Support team on hand for redeployment needs

Courtesy Photo | Soldiers from the from the 1398th Deployment Support Brigade Redeployment Support Team look on as Soldiers from the 74th Quartermaster Company open their footlockers and remove all contents for inspection before loading all equipment into shipping containers. Prior to departing from LSA Anaconda in Sept 2005, the 1398th DSB RST checked all of the 74th QMC's shipping containers to make sure that they were serviceable. The 1398th also verified all the 74th QMC's paperwork and helped input information in to the transportation coordinators automated information movement system.  

03.10.2006

Courtesy Story

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Redeploying units have an on-post asset to help when the time comes to move back home. The 1398th Deployment Support Brigade Redeployment Support Team can help turn a potential gaggle into a smooth redeployment.

The 1398th DSB RST helps units deploy and redeploy, by advising unit movement officers, assisting with paperwork and helping with the Transportation Coordinators Automated Information Movement System, said Maj. Darl Everett, Jr., officer in charge of the 1398th DSB RST.

"When a unit is getting ready to redeploy from Balad, what me and Sgt. 1st Class Mark Lyons, 1398th DSB RST NCO, will do is go out to that unit's site and inspect their containers," Everett said. "We will make sure the containers have no holes or dents. Then we will get with the unit movement officer and go through all the documentation for the containers. We will make sure that everything is filled out correctly. Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Sendelbach, HAZMAT (hazardous material) NCO, checks all the HAZMAT forms."

Accurate paper work is essential for preventing potential problems, Everett said.
"What we try to do here is to prevent problems such as frustrated cargo, by helping UMOs fill out all paperwork correctly," Everett said. "Frustrated cargo is cargo that has a problem which prevents it from moving, such as incorrect documentation for HAZMAT."

Once the containers have been inspected and the proper documentation filled out, the final step is to bring all the information to the TC-AIMS office, run by Master Sgt. Sandra Porter, TC-AIMS NCO.

"TC-AIMS is the final and most important part of the process," Everett said. When a unit is about to deploy or redeploy the TC-AIMS operators Sgt. Shawn Morris, Sgt. Robert Smith and Spc. Christopher Weaver, inventory the unit's equipment. They then input the information they have gathered into a computer program which creates a movement control plan.

TC-AIMS also provides movement officers with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and military shipping labels (MSL) used to track containers. Both containers and vehicles are labeled with RFIDs and MSLs which can help locate misplaced and lost containers, Everett said.

"If a unit's container goes missing, all they would need is the serial number and the RFID tags. With that we should be able to find the container," Everett said.

The 1398th deployed to Logistical Support Area Anaconda in June 2005. They have since helped move more than 2,400 containers for units stationed all over Iraq.

The team here in Balad is stationary," Everett said. "But we have mobile redeployment support teams based in Kuwait that will go out and assist other forward operating bases."

Among the units on LSA Anaconda the 1398th assisted in redeploying, were the 1st Corps Support Command, 29th Brigade Combat Team and 151st Aviation Brigade. The 1398th is currently helping the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment with its redeployment.

Typical turnaround time for redeployment is 30 to 90 days, depending on the size of the unit, Everett said.

"Our biggest job to date was the 50th Signal Battalion," Everett said. "We worked with them for five months off and on. They had over 600 containers to move."

The 1398th doesn't just work for the Army. Any unit on LSA Anaconda can request their services.

"We recently started working with the Air Force," said Everett. "We just finished helping the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing with their redeployment."

While going through the TC-AIMS office is required for all redeploying units, employing the services of the 1398th is optional. "You don't have to use us, but I strongly encourage redeploying units to get in contact with us, especially if they are moving equipment by sea," Everett said.

Units interested in obtaining help from the 1398th should call the office 120 days prior to their available load date at DSN 829-3050.

• Date Taken: 03.10.2006
• Date Posted: 03.10.2006 06:25
• Story ID: 5650