Photo By Kevin Krejcarek | Soldiers of U.S. Army Japan purposefully scurry around the DEPEX site preparing...... read more read more
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KANAGAWA, Japan - It was the first of its kind…take people and equipment assigned to U.S. Army Japan and deploy to another location to set up and run a command and control operation.
The first deployment exercise, referred to as DEPEX by those involved, was held April 15-19 to test the ability of getting everyone and everything moved and set up in a fictitious island nation in the Indian Ocean as part of a humanitarian assistance scenario.
The exercise kicked off with an early morning recall which generated a series of actions of mustering people, checking and loading equipment, and getting the convoy out the gate.
In a real situation, the convoy would either drive to the affected area or to an aerial port for loading of people and equipment into cargo aircraft or loaded aboard transport ships. In this case, they drove to nearby Army installation Sagami Depot.
Though this was the first DEPEX, there was experience gained from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake when U.S. Army Japan and other components sent people and equipment to assist those affective by this massive natural disaster.
When the commanding general of USARJ directed his staff to conduct this exercise, it landed on the shoulders of Maj. Santel H. Powell II of the directorate of operations’ future operations section.
“The hardest part was getting a plan together for the leadership to review and approve,” he said. “This exercise is something we hadn’t done at Camp Zama.”
It was a learning experience from the start, he mentioned. And he and the staff involved in planning it had only had weeks to get it implemented.
An intensive weeklong academic session April 8-12 put the scenario and options together which the USARJ commanding general, Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison Sr., would eventually select from the best courses of action laid out by the staff and give additional guidance as required.
On kickoff day, April 15, tents went up quickly upon arrival at the deployed site followed by the flooring. Soldiers scurried around with defined direction placing equipment, laying cables, and getting each piece up and running. In what appeared to be organized chaos turned into earlier than expected completion.
This exercise expanded beyond just soldiers and was devised to be joint and combined. There were members of the Air Force, civilian employees, and elements of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force, Ground Staff Office and the newly collocated Central Readiness Force.
According to Col. Frank S. Clark, chief of staff for operations, “I think it was important to display our close cooperation and this was a great opportunity to highlight that aspect.
“While we have always worked closely with GSO and JGSDF regional armies in the past, we look forward to expanding the relationship with the CRF,” said Clark. “We believe that their [CRF] move to Camp Zama will facilitate this so that it will be easier to conduct more bilateral planning and training in the future.”
There was considerable training conducted while at the site. Some tasks included soldiers briefed and then undertaking the process of determining and documenting weight loads if the cargo were to deploy aboard a ship or aircraft.
According to Powell, there were growing pains making sure all the right equipment was assembled, working right, and figuring out what adjustments would be needed in the future.
“As a staff, this exercise has shown us areas we need to improve,” stated Powell.
But the overall outcome was summarized in six words from Clark.
“The exercise was a complete success,” he enthusiastically stated. “As a first, we wanted to identify training or equipment shortfall. We think we have done this and will use the lessons learned to improve our capability to accomplish our mission.”
Now the final housekeeping issues were nearing completion such as the after action reports and recommendations from the staff and those who worked the exercise.
“We know what we need to fix and now we need to focus on getting it done,” said Powell.
As USARJ makes corrections on those areas which need attention or just a little adjustment will be used for a future DEPEX. The training received from this DEPEX and future exercises will greatly improve the ability of the staff to deploy should or when the need arises.
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2013 04:18 |
| Story ID: | 105993 |
| Location: | SAGAMI DEPOT, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 865 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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