Mlfww7 6 final

Deployed Synchronizer Colonel Mark A. Paget Commander 401st Army Field Support Brigade

2013

U.S. army sustainment command

u.s. army sustainment command

Deployed Synchronizer

Q& A

Sustaining and Maintaining Logistics Materiel Movements in Afghanistan Colonel Mark A. Paget Commander 401st Army Field Support Brigade

Colonel Mark A. Paget assumed command of the 401st Army Field Support Brigade headquartered in Afghanistan in September 2012, where he commands Army Materiel Command’s face to the field consisting of more than 50,000 soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and contractors executing missions across the Combined Joint Operations Area-Afghanistan.

Paget enlisted in the Army in 1984. After One Station Unit Training at Fort Bliss, he served in the Federal Republic of Germany at Kitzingen with the 3rd Infantry Division as a Stinger gunner and team chief. He then attended Arizona State University, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Regular Army as an ROTC distinguished military graduate.

Paget served as a platoon leader in the 2nd Transportation Company during Desert Shield/Storm and eventually became company commander for the unit in Friedberg, Germany. He then served an unaccompanied tour in Kuwait as the transportation officer for U.S. Army Central Training and Security Assistance. In 1994, he returned to Germany and served with the 27th Movement Control Battalion (MCB), deploying to Hungary and established the rail movement operations center with the Ministry of Defense in Budapest for Operation Enduring Freedom. Paget subsequently assumed command of the 515th Transportation Company at Slavonski Brod, Croatia in support of IFOR and redeployed with the company to Mannheim in December 1996. Following company command, he served with the 39th MCB as commander for Movement Control Team Mannheim.

He returned home to his native California in 1998 and served as the Newport Beach Recruiting Company commander. After the Army Logistics Executive Course and Command and General Staff College, Paget reported for duty with the 1st Corps Support Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., and served as assault command post support operations officer. This was followed by deployment to OIF II as the 7th Transportation Battalion executive officer at Balad, Iraq, in 2004. After deployment, he served as an exchange officer in England with the Defence Transport and Movements Agency from 2005-2007. Immediately upon return to the United States, he assumed command of the 180th Transportation Battalion at Fort Hood. He then became deputy commander for the 15th Sustainment Brigade and deployed to Q-West, Iraq from 2009-2010. Paget then moved to Washington, D.C., in order to attend the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and www.MLF-kmi.com

subsequently served in a joint assignment with the Navy’s Military Sealift Command where he became the director, N-3/5 (Operations and Plans).

Paget is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, Florida Institute of Technology, and National Defense University with M.S. degrees in logistics management and national resource strategy.

His decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with Silver Oak Leaf Cluster, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, the Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the Army Global War on Terror Expeditionary and Service Medals, as well as the NATO Medal, both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait Liberation Medals, and the Army Parachutist Badge.

Q: What are the primary missions you are assigned while here in theater?

U.S. Army Sustainment Command | MLF 7.6 | 1

United States Army sustainment command

COmmand Staff

Maj. Gen. John Wharton Commanding General

CSM James Spencer Command Sergeant Major

Sandra Schneider G1, Human Resources

Col. Regina Draper G2, Intelligence

2013

Distribution Management Center

401st Army Field Support Brigade

402nd Army Field Support Brigade

403rd Army Field Support Brigade

Col. Victor Harmon

Col. Mark Paget

Col. John Kuenzli

Col. Michael Lopez

CSM Kevin Jones

CSM Charlie Chavez

CSM Nathaniel Bartee

CSM Dexter Speights

Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.

Bagram, Afghanistan

Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Camp Henry, Korea

D. Scott Welker Brig. Gen. Duane Gamble Deputy to the Commander Deputy Commanding General

Kathryn Szymanski Chief Counsel

Carl Cartwright Field Support

Matthew Sannito LOGCAP

Col. Scott Lofreddo Chief of Staff

Col. Robin Moralez G3, Operations

Jim Coffman G4, Logistics

Col. Benjamin Nutt G5, Strategy and Concepts

Norm Trier G6, Information Technology

Dave McKillip G7, Exercises

Jerry DeLaCruz G8, Resource Management

404th Army Field Support Brigade

405th Army Field Support Brigade

406th Army Field Support Brigade

407th Army Field Support Brigade

ASC Army Reserve Element

LOGCAP Support Unit Fort Belvoir, Va.

