8th HRSC supports top resource in Pacific Pathways; Soldiers

By 8th Theater Sustainment Command Public AffairsSeptember 30, 2014

8th HRSC supports top resource in Pacific Pathways; Soldiers
8th Human Resources Sustainment Center troops provide HR services and
personnel accountability to participants during exercise Ulchi Freedom
Guardian 2014 in Korea. The HRSC Soldiers support nearly every exercise in the Pacific Theater, to include ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
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FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii -- They operate the high-speed equipment, lead the complex and precise missions, and take care of the souls to their left and right. They are the Army's most valuable resource. Without Soldiers, there is no Army at all.

If you've served more than a minute in uniform, you know that accountability -- knowing where each and every one of your troops is at all times -- is the heart of the Army.

For one relatively small unit based here, that critical responsibility is the primary mission its Soldiers perform for troops across the region in support of almost every exercise and operation.

The less than 80 Soldiers assigned to the 8th Human Resources Sustainment Center are constantly providing HR services throughout the massive Pacific Theater, making them the natural go-to experts for the Army's Pacific Pathways concept.

The U.S. Army Pacific-led initiative, which kicked-off this month, involves deploying 700 Soldiers from 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, I Corps out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., to a series of bilateral exercises and engagements throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific Region, and 8th HRSC troops will be at each of those exercises to both support and train on accountability systems.

Just 11 HRSC troops are set to support the three Pacific Pathways exercises, reflecting the efficiency, adaptability and expeditionary nature that the unit already provides to USARPAC operations.

"We are going to execute a number of human resources functions, primarily the personnel accountability piece," said Lt. Col. Brian Ungerer, the deputy director of 8th HRSC.

He said the units rotating through the Pacific Pathways exercises may not have the internal capability provided by Deployed Theater Accountability Software, which allows for individual accountability of the 700 troops as they move throughout the Pacific.

These functions impact essentially every effort in the region, from enabling operational readiness, to building capacity and setting the theater for all phases of operations and global deployment.

"Our role in this is demonstration of how the system works, how it's supposed to be tied in and also how to troubleshoot," he explained.

He said this support/train approach will also assist with improving accountability procedures across the Army.

When the Army transitioned to the modular force structure, a lot of assets at the headquarters for each echelon were removed, creating gaps within the G1 shops, he explained.

"You were still missing a link there in terms of providing situational awareness to commanders at all echelons," Ungerer said. "All of the G1 shops are much smaller than they used to be. When you have a smaller G1 shop, who's doing large-scale accountability, personnel planning, and synchronization? That's the gap that HRSC fills."

He said the ultimate goal would be for the HRSC troops to assume even more of a coaching role during the next set of Pacific Pathways exercises as an eventual step toward these units being more self-sufficient in HR functions.

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