599th Transportation Group supports RSOI '05.

It's been said that the U.S. Army has been in Korea for 50 years, but only one year at a time. That's because most active-duty Army members may serve a tour of one to two years before leaving the theater. Their Republic of Korea Army and Navy counterparts have conscription (for all citizens) requiring a two-year service period.

As a result, there is a demand for an annual training exercise to maintain the theater's combat readiness. To help fulfill that requirement, and mitigate the turnover and loss of skilled personnel, U.S. Forces and the ROK military co-host a yearly theater-wide exercise to conduct a simulated seaport reception, staging and onward integration exercise, commonly known as RSOI.

Unique to this type of exercise, however, is that a large number of participants do not work in the Korean Theater of Operations on a daily basis. Instead, the command post exercise relies on the "corporate knowledge" brought by the drilling Reservists and civilian personnel of the 599th Transportation Group based at Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii.

The 599th team comprised of 15 service-members--five Army Individual Mobilization Augmentees and four unit members from Naval Reserve Unit 320, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, as well as six Department of the Army Civilians--carries out the SDDC functions. Their role is to man the Combined Seaport Coordination Center and work the seaport reception command and control hub, located at Pier 8--the home of the 837th Transportation Battalion "Kargo Kings"--a 599th asset.

With that much homegrown knowledge, it's easy for the SDDC players to quickly move into action. Leading the 599th team was Army Reserve Col. William Landon, who has served in the Korean Theater as a drilling Reservist for more than 11 years. Landon performed as the U.S. co-chairman and worked with his ROK counterpart and the Combined Transortation Movement Center to ensure mission tasks were carried out and that commanders were supported.

Probably the most important role Landon took part as was ensuring all theater participants were fully educated and trained on their mission responsibilities. His years of experience make him an RSOI expert, but he's also excited to teach others. "I'm continuously amazed by the talent of the people who come here and learn from exercise to exercise," he said. "As they progressed, this talented group of people raised the bar for future exercises."

According to 599th forward planner Mark Rice, getting the best combination of people involved in RSOI ensures a valuable learning experience. "The right mix of personnel skill sets have to be assembled to ultimately meet the bottom-line task of augmenting the Theater Operations with a capable seaport management team able to conduct around-the-clock operations," he said.

And, according to Landon, this year's team now has the right "War Fighting Focus." This exercise prepares people through the execution, evaluation and improvement of combined and joint coordination, procedures, plans and systems necessary for the handling of surface deployment contingency operations by the Combined Forces Command on the Korean peninsula.

Whew! That's a mouth full.

But, Rice said, "The main focus of this exercise is the receiving of cargo at a designated or diverted seaport of debarkation. However, more critical is the ability of theater participants to react accordingly to maintain the expedient onward movement of the equipment to the war fighter."

Army Reserve Maj. Susan Henderson, who worked as the transportation liaison officer, said she was amazed by the cooperation and teamwork used to get the job done.

"This was my first experience working collaboratively with a U.S. ally in a combined exercise," said Henderson. "I witnessed an incredible demonstration by both sides of projecting the force, de-conflicting movement priorities, and responding to simulated wartime scenarios seamlessly, while simultaneously bridging language and cultural gaps."

According to SK1 Jaime Reyes, "Everybody participated with their very best knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm."

"The knowledge and experience I've obtained from this exercise has been extremely helpful," agreed Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Emphraim Lee. "Learning to overcome cultural and language barriers ensures that even during conflict, sea lanes stay open--it's vital to every nation's survival, and has been proved time and time again in history."

Plans are already in motion for RSOI '06, where once again the Reserve and civilian power of the 599th will ensure the combat readiness of the Korean Theater of Operations.

Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Philip Coyle, Port Operations Officer 599th Transportation Terminal Group