Photo By Maj. Brandon Fambro | Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Clavette, brigade master driver manager and unit safety officer,...... read more read more
FORT CAVAZOS, Texas – For most people, memories of riding a school bus will take them back to their early age years where the bus was a transportation option for school. The white school buses used by the Mobilization Support Brigade’s drivers provide transportation to Army National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers, who are preparing to mobilize or those are returning from overseas missions and demobilizing, by helping to move them around on Main Ft. Cavazos and back and forth to North Ft. Cavazos. Since transportation assets are limited on the weekends after required training is completed, there are limited options for Soldiers to get to and from main post to utilize various the resources, including eating establishments, the Commissary, post exchange and other services available to Active-Duty Soldiers. These white school buses provide this critical capability to allow Guard and Reserve Soldiers a little exposure to “normal” active-duty military life. Having enough qualified bus drivers to run a shuttle program is a crucial first step to supporting the Soldiers at North Ft. Cavazos (NFC).
The 646th Regional Support Group (RSG), an Army Reserve unit from Madison, Wisconsin, is mobilized here, as the current Mobilization Support Brigade, to provide additional support capability to the Ft. Cavazos Garrison to assist the thousands of Mobilizing and Demobilization Soldiers of National Guard and Army Reserve that transit Ft. Cavazos each year.
Col. Robert Hegland, commander of the Mobilization Support Brigade and the 646th RSG, emphasized the importance of having qualified bus drivers to support the unit’s various missions while mobilized at Fort Cavazos. He assumed command of the Mobilization Support Brigade (MSB) in October 2023, from Col. David Newman, commander, 561st Regional Support Group. Newman commanded the MSB from 2022 to 2023.
The geographical layout of Ft. Cavazos between Main Post, North Ft. Cavazos and West Ft. Cavazos creates logistical challenges and tyrannies of distance that the Mobilization Support Brigade and other garrison partners work through each day. Transportation assets to move people and their equipment is a critical need, but having qualified and proficient bus drivers to do it safely is the lynch pin that enables mission success.
Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Clavette, the Mobilization Support Brigade’s Master Driver and unit safety officer, is responsible for managing the bus driving program and ensuring bus driver candidates have the necessary skills and fundamentals to be safe bus operators.
When the 646th RSG arrived to begin the MSB mission in October, they had six qualified bus drivers. Clavette has trained 41 additional drivers since, providing the garrison a total of 47 trained, qualified, and ready drivers to meet any unforeseen or sudden demands.
“I’ve trained one Soldier from the First Army Division West’s 120th Infantry Brigade and 40 Soldiers from the MSB,” Clavette said. “Some had little to no experience, while others had various levels of prior training.”
The bus driver’s training course includes over 40 hours of academic hours, field exercises and driving and a road test. Driving candidates report for class on select Mondays at the MSB headquarters.
“Because of the unit’s mission and operation tempo, sometimes it is a challenge for Soldiers to make it to the class they are originally scheduled to attend,” said Clavette. “I understand that mission comes first and most of the time is beyond their control. I have the flexibility to reschedule driver candidates for the next available class.”
As the brigade master driver, Clavette is responsible for tracking driving times and miles and ensuring Soldiers are aware of any required refresher training.
Some of the recently certified bus drivers were added to the Sunday North Ft. Cavazos (NFC) to Main Post shuttle bus driver rotation, a service offered to mobilizing and demobilizing Soldiers housed at North Fort Cavazos that transports them to the Fort Cavazos main post for a few hours before they are transported back to North Fort Cavazos. This shuttle service has been a pre-Cavazos Connector style service, in use before the official start date of the Cavazos Connector on Saturday, March 2, 2024.
The numbers for the weekly PX shuttle service have steadily increased since October. The biggest spike came during the months of January and February as the National Guard’s 185th Aviation Task Force returned after an overseas mission, and the National Guard’s 34th Infantry Division’s prepares to deploy overseas.
According to Maj. Kory Digmann, MSB Logistics S4) officer in charge, the number of mobilizing and demobilizing Soldiers at North Fort Cavazos has a direct correlation to the number of buses required on any given Sunday.
“To date, the MSB has transported 1,520 from North Fort Cavazos to main post on Sundays during the PX shuttle run,” said Digmann. “Higher the population of North Fort, the more people sign up for the shuttle bus.”
Digmann was complementary of Sgt. 1st Class Clavette’s work as the brigade’s bus driver course manager and trainer.
“Sgt. 1st Class Clavette has done a great job of getting Soldiers qualified and is charge of organizing the training,” commented Digmann. “Once licensed, the drivers can assist our Reception, Staging, Onward movement (RSO) teams if they need assistance transporting MOB/DEMOB Soldiers to the airport, to the Deployment Readiness Center (DRC), or Rapid Fielding Initiate (RFI) if the Transportation Motor Pool (TMP) cannot support our movement request.”
Clavette says that he has heard from the shuttle bus drivers that the riders are appreciative of the service and glad to have an option to get to main post.
“From what I’ve been told, the mobilizing and demobilizing Soldiers find the Sunday PX shuttle useful,” Clavette said.
Mr. Jerry Stephens, deputy commander of the Army Field Support Battalion-Cavazos, said the Sunday PX shuttle continues to be an excellent service offered by the MSB.
“The MSB Sunday PX shuttle run has been a tremendous morale booster for thousands of Soldiers mobilizing and demobilizing at Fort Cavazos every year,” said Stephens. “The run has been a MSB mainstay for a number of years and provides ground transportation from North Forth Cavazos to the main post exchange area to allow Soldiers access to the full range of AAFES vendors and shops.”
Fort Cavazos was recently selected to participate in an Army Pilot Test to provide Mass Transportation services like those offered in large metropolitan areas. The Cavazos Connector is the name of the pilot program and will commence on March 2.
“In this initial pilot test, we have included two Saturday Runs (morning and afternoon) for the Cavazos Connector to run to the main PX area, which will also allow tie into the circulator route around the installation,” said Stephens. “Based on the goals of the pilot test, the primary focus is on the main post areas, with a Saturday augmentation to the MSB provided Sunday PX run. I would expect if the pilot test is successful and the Army is able to provide continued funding, then this could be expanded to NFC at some point in the future.”
Stephens continued, “The Cavazos Connector startup is a formal intergovernmental agreement between Fort Cavazos and the Hill County Transit District, which is a Texas State program. Additionally, this is a large partnership supported by the Garrison Command Team and the Garrison Directorates, as well as the III Armored Corps Commanding General. Fort Cavazos has always had outstanding support from our local communities, and this is no exception. There is no limit that our communities and senior leaders will not go to in order to improve the life of our Soldiers, families, employees and retirees and the Cavazos Connector is the latest example.”
Mobilizing and demobilizing Soldiers trained and housed at North Fort Cavazos can continue to rely on the Sunday shuttle bus service as a transportation option thanks to the newly trained and experienced bus drivers from the Mobilization Support Brigade. Sgt. 1st Class Clavette said that the opportunity to train will continue until the unit’s mobilization ends later this year.
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2024 14:51 |
| Story ID: | 464802 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 221 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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