into the mix, isn’t without its challenges.
For example, when dealing with multiple nations, understanding the different customs and courtesies becomes important when shipping vehicle parts.
At Fort Hood, if someone orders the wrong vehicle part, it’s something that can be fixed at a later time, however, in the Baltic areas, certain challenges are associated with moving vehicle parts through different countries, said Bingley.
Issues like moving vehicle parts through the Baltics is like laying a single brick; when you take a look at the larger picture, you can see the entire yellow brick road.
“Nothing is on a small scale,” said Maj. Agnita Williams, the support operations officer. “It’s a day-to- day operation, and once we are able to get into the bigger operational picture for what the brigade is working on we’re able to focus…on what we need to do to support the brigade to make it happen.”
A large part of understanding the bigger picture for the SPO is recognizing and understanding trends.
The SPO team studied previous training exercises at the National Training Center, which allowed them to predict supply necessities for training during Combined Resolve III.
For example, the support operations team figured there was a strong possibility that winter conditions could negatively affect the roads during Combined Resolve III, said Williams. As a result, the SPO was able to more accurately plan ahead for possible road closures and the different types of paperwork required for moving through certain countries.
“If we…don’t do our job, the brigade won’t be able to do its job,” said Williams. “So if we aren’t going at 100 percent or more the brigade won’t be able to do 100 percent.”
By working at 100 percent, the SPO provides all of the supplies needed for Combined Resolve III.
In order to fight the enemy, Soldiers need ammunition. To move further ahead to complete the mission, vehicles need fuel. For the strength to carry on, Soldiers need food. Support operations provide all of these and are essential to keep the brigade moving forward to victory.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.20.2014 04:31 |
| Story ID: | 145447 |
| Location: | GRAFENWOEHR, DE |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Behind the scenes of the brigade, by SGT Marcus Floyd, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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