2nd Lt. Maria K. Verdugo, assigned to 90th Human Resources Company, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, is greeted by her family during a welcome home ceremony Oct. 12. She was part of the platoon that deployed to Kuwait for nine months to provide human resource and other support to several countries in the region.
Photo by Sgt. Caitlyn C. Smoyer
Sgt. Caitlyn C. Smoyer, 3IDSB Public Affairs
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Soldiers, family and friends celebrated the homecoming of approximately 20 Soldiers from 90th Human Resources Company, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade on Oct. 12 at the company headquarters.
The nine-month deployment had the headquarters platoon based out of Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, serving as the theater human resources company. They were also spread over different areas within Iraq, Qatar and Afghanistan.
“They provided outstanding support for the very difficult and important mission,” said Lt. Col. Michael D. Hagerty, the STB commander.
The primary focus of the Soldiers included human resource support; postal operations; gateway and accountability operations; reception, staging, onward movement and integration capabilities; and morale, welfare and recreation activity support.
“I think they did an outstanding job,” said Sgt. 1st Class Bryant K. Hill, the rear detachment first sergeant for the company.
“They received great feedback from everyone they encountered,” Hagerty said.
The platoon was replaced by the 178th Human Resources Company, Special Troops Battalion, 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade based out of Fort Bliss, Texas.
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Chief Warrant 3 Aaron L. Bryant, a senior petroleum system technician for the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, poses for a photo at Jordan Gym on Sep. 14. Bryant was the coach for the All-Army Women’s Basketball Team and is currently trying to start a men’s post team on Fort Stewart.
Photo by Sgt. Caitlyn C. Smoyer 3rd ID SB Public Affairs
Sgt. Caitlyn C. Smoyer, 3rd ID SB Public Affairs
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron L. Bryant, the assistant coach for the All-Army Women’s Basketball Team, stood at the sideline during the final seconds of the 2016 Armed Forces Championship in San Antonio, Texas.
One point behind the Navy, the Army team received the rebound of a missed free-throw and drove the ball down the court and into the left corner. Tripping from the aggression of the Navy’s defense, the Army team member fell to the floor, passing the ball a short distance to her teammate. Spc. Vanessa Lamison, a Soldier from Fort Bliss, Texas, immediately recovered the ball and shot it into the air at the three-point line just as the final buzzer went off. It swished through the net.
Members of the audience went wild after the last-second winning shot. The coaches ran around the court with their hands in the air. Every member of the team piled onto Lamison on the gymnasium floor. They had just won the tournament by two points and earned the gold medal.
It was a moment Bryant will never forget, he said.
“It gives me chills,” he said. “I can’t believe she hit that shot.”
Bryant, a senior petroleum system technician for the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, is able to serve his country while still doing what he is passionate about: coaching basketball and teaching others the meaning of dedication.
Bryant grew up in Chicago wanting to be a police officer, he said. His interest in basketball did not express itself until he attended a program at his local church where all the children announced what they wanted to be when they grew up. His close friend, Bryan, was set on becoming a basketball player.
“There was just something about seeing him with that basketball and the way he talked about why he wanted to be a basketball player at the age of nine that kind of stuck out to me,” Bryant said.
He began watching basketball and familiarizing himself with techniques. With help from his friend, he grew a love for the sport and realized it was a game he wanted to continue playing as he grew older. Getting a rim of his own to practice on and playing on a school team increased his knowledge and ability to fine-tune needed skills.
Bryant saw Michael Jordan as his role model. He wanted to be the best he could be, attend the same college and even play for the Chicago team like Jordan.
“I just wanted to emulate everything that he did in the game of basketball,” he said. “Watching him have an impact, both on and off the court, inspired me.”
His freshman year of high school found him living with his uncle, a Marine, in Hawaii in order to escape the Chicago area. When his uncle deployed, he was sent to live with his grandmother in Alabama. He finished 9th grade there and started his sophomore year. However, due to the poor health of his grandmother, he moved back to Chicago where he finished 10th grade and found his basketball groove.
Though his love for the sport had emerged at a young age, it was not until that year he felt a real commitment, he said. He became a strong defense player for his school’s team.
He began preparing himself for college; however, his lack of stability in one location hindered his ability to continue playing on a school team to heighten his skills, he said. He moved back to live with his uncle, who had been relocated to North Carolina to retire.
His uncle taught him the value of a dollar, Bryant said. He spent his spare time, during his junior and senior years, working and learning to become independent. He was given an ultimatum after graduation: to stay there and work or join the military until he figured out what he wanted to do with his life. Knowing his option for a college basketball scholarship had been shot, and not wanting to spend the rest of his life working there, he joined the Army.
His passion for the sport never faded, nonetheless. He decided to join the men’s intramural post team in Alaska and again when he moved to Fort Gordon, Georgia. Later, in 2003, when he was stationed at Camp Casey, South Korea, Bryant took his skills to a new level and decided to try coaching.
His experience and success with it taught him something he had not realized until then, he said.
“Every great player cannot coach. Coaching is very hard. You’ve got to make sure you have the right people in at the right time. They expect you to lead them.”
Bryant continued to coach from then on.
“His coaching ability is phenomenal,” said Master Sgt. Caprice M. Walker, a senior culinary management noncommissioned officer with the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade and a friend from Camp Casey. “The skillset that he brings to the team is on the level of the WNBA league.”
After coaching both the men’s and women’s post teams for several years at Camp Casey as well as Fort Knox, Kentucky, he was invited by a good friend to be the assistant coach for the All-Army Women’s Basketball Team. He accepted gladly and has held the position since 2010, with the exception of three years due to deployments.
“I was away physically but not spiritually,” he said.
The 2016 Armed Forces Tournament produced the same outcome as his first year, with a gold medal in hand.
Bryant lets his players know, through hard work and discipline, that the tournament is not a vacation. The women are all still Soldiers coming together to accomplish a mission, just like any other day.
“I’m hard on them, but I’m fair. You’ve got to give them that tough love and ensure that you instill discipline. They don’t like it initially, but they love me at the end when we’ve got that gold medal.”
After winning the Armed Forces Championship, seven members of the Army team got the opportunity to play at the 2nd Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) World Military Basketball Championship along with two members of the Air Force, two from the Navy, and one from the Coast Guard. This event, held at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, brought together six countries to compete against one another for the world title.
After beating Canada, France, China and Germany, the team played the final game against Brazil; however, team USA lost by one point, earning the silver medal for the world championship game.
Bryant considers himself a realist, and even with the loss he knows the team did very well, he said.
He also hopes to put together a Fort Stewart men’s team this year and a women’s team next year since the post has not had an organized basketball team in over 10 years.
“I’m doing my best to get this program back on its feet,” he said. “I’m serious about what I do.”
Walker is sure of Bryant’s success, due to his passion, she said.
“He can take the Fort Stewart basketball team, which hasn’t been around in many years, and excel. He’s a good coach.”
To show his dedication to the game and the words that he believes in, Bryant got a tattoo on his arm of a Michael Jordan quote that he chooses to live by, he said.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”
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Pfc. Marquise Leach, an ammunition stock control and accounting specialist assigned to Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, puts barbed and concertina wire into place Aug. 25 at the brigade headquarters’ softball field to protect the tactical operations center during a training exercise. Barbed wire concertinas can be traced back to World War I when Soldiers would prepare them in trenches and then deploy them quickly when needed.
Photo by Spc. Jamie Beale, 3rd SB Public Affairs
Sgt. Caitlyn C. Smoyer, 3rd SB Public Affairs
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Soldiers from 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade conducted a jump tactical operation center exercise from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1 at Evans Army Airfield, Camp Oliver and Fort Stewart, Ga.
Soldiers set up and tore down a tactical operation center at three separate times and locations to validate new and old equipment as well as to ensure the unit was able to rapidly deploy and set up to standard during daylight hours, hours of limited visibility and under conditions with reduced sleep opportunities.
The exercise consisted of four phases. The first involved preparation and rehearsals and the second was an initial setup at Evans Army Airfield. Phase three was the largest and most time consuming with two separate jumps: one to Camp Oliver and the other back to the unit’s headquarters’ area. The exercise was ended with phase four, which consisted of the recovery period.
“The purpose of the JUMPEX is for us to be field expedient,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew H. Webb, a telecommunications operations chief with Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade. “When we hit ground on the first day, we needed to get up and operational as soon as possible.”
With a self-set standard of six hours, the signal and communications team had to set up servers, power generators, wire for each shelter, voice and data services to include secret and non-classified internet access, internet-based phones and software to allow live collaboration, Webb said. The team also helped with the placement of concertina wire and camouflage netting around each training site.
“Everything we do is really important,” said Spc. Bryan M. Parker, a satellite communication systems operator/maintainer with the 414th Signal Company, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade and the joint network node team chief for the exercise. “Preparation and readiness is the main focus. We can’t have a single point of failure.”
414th Signal Company, in recent months, underwent an end-of-life cycle with much of its equipment and was able to bring brand-new equipment to the exercise. This allowed the team to build new base configurations and provided good training for those who worked with it.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to train on all this equipment,” said Parker. “I think that’s where our shortcoming was in the past.”
Units in the brigade have participated in multiple training exercises within the last year, including Marne Focus and Operation Heartbeat. In 2016 alone, training events have been conducted almost monthly.
“When we first started all these exercises, we were nowhere near where we are now,” Webb said. “We’ve come a long way.”
Parker also mentioned the big impact of the training on the unit.
“I don’t think we would have had such a successful mission this time had it not been for what we’ve been doing,” he said. “I think we’ve improved drastically from last year.”
These events have been in preparation for an upcoming division exercise called Warfighter, which will include the participation of several brigades within 3rd Infantry Division. The main purpose of the exercise is to validate mission essential task list proficiency and readiness as well as incorporate training acquired in the past.
“I think my team is ready,” Parker said. “I think with everything we’ve done this year, we’ve done pretty well at preparing ourselves.”
Previous Warfighter exercises have been based on the same scenario, but the upcoming event will feature a new situation, which makes both proactive and reactive thinking necessary.
“It’s going to take all the manpower, and it’s going to take a lot of discipline,” Webb said. “This will test a lot of people.”
Even with the everyday challenges, Webb really enjoys his job, he said.
“I love the signal world. We always say ‘SIGNAL: smooth, intelligent, genuine, natural, army leader. That’s how we define ourselves.’”
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Keith Costley (left), an instructor for the SLICC, assists a Soldier in hooking up the Humvee on the aft hook, while another Soldier hooks up the front to do a tandem load on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during sling load operations.
Photo by Spc. Rochelle Krueger 3rd IDSB Public Affairs
Spc. Rochelle Krueger 3rd IDSB Public Affairs
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Picture this: an up-armored Humvee hanging below a Chinook helicopter as if it was meant to be there; around you are winds so strong they almost blow you over; the roaring sound of the helicopter’s dual propellers are almost deafening to your ears.
It’s a picture many couldn’t imagine; but at Fort Stewart, that was the scene April 29 for a select group of Soldiers who completed the Sling Load Inspector Certification Course.
The Providers of 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade hosted the course and brought instructors from Fort Lee, Va., to give an opportunity to Soldiers to have another skill-set in their kit bag.
A sling load operation is using a helicopter to deliver goods or equipment to a place that cannot be reached by rail or truck easily. It is often used in combat environments such as Afghanistan where the terrain makes it more dangerous to deliver supplies by ground.
“The actual course is in Fort Lee, Va.,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Scott, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the instructors. “We do mobile training sites because it gives an opportunity to allow more Soldiers to become certified without costing their units a lot of funding to send them to Virginia.”
The requirements for the course are simple: any Soldier in grade E-4 and above can take the course; they get the certification if they pass the written exam and the hands-on inspection. Soldiers’ military occupational specialty does not matter. In this class there was an array of MOS’s from flight engineer, military police, to quartermasters and everything in between.
“Typically I do my job in an office setting, but our unit wants us to be self-sufficient,” said Spc. Acie Leslie, a financial management technician assigned to 24th Financial Management Support Unit, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Inf. Div. Sust. Bde., “This is a great tool to have because you never know when you might need it. We are on the Global Reaction Force mission right now and who knows, maybe we will need to transport our vehicles and equipment somewhere. We always have to be ready.”
The class started with more than 40 Soldiers, but proved to be a challenge for some. About 30 Soldiers successfully completed the course and are now certified inspectors for sling load operations.
“I didn’t realize it took that much to rig and sling load equipment,” said Leslie. “But after completing the course I see why it takes so much effort because safety is paramount and we don’t want people getting hurt or damaging equipment.”
The course is broken up every day with classroom instruction in the morning and hands on activities in the afternoon. The Soldiers learn about the different aircrafts and types of loads as well as how to prepare and rig the equipment.
