Though the sun was setting at the close of another day, Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Support Battalion were just starting their day with preventive maintenance checks and services on their vehicles.
They annotate any deficiency on the proper form and place it into their binder, ensure they have two days' worth of food and water and conduct crew drills, all part of the convoy checklist procedures before departing on their mission May 18.
These are just a few of the steps the convoys from 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division are completing as they depart Grafenwohr Training Area, Germany to Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland for Exercise Anakonda 16.
Anakonda 16 is a Polish-led exercise taking place in Poland June 7-17. The exercise will include over 25,000 participants from 24 nations, supporting assurance and deterrence measures by demonstrating allied defense capabilities to deploy, mass and sustain combat power.
As an armored brigade, the majority of the unit's equipment was sent by rail to Poland, but all of the wheeled support vehicles have to be moved by convoy.
Staff Sgt. Noudehou Koutangni, the convoy commander for one of the 3BSB's convoys, explains how important it is to conduct a route recon and make sure every Soldiers has the appropriate movement paperwork and diplomatic clearances required to cross from Germany into Poland.
"It was meetings after meetings to talk about the route, to ensure it was set in stone and to make sure we understood the route to get there," said Koutangni.
Every vehicle had two or more licensed drivers. As they stopped along the way to fuel up, the drivers switched out to give the last driver a rest.
The convoy stopped once during the day for about 12 hours, giving the Soldiers a chance to rest prior to getting on the road again while also making sure the convoys did not crowd the roads for civilian traffic during the day.
"The biggest challenge we faced during this mission was the lack of sleep," said Koutangni. "Even though the Soldiers rested today, most of them are not use to driving a long distance at night."
Despite the challenges, the Soldiers were able to overcome them and make it to their destination on time, and more importantly, safely.
"Safety comes first," said Staff Sgt. J.C. Hinton, the assistant convoy commander for 3BSB. "I learned a lot from this experience, and most of all the Soldiers listened and did well."
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