THE SPO-TIMES
V o l um e 1 , I s s ue 2 J une 2 0 1 2
I nt er na l n ew sl et t er f or o ur s er vi ce me m ber s a n d f a m il i e s. . . The SPO Times is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Contents of The SPO Times are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, or the Department of the Army. The commanding officer for NTM-A DCOM SPO is Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr. The editorial content of this publication is the responsibility of Capt. Monika Comeaux, DCOM-SPO Public Affairs Officer. Contact information: monika.comeaux@afghan.swa.army.mil, DSN: 318-237-0470, Cell: 070-681-8709.
Logisticians hold training conference at Eggers
TABEL OF CONTENTS:
Story by Capt. Monika Comeaux, DCOM-SPO PAO CAMP EGGERS, KABUL, Afghanistan – Over 70 coalition forces and contracted logistics trainers came together for a conference June 19, 2012, to share information about ongoing training programs and discuss the way ahead in training logisticians in the Afghan National Security Forces. The conference was organized by the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) Deputy Commander of Supporting Operations (DCOM-SPO) Operations Section (J3) and some of the participants actually used video teleconferencing to provide their input.
P.1, 6 & 7: Logistics trainers hold conference at Eggers P. 2-3: From our leaders P. 4: This month’s featured section: J6 P. 5: Polar Bear run P. 7-8: DCOM SPO changes of command P. 9: Featured coalition partner
See TRAINING CONFERENCE on p. 7 – 8
Col. Willie Rios (roughly center), NTM-A DCOM-SPO chief of operations speaks to a logistics training conference on Camp Eggers, Kabul, June 19. Over 70 contractors, US military personnel, as well as German, Australian, French, Canadian and British coalition force logistics experts, attended the conference.
Photo by MC3 Eric Lockwood, NTM-A PAO 1
P. 10: Out and about
From our leadership Service members, Families and Friends of our deployed troops from DCOM-SPO, I want to start off by thanking you for your continued support. Doing things on your own is not easy, whether you are deployed or back home at your respective locations. I am happy to report that everyone is doing great. As I have visited each region at least twice and some three times; all of our personnel are doing really well and their morale is high. We constantly praise them for the great work and long hours they put in, as they teach and mentor the Afghan Police and Army on how to use logistical systems, building enduring institutional capabilities. Our service members mentor Afghan Police and Army Soldiers throughout the whole command from the tactical to strategic level. This is not an everyday mission that any field exercise or military school can prepare you for. Several of our troops work in job positions they have never worked before and I can confidently say that they are up for the challenge! For many, working as a coach or mentor is a new and exciting experience. I also want you to understand, that we have personnel rotating in and out in all of the regional support commands underneath us as well as in our DCOM SPO headquarters, which creates a continuously changing work environment for all. For some, this is the first time they get to work in a multinational and multiservice environment, and they are learning new things from the troops to their left or their right every day. Oftentimes, they pick up new expressions as well, especially working with our Australian or British counterparts. If the U.S. service members return home calling everyone ‘mate,’ please don’t take offense, it is just the multinational environment rubbing off on them! With all the great work being done, one of my primary concerns is Soldier care or I should say service member care. I strongly believe the mission will get done without a doubt. We express the need for proper diet, rest, physical training and plenty of family communication. As a family "Us 13ESC/DCOM-SPO Team" in combat, I expect leaders to be looking at each other daily to confirm that we are on point. Communication is the key in ensuring everyone’s well-being. Once again, I am honored to be here serving with the men and women of the 13th ESC, fellow U.S Soldiers, Marines, members of the Air Force and the Navy as well as our coalition partners from 38 troop contributing nations and our Afghan counterparts. As we continue our mission I want you all to know that it is the folks back home who are the reason we can operate at this level of professionalism. Happy 4th of July for those of you who celebrate it! Please save us some barbecue! CSM Terry Parham, DCOM SPO CSM/13th ESC CSM 2
DCOM-SPO/13th ESC To the team at Ft. Hood, All is well in Kabul and with the 13th ESC Soldiers across Afghanistan. As you enjoy the 4th of July, know that your deployed service member is making a difference for Afghanistan and their contributions are having an impact on the abilities of the Afghan National Security Forces’ abilities to secure their country in the face of insurgents. The summer is definitely here for us. The cool evenings and raining days have gone the way of the snow on the tops of the mountains. During our recent visits to Regional Command South, at Kandahar, we enjoyed some temperatures over 100 degrees. Of course, you are all experiencing these warm temperatures too. We are in the Change of Command Season. Under the 13th ESC, in its role as the Deputy Commander for Support Operations, we have six regional support commands. Each assigned a COL/O6 commander. Our first changed on June 5th and our final will change on July 10th. Although none of these officers are assigned to the 13th ESC, they each play a key role in the execution of our mission here and the bigger mission of NATO Training Mission- Afghanistan (NTM-A). They also are the commanders for all of our 13th ESC Soldiers who are pushed out to the regions to perform critical advise and assist missions. As CSM Parham and I have made the rounds for these changes of command, we been able to see most of our Soldiers and talk with them about their missions. It is really great to see them interacting with the Afghans and helping them develop the skills they need to perform their jobs supporting the army and the police forces. I hope that you are able to see the pictures that are being posted on the FACEBOOK Page at https://www.facebook.com/13ESC. Many capture your deployed Soldiers and highlight this great work. I want to remind everyone that our FRG Telecons occur monthly on the third Tuesday. You can contact the headquarters for the details on how to call in from home and listen and ask questions. My goal is to provide you the information you want- if you can provide us questions or specific areas of interest I can have the other members of the staff come in and give you updates. Enjoy the Holidays, we will actually get to celebrate two celebrations. First Canada Day, similar to our Independence Day is 1 July and than our 4th of July. For Canada, it’s a pancake breakfast with maple syrup and for the 4th, we'll have BBQ and all the fixins! Phantom Support, Army Strong! BG Clark LeMasters, DCOM-SPO/13th ESC Commander 3
