Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ange Desinor | Cpl. James Lembke, a West Seneca, N.Y., native and a heavy equipment operator for the...... read more read more
PAYNESVILLE, Liberia – Sending large engineering vehicles and containers of equipment back from Liberia is a tedious task. There are containers to load, vessels to seal and inspections to pass before a unit can send its gear back to its home station. A unit movement officer is vital to help coordinate the entire process.
First Lt. Priscilla Ro, a Valencia, California, native and UMO for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 62nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, is in charge of transitioning military equipment out of Liberia, in support of Operation United Assistance, Joint Forces Command – United Assistance, at the National Police Training Academy, Paynesville, Liberia.
“My mission out here is to redeploy the equipment by preparing, sealing containers, custom inspection and load equipment on vessels,” said Ro. “Since we are drawing down on Soldiers, we have to draw down on equipment as well.”
Safety is top priority at the NPTA. The container yard is specifically laid out with safety in mind, said Sgt. Marc Hillary, a Goodyear, Arizona, native and a UMO noncommissioned officer in charge for HHC, 62nd Eng. Bn., 36th Eng. Bde. For instance, the crane used to move containers is set up away from Soldiers. If the cables snap or malfunction, they would fire off safely toward the landing zone. This strategy will minimize possible casualty if something went wrong, Hillary said.
Each morning, Hillary prints a spreadsheet of the containers at the NPTA.
“Once we review the spreadsheet, we go to the container yard and check off every container that is loaded on the non-tactical vehicle,” said Hillary. “We ensure that we're tracking exactly where that piece is and where that piece is going. By the end of the day, we get a report from every company's UMO representative to double check what was loaded on the NTVs. Once we get confirmation, we send the reports to the commanders.”
Once all equipment is prepared, each piece is taken to the staging area in Buchanan, said Ro.
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has been very supportive in helping the 36th Eng. Bde.
Due to prior coordination with 101st Sustainment Brigade, and 53rd Movement Control Team, out of Fort Bragg, N.C., it has been a lot easier to run operations, said Ro.
“They provided us with customs and transportation for the containers,” she said. “They oversee the control of movement for convoying equipment to the staging yard in Buchanan.”
Ro oversees all equipment that is transferred from one location to another.
“This is a very tedious job, especially the execution portion,” said Ro, who ensures the safety of all Soldiers and contractors working the mission. “But it's well worth it. This was a great mission and I had a great group of Soldiers, Department of Defense contractors and Liberian contractors to make it a successful mission.”
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2015 09:11 |
| Story ID: | 152438 |
| Location: | MONROVIA, LR |
| Web Views: | 272 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, As mission draws down, Fort Hood Soldiers coordinate transition back to states, by SFC Ange Desinor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT