FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (Feb. 22, 2018) -- Soldiers from the 922nd Contracting Battalion and 741st Contracting Team provided operational contract support to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and 101st Sustainment Brigade Feb. 4-14 during Warfighter Exercise 18-03 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The training exercise provided an opportunity to foster relationships between the contracting organization and requiring activities while also providing training on operational contract support, or OCS.
The 922nd CBN and 741st CT is aligned with 101st ABN DIV (AASLT) and 101st SUS BDE, respectively, while in garrison. This support relationship will continue during an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel in the spring of 2018. In preparation for this upcoming deployment, members of the 741st CT built upon the partnership capacity for the 101st SUS BDE by filling capability gap requirements identified in OCS working groups.
The deputy support operations officer for the 101st SUS BDE, Maj. Radames Ortiz, said he is "excited to see what the 741st CT can bring to the fight" and looks forward to their organization's continued close relationship with the team.
Soldiers from the 741st CT synchronized with Ortiz and Staff Sgt. Chantell Bullock, who possess the Army skill identifier 3C as the officer in charge and NCO in charge. They provide instruction on how to prepare acquisition requirement packages and manage the contracting officer representative responsibilities for essential service and supply contracts. The 741st CT provided business advice before and after logistics synch meetings.
"This close relationship allowed the 741st to quickly fill a capability gap for 101st Sustainment Brigade when there was a shortfall with organic assets and Soldiers," said Lt. Col. Tony Rogers, the 922nd CBN commander.
The 741st CT provided contract support for Warfighter 18-03 and simultaneously coordinated validation COR training for 60 Soldiers from the brigade for the upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. The contracting battalion and team also communicate via video teleconference with forward elements in Afghanistan to ensure a continuation of steadfast OCS for the airborne division.
"The early integration created a clear and mutual understanding of all contracted life-support assets well in advance of the exercise execution," Rogers said. "Members of the sustainment brigade and contracting team are confident that the OCS for Operation Freedom's Sentinel will continue to be executed soundly."
The 922nd CBN and its contracting teams support the Mission and Installation Contracting Command's initiative to provide divisional commanders dedicated OCS through geographically aligned battalions. The 922nd CBN is located on Fort Campbell in support of 101st ABN DIV (AASLT) garrison OCS needs and is postured to support future expeditionary mission sets.
As the 922nd CBN commander, Rogers leads his team in providing disciplined and responsive OCS to the warfighter and Fort Campbell Garrison. He said the contracting battalion's alignment ensures OCS integration to assist in providing operational reach for the airborne division during Unified Land Operations.
"Our professional workforce is committed to high quality, responsive customer service dedicated to supporting the warfighter through timely and fiscally responsible contracted supplies, services and construction solutions," Rogers said.
The contracting battalion is a subordinate unit of the 419th Contracting Support Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 419th CSB along with another brigade and two field directorate offices make up the MICC, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The MICC is responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, preparing more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
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