Spotlight on the 832nd Transportation Battalion: highlighting SDDC'S transportation battalions around the world.

I recently traveled to Jacksonville, Fla., to spend some time with the Soldiers and civilians of the 832nd Transportation Battalion. While there, I sat down with Lt. Col. Manuel Meno, the battalion's commander, to get his thoughts on the 832nd's mission and place within SDDC.

Translog: How many employees do you have and what types of jobs do they do?

Lt. Col. Meno: We have 37 civilians and eight Soldiers within the 832nd, which includes Jacksonville, Fla., the Cape Canaveral Detachment and the Puerto Rico Detachment. The facet of jobs will primarily fall into two main categories: terminal operations and traffic management.

Terminal operations is simply the management, execution and supervision of receiving a vessel for a discharge or upload. The other category, traffic management, is the documentation and management of cargo, and using the Worldwide Port System (WPS) in the conduct of that function.

Translog: Describe your Areas of Responsibility

Meno: The 832nd is positioned here in Jacksonville, Fla. The AOR that we've been assigned from SDDC is to conduct surface deployment and distribution operations for any unit that is port called to Jacksonville. In addition, we have a geographic responsibility at Cape Canaveral and Puerto Rico.

The Cape Canaveral Detachment provides the same sustainment support to the Navy's Atlantic Underwater Test and Evaluation Command (AUTEC). We support the Air Force at Andros Island with sustainment cargo as well.

Extending into Latin America and the Caribbean, we provide single port management operations support to U.S. Army South (USARSO), which is a component of Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

Translog: What is the 832nd's mission in a nutshell?

Commander: The 832nd's mission, in a nutshell, is to provide surface deployment and distribution support to the Warfighter in the designated AOR.

Translog: How does the 832nd, given that mission, fit into SDDC as a whole?

Meno: The 832nd plays a very integral and vital role to the overall SDDC mission accomplishment. I have described various geographic locations that we are involved in and the way I view the 832nd's contribution to the overall effort is to see each of those geographic locations--the detachment in Puerto Rico, the detachment in Cape Canaveral, the unit in Jacksonville--executing its assigned mission.

We see success by insuring that a unit's cargo, rolling stock and containers are deployed and redeployed, with minimal challenges, on time and at the right location. Total closure for a unit move back to where it started from with all its property is total success.

Translog: How is the 832nd important to the Warfighter?

Meno: The 832nd is important to the Warfighter because it allows them to execute their military power at the right time and place where needed. By allowing us to execute our single port management operations, we want to ensure that there are no bottlenecks during the deployment process, and the Warfighter is in country when needed with the combat power to prosecute tactical operations.

Translog: What is your personal command philosophy?

Meno: My personal command philosophy is to serve the customers in the best manner possible while really taking care of our people. This equates to accomplishing our mission. That's the bottom line of my philosophy: to give every civilian employee and military member the latitude and the opportunity to excel, to be recognized, and to ensure that they are growing within their jobs.

My job is to teach, coach and mentor, and provide the vision of the battalion. I would like my employees and my Soldiers to grow within themselves--to really understand their job here--and to be fulfilled in terms of saying that they've learned something new at the 832nd and can move on to a different assignment and provide greater leadership elsewhere.

I really want to ensure that these employees and these Soldiers are learning, are stretching, and are being recognized for their effort. Each and every one of them is important, and they are all different, but collectively our efforts will allow us to succeed.

Translog: What is unique about the 832nd?

Meno: The people and then the mission. These are inseparable. The people assigned to the 832nd have really grown and have really stretched, in terms of increasing their skills, experience and knowledge about terminal operations at a battalion.

There are always challenges along the way, but the battalion has somehow managed to make the mission happen and to take care of the people along the way. We have continued to increase our skills and hone our expertise with the current missions that we provide today.

The mission is unique because, of the five CONUS battalions under the 597th Transportation Terminal Group, the 832nd has been assigned a SOUTHCOM mission; meaning that we are responsible for any surface deployment distribution mission that occurs in Central and South America, and in the Caribbean. We greatly embrace that mission and we continue to look at ways to improve our capabilities and to ensure that all the customers in SOUTHCOM are provided the best surface deployment and distribution service possible.

Translog: What is the biggest challenge that the 832nd faces?

Meno: The greatest challenge would be leaning forward to ensure that the conditions for success are set. And that's a tall order. Piecing all the available information and facts together today will allow me to set the battalion for success three to five years out. That will probably be the greatest challenge with diminishing resources, in terms of funding and personnel.

Translog: What is the battalion's greatest accomplishment?

Meno: The greatest accomplishment is growing the skills necessary to conduct our mission across the battalion today. Operating in different locations and completing the recent move from Puerto Rico in 2004, the battalion as a whole has come a long way. Winning the Deployment Excellence Award for FY 05 is testimony of how the skills of everyone have grown. Thus, winning the DEA sets apart this battalion and speaks very well for the caliber of personnel assigned to it.

Translog: What is the one thing you want people to know about the 832nd?

Meno: The 832nd is a team player in the accomplishment of the overall SDDC mission. We are always here to assist our brethren in their mission accomplishment, and they know that they can always call on the 832nd for any assistance that they need.

We possess our own unique challenges and issues, but in the end we always want to ensure that we are here and available to help other battalions. The Port of Jacksonville is a location that is ideal for any operation and we are postured and fully prepared to execute a mission when called upon. Further, we are the subject matter experts when it comes to performing missions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of interviews with the commanders of the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's Transportation Battalions.

Interview and photos by Michelle Cain

SDDC Headquarters, Alexandria