FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Aug. 28, 2015) -- When paratroopers, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, conducted a Global Response Force, or GRF, training exercise on Fort Bragg, Aug. 20, paratroopers, assigned to the 82nd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team - the 82nd Airborne Division's Outload Support Battalion, or OSB - were ready to facilitate and support the exercise.
The 82nd Airborne Division is capable of deploying a brigade-sized force anywhere in the world - a GRF - within 96 hours. Each unit, assigned to the GRF's mission, is supported by an OSB, a unit tasked with making that rapid deployment possible.
Team Move, the current OSB, is a section made up of more than 90 paratroopers, who train constantly to ensure they can provide rapid support - whether it's providing transportation of troops or equipment, or distributing supplies.
Capt. Meghan Ramos, commander of Alpha Company, 82nd Brigade Support Battalion and officer in charge of Team Move, said her paratroopers are always ready.
"We're always rehearsing [and] finding ways to make sure we are the most prepared for what's coming up," she said.
The commander said the OSB provides bus transportation, loads and transports shipping containers, and issues parachutes, ammunition, medical supplies and nuclear, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive protective equipment.
During the GRF training exercise, paratroopers, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, acted in accordance with their rehearsals of rapid deployment. Once their gear was consolidated, Team Move went to work.
"We always have our gear and bags packed [and] ready to go," said Spc. Ernesto Ramirez, a paratrooper assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. "It takes just an hour to have our duffel bags palletized and ready to ship."
Ramos said her team is on a two-hour recall just like everyone on GRF is, and that as soon as she receives the call, her team is drawing equipment, loading up and moving to their duty locations.
No matter how impossible or hard the mission may seem, Ramos said her paratroopers will always find a way to get it done.
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