Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 145th Field Artillery "Big Red" Brigade, Utah National Guard, inspect a vehicle at Camp Carroll, Korea, prior to their participation in the United States Forces Korea Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 12 Exercise. Vehicles and e...
For the first time in the history of the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade, a split-based mission command was executed during the United States Forces Korea Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 12 Exercise with the establishment of an expeditionary forward Tactical Operations Center at Camp Carroll and the main brigade command post at Camp Henry, Korea.
Col. Michael Lopez, 403rd AFBS commander, moved a portion of his brigade staff from fixed facilities to the field, collocating with the 19th Expeditionary Support Command to exercise the brigade's contingency support mission. Establishment of the forward TOC provided staff the opportunity to operate in a field environment.
The forward TOC was comprised of staff sections needed to conduct mission command and control between the brigade, battalion command posts, and external commands. The set-up enabled the staff to exercise battle tracking using the Command Post of the Future, collaborative planning using Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange - Korea, and mission support using the Battle Command Sustainment Support System.
With so many moving pieces happening during the exercise, the staff had their hands full.
"Our contingency mission requires us to conduct expeditionary split-based mission command," Lopez said. "[The] Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise was the right venue to rehearse this capability. The Army Sustainment Command personnel were invaluable in executing this mission and achieving our training objectives."
"It's our job to survey this operational battle space and to provide foresight of all future movements around the battle space," said Sgt. Seul Gi Jung, 403rd AFSB CPOF operator, "This allows the commander to know exactly where each of his assets is going to be well in advance."
A potluck luncheon was held at the 403rd AFSB Headquarters to celebrate the successful end of KR/FE 12. An awards ceremony recognized the 15 augmentees and two Department of the Army civilians from the Army Sustainment Command who came to Korea support the exercise. Each awardee received a 403rd AFSB certificate of appreciation and brigade coin from Lopez and Command Sgt. Maj. Nathanial Richardson. In addition, Mark Stevens, an Army Prepositioned Stock-3 augmentee, received a certificate of achievement.
At the luncheon, the 403rd AFSB Soldiers, civilians, Korean Nationals, Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA) Soldiers and Family Members came together for a brief benediction of thanks for a successful exercise.
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