Exercise tests 7th CSC's ability to rapidly deploy

RHINE ORDNANCE BARRACKS, Germany - Rain, sleet, snow and below-freezing temperatures did not prevent the Soldiers of the 7th Civil Support Command's Incident Management Team from participating in Bavarian Thunder 2010, a training exercise that culminated at the Deployment Processing Center here Jan. 25-28. This exercise focused on deployment of personnel, equipment and vehicles.

The7th CSC's IMT, with Commanding General Brig. Gen. Jimmie Jaye Wells and Soldiers from supporting units including the 1172nd Movement Control Team, 406th Human Resources Command, 773rd Civil Support Team, and the 457th Civil Affairs Battalion, participated in the exercise to hone and expedite deployment procedures of the command and control entity within an austere environment.

"The training is valuable and pertinent to our mission, especially the training we had on the Tactical Personnel System," said Staff Sgt. John Stymiest, 406th Human Resources Command. "I learned so much from Sean Osborne, and he is an excellent trainer." Osborne is an instructor at the DPC.

The mission of Stymiest and the 406th HRC was to process Soldiers in and out of the DPC, in this case the IMT Soldiers, and properly maintain the manifest until the unit departed Germany.

"This is great training. I would like another opportunity to come again during better weather conditions," said Stymiest.

The IMT's mission was to proceed through the DPC for three days in order to assess the unit's deployment capabilities and strengthen and validate certain applicable sections of its tactical Standard Operating Procedures. The exercise assisted the IMT, made up of 38 Active Guard Reserve Soldiers and emergency essential civilians, to prepare for rapid response and deployment to a foreign consequence management mission.

The IMT key leaders received an exercise warning order to respond and deploy to an earthquake scenario exercise and report to the DPC to process and load personnel, vehicles and equipment pallets onto mock C-130 aircraft. This training provided an insight to what the unit would actually need in preparation for a real-world deployment.

Upon arrival at the DPC, the IMT moved into the personnel holding area before receiving an in-depth brief from Augustine Olive, the DPC director. Olive's team guided the unit on a quick visual run-through of each of the processing stations followed by a demonstration on the correct methods for palletizing and loading Individual Storage Units in preparation for loading onto a C-130 aircraft.

As the 7th CSC completed the DPC portion, equipment, vehicles and personnel redeployed back to Daenner Kaserne. The IMT wrapped up the exercise by conducting a series of after action reviews to revise and refine its tactical deployment SOPs. The entire exercise and operation was a great experience for Soldiers and civilians alike. Going through each stage provided a perspective on where the IMT needed to focus for the next exercise or real world mission.

"This training is making us a better and a more cohesive team," said Sgt. 1st Class Dwight Pitts, the 7th CSC maintenance noncommissioned officer in charge.

The information gathered from this operation will help the 7th CSC as it continues to revise and refine its mission of rapid alert, mobilization and deployment of foreign consequence management, command and control, civil support and civil affairs capabilities.