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By U.S. Army Capt. Michael Thompson
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Afghanistan National Army and International Security Assistance Force Joint Command held a recent senior enlisted leaders logistics and maintenance seminar to highlight the capabilities within the ANA.
The conference helped Afghan enlisted leaders determine logistical gaps and served as a benchmark for the ANA’s logistics overhaul.
U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Isaia T. Vimoto, IJC's senior enlisted leader, provided opening remarks at the Camp Phoenix dining facility and encouraged everyone to discuss what improvements could be made for the ANA logistics supply channels.
“One of the main things about this conference is understanding your own process and routing process to get the supplies down to the lowest troop,” Vimoto said. He noted the ANA noncommissioned officer corps is key to developing and maintaining an effective logistics strategy.
The conference marked the second in a series of IJC and ANA command sergeants major seminars. The first was before the Afghan presidential election in April and covered election security and readiness. ANA Command Sgt. Maj. Mohammad Ali Husaini and Vimoto completed a battlefield circulation throughout Afghanistan and determined the largest challenges affecting ANA combat readiness were logistics and maintenance.
“It's all about readiness,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, IJC commander, speaking to a group of ANA sergeants major. “If anything sticks with you the next couple of days, it's about readiness. If you don't take a look at your logistics and maintenance systems, you're going to have a tough time keeping up the fight the way you are.”
Anderson noted the ANA have very capable and modern facilities, but senior enlisted soldiers must ensure soldiers are both trained and held accountable. The ANA's strength is they are well-led, equipped and trained, and maintenance is part of training, said Anderson.
The seminar provided an opportunity for the corps sergeant majors to tour the logistics command's warehouses and central supply depots to better understand the Afghan Ministry of Defense’s logistics ordering process, including the MoD-14 supply request form. Some of the sergeants major were able to solve logistic issues while on the tour.
“I learned a lot in this workshop,” said ANA 1st Mobile Strike Force, 6th Kandak Command Sgt. Maj. Ashequllah, who for the past month had a problem ordering a part. While at the depot, Ashequllah said he was able to ask a question and the whole problem was solved right away.
According to U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Mark Rizzo, senior enlisted leader for the Military Advisor Team 5, a New Jersey National Guard element mentoring the ANA 1st MSF, the ANA faces similar challenges to the U.S. Army, such as paperwork not getting to the right level and quality assurance oversight.
“A lot of their problems are not different from what we have to deal with,” said Rizzo. “It's about executing the process that is in place. They have warehouses full of stuff; they just have to follow the correct process.”
While the ANA continues to expand its security and defense capabilities in Afghanistan, the Afghan NCO corps is on track to make sure equipment flowing through the system is distributed properly.
“I learned so much about the logistics unit and I am excited to go back and share my experience with the unit,” said Ashequllah.
| Date Taken: | 09.02.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.08.2014 06:11 |
| Story ID: | 141371 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Hometown: | FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 396 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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