3BSB drops supplies from the sky

Photo By Staff Sgt. Syreetta Watts | Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division load cargo pallets onto a flatbed trailer after an airdrop mission at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany May 4.  

GERMANY

05.04.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Syreetta Watts 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

The Soldiers had parked their trucks at Grafenwoehr’s Bunker Drop Zone and stood on top of a hill, anxiously waiting for the C-130 Hercules to appear and drop their five pallets of cargo.

The airdrop was part of a 3rd Brigade Support Battalion training exercise to provide the battalion an additional way to resupply troops stationed forward.

“This mission helps us be more proficient at what we do,” said 1st. Lt. Alexander Zahorski, a logistics officer for the 3rd BSB. “It proves that we can receive food and water in a shorter period of time with aerial support versus waiting for supplies by truck.”

Having multiple options in delivering supplies to forward stationed troops enables the BSB to provide more efficient logistic support for the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, who as the Regionally Allocated Force for U.S. European Command will be training throughout 11 countries in Europe.

Zahorski said the airdrop mission also helps prepare his Soldiers, by getting first-hand experience and knowing the right procedures, for Exercise Anakonda 16 this summer in Poland.

Anakonda 16 is a Polish-led exercise taking place in Poland June with more than 25,000 participants from 24 nations, supporting assurance and deterrence measures by demonstrating Allied defense capabilities to deploy, mass and sustain combat power.

This was their first time most of the Soldiers had to prepare pallets of cargo, in this case MREs, for an airdrop mission.

For Sgt. Ammar Alqurashi, an automated logistical specialist with the BSB, this provided an opportunity to use his previous experience to lead the team towards mission success.

“I had a good time being the leader for this mission,” said Alqurashi. “It was a great experience for me, and I was able to show them how to get it done.

• Date Taken: 05.04.2016
• Date Posted: 05.07.2016 08:01
• Story ID: 197609
• Location: DE