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Fort Sill, OK – In the army, proper management of logistics can make or break units. Whether it be a group of hungry soldiers on a mountain in Afghanistan, or an infantry brigade short on ammo fighting their way through Iraq, logistics remain a fundamental part of the Army. At fort sill, the "Make It Happen" Battalion is training to make sure they can take care of our soldiers in need. Reporting for KCCU, I'm Mitch Watson.
The simplest description for the job of the 168th Brigade Support Battalion, is they support the combat units. Land support, air support, sea support, these guys handle it all. But the job isn't simple. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Waddell says their work is very encompassing.
"We allow the battalions to go bang with artillery rounds. Anything to deal with food, maintenance, water, fuel, anything you can think of. All those things that the combat arms guys don't need to worry about, that's what we worry about."
Fort Sill is widely known for training in Field Artillery. The 168th BSB handles support for the 214th Fires Brigade. Though Fort Sill only has two BSB's on post, Waddell says there's enough support.
"It's enough for what we have now because we only have the two fires brigades here. Most every brigade will have a support battalion of some sort. The Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, you hear BCT thrown around a lot, they have their own brigade support battalion. As the modular force, as, was transformed, logistics guys were kinda that way already. We were able to pull units in and out of different formations. So we're kinda tailored to the brigade that we support, but we can always be called out to go plug into another unit somewhere. That's one of the beauties of modularity is that we can do that."
Since the new millennium, the United States has been fighting overseas in what's now called "The global war on Terrorism." The war is different from others, being that the enemy often surrounds our soldiers. Waddell says this makes logistical support in the Middle East equally as dangerous as other jobs.
"Every day we're out on a convoy. Every day we're getting hit by IED's. The battlefield is not like it used to be to where you had definitive lines, you know this is our front, this is the enemy's front.' The enemy is all around us now. So every day our guys are out in harm's way. In a convoy, you know, in the air on a mission. So, yeah, I would argue the point that everybody is a combat infantry sort of guy at this point."
The war also brings new challenges for the BSB. Iraq and Afghanistan are each unique and creates new challenges.
"If you just think about the distances we have to travel to supply Iraq, for instance. Hundreds of miles, to you know, hundreds of hundreds of miles, to get daily resupplies to the troops that need the supplies. Afghanistan, is a lot to do with aerial resupply, cause like I said we're going mountain top to mountain top. Not a very defined road network, really only one major paved road in Afghanistan. So there's a lot more creativity involved trying to provide logistics to the, those battlefields."
Logistical support requires a wide span of equipment. Walking through their station, I encountered massive vehicles. Quite frankly, I'd be terrified to drive one of these beasts. But some soldiers embrace the job, like Specialist Arthur Horton.
"What's your job here?"
"My job, I drive trucks."
"Are you driving these massive, like that truck. Do you drive that truck?
"Yes"
"And what's it like, being behind the wheel of that big of a truck?"
"It's It's actually pretty fun. It's like you're above everything. Like, you see the civilian cars on the road it's like you're higher than them. But you have to be in control at all times."
With so much equipment to manage, a portion of the BSB's job is maintenance of vehicles. And that's how the Brigade started their morning on Monday. The soldiers walked down a line of vehicles as they checked fluids and tested the engines. Specialist Veronica Acosta works as a pump mechanic. She says the BSB is an exciting job for her.
"Well, it's definitely different than my last unit. I mean I actually get to work on other things other than pumps here compared to my last one."
"And tell me about your last one then."
"I was stationed in Korea with a chemical company where all I fixed was their equipment. So at least here I get to work on vehicles. There I didn't."
Soldiers in the Make It Happen Battalion rise to a huge task each day, all part of a job that is essential to the operations of the U.S. Army.
For KCCU, I'm Mitch Watson.