Photo By Sgt. Anthony Steglik | Army Reserve Capt. Daniel Reid, liaison officer for the 1st Theater Sustainment...... read more read more
Many times, it will take collaboration from multiple units, organizations or assets to accomplish a mission. This could be a daunting task of coordination for the countless parties involved.
To help facilitate this process the Army uses liaison officers (LNO). A primary function of an LNO is to act as a representative for a unit or staff member who may be geographically separated from other units with similar or related operations.
Army Reserve Capt. Daniel Reid and Sgt. Jeremy Losse, with the 77th Sustainment Brigade, fulfill the role of liaison officers in Jordan for the 1st Theater Sustainment Command.
“We are a point of contact for other units here in Jordan and for our units elsewhere so that everyone can be on the same page as we work toward mutual efforts and accomplishing common goals,” Losse said. “Essentially we are a commanders’ eyes and ears in locations where he can’t be present.”
Weekly commander update briefs and synchronization meetings are a regular occurrence for most military areas of operation. Having liaison officers to represent a unit allows for faster response time during the planning processes.
“With the 1st TSC and the 77th being down in Kuwait, it is pretty important to have someone here to provide a more immediate face-to-face communication with the other organizations,” said Reid. “It really helps keep all the moving parts of operations more synchronized.”
For some jobs and positions in the military, even while deployed, traveling to multiple locations within an area of operation is inevitable.
A liaison officer also assists in facilitating some aspects of travel arrangements. An LNO is able to more effectively coordinate with the proper personnel for the Soldier’s accommodations, transportation, and other necessities to accomplish their temporary duties or missions in that area.
“If one of our Soldiers is going to need anything available, we are here to make sure that they have it at their disposal,” Reid said. “Whether it is a piece of equipment, a certain facility, or support from another unit.”
Once the Soldier knows where and when they need to travel, the Soldier contacts the LNO. The liaison officer then talks to the units available to make sure everything needed is approved in time for them to accomplish their mission.
“The more we can prepare and plan for our Soldiers, the smoother their trip and mission will go,” Reid said. “We really try to have everything all planned out and ready to go so that all our Soldiers need to worry about is the task at hand.”
After a Soldier arrives at a location, the LNO will also assure that someone is there to greet the Soldiers and transportation is provided back to the base where they will be staying. When possible, it is preferred to have a representative from the unit or element in which that person is working with.
“When our Soldiers need to travel to do their jobs, we are here to make sure that they have what they need to do that,” Losse said. “It makes me proud to know that my fellow Soldiers can count on us to facilitate what we can to help them”
| Date Taken: | 09.27.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2019 10:51 |
| Story ID: | 344524 |
| Location: | JO |
| Web Views: | 2,872 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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