FORT HOOD, Texas - Logisticians from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, led classes April 21 to 22 to familiarize company and battalion leaders with the importance of proper sustainment planning and preparation.
Lt. Col. John Govan, commander, 115th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st ABCT, led a two-day Executive Sustainment course with senior leaders to prepare for the armored cavalry brigade's upcoming decisive action rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
The course began with insight on how to maximize resources within the brigade and installation. Govan also stressed the importance of sustainment on and off the battlefield.
The course included all things logistics: from lessons learned from prior NTC rotations; the brigade's deployments to Germany, Poland, and the Baltics in 2014; how to properly perform preventative maintenance checks and services on Army tactical vehicles; and maintaining logistics programs in tight fiscal environments.
"With the military cutting back on funds, it is very important that we do what we can to save money," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jonathan Doak, who also covered the sustainment of equipment and support operations coordination. He also spoke about the "Big Five," as he calls it, which includes: systems, capabilities, expectations, prioritizing and networking. Doak touched on maximizing coordination with the Defensive Logistics Agency (DLA), and covered what capabilities the DLA has throughout its 26 distribution centers worldwide.
Other topics included rail load operations, command supply discipline, field sustenance and sanitation, property accountability, down time per maintenance event, Supply Support Activity operations and several other focus areas.
Commanders and executive officers said they were grateful for the opportunity to attend the course.
"It is classes like this that make us, as officers, better prepared, and allows us the opportunity to be more effective in completing mission," said 1st Lt. Matthew Owens, executive officer, E Forward Support Company, 91st Engineer Battalion, 1st ABCT.
The Executive Sustainment course is the first in multiple rounds of leadership professional development courses underway in the 1st ABCT as the brigade prepares for an upcoming training rotation at the National Training Center in October and for future deployments or contingencies.
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