Photo By Sgt. Nickson Schenk | U.S. Soldiers assigned to 17th Field Artillery Brigade, the 11th Airborne Division,...... read more read more
BRISBANE, Australia – During Operation Pathways, one of the biggest logistical challenges every operation faces is the movement and accountability of all its personnel. Given the size and structure of the Indo-Pacific, these challenges can be daunting for any organization. Talisman Sabre, the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States, is no exception to these logistical challenges.
“The tyranny of distance and lack of collective land is what makes the Indo-Pacific a complex theater,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Trent Armstrong, chief of the Personnel Accountability Division assigned to the 8th Theater Sustainment Command. “It is the most complicated theater to operate in.”
For Talisman Sabre 2025, the Theater Personnel Operations Center (TPOC) handles these challenges through a dedicated team focused on supporting personnel across the theater of operations. They are responsible for the reception, staging, and movement of personnel, as well as postal and monitoring casualty reports for all services in a theater.
“One of the things I’ve learned while working within TPOC, is that people don’t realize there’s more than just the execution, there’s a whole set-up to the operation, and we’re a vital part of that,” said 1st Lt. Cristina O’Barr, the PAD officer-in-charge assigned to the 7th Infantry Division.
Combined efforts from the TPOC and its subsidiaries directly influence the basic life support (BLS) systems installed in a location, providing commanders with a common operational picture. This gives the commander the ability to make informed decisions based on current needs and projected requirements in the area.
“In any exercise, the amount of personnel and BLS can shift quickly,” said Sgt. Maj. Paul Soumpholphakdy, the TPOC Sgt. Maj. assigned to the 8th TSC. “The flow of everything is largely dictated by how accurate we are and the plan we can establish for all the personnel.”
Nineteen countries will be participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. With service members from every country, the list of personnel to track becomes quite large. The biggest hurdle was tracking all of these personnel once they arrived in the theater. The movements of U.S. service members can be tracked through the Deployed Theater Accountability System, but to track the additional countries flying into Australia, different methods were employed.
“Given the variety of personnel coming in for the exercise, we knew that only using DTAS would slow down the process,” said O’Barr. “We brainstormed for a while and landed on an idea.”
As the movements began, the team decided to use a unique source. They utilized a quick response code for non-U.S. personnel as they began to move into Australia. The personnel would scan the QR code with their cell phone, prompting them to complete a survey as they began to in-process into the country.
“In the survey, we would ask for their nationality, name, and the final location,” said Armstrong. “With that information, we could track where everyone was going, letting us get stuff where it needed to be.”
Now, armed with the most accurate depiction of the force flow, the team was able to thrive.
“Together we were able to build a really solid system that we could adopt in the future,” said O’Barr. “It really changed the method and the speed to in-process all the arriving personnel.”
Each piece of information provides the TPOC with a clearer understanding of personnel movements within the theater, and the analytics enable commanders to make accurate and informed decisions for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
“We’re giving it everything we’ve got to make sure everyone’s taken care of,” said Soumpholphakdy. “Our team is fully committed to making Talisman Sabre a big success.”
Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States, with multinational participation, advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns.
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.13.2025 21:41 |
| Story ID: | 542644 |
| Location: | BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AU |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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