Devil brigade Soldiers set plan in motion

By Staff Sgt. Bernhard LashleyleidnerApril 1, 2014

Devil brigade Soldiers set plan in motion
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Brigade logistics Officer 1st Lt. Calvin Jones, HHC, 1st ABCT, 1st Inf., verifies each piece of equipment being shipped from Fort Riley for the brigade�'s upcoming rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., March 31 a... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Devil brigade Soldiers set plan in motion
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pfc. Shane Swartz, a Soldier with Co. C, 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt., 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., guides a Bradley Fighting Vehicle during the brigade�'s railhead load up March 25 on Fort Riley. The brigade�'s vehicles and equipment... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Devil brigade Soldiers set plan in motion
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pfc. Shane Swartz, Co. C, 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt., 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., guides a Bradley Fighting Vehicle on March 25 at Fort Riley�'s railhead. The brigade�'s vehicles and equipment were loaded on rail cars load in prepa... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

It is 10 p.m. on a Friday night and 1st Lt. Calvin Jones, a logistics officer with 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division is hard at work on the movement plan for the brigade's scheduled rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., next month.

During the last three months, Jones worked tirelessly coordinating all the moving pieces to get not only the "Devil" brigade Soldiers and all of their equipment to NTC, but also that of the enabling units participating in this rotation.

Working long hours is nothing new for the Columbus, Ohio, native, who routinely worked into the wee hours of the night on projects while attending West Virginia University.

"This is one of the largest projects I have ever worked on and the hardest I have ever worked during my military career," Jones said.

He said the logistics staff was able to meet the logistical needs of the brigade, while adhering to the physical budget constraints by looking at the exact cost of 2nd ABCT's NTC budget for transportation, equipment and how many enabling units they had with them.

"We factored in the entire cost for equipment and personnel the brigade will bring and that of the enabling units supporting this mission," Jones said. "Once the budget was built we had to track it on a daily basis, paying particular attention to what the brigade and supporting unit had listed with the equipment they were bringing, so we did not exceed our budget."

What made this task even more monumental was that it is set to be one of the largest rotations ever to NTC with more than 1661 pieces of equipment, 5200 Soldiers, 10 Airmen and 40 Marines from 25 units spread across 22 states taking part in this exercise.

"This will be a larger-than-normal rotation," David Goetsch, deputy support operation, National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., said. "The unit is scheduled to draw more than 1,300 pieces of equipment along with the 1,661 pieces of equipment they will be shipping in with them.

This rotation will be totally different from any other rotation that NTC has had in the past, because once the unit heads to the tactical maneuver portion of the exercise they will be totally self-reliant and self-sufficient, Goetsch and Jones said.

"Once we are in the box we will be responsible for providing our own military class of supplies such as fuel, petroleum and lubrications; water and food, and many other combat logistical requirements in order to sustain ourselves," Jones said.

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Devil brigade Soldiers set plan in motion