Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Keith Anderson | Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division loaded hundreds of wheeled...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – Soldiers in the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, wasted no time staging, loading and securing several hundred tracked and wheeled vehicles and other pieces of equipment onto railcars Aug. 19 for shipment to locations in Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The movement of the vehicles began just days after the Aug. 13 announcement by the Department of Defense of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a series of military-to-military training exercises requested by host nations in Poland and the Baltics.
“This is a challenge, because this is something that’s never been done before,” said Warrant Officer 1 Carlton Huguley, mobility officer, 1st BCT. “We’re trying to move not an entire brigade set, but a pretty hefty number, to five different countries.”
The last major movement of American vehicles and equipment to Europe was in the early ‘90s, for Exercise Reforger, an exercise intended to ensure that NATO had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West Germany in the event of a conflict.
Beginning this fall, Soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, augmented with additional troops from several other battalions, will participate in Atlantic Resolve as part of 1st BCT’s role as the NATO Response Force for 2014.
Unlike the Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, who will primarily fall in on vehicles and equipment from the European Activity Set for the Combined Resolve III exercise in Germany, the 2-8 Cav. Soldiers will take their own vehicles from Fort Hood to Atlantic Resolve in Poland and the Baltic states.
The short-notice movement required the efforts of many to accomplish.
“It’s definitely a brigade effort,” said Capt. A.J. Steinlage, company commander, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, and railhead operation officer in charge. “It’s not just what happens here at the railhead. It’s everything that happened before. Each battalion in the brigade is playing an important role.”
Ironhorse Soldiers learned many lessons in February 2014 when Soldiers loaded brigade vehicles and equipment for a monthlong training rotation at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California.
“One thing we learned was to leapfrog [along the line of vehicles on the railcars] as we tie down the tanks,” said Sgt. Allen Carrick, tank commander, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment.
The process ensures that no vehicles get missed and that Soldiers work together, he said.
“Safety is the main thing,” said Carrick, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. “Lots of hazards on the railhead.”
For example, the tanks actually overhang the flatbed railcars by more than five inches on each side, and require very precise driving to get them loaded correctly, he said.
Soldiers working on the railhead detail got a better understanding of the complexity of transporting equipment.
“When I was here as a driver for NTC, I was wondering why it was taking forever,” said Pfc. Justin Loera, a canon crewmember in Battery B, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment. “Now I understand.”
Loera, a native of Victorville, California, walked up and down long rows of vehicles and, using a handheld scanner, checked the military shipping labels affixed to all the staged vehicles before they could be driven onto the railcars and chained down.
As Soldiers staged, uploaded and chained down vehicles and equipment onto railcars, civilian rail inspectors and logisticians from the 841st Transportation Battalion oversaw the effort.
“We’re looking for safety and at the integrity of the equipment,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Ortiz, Surface Deployment and Distribution Command team leader, 841st Trans. Bn. “We’re also making sure the equipment has the proper documentation, and ensuring the proper loading and storage of the equipment.”
Soldiers from 1st BCT worked very hard to get vehicles staged, documented, loaded and secured in a timely manner, said Ortiz.
“It would have taken us twice the time to do it without the support of 1st BCT,” said Ortiz.
In the past, railhead movement operations were conducted primarily by civilians.
“It’s all pretty much Soldier-powered now with civilian inspectors,” said Steinlage. “It’s good experience for Soldiers.”
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.25.2014 17:09 |
| Story ID: | 140339 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | VICTORVILLE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 178 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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