Photo By Sgt. Maj. Tami Hillis | Lt. Col. John Chadbourne, commander of 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – As Iraqi security forces continue to move forward in securing the country, there is a renewed focus on ensuring they're able to sustain themselves logistically.
"We need to focus on building the ISF logistics capacity," said Lt. Col. John Chadbourne, commander of 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. "There has been a lot of focus on combat capacity to ensure there is security. Now the focus needs to be on the Iraqis being able to sustain themselves."
In order to assist their Iraqi counterparts, Chadbourne and Maj. Chris Byler, 703rd BSB support operations officer, visited An Numaniyah Military Training Base, south of Baghdad, March 23.
"The goal of the visit was to gain a better understanding of how the Iraqi logistics system works above the Iraqi army division level," Chadbourne said. "So we went there with an open mind to absorb the information we saw and try to figure out if we see any systemic issues out there."
The duo visited the base support unit which the 703rd BSB is partnered with. The BSU is responsible for supporting the 8th IA Division and other Iraqi divisions.
By the end of the visit, Chadbourne and Byler came up with three focus areas - training, systems and equipment - that need some work.
The battalion wants to provide training in supply accountability, general maintenance and trouble-shooting of American equipment issued to ISF. Other training will include fuel storage, risk management and a first responder class, which will be similar to the U.S. combat lifesaver course. Byler, an Atlanta native, said they would use their expertise to augment the Coalition Army Advisory Training Team which is already conducting training.
The CAATT supports the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq mission to assist in the development, training and sustainment of Iraqi army and Navy Forces and Ministry of Defense.
The second focus area is the various systems used in Iraqi logistics, which include the requisition process for supplies, reconciliation process and maintenance system.
"All those systems we have in American Army logistics we need to look at ... look at what the Iraqi systems are, what they want to do, and how we can help them," Chadbourne said.
The third focus area is equipment; although requisition of equipment occurs at the Ministry of Defense level, the battalion can assist Iraqi logistics in other ways.
The battalion can help transport equipment, conduct training classes on different types of equipment and help the ISF work through what equipment is the best fit for a mission.
In addition, the battalion plans on holding biweekly logistics meetings and quarterly conferences with key logistics leaders, said Byler. The first quarterly conference is scheduled for May at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq.
"We will bring all the key logistics leaders together to come in and talk about logistic issues that are out there and log systems that are out there," Chadbourne said. "We see that as opening the communications lines between all the key players."
On An Numaniyah Military Training Base there are plenty of warehouses to support the logistics mission. Some of the logistics facilities there include an ammunition supply point, a fuel point, a maintenance point and a central issue facility, which were all run by ISF.
"They definitely have a system in place and I think it's relatively just getting the systems at the unit level communicating to the next level," Chadbourne said.
The battalion also seeks to help establish a customer parts warehouse. Currently, the only parts warehouse for the Iraqis is at Taji National Depot at Taji Military Training Base, which is an issue for their combat readiness, said Byler. If something breaks they have to physically take that piece of equipment there.
"After the visit you just realize that in the United States Army you take for granted logistics a lot of times and when you see it being built from the ground up in the Iraqi system you realize how experienced the United States Army is," Byler said. "This is a challenge that we look forward to tackling for however long it takes."
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.27.2008 09:35 |
| Story ID: | 17800 |
| Location: | ISKANDARIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 59 |
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