55 senior US Military leaders gather to sustain, better equip troops in Afghanistan

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jordan Jones | U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Alonzo Smith, senior enlisted leader, Forward Operating Base Wilson, shares many of the tactics used by insurgents and proposes ways to mitigate the insurgents effectiveness during the Command Sergeant Major Sustainment and Equipping Conference at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Feb. 14-18. More than 55 command sergeants major from Army Materiel Command, U.S. Army Headquarters, U.S. Central Command and combat units around Afghanistan attended the conference to discuss ways to equip service members and improve the equipment available to them.  

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

02.18.2011

Story by Staff Sgt. Jordan Jones 

International Security Assistance Force HQ Public Affairs

“As you kick off this first annual Sustainment and Equipping Conference, nothing is more important than getting it right for our troops as they press on in a mission that is critical to Afghanistan and to the United States,” said Gen. David Petraeus, commander, International Security Assistance Force/U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, in a welcome video.

The workshop was attended by senior enlisted leaders from the Army Materiel Command, Department of the Army Headquarters, U.S. Central Command and combat units around Afghanistan.

“Immediate impact is what it’s all about,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill, senior enlisted leader, ISAF/U.S. Forces-Afghanistan. “It [the workshop] needed to be done, and it needed to be done here.”

The first two days of the conference consisted of meetings that allowed for questions and answers and sharing of ideas about the challenges and successes war fighters have faced in the field.

“This conference is going to bring better educated leaders to the troops on the organizations that support them and provide a better understanding of how they can tap into those resources,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Mellinger, senior enlisted leader, AMC.

“I want to give them [AMC] work to take away from here to help streamline systems and make equipment better,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder, senior enlisted leader, Regional Command-East.

A recurring theme was the need for troop feedback.

“This [workshop] puts me face-to-face with the war fighter and gives me direct feedback from their command sergeant major,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Bernard McPherson, senior enlisted advisor, Program Executive Officer Soldier.

“The biggest thing we need from those who support us as well as those who are being supported – our formation itself – is feedback,” said Hill. “When we get too busy to provide feedback, then we are going to continue to get the same product.”

The feedback already provided generated ideas for improving the current equipment and practices. One of the ideas in development is a new set of ballistic glasses.

“The glasses are about integrating capabilities such as infra-red, thermal, digital, and also night vision,” said McPherson. “The goal is to keep them the same weight as a standard pair of ballistic glasses.”

Current equipment requires troops to take their hands off their weapons, an act that reduces their ability to respond quickly to hostility; troops also use the scope mounted on their weapon as binoculars to see across distances, an act that can cause fear and mistrust if their target turns out to be a civilian who sees someone in the distance pointing a rifle at them.

More improvements discussed were in regards to the Army Direct Ordering system and the Army Combat Uniforms.

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Aubain, senior enlisted leader, Department of the Army Headquarters, highlighted improvements made to the Army Combat Uniform.

Some of the improvements include built-in elbow and knee pads, double-thickness material and stretch material in areas that receive high-stress during combat operations, pre-treatment with permethrin, and sleeve buttons.

The lesson learned with the Velcro at the sleeve cuff was that troops are not tightening it around their wrists. The ACUs are fire retardant, but if a troop is caught in a fire, the loose sleeves allow an updraft that pulls the fire under their uniform, said Aubain.

But the new sleeve buttons are not like their predecessors from before the age of velcro – they are concealed to prevent snagging during combat operations.

While most of the conference was about improving the current equipment, part of the challenge to equip the force is to ensure 100 percent accountability of equipment already in Afghanistan.

“There are units that are requesting equipment - to ship something from the U.S. can take a while. By knowing what we already have here, we can speed up delivery and decrease the cost by reallocating it to those who need it,” said Sgt. Maj. Teodorico Unison, mobilization sergeant major, U.S. Central Command.

To accomplish this task in a war zone, Unison sent out Mobile Container Assessment Teams to inventory the equipment at each base. He asked troops to help themselves and their fellow war fighters get the equipment they need by assisting MCATs when they inventory equipment and supplies at their own base.

For the third and fourth days of the workshop, the leaders went to the regional commands to talk to the troops first-hand. After returning from the field, the leaders gathered for the final day in Bagram and each shared their experiences and some of the things they would focus on improving or changing.

“We need to change our culture,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Hector Marin, senior enlisted leader, Research, Development and Engineering Command, quoting what a Troop in the field and told him. “We are not fighting a war with IEDs [improvised explosive devices]. We are fighting an IED war.”

Marin took back improvement ideas for the Husky vehicle to correct communication, space and functionality issues.

Other leaders spoke of providing troops in the States with Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicles to train before deployment and location-specific training on the ground penetrating radar so troops can better recognize the many variants of IEDs.

Most of the improvements and knowledge was focused on the troops; however, contractor transportation was also touched on by Command Sgt. Maj. Tyrone Johnson, senior enlisted leader, Communications and Electronics Life Cycle Management Command.

Support for contractors varies throughout Afghanistan; some contractors require specific vehicles for transportation, while other contractors forbid their employees from riding in armored vehicles all together. While no solution to this concern was presented at the workshop, Johnson promised to follow-up on this issue.

While the battlefield circulation gave leaders an opportunity to see the equipment in action, they also took away a deeper understanding of the threats troops face in Afghanistan and the need to provide flexibility to allow regional commands to tailor the equipment to the threats and needs of their specific region.

“Right now, we have a cookie-cutter approach, and that wasn’t the intent,” said Hill, speaking of the ADO system. “Each regional command should have different menus to accommodate the needs of the troops in their region.”

• Date Taken: 02.18.2011
• Date Posted: 02.19.2011 05:04
• Story ID: 65740
• Location: KABUL, AF