Photo By Sgt. Elizabeth Clark | BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Capt. Stephanie Opheim, the 3rd Infantry Division...... read more read more
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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - On a small, quiet base in western Afghanistan sits Camp Arena. Intermingled between government buildings, cafes and monuments, troops from all over the world work together in this country to accomplish a common goal.
The 3rd Infantry Division Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade provides the primary sustainment support for the Combined Joint Operations Area - Afghanistan, but the unit wouldn’t be able to reach its full potential without the cooperation of coalition forces spread throughout the country. Even at the Italian-run Camp Arena, several countries are represented, including Lithuania, Albania, Slovenia, Ukraine and U.S. military, and this doesn’t even begin to cover the Department of Defense agents, contractors or civilians.
The U.S. Forces - Afghanistan Sustainment Support Team at Camp Arena ensures that base life operations run smoothly. The team controls the flow of food, personnel and equipment through the base. They also work with the coalition forces to provide any sustainment assistance that partners may need.
“It is a joint mission here,” says U.S. Army Capt. Stephanie Opheim, the 3rd Inf. Div. RSSB liaison officer to Train, Advise, Assist Command - West. “We can provide support for anything that coalition or U.S. forces need that isn’t provided by the Italians.”
Opheim works alongside the TAAC-W Sustainment Support J4 team. The J4 shop works as both the logistics management and as a support operations section and utilizes the USFOR-A SST fuelers for train, advise and assist missions.
The J4 shop makeup demonstrates how diverse the Arena teams can be. It consists of Slovenian, Lithuanian, Albanian and Italian military members.
“We exchange experiences and learn from different cultures to find solutions,” said Albanian Army Capt. Vojsava Kuçuku, the logistics operations planner for the TAAC-W Sustainment Support team. “It is a combined operation for building and executing an operation plan.”
Working through the language barriers tests a leaders’ knowledge in understanding concepts. This presents more opportunity for growth and developing an advanced language set for their job.
“You have to know what you’re briefing,” said Opheim. “If you can’t explain it simply then it also shows you don’t know the concept you are briefing.”
Even with the language barrier, the J4 team members all step up to the task and work through missions efficiently, even creating a convivial environment.
“In the beginning it was challenging, we didn’t know how to interact and had different experiences with styles of leadership,” said Kuçuku. “We now have a friendly environment despite the language differences and we are more productive as a team.”
“It’s interesting to learn about other cultures and see how the rest of the world views us,” said Opheim. “We have more similarities than you think.”
| Date Taken: | 03.21.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2018 02:18 |
| Story ID: | 271812 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,774 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, The Strength of Many Nations: Sustainment Operations in Camp Arena, by SGT Elizabeth Clark, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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