Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Neysa Canfield | Leaders from the 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division,...... read more read more
The chilly New York fall weather welcomed the leaders of the 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade ‘Muleskinners,’ 10th Mountain Division, as they exited their vehicles at the Adirondack Park on Nov. 6.
Every month, the 10th MDSB conducts senior leader professional development training, focusing on leadership aspects, from grooming standards and reporting procedures to sustainment operations. The training for November had a more hands-on approach.
“The purpose for [this] LPD was to get an appreciation for an alpine environment by hiking through the Adirondack mountains,” said Maj. Adam M. Karlewicz, lead planner for the training. “Simultaneously breaking down into small groups to discuss how a sustainment brigade would be able to provide sustainment overall to the division in an alpine environment.”
According to Karlewicz, who is also the deputy support operations officer for the 10th MDSB, groups encompassed different focus areas, military occupational specialties, and ranks.
However, to really understand how to provide those commodities, Karlewicz added that leaders needed to get out of the office.
“Before the LPD a lot of the folks would tell me that they had an understanding of how [sustainment] should and could [be accomplished] but until they actually got into the trails, did, they finally start to realize the different predicaments that we would have to face,” he explained.
Maj. Ashlie Franzosa, the adjutant general officer for the 10th MDSB, was one of the eight group leaders.
“It was vital to feel the strain that the environment has on us personally. During the discussion, we were able to say, ‘think about how you are feeling right now’ and now translate that into the method of distribution we want to use,” she explained. “Whether we are thinking about using people, animals or machines, the environment provides a strain, and we have to think - is this actually plausible or not.”
Each group had a different commodity of supply and services that they had to focus on and develop an innovative concept of support.
“Our commodity was class one, food and water, so my role was to facilitate the discussion in my group on how as sustainers, we can get food and water to maneuver ground forces in an alpine environment,” Franzosa said.
But to plan effectively, Franzosa added that having a diverse group of sustainers was imperative.
“It’s impossible to talk about one commodity without also discussing how it impacts another commodity in sustainment,” she said. “I really find that the more innovative solutions tend to come from our more junior personnel, such as our company grad officers and junior leaders.”
Like the different commodities, each group had a different trail to hike. Each trail had a different level of difficulty.
“The intent wasn’t necessarily to summit any mountains,” said Karlewicz. “However, our team was able to summit five mountains, including New York’s second highest peak – Algonquin.”
Aside from the training experience, both Karlewicz and Franzosa agreed that they felt fortunate to be at Fort Drum, where they can conduct this type of training just a few short hours away.
“We were able to do all this training in one day,” said Franzosa. “Not only was the LPD a good opportunity to have discussions and see a bit of an alpine environment firsthand, but I think it opened the eyes of a lot of leaders about what resources and types of terrain are available in the surrounding area.”
Although this was the first time the ‘Muleskinner’ brigade conducted senior leader training like this, according to Karlewicz, this won’t be the last.
“Moving forward, we want to continue the discussion we developed during the LPD, and looking into the future, we want to sustain the division in all environments, whether it’s in cold temperatures and winter conditions,” explained Karlewicz.
| Date Taken: | 11.06.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2023 12:43 |
| Story ID: | 457885 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 521 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Supporting the climb: ‘Muleskinner’ leaders conquer new environment to strengthen alpine sustainment operations, by SFC Neysa Canfield, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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