Photo By Sgt. Ryan Scribner | U.S. Army vehicles rest at the 369th Sustainment Brigade TAC site on Prince Sultan Air...... read more read more
The 369th Sustainment Brigade, a historical unit in the New York Army National Guard, has its critical mission command and communication systems in its Tactical Operations Center, or TOC, on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. But with contingencies like base-wide power outages and natural disasters always a potential issue within any area of operation, a solution is needed that enables a commander to lead from anywhere on the battlefield.
This is where the 369th SB’s Tactical Action Center, or TAC, comes in.
A TAC replicates the TOC’s mission command and communication systems but in a mobile, arrangeable and practical manner, which can be set up and torn down quickly depending on the mission needs. And in Southwest Asia’s ever-changing theater, Army sustainment efforts require such adaptability in mission readiness to move forward and support the fight.
The TAC is forward operational, which means that it supports strategic goals and tactical objectives by coordinating critical mission operations and intelligence tasks in real time, and then communicating that up to date information back to the TOC, said Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Fisher, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the 369th SB’s TAC South.
While a TAC may be relatively Spartan in the number of ground force personnel that compose it, its operational network capability possesses a different meaning of Spartan; specifically, a resolve to operate in greater depth in the battlefield like a phalanx composed of deep ranks and files of Spartan warriors.
The reach of the TAC then is in part connected to its physical proximity to mission sites. The 369th SB’s TAC—which operated in Saudi Arabia from early January to late April 2023—was able to provide both at-the-halt joint fuel support and conduct in-person material readiness investigations that support theater sustainment.
But another dimension of the TAC’s reach is that it is in sync with the TOC and vice versa.
A TAC in sync with a TOC is able to execute the fullest breadth of operations, including those beyond the physical fingertips of the Soldier’s that compose it.
While the TAC can certainly have a more direct engagement with theater sustainment, it does not have to, and that is exactly the point, said Capt. Brendan Sullivan, officer in charge of the 369th SB TAC.
After all, the TAC prepared, planned and tracked (as mission command bringing both operations and intelligence) an Army sustainment convoy from Jordan to Israel, the first such convoy in the history of the U.S. Army.
“The success of the convoy from Jordan to Israel makes clear the importance of the TAC in a few ways,” Sullivan said. “It demonstrates our operational capabilities and our ability as a sustainment brigade to have an expeditionary TAC deployed successfully and it also serves as a means of training Soldiers to have the ability to conduct operations in a forward environment.”
The various staff sections of the 369th SB that provided Soldier support for the TAC included the personnel section and logistics section—which together composed the Administration and Logistics Operations Center, or ALOC, the various subsections of support operations, or SPO, operations, intelligence and the signal section.
In conjunction with the brigade signal section, the 187th Signal Company provided their support.
Further, the brigade’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, provided basic life support, which included, but was not limited to vehicle and generator maintenance and transportation and housing support.
Each Soldier in each section supporting the TAC worked to ensure that the 369th SB’s operational network in Saudi Arabia was ready in case of contingency impacting the TOC; meaning, the main body of Soldiers could jump to the TAC site and move forward without disruption to sustainment operations.
The SPO Soldiers supporting the 369th SB’s TAC contributed a lot to the hands-on dimension of the TAC via its in-person material readiness investigations and joint fuel support operations.
For 1st Lt. Rong Bo Chen, a logistics officer with the brigade’s SPO Distribution Integration Branch, or DIB, and SPO OIC during the TAC, the experience of a sustainment forward operation was very helpful.
Chen is new to Army logistics, having started his military career as a tanker, but he recognized how meaningful the TAC is for sustainment operations.
“I’ve realized how important it is for the modern Army to be able to deploy at any time and to any location to support our combat arms on the front line,” Chen said. “An Army that is able to do so will definitely improve overall combat readiness.”
And Sgt. Robert Hugenot, a human resources noncommissioned officer with the 369th SB’s personnel section, found that that his participation in the ALOC during the TAC has broadened his leadership skills as an HR NCO because he simultaneously pursues the completion of his regular section duties and also looks out for the morale and welfare of his Soldier in a forward environment.
The ALOC’s constituent parts, the personnel and logistics sections, work in office tents on Camp Arifjan, but during the TAC, those sections worked in the M1087 Expandable Van (as did the SPO), commonly known as the Expando Van.
Expando Vans are a variant of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles that function as mobile offices. The Expando Van sides pull out from the main body to form the office complex that supports computer and radio systems.
The 369th SB’s signal section played a critical role in ensuring the efficacy of the Expando Vans as tactical offices.
Moreover, signal Soldiers enable, manage and protect information networks and other services that allow service members to communicate and do their job effectively.
Spc. Antony Mei, an information technology specialist with the 187th Signal Company, 369th Sustainment Brigade, provided secure networking capabilities via internet access, VoIP phone access, video conferencing, as well as maintaining satellite equipment and network equipment during the TAC.
“Signal plays an important role in the success of the TAC because we ensure that communication happens even in mission environments that are austere,” Mei said.
Capt. Christine Atwell, a networks operations officer with the brigade’s signal section, and signal OIC during the TAC, said that she was proud of her team accomplishing a mission that entailed establishing communication connectivity for a forward operational network.
“The 369th Sustainment Brigade has been training for a very long time to do something of this magnitude,” Atwell said.
The planning that went in to creating a successful TAC was important for minimizing issues when 369th SB boots touched ground in Saudi Arabia, said Sgt. Safiah Azam, a property book sergeant with the 369th SB’s logistics section.
Before the initial TAC setup in Saudi Arabia, the 369th SB practiced the setup at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait in January 2023, through an exercise called a COMMEX. The exercise both validated communications equipment and identified overall equipment and logistical issues that needed resolution before the February departure to Saudi Arabia.
And just as it was imperative for 369th SB Soldiers to work out the kinks that could have interfered with the successful creation of the TAC, so too is continual smoothing over of issues that impede the TAC’s daily operations.
Sgt. Jorge Garcia-Escarraman, a truck driver with Headquarters and Headquarters Company 369th Sustainment Brigade and basic life support NCOIC during the TAC, said that his team made sure that all of the brigade Soldier’s involved were taken care of and provided with everything they needed to accomplish the mission in terms of maintenance, living arrangements, water, fuel and transportation.
In a forward environment, there is a lot that goes into organizing a TAC so that it exists in split operations with a TOC.
From the mechanics that keep vehicles and generators in working condition and the supply clerk that ensures that the TAC Soldiers are mission ready to the intelligence analyst that provides insight into the information environment and analysis on the weather’s impact on particular missions (how weather impacts driver visibility for example), each Soldier contributes to the overall success of the forward operation.
The teamwork and hard work of every Soldier involved in the TAC has made it a success, said Sullivan.
“Everyone works hard together because all of the Hellfighters know that our combined effort leads to success,” Sullivan said. “I’m excited for future missions and to represent and be part of the future of sustainment operations.”
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2023 07:38 |
| Story ID: | 439831 |
| Location: | PRINCE SULTAN AIR BASE, SA |
| Web Views: | 1,137 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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