More effort at fort means less work at port.If the cardinal rule of port efficiency is to move each piece of equipment only once, then the cardinal sin might be sending equipment to the port with poor documentation. That's because incomplete or incorrect documentation results in frustrated cargo Any shipment of supplies and/or equipment which, while en route to destination, is stopped prior to receipt and for which further disposition instructions must be obtained. , slower operations, and much more time and effort spent clearing the port. Improving documentation and resolving other deployment issues at the fort is one way that the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command is working to smooth the upcoming deployment of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), said Brig Brig, town, Switzerland Brig (brēk), Fr. Brigue, town, Valais canton, S Switzerland, on the Rhône River, at the north entrance of the Simplon Tunnel. . Gen. Maynard "Sandy" Sanders, deputy commanding general for mobilization. The historic division will be deploying in the fall from Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee and is home to the 101st Airborne Division. The fort is named in honor of BG William Bowen Campbell, the last Whig Governor of Tennessee. , Ky., for its second rotation to Iraq. To kick-start the planning process, SDDC SDDC Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (formerly Military Traffic Management Command) SDDC Single Data Device Correction fielded Task Force Bastogne, a small group of deployment command-and-control experts whose mission is to coordinate and oversee the deployment. "This is how the commanding general, Maj. Gen. Charles Fletcher, envisioned using a task force arrangement to support 'major muscle moves,'" said Sanders. "Division commanders need to know we'll get you there on time, on target, so your guys don't have to worry about where their gear is." The Task Force is not in the port operations business. Instead its focus is more strategic, said task force commander Col. Pete Lennon. "We're essentially a bridge over any action or item that would impact multiple nodes in the deployment process in (the continental United States United States territory, including the adjacent territorial waters, located within North America between Canada and Mexico. Also called CONUS. )," he said. "We also serve as a bridge to the receiving end to assist with issues and problems when the equipment arrives in Kuwait." The group is building on recent lessons learned by SDDC's first deployment Task Force, which took its name from its customer, the 3rd Infantry Division "Rock of the Marne." The Task Force deployed the 3rd ID to Iraq from Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a census-designated place and U.S. Army post primarily in Liberty County, Georgia, but also occupying significant portions of Bryan County, Georgia. The population was 11,205 at the 2000 census. , Ga., this winter. Lennon said Task Force Marne success hinged on advance planning and establishing better communication among key players in the operation, including division planners and logisticians, installation transportation officers, SDDC subordinate units, the Navy's Military Sealift Command A major command of the US Navy, and the US Transportation Command's component command responsible for designated common-user sealift transportation services to deploy, employ, sustain, and redeploy US forces on a global basis. Also called MSC. See also transportation component command. , the U.S. Coast Guard, industry partners and others. Coordination for the 101st move began in earnest May 25-26 in Jacksonville with an initial planning conference. Advance planning enables SDDC to deploy equipment in force packages. The force package concept maintains unit integrity and facilitates onward movement for the unit in theater, Lennon said. "Moving equipment in force packages allows a unit to spend more time training and less time worrying about cargo, he said. "Our goal is to make transportation transparent to the unit." To sustain such a smooth operation, constant communication is important and information accuracy is paramount from start to finish, he said. The 1394th Deployment Support Battalion will be at the installation ensuring proper labeling and documentation of equipment. To improve the communication between the fort and port, a member of the battalion will also serve as a liaison officer at the port. Daily situation reports and vessel preload preload /pre·load/ (pre´lod) the mechanical state of the heart at the end of diastole, the magnitude of the maximal (end-diastolic) ventricular volume or the end-diastolic pressure stretching the ventricles. meetings will ensure accurate information is collected and disseminated from the port to the unit. Since the initial planning meeting, the division transportation office has been in constant contact, Lennon said, helping prioritize equipment and units for transport and resolving issues. Mike Bowers Michael Joseph Bowers was the long-serving Attorney General of Georgia before switching parties and mounting an unsuccessful campaign for Governor. He now practices law with Balch & Bingham. , Fort Campbell's installation transportation officer, said he's already seeing an improvement in the standard and level of service the division is receiving. "I believe we've made real money because we're farther ahead than we've ever been on one of these moves," he said. "I'm sure there will still be some issues, but they will be smaller, and we'll be better able to address them because of the relationships we've developed with everyone in advance." Patti Bielling, Public Affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. Specialist SDDC Operations Center The facility or location on an installation, base, or facility used by the commander to command, control, and coordinate all crisis activities. See also base defense operations center; command center. |
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