Do Stryker Brigade Combat Teams Need Forward Support ...

units with aspects of all four of the CSA’s imperatives.
Sustain. Like all logistics units, the 2d Battalion’s
daily operations are focused on sustainment. The battalion
supports units in a variety of ways, including
providing support from logistics assistance representatives,
locating hard-to-find parts, and troubleshooting
extremely difficult maintenance procedures for lowdensity
systems, such as the 2d Stryker Cavalry Regiment’s
interim high-mobility engineering excavator.
The 2d Battalion has supported the 2d Stryker
Cavalry Regiment by working with the unit and the
garrison to develop a central issue facility menu that
supports the unit-specific individual equipment. The
2d Battalion also worked hard to acquire tire chains
for Stryker vehicles and managed a series of major
upgrades that dramatically improved the survivability
and operability of the unit’s 314 Stryker vehicles and
their weapons and communications systems.
Prepare. As units prepare to deploy, they conduct
a series of training and tactical exercises. When a task
force from the 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
arrived in Europe before assuming the Kosovo Force
9 mission, it participated in a series of predeployment
exercises and training tasks located mainly at the
Hohenfels training area. The 2d Battalion assisted the
task force with training on weapon and communications
systems, integrating Army battle command systems,
filling equipment-on-hand shortages, and repairing
aircraft that the task force shipped from the continental
United States. The 2d Battalion’s efforts were focused
on ensuring that the unit was operationally and logistically
ready to assume its vital mission in Kosovo.
AFSBs serve as
AMC’s link to the tactical
Army for all relevant logistics
and operational support.
Reset. After the 2d Brigade, 1st Infantry Division,
returned to Germany following a 15-month deployment,
most of the unit’s equipment required extensive
reset. Several months before its departure from
Southwest Asia, the unit conducted reset planning
through videoteleconferences and by using the logistics
support activity’s Army reset management tool. The
brigade shipped many pieces of equipment directly
from ports in Kuwait to designated reset sites in the
continental United States. Other equipment, such as
weapon systems and night vision devices, were brought
back with the troops, and the 2d Battalion facilitated
the reset of those systems at the unit’s home station.
Through AMC-sponsored reset initiatives, such as the
ARMY LOGISTICIAN PROFESSIONAL BULLETIN OF UNITED STATES ARMY LOGISTICS
small arms readiness and evaluation team with repair
and the communications electronics evaluation repair
team, groups of experts arrived at the unit’s location
to conduct depot-level repairs so that on-hand systems
met the –10/20 standard.
The 2d Battalion also worked hand-in-hand with a
large number of project mangers and program executive
offices from the sustainment base to facilitate
the reset of the systems sent to the continental United
States. The goal was to get those systems back into
the unit’s hands as quickly, effectively, and efficiently
as possible. With many units experiencing dwell times
as short as 12 months, the timely return of reset equipment
is critical to support the tactical commander’s
training and deployment plans.
Transform. Changes to tactical units are commonplace
in today’s Army. Recently, many units (like
the 16th Sustainment Brigade) have moved locations,
transformed, deactivated, or stood up, all while preparing
for deployment and on very compressed timelines.
AMC is a key supporter of transformation. Units like
the 2d Battalion work with supported units to ensure
that they are fielded new equipment from the sustainment
base. They also correct errors that are revealed
after fieldings, test newly issued items (such as tactical
operations center systems) to ensure that they are fully
functional and the unit understands how to operate
them, provide new equipment training and over-theshoulder
training on new systems, and assist with rapid
fielding initiative and rapid equipment fielding issues.
The AFSB is a tangible link between the tactical unit
and the sustainment base and focuses on these issues so
that supported unit personnel can look to the future.
The CSA’s imperatives are critical to the current
and future success of our Army. AMC organizations
like ASC and the 405th AFSB stand ready to be the
advocate for tactical commanders. These organizations
ensure that tactical units are sustained adequately, have
the tools necessary to prepare for their next combat
mission, have their equipment reset to the current
Army standard in a timely manner, and have the assistance
they need to transform in support of the Army of
the future. ALOG
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