BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Members of the 313th Joint Movement Control Battalion met with a local Afghan citizen living outside Bagram Air Field, Dec. 29, 2010 to discuss improving efficiency of host nation trucking operations.
Lt. Col. Mark Stimer, commander of the 313th JMCB, initiated the meeting with Hajji Wasim, furthering the International Security Assistance Forces – Afghanistan goal of partnering with local Afghans for sustainable economic growth and development.
Maj. Craig Macina, battalion support operations officer, and Capt. Todd Turner, commander of the 266th Movement Control Team, also attended the meeting, or shura, in Mr. Wasim’s truck contracting office located in a lot approximately one mile outside Bagram.
The U.S. military maintains contracts that employ, through subcontracting, local truck companies to move basic supplies to bases throughout Afghanistan. The system ensures movement of supplies without over-extending limited military assets, supports the local economy, and supports the relationship between coalition and Afghan forces.
“Bottom line is that the success of the movement control team is weighted on the relationship between those MCT troops and the efforts they put forth to show Afghans that we are real people and that we stand “shona ba shona” [shoulder to shoulder] with them in this fight,” said Turner.
Personnel from the 266th MCT meet with Mr. Wasim regularly. The movement control team also works with 24 local national interpreters. These interpreters assist the soldiers in communicating with the Afghan truck drivers.
“Our troops ensure all ground cargo entering or exiting BAF is both tracked and gets to where it’s supposed to go. In conjunction with our local national MCT workers, the soldiers count trucks, contact customers, liaise with cargo yards on BAF, and basically do whatever it takes to get cargo moved to where it needs to go in the most efficient manner possible,” said Turner about his unit’s sizable mission.
The team continues to develop a valuable relationship with Mr. Wasim that helps them establish and enforce throughput priorities, reduce pilfering, and streamline in-gating. This relationship will likely continue to grow and provide greater support to the movement control efforts.
“The mission is better, more challenging, and more important than any of us expected,” said Turner. The 266th MCT processes more than 300 cargo trucks daily, once reaching a high of 589 trucks in one day. “These trucks are destined for troops throughout Afghanistan, some is humanitarian aid which will go to building schools, and some is mail that will make a tired soldier’s day,” he added.
Turner’s team uses its relationship with the local citizens and truck drivers to ensure cargo makes it to customers as quickly as possible. Through the positive relationships the team members foster, they are able to mediate issues outside the gate and keep trucks and supplies moving.
“Knowing that we directly contributed to that mission-essential cargo making it to combat troops in need is all that matters at the end of the day,” Turner said.
| Date Taken: | 12.29.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 01.04.2011 00:09 |
| Story ID: | 62961 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 459 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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