Brigadier General Stephen E. Farmen, the Army
Chief of Transportation, is spearheading efforts to help
transitioning Soldiers gain civilian transportation employment.
His initial focus is on helping transitioning
motor transport operators enter the civilian workforce
as Class A licensed truckdrivers.
The Chief of Transportation’s Army Driver Standardization Office (ADSO) has been working with partners from Congress, Federal agencies, State governments, industry, and trucking associations to develop a process in which military training and experience can be used to meet the professional and technical standards required for a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
To be licensed, drivers must meet not only national
requirements but also additional state requirements
for CDL certification. In an effort to help standardize
criteria, the ADSO has been working with several
State departments of motor vehicles to educate officials
on Army truckdriver training, vehicle classifications,
documentation of driver experience, and military
licensing processes.
The ADSO, in conjunction with its partners, has been
successful in getting at least 27 states to recognize
Army truckdriver training and experience as an acceptable
standard for the driving skills test portion of
the CDL exam. The driving skills test normally requires
student drivers to perform a set of actual driving
maneuvers successfully. Prospective drivers still must
pass a written test on highway safety and a test about
different parts of a truck.
To ensure that servicemembers leave the military
career-ready with a CDL, the ADSO has established
a pilot project with the Commonwealth of Virginia
Department of Motor Vehicles that allows the military
to conduct third-party testing at select sites within the
state. One of the proposed sites will be Fort Lee, Virginia
where training will be offered prior to the written
examination. At least 26 other states are prepared to
offer this same program to transitioning Soldiers. For a
current list of states participating in the program, visit
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/reg-licensing/cdl/
Military-Skills-Test-Waiver-Map.pdf.
The Chief of Transportation’s Chief for Reserve Affairs also is working with industry; the Commercial Vehicle Training Association; members of the Training, Readiness, and Mobilization Office, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs); the Army’s Institutional Training Division; and the Army Reserve’s Employer Partnership Office on advancing employment opportunities for Soldiers who wish to become professional vehicle operators but do not meet minimum experience requirements. Most recently, the Commercial Vehicle Training Association announced that it has some truckdriver training schools willing to administer pretest exams, tailor training according to results, and expedite the process for getting Soldiers CDLs. These selected schools will also have trucking industry employers present to conduct interviews and hire graduates.
On 17 August 2012, General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Katherine Hammack, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment, broke ground on a $9.6 million solar-power renewable-energy project at Tooele Army Depot, Utah. The Sterling construction project, awarded to Infinia Corp., will consist of 430 solar-powered dishes on a 15-acre site at the depot and will be used to generate 30 percent of the depot’s electricity.
Army Assistant Secretary for Installations, Energy and Environment Visits Reserve Troops to Discuss Energy Challenges. Read more...
Soldiers with the 515th Transportation Company
change a palletized load system’s tire during
Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan’s first truck rodeo
competition, held 17 August 2012. The 25th
Transportation Company hosted the event in which
the 515th, 781st, 25th, and 1486th Transportation
Companies, who support Joint Sustainment Command–
Afghanistan Soldiers throughout southern
Afghanistan, participated. The rodeo provided an
opportunity for truckdrivers to sharpen their skills
and provided the winning unit, the 25th Transportation
Company, with bragging rights as the
best transportation company at Kandahar Airfield.
(Photo by SGT Gregory Williams)
A Fort Hood, Texas, unit is among the field-level winners of the 2012 Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards. The awards recognize depot- and field-level units achievements in weapon system and military equipment maintenance.
The 1st squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, from Fort Hood placed in the large category of the field-level maintenance awards alongside the 23d Maintenance Group, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.
This year’s Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award went to the Air Force’s C–130 Programmed Depot Maintenance Team at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Georgia
The Blue Force Tracking Aviation (BFT–AVN) Tactical Operations Center Kit AN/GYK–65 has finished its transition to organic support. As of 1 October 2012, units can order parts for their aviation tactical operations center kits through their respective supply support activities. These parts can now be requisitioned through military standard requisitioning and issue procedures from the Army Communications-Electronics Command Life Cycle Management Command (CECOM LCMC) and the Defense Logistics Agency. The Defense Advance GPS [Global Positioning System] Receiver, with the national stock number 5825–01–516–8038 or 5825–01–526–4783, fielded as an associated support item of equipment in the kit, is being issued and managed by CECOM LCMC.
A letter of instruction outlining the supply and maintenance details of the kit is being distributed to the Army Commands and combat aviation brigades. For more information or to ask questions concerning the kit, contact Jaime Astilla, BFT–AVN logistics lead, by email at jaime.astilla@us.army.mil or by telephone at (256) 895–3088.
A mobile training team from Fort Lee, Virginia, spent a month at Fort Hood, Texas, preparing artillery repairers for their new military occupational specialty of (MOS) 91F (small arms/towed artillery repairer). From 15 May to 15 June 2012, 47 Soldiers attended the reclassification training at the motor pools of the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. During this training, instructors taught Soldiers the skills needed to repair and maintain small arms stored in units’ arms rooms and the M777 light towed howitzer.
In August, the Army Ordnance School instructors
also taught reclassification classes for repairers at Fort
Carson, Colorado, and Fort Riley, Kansas. The reclassification
training is necessary as the Army phases out
MOS 46B (small arms/artillery repairer) and replaces it
with MOS 91F (small arms/towed artillery repairer).
As the Army redesigns its doctrine to meet Doctrine 2015 standards, it is releasing a number of major
publications. Most recently, the following items have been added to Army doctrine:
Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 4–0 and Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP)
The publications are available for download from http://www.apd.army.mil/ProductMap.asp under the
“Doctrine and Training” menu. Users will have to log into the website using their common access card
before they can view the publications.