FEATURED SECTION: J6/NETWORK OPERATIONS
Army Support Command Project Sign Off The Army Support Command is one of many projects completed and signed off by the networks expansion team. DCOM-SPO and the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) communications network expansion team support the ANSF networks by:
Maj. Reginald Satterwhite shakes hands with the G6 for Army Support Command at the sign off of their network installation. Courtesy Photo
Gathering and validating requirement
Submitting a Performance Work Statement (PWS)
Acquiring approval for funding
Assisting with bidding vendors’ site surveys
Reviewing vendor proposals for technical solutions
Overall project management
Final sign off at project completion
Site Survey-Camp Shaheen SGT Michael Villarreal travels to Northern Afghanistan to assist the technical survey team for network requirements for Camp Shaheen – home of the 209th Afghan National Army Corps, 3rd Brigade and 5th Commando Kandak. Requirements gathering included a collaboration with the Deputy G6, G6 mentors and SETA team and inspecting all buildings .
Sgt. Michael Villarreal assists with requirements gathering for the 209th Afghan National Army Headquarters along with deputy G6, mentors and SETA team. Courtesy Photo
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P age 5
Select members of NATO Training Mission Afghanistan Deputy Command for Support pose for a photo on June 24 at Camp Eggers minutes before they started the 5-km Polar Bear run. Photo by Capt. Monika Comeaux, DCOM-SPO/NTM-A PAO
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TRAINING CONFERENCE “It was identified some months ago that we have a number of organizations, both contracted and military, working in Afghanistan, and teaching logistics and maintenance to the ANSF, said Royal Australian Air Force SQN LDR Dean Bruce, the commander of the Mobile Training Team under the J3 of DCOM SPO . “The training that everybody is doing is similar but it is different. We needed the conference to get everybody together in one room, to identify the training that everyone was doing, and in a short period of time try put together a consolidated plan for training for the ANSF.” During his opening remarks, Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr., DCOM-SPO, identified the same issue. “What I continually bump into is finding out that somebody else is out here doing training in the area of logistics. With my task being to build logistics capacity in the ANSF I think it is absolutely critical that we get all the right people in the room to kind of figure out where all these excellences are at, and make sure they are doing what we want them to do.” All invitees who currently provide contracted logistics training for the ANSF gave a brief rundown on their services and training programs. The briefs prompted a lot of questions and remarks from both coalition partners and contracted trainers. As the briefs went on, similarities amongst the programs became clear. Some companies create training records for the ANSF partners and refer to them as “job handbooks” or “job books.” They essentially serve the same purpose: docu-
US Army Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr. (roughly center), NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan deputy commander of support operations and commander of the 13 th Expeditionary Sustainment Command at Fort Hood, Texas, speaks to a logistics training conference on Camp Eggers in Kabul, June 19. Over 70 contractors, US military personnel, as well as German, Australian, French, Canadian and British coalition force logistics experts attended the conference. Photo by MC3 Eric Lockwood, NTM-A PAO
ment trained tasks and create permanent records of the individual’s level of training, which records are then shared with the individual’s unit. Several contractors are also maintaining unclassified online portals with all of their training materials. “Everyone is very busy, but the opportunity to hear what is working in other efforts is something for which you must create time,” said Matt Giusto, the Afghanistan country manager for Raytheon’s Warrior Training Alliance. “Collectively, we need to review and reassess what we are doing to ensure it meets the ever-changing needs of our most important customer: the ANSF.” Giusto also stated that he has already worked with all conference participants “upstream or downstream” corresponding electronically and it was great to see the faces that matched the names that came across emails in the past. “I think there are a lot of 6
people out there doing great work,” said LeMasters. However, there needs to be standardization across the board and Afghan National Army Training and Education Command (AFTEC) or the Combat Sustainment Support School under the logistics mentorship of the German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group (GAFTAG) in Kabul should review, approve and certify all training programs and materials before they are implemented, he said. “Together we need to find out holistically what we are training,” said Col. Willie Rios, chief of operations under DCOM-SPO. “Two or three years from now, we are not going to have these contract mechanisms in place… we need to look at what we are doing, modify, change, upgrade the programs of instruction (POIs) and then develop those for the next line of forces that come in here to do the training.”
