After-action reviews: MTMC Intranet offers operational insights.

The 950th Transportation Co. recently saw a lot of transportation activity. Members of MTMC's Bremerhaven, Germany, unit put almost 1,000 pieces of Kosovo peacekeeping cargo on nine different vessels over a 60-day period.

Maj. Robert Steigerwald, Commander, asked members of his unit to see the mission in an added dimension: Capture the lessons learned for an effective after-action review.

"I try to submit every after-action review comment that I receive" said Steigerwald, "removing any complaints to reveal the valid, salient point of the submission."

There were numerous lessons learned as unit members performed weekend and holiday duty and ensured all U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements were met during the loading sequences which took place between Oct. 15-Dec. 15.

"We make every attempt to collect input as we go along," said Steigerwald, "writing up comments when the issue is fresh in our minds. The entire team provides input, good and bad, and ways of either overcoming an obstacle or implementing a new way of operating."

The 15 lessons learned by Steigerwald's unit, on topics ranging from cargo documentation to railcar loading, are among 150 Joint Unit Lessons Learned that are now available on the MTMC Intranet, under "Lessons Learned."

"We were very excited to get this after-action review and wanted to take action on it," said Capt. Anthony Aquino, former coordinator of the MTMC's Lessons Learned Program. "It cited specific hurdles that the 950th Transportation Co. had to overcome and the ways that they did so. We sent this information in various forms to several different places including U.S. Transportation Command, Center for Army Lessons Learned, and other MTMC commanders."

The lessons learned will be used in other ways as well, said Aquino. MTMC Operations Center action officers such as Capt. Larry Earick and Capt. Jeffrey Mozingo will be briefed on the lessons learned so they can have the information readily available in planning conferences and exercise after-action reviews. The information will also be shared with the U.S. Army Transportation School.

The database was constructed with .the help of Debbie Turner, David Richardson, Steve Lord and Lissa Jordin, said Aquino.

The lessons learned program will expand in the future, said Capt. Steve Riley, the incoming program manager. A keyword search function will soon be functioning on the site.

"We are going to continue to pass Joint Unit Lessons Learned on to agencies outside MTMC and foster improvement in all facets of joint deployment operations," said Riley.

The lessons learned program has the following points of contact for submission: the 597th Transportation Group: Capt. Kari Garner, [phone]; the 598th Transportation Group: Capt. William Peel, DSN [phone]; the 599th Transportation Group: James Staege, [phone]; and all other units: Riley, [phone].