Col. Leafaina Yahn

Col. Christopher Roscoe

Col. David Wilson

Col. Steve Allen

Col. Vincent Barker

Col. Alex Fink

CSM Terry Burton

CSM Bryan Kroontje

CSM Vance Snider

CSM Nathaniel Richardson

CSM Vernon Perry

Joint Base LewisMcChord, Wash.

Kaiserslautern, Germany

Fort Bragg, N.C.

Fort Hood, Texas

Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.

u.s. army sustainment command At the same time during the process, 401st Army Field Support Brigade personnel are preparing and verifying shipping instructions to CONUS depots with Army Materiel Command subordinate commands and coordinating with the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command [SDDC] for carrier pick-up.

Finally, we synchronize the fielding actions of the program managers and the sustainment of their fielded systems. We do this by providing mission command for over 46,000 military, DoD civilian and contract personnel at 38 locations across Afghanistan.

In addition to what we do in theater, we also provide reachback to ASC and its capabilities as the Army’s lead materiel integrator, providing us with guidance on disposition of equipment, maintenance and property book issues as well as base support.

This reachback also connects us, through ASC, with the full range of the Army Materiel The 401st Army Field Support Brigade is responsible for all theater property equipment, which is roughly 20,000 pieces of rolling stock Command’s logistics capabilities. By doing and 413,000 pieces of non-rolling stock equipment valued at $16.7 billion. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army] this we bridge the national sustainment base with the operational commanders.

Our brigade also manages the Logistics Civil Augmentation A: The 401st Army Field Support Brigade, located at Bagram Air Program, or LOGCAP, which fills the gap in lieu of using combat Base, Afghanistan, is a subordinate brigade to the U.S. Army Sustainsupport units for base support and services to the warfighter. ment Command, whose mission is to sustain Army and joint forces Through the program, we build bases and take them down, we around the world in support of combatant commanders. We are one provide dining facilities, laundry, warehousing, transportation, of seven regionally aligned field support brigades located around the base maintenance, emergency services, and morale, welfare world to support units within the Central Command [CENTCOM] and recreation for Army, joint and allied forces in theater. This area of responsibility, specifically the U.S. forces in Afghanistan provides us with the flexibility to expand or contract services as and coalition forces. The 401st provides the strategic link from the needed and frees our military to perform their combat mission. national industrial base to the tactical commander in the field.

We do this as the Army’s executing agent with Title 10 responOur primary missions in theater are field level sustainment— sibilities. consisting of maintenance, supply, base support and distribution services—property accountability, retrograde operations and Q: How does the balance look between inbound supplies and synchronization of PMs and their programs in support of the equipment to maintain operations versus outbound retrograding warfighter. We provide command and control for over 45,000 materiel? servicemembers, Department of Defense civilians, and contractors across the Combined Joint Operations Area-Afghanistan [CJOA-A] A: We continue to reduce the inbound flow of supplies and mateand serve as AMC’s face to the field for support to the Army, joint rial as forces redeploy and requirements shrink. The scale has and coalition forces. First, we sustain combat operations by equipdefinitely shifted in favor of retrograde as outbound cargo now ping and uparming units rotating into and out of Afghanistan, exceeds inbound. provide basic life support and services, and maintain an incredWe will see a large reduction in our Joint Program Officeible 95 percent equipment readiness rate for intensively managed MRAP footprint this summer. At the same time, we are culling items across the CJOA-A. the fleet to retain only the best equipment and divesting of the Second, we are responsible for all theater property equipremaining materiel in accordance with DA guidance through the ment, which is roughly 20,000 pieces of rolling stock and 413, Defense Logistics Agency Disposal Services right here in Afghani000 pieces of non-rolling stock equipment valued at $16.7 billion. stan.

Third, we operate eight retrograde property assistance team Along the same line of effort, we are fielding Capability Set [RPAT] sites where we relieve units of accountability and prepare 13 [CS-13], a package of integrated communication capability to equipment for transportation to the continental U.S. via land, deliver voice and data throughout a brigade combat team. CS-13 sea and air. This is a labor-intensive process as each vehicle goes represents the last big program we have underway and the high through equipment de-install stations, four ammo abatement water mark for new programs on the battlefield. From here on inspections, and thorough cleanings in order to pass customs out, all the program executive offices/program managers have inspections.

4 | MLF 7.6 | U.S. Army Sustainment Command

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u.s. army sustainment command their marching orders and are on a steady drawdown glide path aimed at reducing excess and redundancy. All of this ensures that we maintain the highest readiness possible in theater as well as filling requirements with the equipment in good condition at home base.