Bruce, who with his fistful of a crew will analyze all contractprovided training and do a crosswalk of tasks and POIs, expects great improvements from synchronizing efforts. “What we need to see is everybody working together, does not matter whether Australian, Canadian, French, German, we are a coalition here to make the life better for the Afghan people and the government… logistics is a force multiplier, without logistics we don’t have food or ammunition,” he said.
All providing input agreed that the conference was a good idea. “We definitely appreciate attendance from the leaders downrange (outlying RSCs) because they were able to highlight some of the challenges we face at each location. Their advice and experience with regard to training progress and documentation, ANSF recordkeeping, lesson-plan standardization, Camp or Forward Operating Base (FOB) life support and force protection is essential,” said Giusto. Rios plans to have the con-
ference on a regular basis and will continue to include all major logistics training stakeholders involved with the ANSF. Rios also outlined a way ahead: “I would hope that we will have a training strategy, revision on training contracts and also something at the institutional level, the GAFTAG and ANATEC, to make sure they are comfortable with the training program that we have done, because at the end of the day, they are the ones who are going to validate the Afghans progress…”
Regional Support Command-South welcomes new commander LEFT: Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters (left) deputy commander of support operations for NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, hands the unit colors for Regional Support Command-South to Col. Christopher Reed (left center), incoming commander, as Col. Richard "Flip” Wilson, (right center) outgoing commander and Sgt. Maj. Timothy Alston (right), senior enlisted advisor stand in the diamond formation with them. BOTTOM LEFT: The incoming commander of Regional Support Command-South, Col. Christopher Reed, gives a speech during his change of command ceremony June 25 at Kandahar Air Base NATO Sports Hall. Reed thanked the outgoing commander and his team for bringing him on board and getting him prepared. He cited a former vice chief of staff of the Army, stating that as a new guy, one should keep his remarks short about the great things one wants to do, “because you don’t know anything, and the smartest guy in the unit just waked off the field.” However, Reed did share his motif for taking this command.“I asked to return to Afghanistan because I have seen first-hand, the bravery of the Afghan soldiers, police and people,” he said. “As a Soldier, I serve the United States of America, but I pledge to you, that I also serve Afghanistan,” he said.
