Photo By Maj. Jose Emperador | Sgt. Darrell W. Wheat, a network engineer with the Joint Communications Support...... read more read more
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The Chief of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, visited the Joint Logistics Command - Haiti, April 5, during a one-day tour to the earthquake-ravaged country. The JLC-H mission was taken over in February by the 377th Theater Sustainment Command, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Belle Chasse, La., commanded by Maj. Gen. Luis R. Visot.
Stultz's visit to the JLC-H joint operations center at the 377th TSC's forward operating base near Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport in Port-au-Prince included a mission outline and status briefing from Visot. During the Reserve Chief's visit, Visot pointed out how proud he is of his Reserve unit, which deployed 170 sustainment team members, who are highly motivated and performing at an optimal level. He also highlighted the stellar performance of all JLC-H service members despite their short-notice deployment and being met with harsh living conditions upon arrival at the forward operating base that would be their home for the next several months.
"It's a tremendous honor for me...the value of what we are doing is directly related to the quality Soldiers and service members that we have. That's what it's all about. That's a story that has to be told," Visot said highlighting the troops' performance during the humanitarian operation. "We were able to get to the fight [for Haiti's recovery] in a short period of time."
Visot also emphasized to Stultz the 377th TSC's is fully capable of performing in a joint services environment. He commented that the reserve unit was effectively synchronized with strategic partners within the Army, as well as other U.S. military services.
"Not only has our team worked well with the Army Materiel Command, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the Transportation Command but also with the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps," Visot said of his troops' interaction with multiple Department of Defense agencies.
After the briefing, Stultz showed his appreciation to the service members present.
"Thanks for what you are doing and for being flexible and fluid," Stultz said, referring to the quick mobilization of the New Orleans-area unit. Several soldiers were recognized by the Army Reserve Chief. For their outstanding performance of duties, Stultz presented coins to many of the 377TH TSC/JLC-H stellar performers including Staff Sgt. Sean Dunn, food services non-commissioned officer; Staff Sgt. Latanya Thomas, a joint personnel office non-commissioned officer; Sgt. Daniel Avalos, a special troops battalion non-commissioned officer; Sgt. Jerome Joseph, higher headquarters company non-commissioned officer; Sgt. Jimmy Parker, an information management non-commissioned officer; Spc. Leroy Daniels of the higher headquarters company; Spc. Edward Hurley, assistant in the higher headquarters company; Spc. Barbara Diaz-Colon, a mayor's cell assistant; Spc. Lorenzo Huerta, an assistant in the inspector general's office; and Private 2 Brandon Malonee, an assistant with the higher headquarters company.
After a walking tour of the JLC-H forward operating base, Stultz stopped in a dining tent to speak with Soldiers and discuss the expanding mission of the Army Reserve, which he says includes a role as a contingency force in addition to being an operational force.
"The deployment of the 377th as a contingency force here in Haiti is a testament about the future role of the Reserve components," Stultz said. "The fact that you have these wonderful capabilities...all the Soldiers that we have that deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places...the experience, the maturity, the capabilities, the civilian skills that they have...that fact that when they are needed, they're available. That's what the 377th has really proven. That you can go to an Army Reserve unit and say we need you on the ground in less than 30 days and we're there."
In addition to the Soldier, Stultz also highlighted the importance of two other key players in the success of the Army Reserve: families and civilian employers.
"There's three major portions to the Reserve. There's the Soldier, there's the family and there's the employer," Stultz said. "And if you don't have all three of those pulling together, we can't sustain the operational tempo of the demands we've been asked to do. We have to have a strong family support system and we have to have the support of our employers back home."
Stultz went on to say families and employers both sacrifice as much as the Soldiers do.
"The soldiers we have here today are sacrificing. It's hot and it's pretty austere conditions living in these tents," Stultz said, motioning to the canvas of the un-air-conditioned tent he was standing in. "But our families are sacrificing because they are taking care of things back home, without that spouse, without that son or daughter, without that mother and father...taking care of things that they need. And they are sacrificing but they are supporting and they're telling us go do your job and we'll take care of everything back home. And we have to thank our families for their sacrifice and for what they are doing."
Stultz made similar comments about reservists' civilian employers and the partnership that is being forged between them, the office of the chief of the Army Reserve and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. The ESGR is the Department of Defense organization created to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers.
"The employers are asking us for a couple of things: one, as much as you can, give us predictability...tell us when you plan to use our Soldiers. We understand there's always emergencies but give us some predictability on the standard rotation," he said, describing the types of requests he's heard from organizations who have Reserve Soldiers as employees. Stultz also said that employers of reservists are asking for "some credit for what they are doing."
"They're saying it would be nice to have some tax incentive, it would be nice to get some compensation, because when I give you that employee to be a Soldier, I have to cover for them. I have to get someone to take his place to do the work he's doing," Stultz explained. "So we're working on that with Congress and others to say, how can we help share the burden that employers are feeling?"
Upon arriving in Port-au-Prince earlier that day, Stultz was greeted at the airport by Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, commander, Joint Task Force-Haiti, and Visot. He and the JLC-H commanding general then took a helicopter tour of Port-au-Prince where he got a bird's-eye view of internally displaced persons camps, with the ride focusing on flood-prone areas or those in danger of a landslide during the rainy season. Stultz was also flown over Port-au-Prince's main sea port; the site of the destroyed Hotel Montana, where many U.S citizens were killed; and the heavily damaged Haitian presidential palace.
Stultz also made a stop at Joint Task Force - Haiti to meet U.S. Army Reservists and other Service Members working there. There, he met with Maj. Gen. Simeon Trombitas, deputy commander, Joint Task Force- Haiti and commander of U.S. Army South. At the Port-au-Prince port, Stultz and Visot also spent some time with the crews of two Army Reserve boats, Landing Craft Utility vessels 2031, the New Orleans, from Tampa, Fla., and 2026, the Matamoros, from Morehead City, N.C. Stultz also met with leaders from the 833rd Transportation Battalion of Seattle, Wash. The Reserve chief took advantage of the trip to also visit with service members and workers from the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center and the Project Management Coordination Center located near the United Nations and Uruguay Air Force offices.
With over 44,000 Soldiers spanning some 42 states, the 377th TSC is the largest command in the U.S. Army Reserve. It is an operational headquarters for logistic functions within a given area of operations and is uniquely qualified to plan, control and synchronize at all levels of logistical sustainment.
Visot says many of the 377TH TSC Soldiers have first-hand knowledge of what it's like to live through and recover from a natural disaster--a unique qualification for any service member serving in Haiti. He said the majority of the 377th TSC's Soldiers deployed in support of Operation Unified Response are from the New Orleans area and were directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina the storm that crippled the Louisiana southern city in 2005.
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.06.2010 18:02 |
| Story ID: | 47770 |
| Location: | PORT-AU-PRINCE, HT |
| Web Views: | 676 |
| Downloads: | 418 |
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