Blog Posts tagged with "Logistics"
LOGEX 13: workshop in wintery Montenegro
After landing in Podgorica, Montenegro, last week for the LOGEX 13 Main Planning Conference I quickly realized the urgency of the Montenegrin government's request for assistance due to the large amounts of snow in the southern portion of the country. On the way to the airport it was hard not to notice the bent and broken trees that lined the road; the pieces of overhang that were bent or broken on the roofs of houses and buildings; the caved in roofs; and of course the piles and piles of snow along the roads and in the parking lots.
It is important to know that Montenegro does not have a Director of Logistics in their Ministry of Defense -- all logistics support is handled at the company level. This system is advantageous because tasks can be organized and executed very quickly, while a disadvantage is that it is difficult to manage several logistical units to accomplish a large task.
Colonel Rifet Kosavac, the Montenegro Deputy Minister whith whom we met before the start of the conference, was very grateful for the support that is being provided by Belgium, Greece and the United States. He mentioned specifically the two helicopters and crews provided. He went on to say it is difficult to prepare for a situation like this because they typically don’t see the amount of snow they recently received in a normal winter -- he called it a fifty year storm.
Colonel Kosavac stressed that they are working to increase the number of English speaking officers, purchasing weapons and equipment that meet NATO standards, and working to incorporate what they are learning at the LOGEX workshops into the daily job.
For this, the second of five scheduled LOGEX workshops, we drove to a training center in Danilovgrad, Montenegro, to meet with 17 Montenegro military personnel and observers from Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Serbia. The objectives of the workshop:
- train logistical staff officers,
- increase familiarity of logistics staff officers with use of NATO procedures for logistics planning and implementation,
- increase cooperation and coordination among logistics staff officers for future combined operations,
- assess logistics support requirements,
- practice NATO reporting procedures, and
- using NATO logistics C4 systems such as LOGFAS.
In the end, Montenegro developed a Detailed Deployment Plan (DDP), equivalent to the Time Phase Force Deployment Data (TPFDD).
The week’s worth of training was vital to ensure a successful exercise in February. During the week participants were introduced to NATO/National Security Element (NSE) guidelines, the NATO Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF), Deployed Contracting, Acquisition Cross Service Agreements (ACSA), NATO Contracting, NAMSA and participated in five breakout sessions to develop and build their National DDP to use during execution. The Main Planning Conference (MPC) was held at the same location and overlapped with three days of the workshop. Colonel Mirsad Pajevic, from Bosnia and Herzegovina; Colonel Rifet Kosovac, the Montenegro Deputy Minister; and ten other representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Macedonia, Serbia, Sweden, and United Kingdom attended the MPC. These attndees reviewed and finalized the the draft Exercise Specification (EXSPEC) was review and finalized. Due to increased interest, they decided Medical Logistics and Engineering will be added to the scheduled workshops and the concepts and procedures will be intriduced in the last LOGEX 13 in October.
In all, the participants of the workshop gained a better understanding of how Deployed Contracting and RSOM occur during NATO operations and they learned how to build their National DDP. The participants of the MPC finalized the Exercise Specification (EXSPEC) and worked to add two additional functional areas to the workshop. As I observed the interactions of the country reps in action, I felt pride in the accomplishments these countries are achieving with their participation in LOGEX.
The ultimate goal for the Partnerhsip for Peace country participants in LOGEX is NATO membership. It’s a long road and a lot of work for them, but major progress is being made. In the end I look forward to see the culmination of all their hard work when they participate in the two week exercise in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Maj. Todd J. Morin, U.S. Air Force
EUCOM J4
Logistics Support Division
Multinational Exercise Cell Chief
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LOGEX 2011: A Review
During the past two weeks I really came to realize what a joint environment was really like. Having worked for the EUCOM J4 for only three months my experience was limited at best, despite three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan under my belt.
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Local Procurement in Latvia Strengthens Northern Distribution Network
The United States European Command (USEUCOM) plays an important role supplying the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. I’d like to explain how building business relationships with companies in the USEUCOM area of responsibility can have a positive effect on that effort.
