BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Personnel assigned to or aligned with Army Materiel Command are supporting U.S. Marines partnered with the Republic of Georgia's 43rd Light Infantry Battalion in missions to provide force protection here and ground patrols in the Bagram Ground Defense Area.
AMC support encompasses the Materiel Enterprise and includes fielding, sustaining and training personnel on equipment as needed. These efforts involve the 401st Army Field Support Brigade, Army Field Support Battalion Afghanistan, Logistics Support Element Bagram, the Life Cycle Management Commands, Communications-Electronics Command's Electronics Sustainment Support Center/Regional Support Center and the Assistant Secretary of the Army Acquisition Logistics and Technology community all working toward a common goal. Vehicles and government furnished equipment are provided by the 401st AFSB; training on equipment fielded by the Assistant Secretary of the Army Acquisition Logistics and Technology is provided by ASA/ALT subject matter experts; training on other equipment is provided by Logistics Support Element personnel, CECOM's ESSC/Regional Support Center technicians; and, vehicle sustainment and maintenance completed by AFSBn-AFG contract partners.
The partnership between the U.S. Marines and the Republic of Georgia which dates back to 2009 was envisioned as a two-year program, but has been extended and involves Marines deploying to Georgia to train and deploy with the Georgian battalions.
"The Georgia Deployment Program was started to prepare Georgian Infantry Battalions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom," said Maj. James M. "Mike" Geiger, Resolute Support Mission Rotation 1 Georgia Liaison Team officer in charge. "We advise all the functional areas of the battalion-operations, intelligence and logistics-as well as having infantry advisers at the company level. Further, we provide a link between the Georgian Battalion and higher/adjacent coalition units."
Each Georgian Battalion is paired with an embedded team of Marines, a Georgia Liaison Team, he said.
Georgian Soldiers and Marines recently completed training on the Common Remotely Operated Weapons System conducted by ASA/ALT personnel.
"This is a really great class," said Cpl. Boris Tsulais, 43rd GLIB, during one of the classes taught by CROWS personnel. "This is the most safe thing we can use."
Tsulais acted as one of the translators during the CROWS training. He said some of the Soldiers have already completed the training and they are using CROWS every day. He said the instructors are "good at explaining things."
Corporal Malkhazi Gamsakhurdia, 43rd GLIB, agreed and said that the training is "really good and necessary for us to know."
CECOM IT-Radio master technician Al Lutes worked with the Marines in troubleshooting radio systems and providing 'over the shoulder' training. Master technicians and logistics assistance representatives assigned to the LSE are skilled in their particular areas and provide on the spot guidance and training to Soldiers but also have reach-back capability to their respective life-cycle management commands. The MTs and LARs are one of the critical links from AMC's to the joint and coalition forces and exemplify AMC's mission to develop and deliver global readiness solutions to sustain Unified Land Operations, anytime, anywhere.
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