Putting a tank to a name: Army documenters experience equipment, Soldiers firsthand

Almost 40 documenters from the U.S. Army Force Management Support Agency Maneuver Division located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, visited Fort Riley May 20 to see the vehicles and other equipment they keep track of on a daily basis and to meet the Soldiers who use those resources at home and abroad.

During their visit, the team got to hear about and explore Apache, Chinook and Kiowa helicopters at the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, and climb inside tanks and other armored vehicles at a 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team motor pool. After eating at the Devil's Den dining facility, the group went to Range 18 where they viewed 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., conduct a Tank Table V live fire. While at the range, USAFMSA personnel were briefed by the 2nd Bn., 70th Armor Regt., master gunner about the capabilities of the tank and the requirements needed to qualify the tank crews.

"We have a number of people in our agency who have never really been to an Army unit to see what Soldiers do," said Robert Varney, a branch chief with USAFMSA Maneuver Division at Fort Leavenworth.

Varney said the trip allowed those documenters an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the equipment they keep records on and gave those with previous military experience to see what improvements have been made since their time in service.

"In the Army, if it exists, it has to exist on a document," the branch chief said. "Our folks in our agency do that documentation."

Almost every member of the office made the trip to Fort Riley, Varney said.

"This is the job today," he said, adding that the excursion gave members of the team a new perspective on the equipment they track. "It's one thing to see pictures of something; it's another to be able to climb up inside."

Soldiers were on-hand at the various stops to speak with the documenters about the equipment and themselves.

"At the end of the day, it's all about the Soldiers," Varney said. "What we do supports what these guys and gals out here do."

The Fort Leavenworth USAFMSA builds the majority of the Tables of Organization and Equipment and Modified Tables of Organization and Equipment, documents that detail the organization, staff and equipment of units for the 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley.

"It was a different experience," said Luis Lopez, a management analyst with USAFMSA at Fort Levenworth and a 29-year Army veteran who retired as a sergeant major at Fort Riley in 2004. "The place has changed a lot, for the better."

Lopez said he was impressed to see more facilities on post for Soldiers.

"I've been around (the equipment), but technology has changed in 10 years," he said. "It's new technology, new equipment, new guys that you talk to, the new Soldiers, who have plenty of knowledge."

Lopez said he would love to come back to Fort Riley every few years to see the continued changes.