“Sling load is one of the best methods to keeps soldiers safe and out of harm’s way in a combat environment,” Scott said. “These Soldiers who completed the course are a more valuable asset to their units now.”
The Soldiers who completed the course had an opportunity to conduct sling load operations with the assistance of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Inf. Div., who provided both UH-60 Blackhawk and a CH-47 Chinook helicopters to sling a Humvee and a cargo bag simultaneously.
“It is always great to go out and apply the knowledge that you learn in the classroom to ensure you are both technically and tactically proficient,” said Sgt. 1st Class Andrea Hill, the force protection senior enlisted for 3rd Inf. Div. Sust. Bde. “The rush we gained from hooking up something and watching it being lifted off was an invaluable experience that you can’t receive sitting in the classroom.”
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Col. Jered P. Helwig, commander of 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, joins 16th Sustainment Brigade Soldiers for a meal at the Lithuanian armed forces dining facility, discussing the current sustainment operations and conditions working in a forward environment. The visit was part of a circulation tour of Atlantic Resolve locations in the Baltic region and Poland conducted Nov. 7-10; the tour was designed to introduce regionally allocated forces to sustainment and distribution operations.
Photo by Maj. David Thompson, 16th Sustainment Brigade
1st Lt. Hannah Morgan, 16th Sustainment Brigade
Monday, November 30, 2015
BAUMHOLDER, Germany - Command teams from forces currently or prospectively serving in the region gained eyewitness perspective and abundant opportunities for engagement with fellow leaders and permanently based personnel and units during a dynamic tour of key support sites across Germany and the Atlantic Resolve-North operating areas across Eastern Europe conducted Nov. 7-10.
The leaders combined professional development with reconnaissance.
“We initially came to conduct a site survey of the regionally allocated forces and also to do leadership development with the support units already out here,” said Col. Jered P. Helwig, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s Sustainment Brigade. “It is a complicated mission set. We found a lot of areas where we learn good lessons regarding how we provide support in ways we haven’t dealt with since before Iraq and Afghanistan era.”
The rotational force leaders and regional leaders alike received valuable insights and support from leaders of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s 16th Sustainment Brigade. The overall intent of 16th Sustainment Brigade leadership was to engage logistics troops on the ground in key locations, and familiarize the rotational forces with operations, preparing staff and Soldiers alike to continue “seamless sustainment” in the joint operating area.
Maj. David S. Thompson, the 16th Sustainment’s support operations officer, accompanied the command team, offering his expertise and delving into various logistical requirements at each location.
“Looking forward, it is important to share what we learned with fellow sustainers,” said Thompson. “For instance, the process that goes into moving hazardous material in Europe is unique and we hope to equip our colleagues so they can return and establish the framework for a potential, yet successful, transition.”
Knight’s Brigade staff officers briefed their own higher headquarters prior to the mission, detailing their own concept of support to Maj. Gen. Duane A. Gamble, the TSC commanding general. Feedback from the commander offered a detailed insight into the planning and requirements to sustain the joint operating area.
During the visit, leaders and staff personnel from the 3rd and 4th Sustainment Brigades met with Soldiers operating at forward sites in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, sharing meals and talking about the challenges from individual troops’ perspective. The interaction produced valuable feedback and built situational awareness.
“We came here to look at the existing capabilities within U.S. Army Europe and examine potential shortfalls so we could understand how to assist and establish long term framework,” said Col. Ronald R. Ragin, commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s Sustainment Brigade.
“I was looking forward to seeing the Baltic region. I’ve heard so much about the support structure and how Soldiers are getting after the mission with the resources available,” added Command Sgt. Maj. Lenard J. Summers of the 3rd ID’s Sustainment Brigade.
The visiting leaders emerged with valuable insights and lessons learned from the Atlantic Resolve locations. According to participants, the organizations will incorporate new information and experiences into preparations and training programs they’ll implement at their home stations. The next step, they added, will be sending movement control teams into theater to observe and interact with personnel currently operating in the region, helping to prepare for their own successful rotations.
“Overall it has been an eye-opening experience,” Ragin said.
“Grasping the complexities of the environment, as well as the time and distance between strategic nodes, I could visualize how we are optimizing different capabilities currently in place. What I wanted to see was how we can utilize this framework to support the deterrence mission and if the situation escalates, do we have everything we need in place or coordinated.”
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