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Local Procurement in Latvia Strengthens Northern Distribution Network
The United States European Command (USEUCOM) plays an important role supplying the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
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Logisticians Do Work Headlines Don't Capture
There are often times where you see headlines of stories but they don’t explain some of the behind the scenes work that goes on with major events. I wanted to share some of the efforts that occurred at U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and specifically the Logistics Directorate that explains our support to Israel during their recent wildfire disaster. I think it serves as a great example of our commitment to our partner nations.
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LOGEX 10: "Sound Off For Equipment Check....!"
These are the booming words of the jumpmaster of an airborne operation to his paratroopers just before exiting the aircraft. My scenario and actions are not so dramatic of course, but there are only a few more days left before the start of LOGEX 10 on Sept. 6 and I can gladly report that my "equipment check" is on track for a successful exercise. Everything from life support, transportation, budget and logistics systems exercise support for 70 or so participants and observers is prepared to go.
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LOGEX 10 Workshops: Two Down … Three to Go
As promised in February, welcome to another edition of LOGEX 10. This month’s events find me at the National Support Element (NSE) & Logistics Functional Area Services (LOGFAS) workshop in the Czech Republic, which is the second in a series of five workshops designed for each participating nation in this year’s exercise. Warrant Officer Martin Turner (RAF), Allied Command Transformation, provides instruction on LOGFAS.
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Stronger Together: Logistics Exercise 2010 Mid Planning Conference (LOGEX10)
It is no secret that EUCOM remains committed to enduring partnerships and increased interoperability with NATO.... look at any Directors calendar and you'll probably notice how busy we all are towards that commitment. This year marks the third EUCOM-led logistics exercise, which is a Command Post Exercise (CPX) that is based on NATO doctrine which uses a multinational approach in supporting deployed forces in NATO-led out of area operations, and easily follows EUCOM's them of "Stronger Together."
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Redeployment Ceremony of the Czech Republic’s 601st Special Operations Force
601st Czech SOF’s multiple deployments they were embedded with our own Special Forces
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Building Capacity through Innovation: One Approach to Multinational Logistics
About a year ago, EUCOM’s Logistics directorate worked with the Czech Republic at the 2008 Senior NATO Logisticians’ Conference. The goal was to develop a Multinational Logistics Coordination Center where nations could collectively develop bilateral and multilateral support agreements to facilitate the operational employment and sustainment of forces for national or Alliance missions. As the year progressed, nations began to see a host of possibilities this center could offer.
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“Off with a bang” Logistics Exercise 2009 (LOGEX09)
The exercise started off with a bang. Not from a fictional bomb, but rather from a crafted problem given to the leadership of our notional Adriatic Brigade minutes after exercise start time. So what was this bombshell of a problem? Well, within the scenario, our three nations began moving personnel and equipment from home station toward the “Dark Continent”. Across the Balkans, there are notional convoys of materials and equipment moving down highways, ships that are arriving to the departure seaports, and airplanes getting ready to whisk soldiers off to Africa. The logistics staff officers from each country are wrestling with time requirements and movement schedules. Their plan was written and prepared; however, we in the control group notionally forced an unanticipated “problem” into the mix.
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U.S., Norway sign logistics agreement
Last week I witnessed the signing of a very important international agreement – the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement between the U.S. and Norway. This agreement allows militaries of both countries to exchange logistic support, supplies and services to be used primarily during combined exercises, training, deployments, operations, as well as other unforeseen circumstances.
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EUCOM Signs New Logistics Agreement with NATO Maintenance and Supply Organization
They took time during the Senior NATO Logistics Conference to sign this important agreement, which replaces one of the oldest ACSAs in existence, signed in 1982. This new agreement permits the exchange of logistic support, supplies and services between the US and NAMSO, such as food, clothing, petroleum, transportation, repair and maintenance.
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EUCOM Team Shared Operational Contract Support Initiatives at Joint Staff Conference: Staying on the
ECJ4 sent the contracting section to the "Operational Contract Support (OCS) Planning Conference" hosted by the Joint Staff/J4 and Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Program Support). The purpose of this conference was to get a vector from senior leadership on OCS, share initiatives from Combatant Commands, update key planning documents and obtain an update on DoD OCS initiatives.
Comments: 2
Congratulations to a great partner nation and logistics team in Montengro.
great initative and making networks/partners before crisis hits...