FORT POLK, La. – Members of the 79th Quartermaster Company, based in Houston, Texas, provided food service support for Joint Readiness Training Center rotation 17-07, May 5 to 26, 2017, here.
JRTC provides America’s military forces relevant, rigorous, multi-echelon training in a decisive action and mission rehearsal exercise environment to develop adaptive leaders, confident units, and robust capabilities across the range of military operations achieving Army readiness.
When one thinks about the U.S. Army Reserve conducting training in the field, they might think about weapon and vehicle training, but that isn’t all they have to do. To remain the most capable and combat-ready federal reserve force in the history of the nation, Army Reserve units also conduct training that prepares them for a wide range of missions. During this exercise, the 79th QM Co’s primary mission was providing food, referred to as “Class I” by the military, to all the units participating in the rotation, over 5,000 personnel.
“Without food, you don’t really have an Army,” said 2nd Lt. Ezekiel Garcia, a platoon leader with the 79th QM Co. “If the soldiers aren’t fed they aren’t going to be mission effective. Whenever Class I isn’t a priority soldiers are going to take a big hit.”
The unit came with a plan in mind but knew they needed to be ready to change that plan as mission requirements and resources changed. Garcia said the exercise was helping each soldier rethink the way they conduct their planning.
“It’s really helping us train to be flexible. You are always told its going to work one way but we all know that once you actually fall in, there is always going to be a variable,” said Garcia. “It’s teaching us to be resilient, just go with the flow, and be ready for whatever is coming up next.”
One of the challenges the unit faced during the exercise was working with other units to complete the overall mission. U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Savang Phetlungsy, the commander of the 79th QM Co, said that while they provided food, they were not responsible for or capable of transporting it to units in the field. He explained that he had to work with other units to coordinate loading, transportation and delivery.
“Our mission is just to provide Class I,” said Phetlungsy. “Coordination has been good. All the company commanders have been communicating so we won’t have any issues.”
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Rose Champ was selected to work as the non-commissioned officer in charge of Class I operations. She said it was her first time performing the duty but everything was going great.
“It’s challenging, but I’m embracing it,” Champ said. “I feel good about the progress we have made thus far, pushing out and receiving supplies. The soldiers we are supporting have more than they need right now, so that means we have done our jobs successfully.”
Events like this JRTC rotation help train Army Reserve soldiers for future operations. Champ said this exercise has given the 79th QM Co soldiers exposure to doing their jobs in hard conditions.
“In the event we go someplace, if we deploy, we can say we’ve been in a tough environment before,” said Champ, “so we are going to be okay.”
The 79th Quartermaster Company is part of the 211th Regional Support Group and the 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). The command is made up of Soldiers, civilians and their families in units headquartered throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. As part of America’s Army Reserve, these units are trained, combat-ready and equipped to provide military and logistical support in any corner of the globe.