Band-aids, beans and bullets: 40th CAB S-4 Soldiers in action

FORT HOOD, TEXAS, CA, UNITED STATES

06.07.2015

Story by Sgt. Ian Kummer 

40th Combat Aviation Brigade

FORT HOOD, Texas - “Management of many is the same as management of a few men, it is a matter of organization.”

These words were written by Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese general who lived and fought more than 2,500 years ago. But perhaps no other passage could so succinctly describe the basis of the United States Army – a fighting force comprised of more than a million men and women participating in humanitarian actions, wars and peacekeeping operations around the globe. Yet this huge organization is unified as a command from the secretary of the army in the Pentagon all the way down to four-man fire teams kicking down doors.

Proper management and information flow is important for any component of the Army, but perhaps no more so than in the supply chain. If the supply personnel make a mistake, the unit may quickly face disaster. The Soldiers run out of water and use up their medical equipment. The vehicles run out of fuel and are unable to receive adequate replacement parts. A battle plan is only as good as the supply specialists’ ability to support it.

This month the California Army National Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade S-4 shop put this command and control doctrine to the test in full-scale simulated combined-arms operation participating with the 36th Infantry Division during the Warfighter Exercise 15-5 at Fort Hood, Texas. This training event is one of the key learning experiences for the brigade command and staff members in the tactical operations center (TOC) before the unit’s scheduled deployment to Kuwait later this year.

During the exercise, supply Soldiers who previously only had experience working for their respective companies had the chance to learn how to support an entire brigade.

“A lot of this is foreign to me, I’m definitely broadening my horizons here,” said Specialist Sheila Medina, a supply specialist from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment, 40th CAB.

Medina, a Los Angeles native currently living in Baldwin Park, Calif., has served in the California Guard for nearly six years and is well versed in her job as a supply specialist. But the warfighter exercise gave Medina and other Soldiers like her of the 40th who had not worked in the brigade TOC before an opportunity to continuously and personally engage with the most senior members in the unit.

I’ve never seen so many [senior leaders] before – it’s not too often you can see your command sergeant major walking around nonchalantly talking to everyone,” Medina said.

Seasoned Soldiers in the S-4 quickly brought their new teammates up to speed, fusing the supply section together as a consistent, smooth-running machine.

“S-4 is a management level of supply,” said Thailand native and Fresno resident Sergeant Chong Vang, the S-4 assistant noncommissioned officer. Vang has worked in the S-4 for more than three years, and before being scheduled for deployment took classes in supply chain management at Ashford University.

The S-4 Soldiers continue to learn more every day, and look forward to successfully completing the warfighter exercise and eventually deploying.

“This is awesome training for the deployment, it gives us a taste of how we would work and live,” Medina said.

• Date Taken: 06.07.2015
• Date Posted: 06.07.2015 02:01
• Story ID: 165761
• Location: FORT HOOD, TEXAS, CA, US
• Hometown: BALDWIN PARK, CA, US
• Hometown: FRESNO, CA, US
• Hometown: LOS ANGELES, CA, US