Bayonet Division sets record in Yakima

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Northrup | Pfc. Shaqwahn Stanard, a turn-in clerk with 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, places a pallet into a truck for shipment June 17, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Wash. This was part of Bayonet Focus 17-03, an exercise that brought approximately 7,000 Soldiers to YTC. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Northrup)  

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, UNITED STATES

06.19.2017

Courtesy Story

1-2 SBCT, 7th Infantry Division

By Sgt. Brian Stephenson

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. – The largest 7th Infantry Division-led exercise since 2012 is happening at Yakima Training Center and at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., June 15-29. Thousands of Soldiers from 22 units from across the country are conducting live, virtual and constructive training simultaneously and none of it would be possible without the efforts of 35 Soldiers.

Service members conduct training at YTC throughout the year. The installation is normally capable of supporting 1,500 people with food and water. However, Bayonet Focus 17-03 has swelled YTC to approximately 7,000 people.

This exercise gave Soldiers who are Automated Logistic Specialists an experience they wouldn’t normally get, said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Kizzie, the 46ths Aviation Support Battalion Supply Support Activity noncommissioned officer in charge. He wants his Soldiers to understand they deal with multiple classes of supply, not just the class nine.

Kizzie has revolutionized the way logistics is conducted, said Sgt. 1st Class DeRonnious Heidelberg, the logistics noncommissioned officer in charge for 7th ID. He has set the standard even though he had one month to plan and execute the massive logistical operation.

Only 17 Soldiers from 46th ASB and 18 Soldiers from 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion are responsible for the inventory, separation and distribution of food rations for this exercise.

Food in the Army supply system falls under class one. The class one yard is where these rations are pulled, inventoried and loaded to the correct unit. Normally this is done by Automated Logistical Specialists; however, Culinary Specialist have been included into the class one yard for the exercise.

“This is the first ever that Culinary Specialists have had this much involvement in class one resupply,” said Sgt. 1st Class MacArthur Ocampo, Senior Culinary Management NCO, 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Ocampo, who orders and manages rations for the entire exercise, has only been at Lancer Brigade for two weeks and has never done anything of this magnitude in his career.

“An army marches on its stomach,” Ocampo quoted Napoleon. That quote is what motivates him.

“How can a Soldier focus on a mission if he is hungry,” Ocampo said.

The focus is to ensure Soldiers are fed, stomachs are full and people are energized, said Sgt. 1st Class Dedrick Williams, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the class one yard. Nothing is worse than a Soldier on the battlefield with a hungry stomach.

Approximately 21,000 meals are consumed daily and all that perishable food needs refrigeration. The Multi Temperature Refrigerant Containerized System is an eight foot tall, eight foot wide, 20 foot long freezer. The maintenance team for the system ensures the freezer keeps working so food doesn’t spoil and meals keep getting to the troops.

“What motivates me is that there are 7,000 people counting on me to keep the refrigerators going and it makes me feel useful to this massive overall mission,” said Spc. Cassition Adelbai, Air Conditioner Mechanic, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. “I have only been in the Army six months and it taught me to adapt and overcome any obstacle.”

All unused food not used during the exercise will be donated to the Washington Food Bank.

Bayonet Focus 17-03 is the largest exercise 7th Infantry Division has executed since 2012. Thousands Soldiers are training in combined arms breaches, attacking, counter-attacking, defending and calling for fire. An army marches on its stomach and it’s 35 Soldiers that make it happen.

• Date Taken: 06.19.2017
• Date Posted: 06.20.2017 15:47
• Story ID: 238415
• Location: YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, US