Photos by Capt. Monika Comeaux, DCOM SPO/NTMA PAO
BOTTOM RIGHT: Afghan National Police Brig. Gen. Nasrullah "Zarifi," (left) the commander of the Afghan Police Regional Training CenterKandahar and Lt. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger (right), the commander of Combined Security Transition Command and NATO Training Mission Afghanistan assists Col. Richard "Flip" Wilson (center), the outgoing commander of Regional Support Command-South in trying on Zarifi's going away present of a traditional Afghan outfit on June 25, minutes before Wilson's change of command ceremony. 7
Regional Support CommandSouthwest Change of Command
LEFT: U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr., the deputy commander support operations, NATO Training Mission Afghanistan, passes the Regional Support Command Southwest colors to U.S. Marine Corps Col. Scott Arnold, the commander of RSC-SW, NTM-A, during the RSC-SW, NTM-A change of command at Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, June 5, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps Col. Scott Arnold assumed command from U.S. Army Col. Matt Redding during the ceremony. "Last year when Redding took command the Regional Military Training Center Southwest had two Recruit Basic Warrior Training classes on going, the course instructors did not do any independent training,” said DCOM-SPO, Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr. "The RMTC is now running nine courses and is slated for transition in February 2013.” Photo by Bill Putnam, RSC –SW PAO
RIGHT: U.S. Army Col. Ricky J. Nussio, outgoing commander of Regional Support Command-East, thanks everyone for their hard work and support moments after he received three different awards from Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr, the deputy commander support operations, NATO Training Mission Afghanistan June 27 at Bagram Air Base. BELLOW LEFT: Incoming commander U.S. Army Col. Everett D. Knapp, hands the Regional Support Command-East colors to his sergeant major during his change of command ceremony June 27 at Bagram Air Base as the outgoing commander, U.S. Army Col. Ricky J. Nussio and Deputy Commander for Support Operations Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr. stand in the diamond formation with him. BELLOW RIGHT: The 1st. Infantry Division Band provides music for the Regional Support Command – East change of command ceremony June 27 at Bagram Air Base. Photos by Capt. Monika Comeaux, DCOM SPO/NTM-A PAO
Regional Support Command-East Change of Command
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JUNE’S FEATURED C OA L I T I O N PA R T N E R T I M OT H Y P . G R I M L E Y Rank: Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy Branch: Logistics (Submarines) Unit: DCOM-SPO J5 Where are you from back home? Plymouth, England (UK). What is your exact position here in DCOM SPO? Future Operations Logistics Planner, focussing on the development of the Afghan National Police In layman's terms, what do you do on a day to day basis? Looking at the future mission with regard to timescale and handover to Afghan lead. Coordinating development of future logistics concepts on maintenance, distribution and supply. Currently the lead on the development of the ANP National Logistics Centre (Wardak), as well as a number of programmes to transition logistics to the Afghan lead. How long have you been in your service? 8 1/2yrs How long have you been in Afghanistan? 3 Feb 12. My previous job was the Logistics Officer(Submarines) in HM Naval Base Devonport. What is your favourite sport? Rugby and Cricket. Fortunately with our SGM originally from Trinidad it was pleasing to see England beat the West Indies in Jun at cricket, and our DCO from Australia it was great that England beat Australia in a one day international (cricket)- unfortunately I shared an office with a USAF Lt from Tonga who beat England at the Rugby 7s. Fortunately we do not have any Italians in the HQs, as they beat England in the Euro Cup (Soccer). With the Olympics this year in London, I will be watching on the AF Network- cheering on Great Britain. Are there any funny/interesting experiences that you would like to share about your experience working in Afghanistan and working with other nations? In defence diplomacy they say the trinity of conversations to avoid is Religion, Politics and Money. What I cannot avoid is the Afghan love of their history, especially where the British were involved. Still at least we have a love of tea in common, which is often a good talking point, and I have even had the opportunity to share some English Tea with some of our Afghan leaders. It is clear that the Afghans are very proud of their history, especially of the days of the British era in Afghanistan. However I have been pleasantly surprised with how welcoming all the afghans have been, and open about talking about their history. Later in August the Afghan people celebrate their independence from the British, and I will be toasting their health and safe future. A phrase coined by Sir Winston Churchill was the 'Special Relationship' shared between the US and UK. Whilst I cannot talk for the politicians there is a clear connection with how the Brits and US conduct their business in joint operations, the standards that are expected and sense of professional and personal pride. We have enjoyed a couple of 'cross-over' film nights such as Austin Powers followed by Team America. Is there anything you would like to add/highlight in this short intro piece? The hardest aspect is coined in the phrase that England and America are two countries divided by a common language. I cannot imagine how our non-English speaking allies cope when I find a number of phrases completely foreign. That said we share our humour (spelt with a 'u') and experiences and I can say it is an absolute pleasure to work for a very experienced US Army Colonel. Finally, I was touched by the support of all the coalition troops on hearing of British fatalities here, and I received a number of personal best wishes during the Queen's Jubilee celebration this year. Which leaves me to wish all Americans, especially the colleagues here in DCOM-SPO, their families and friends a very happy 4th of July. Any last words of wisdom? You better let them do their things imperfectly themselves than you yourself do it perfectly for them, because it’s their country ....Your time is short. T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) 1988-1935, British Army DISCLAIMER: Lieutenant Commander Timothy P. Grimley insisted on using British spelling on words in this feature 9
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