We have the best equipped force anywhere in the world right here in Afghanistan. Now, as we drawdown in a fiscally constrained environment, it is time to make tough choices on sustaining only those enduring capabilities required to maintain an advantage across the spectrum of conflict.

Q: Do you have much interaction with logisticians from the other services? How about DLA? A: Yes, I interact with logisticians from other services on a weekly, if not daily, basis as we participate in a number of boards and working groups.

We have great partnerships with the logistics organization from all services, to include the U.S. Transportation Command, Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, the Defense Logistics Agency, and CENTCOM. I have a DLA senior command representative embedded on my special staff and we see each other on a daily basis. At the tactical level, my logistics task force commanders work closely with DLA and Defense Contract Management Agency to synchronize the enterprise and ensure unity of effort. Hand in hand with these two organizations, we are working to retrograde more than a billion dollars’ worth of equipment from Afghanistan and turn it into the hands of the U.S. Army and our allies based on Department of the Army priorities.

My AFSB, as an AMC organization, is responsible for the synchronization and integration of support to the acquisition, logistics and technology [ALT] mission and for coordination of follow-on AMC support to PEO/PM requirements in the CJOA-A. In collaboration with the Director, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology forward operations, we coordinate, synchronize and integrate ALT planning and execution conducted by over 40 PEO/PMs, Army Test and Evaluation Command, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, and the Rapid Equipping Force within the CJOA-A in order to ensure these actions are nested within theater operational plans and priorities for material fielding, sustainment support and science and technology insertion.

Q: Do you have any responsibilities as far as supporting coalition partners or the Afghan military?

A: The 401st AFSB has played a key role in supporting foreign military sales transfers to the Afghan military. Most recently, Army Field Support Battalion-Bagram issued 49 M1114 vehicles to the Afghan National Army under a foreign military sales case. The 49 vehicles were the last of more than 950 vehicles that were involved in the program that lasted about 2.5 years. Before the vehicles were turned over to the ANA, they were completely checked and restored to a fully mission capable status at Bagram and Camp Lindsey near Kandahar. In some cases the vehicle was practically rebuilt from the ground up while other vehicles required only minor repair and refurbishment.

6 | MLF 7.6 | U.S. Army Sustainment Command

For approximately one year, we conducted a maintenance mentorship program in which Afghan soldiers worked alongside 401st mechanics to learn more about the vehicles and improve their proficiency in maintaining them. They worked on the very vehicles that were turned over to the ANA under the sales case.

Q: How challenging is property accountability in Afghanistan?

A: Property accountability is tough in Afghanistan, due to the number of rotational units entering and leaving theater, but getting better as the drawdown proceeds on schedule.

As the number of small combat outposts and tactical bases served by air decreases, we are in a better position to sustain support through a hub and spoke network. Property accountability is all about standards and discipline at the unit level and the majority of tactical units get it right with assistance from our theater property book teams.

Everyone recognizes property accountability was lost during the surge, but we continue working to re-establish accountability for large and small items every day. We conducted causative research and instituted an amnesty program to accept any piece of equipment found on installation—FOI—with no questions asked.

It has been a huge success through the dedicated and persistent efforts of our investigating officers and property specialists.

We have taken the lessons learned from our experiences in Iraq and are instituting those lessons, where applicable, in Afghanistan.

As a result of all of our efforts, property accountability has greatly improved.

Q: The Army Sustainment Commands AFSBs have responsibility for Directorates of Logistics [DOLs] operations at 73 posts, camps and stations across the continental United States. Does the 401st AFSB in Afghanistan have responsibility for DOLs across Afghanistan?

A: Not yet, but we are moving in that direction and will be able to make the transition if there is an enduring presence requiring those functions beyond 2014. We are currently working with the Bagram Garrison to consolidate maintenance activities and assume DOL responsibilities.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

A: Our Army must be manned, equipped and trained to able to deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars decisively, and redeploy. I am honored and proud to support the 401st AFSB, ASC and AMC in their mission to support CENTCOM operations.

The 401st began as a unit responsible for war reserve stocks within the Persian Gulf region. In October 2001 it assumed responsibility to support U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. The unit continued to support combat operations from Qatar and Kuwait, and in 2006 moved to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.

We maintain readiness for the Army and joint forces to provide the best materiel which our nation has to offer in a very austere environment.

We will continue to support joint forces after combat forces have withdrawn, such as we have been doing with the U.S. Department of State in Iraq. O www.MLF-kmi.com