STB Soldiers build readiness in Canada

Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | A U.S. Army flatbed truck carries two HMMWVs during an exercise at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Alberta, May 30. A team of Soldiers from the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade spent the month of May working alongside troops from Canada and other countries as part of the Maple Resolve exercise, processing U.S. personnel and equipment and ensuring everything got to where it needed to be. (Courtesy photo by Capt. Garrett Cooley)  

CANADIAN FORCES BASE WAINWRIGHT, AB, CANADA

06.12.2017

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Ben Navratil 

3rd Division Sustainment Brigade

Soldiers of the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade returned to Fort Stewart, Ga., June 5 after supporting the Canadian Army and a multi-national force in a major exercise.
Maple Resolve, an exercise involving about 2,800 Canadian Soldiers, as well as troops from the U.K., Australia, France and New Zealand took place at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Center located on Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta. The CMTC is the Canadian version of the U.S. Army National Training Center.
The STB Soldiers’ primary mission was to serve as the U.S. support element headquarters to provide administrative and logistical support to the U.S. troops involved in Maple Resolve.
“We had tactical control over the U.S. Forces, about 900 servicemembers and 300 pieces of equipment,” said Lt. Col. Michael Hagerty, commander of the Special Troops Bn. “We received equipment, matched people and units with the equipment and married them up with their sponsoring Canadian units.”
The biggest challenge they faced, said Hagerty, was dealing with frustrated cargo, or equipment that got stuck somewhere between its origin in the U.S. and its destination unit at CFB Wainwright.
“These units are from all over the U.S. coming in on all types of transportation,” he said. “We had tanks coming on rail cars, Marines’ equipment coming in on Army trucks; so we’re working with U.S. and Canadian customs and other agencies we normally wouldn’t work with at our level to make sure this equipment got to where it was needed.”
Coordinating personnel and equipment wasn’t their only job, however.
“One of the things we found ourselves doing was being troubleshooters,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Katrina Herzfeld. “Every once in a while there would be a disconnect [between the U.S. and Canadian servicemembers], even though we’re both English-speaking countries. It helped them to talk to another American force rather than their Canadian liaison sometimes.”
As an example, Herzfeld mentioned that one unit needed to acquire kits for their medics. In the U.S. Army this refers a first aid kit, but the Canadian unit they were working through thought they needed a full doctor’s kit. The STB Soldiers were able to clear up the confusion and ensure the proper equipment was ordered.
The battalion could’ve treated the assignment as a tasking and worked out of hard-stand buildings and simply processed Soldiers and equipment, said Hagerty; but in order to increase the value of their training and show solidarity with their Canadian counterparts, the unit completed its mission tactically, as if they, too, were deployed into an austere environment.
“Red Cross messages, frustrated cargo, lost luggage; everything was handled right there in the field with the Canadians,” said Hagerty.
Being in the field added its own challenges. The Northern Alberta weather had some surprises in store for the troops used to the predictably hot and humid May weather of Coastal Georgia.
“Lows in the 30s, highs in the 80s; we had wind storms, tornado warnings,” said Hagerty. “We had the full spectrum.”
“Also we were so far north that the Soldiers had some trouble adjusting to how much sunlight we had,” said Herzfeld.
During the month of May, the sun was usually up by 5:30 a.m. and didn’t set until after 9 p.m.
“It definitely took some adjustment to figure out how to sleep when it’s still bright outside,” said Hagerty.
Still, Herzfeld said one thing she was most proud of during the exercise was seeing her Soldiers, especially the younger and less-experienced ones, adapt to the challenges and not only meet the standard but exceed it.
“We gave our junior Soldiers a chance to step up to the plate,” said Herzfeld.
One NCO with the STB’s 414th Signal Company had to back out of the trip at the last minute and was replaced by a team of Specialists.
“That turned into a big deal,” said Herzfeld. “Getting a satellite signal there was challenging because of the location. So we came away with a lot of Specialists and even Privates First Class that are a lot more confident and understand their roles better.”
“This really built our readiness,” said Hagerty, adding that if you leave something behind when you go out to a training area on Fort Stewart, you can always go back and get it.
“It’s a whole different thing to pack up and move out 2,600 miles. You have to validate your load plans and your tactical communications, because there is no back up,” he said. “It’s just like going to an austere environment. It was a good test for our load plans, and we’re going to keep getting better.”

• Date Taken: 06.12.2017
• Date Posted: 06.12.2017 17:17
• Story ID: 237586
• Location: CANADIAN FORCES BASE WAINWRIGHT, AB, CA