Erbil Forward Logistics Elements support the Iraq, Syrian warfighter

IRAQ

09.17.2018

Story by Staff Sgt. Charlotte Reavis 

143d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

ERBIL, Iraq – As the fight against ISIS in the Middle East progresses, so has the United States Army’s plan for sustaining the warfighter through the use of Forward Logistics Elements across the area of responsibility.
“The FLE is a collective of different units and different (military occupational specialties),” said Sgt. 1st Class Herman Haynie, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the Forward Logistics Element in Erbil. “We have we have finance, postal, mortuary affairs, ammo guys, maintenance, supply, the movement control team. It’s like a (Combat Sustainment Support Battalion) but a smaller element.”
Because the FLE is made up of so many different units instead of one primary unit, it is considered ‘non-doctrinal.’ Even so, the FLE operates as one unit and the battalions give the officer in charge and the NCOIC administrative control over the companies that make them up.
1st Lt. John Pressgrove, outgoing OIC of the FLE, and member of the 660th Ordnance Company, said they work with the battalions to manage the lines of effort and communication that are used to push the supplies forward and support the warfighter.
“They store all the class one for Syria in our class one yard, so when we have a shortage or something that needs to go there right away, we’ve got our lines of communication to get over there,” Pressgrove said.
“Overall in theater, the FLE is to sustain the fight,” he said. “Along with U. S. and Coalition Forces and to build up the local forces enough that they will be able to sustain themselves eventually.”
Despite the fact that there are personnel from six or seven different companies working together, Haynie said that he relies heavily on each NCOIC and he allows each one to run their own section.
“First, the soldiers have become my soldiers,” Pressgrove said. “Once they come on ground, we welcome them as if they are a part of our unit. They become part of our team and we treat them as such so that they understand that this unit becomes part of them and they all work together cohesively.”
Because there are several different companies under the Forward Logistics Element, they rotate out at different times. Pressgrove said this aids in the continuity of the mission versus having complete units replaced and starting from the beginning each rotation.
“The continuity between all the units coming in at different times and leaving at different times, I think is extremely beneficial to having them staggered like that,” he said. “If you have one unit RIP with another unit, they are starting over from square one and there is no real continuity other than the 10 days that they get to spend with each other.”
Pressgrove also stated that a plus to having the Forward Logistics Elements is the ease of which they can be reached for any number of things because they are scattered throughout the battlespace. He stated that it is much easier for someone to contact the FLE to have a task completed then to initiate emails and phone calls with a battalion that is potentially located in another country.
“There’s some capabilities that we don’t have, but for the most part, if we don’t have them here, we can request them from the CSSB and we will have them available to us later,” he said.
Haynie, who has only been with the FLE for four months, stated that he is happy with the progress the FLE is making and that everyone seems to have their equipment in a timely manner.
The FLE also works with local forces to conduct the Counter-ISIS Train and Equipment Fund divestments so that they can sustain the warfighter and assist with getting the countries to sustain themselves eventually, said Pressgrove.
The FLE has made great strides in Erbil, like increasing the frequency of mail distribution to soldiers from once a week to every other day. The maintenance team has also gotten more of their vehicles up and running and overall, there is an improvement in quality of life on Erbil said Pressgrove.
“There is always room to grow and there is always something that could be better in hindsight,” he said. “You learn from it, move on and continue to get better and since SFC Haynie has been here for the four months, he has seen the progression of the soldiers and the mission. He will be able to provide that stability now that the new OIC is coming in and get him up to speed and they’ll continue to do better and better.”

• Date Taken: 09.17.2018
• Date Posted: 09.19.2018 10:21
• Story ID: 293485
• Location: IQ