Subscribe
FORT KNOX, Ky. – In preparation for their upcoming deployment to the Middle East, subject matter experts and trainers from the 1st Theater Sustainment Command assisted the Soldiers from the Alabama National Guard’s 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command to successfully complete the first 10-day culminating training exercise on Fort Knox for an ESC which took place April 1-10.
More than 250 Soldiers from the Birmingham-based unit participated in a month-long train-up, culminating with the comprehensive evaluation consisting of various simulations, scenario-based injects, and Soldier readiness tasks. All training was guided by First Army’s Observer – Coach/Trainers along with Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians from the 1st TSC, serving as the ESC’s higher headquarters.
While successful completion of a CTE is a deployment requirement for all units heading downrange, two specific elements made this event unique from a First Team-perspective, according to Patrick Rowe, 1st TSC readiness and training specialist.
The first difference was that all the pre-deployment training took place here at Fort Knox. Traditionally, 1st TSC trainers travel to Fort Hood, Texas, to conduct the CTE while Division West – First Army OC/Ts handled the pre-deployment Soldier training such as weapons qualification, 350-1 tasks, and Rapid Fielding Initiative equipment issue, explained Rowe.
By conducting every deployment task here at Fort Knox, and leveraging the Division East – First Army OC/Ts, specifically the 4th Cavalry Multi-Functional Training "Saber" Brigade trainers, it enabled the participating Soldiers and Civilians in the 1st TSC to seamlessly move in and out of the training environment while conducting their real-world mission here operating as the Main Command Post for all Army sustainment operations in the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility – specifically Kuwait, Rowe added.
“Backfilling personnel is easy when everything is right here. If someone needs to step away from the exercise for a while and return to our headquarters building to work on a real-world problem, it’s easy to bring a replacement in to keep continuity flowing in the exercise. It’s seamless and there are no gaps,” Rowe said.
Having the entire 135th ESC team at Fort Knox also provided increased opportunities for many of their Soldiers and command team to observe and participate in real-world battle rhythm events at the 1st TSC’s Fowler Hall headquarters building. The ability to physically observe 1st TSC meetings and secure video teleconferences in real time, with the current units and commands in theater, the 135th team gained a better familiarity of the MCPs processes and procedures, current problem sets, the operational environment and key individuals they will regularly interact with in the near future.
The second element was the number of diverse and experienced supporting elements involved, brought in to create a multi-echelon, immersive environment to simulate the command and control they will experience downrange.
Maj. Gen. Michel M. Russell Sr., commanding general of the 1st TSC, acknowledged the importance of the collective nature of the training and the important role the ESC will play in ensuring future mission success.
“The ESC is absolutely essential to the entire theater’s success,” Russell said. “They are the tactical experts; they run the tactical fight and the tactical fight is ongoing.”
Russell further explained how the ESC nests with the TSC and how it is the TSC’s role to ensure the ESC has everything they need to complete their mission.
“The power of the TSC is our ability to reach back to the Army’s strategic support area and the Joint logistics enterprise,” Russell added.
While the Soldiers from the 4th Cavalry Brigade, Division East – First Army, and their partners from the 84th Training Command led coordination and support for the CTE, the 1st TSC ensured the appropriate subject matter experts and strategic partners participated in the exercise.
The 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the unit currently filling the mission as the 1st TSC’s Operational Command Post, and the Indianapolis-based 310th ESC, the unit that preceded the 3rd ESC, provided the tactical expertise and lessons learned from their deployments to assist the ESC. The New York-based 369th Sustainment Brigade’s “Harlem Hellfighters,” who are training in preparation of a future deployment, served as a subordinate unit to add some realism to the training experience.
The 1st TSC’s strategic partners, including the Defense Logistics Agency, 595th Transportation Brigade and their Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, and the U.S. Central Command Deployment Distribution Operations Center, also provided subject matter experts to support the training.
Speaking to the success of the size and scope of collaboration within the exercise, Russell added that Brig. Gen. Thomas M. Vickers Jr., commanding general of the 135th ESC, and the entire 135th team were very complimentary of the 1st TSC and how we integrated them into the team.
“They cannot believe what we did to onboard them,” explained Russell. “This demonstrated that we are an open organization; you plug and play with us.”
Russell also said that as a takeaway he wants it to be known that if units are there to work hard, and work with us, we are a very easy and open organization to work with.
“Brig. Gen. Vickers and his team [definitely] walked away with that.”
Emphasizing the same sentiments, Vickers addressed the collective 1st TSC staff during a meeting and thanked them for spending so much time assisting his team and helping them integrate into the fold.
“We look forward to being part of the 1st TSC like we have been,” added Vickers. “Thank you all for making us feel so welcome.”
Russell then teased a possible change in future training events by offering that while speaking with members of the First Army training personnel they too talked about how well everyone worked together with their OC/Ts during preparation and execution of the CTE.
“First Army wants to keep it here now,” he added.
The 135th ESC’s primary mission, once deployed, will be to provide mission command, combat support, and combat service support in the areas of supply, maintenance, transportation, field services while coordinating the tactical operations of the rotational functional and sustainment brigades. They will serve as the forward operational command post for the 1st TSC and be critical to supporting three named operations in the USCENTCOM area of responsibility, Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve and Enduring Sentinel.
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2022 06:30 |
| Story ID: | 420665 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 1st TSC prepares National Guard logisticians to assume future mission: Collaboration also serves to ‘validate’ Fort Knox as a viable mobilization platform, by Brian Sipp, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
