CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar -- The 401st Army Field Support Battalion-Qatar led a rehearsal of concept drill for Army Prepositioned Stocks-5 equipment issue here, June 16.
The ROC drill was conducted to inform and validate the feasibility of an issue plan from APS-5 of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. The HIMARS is a light multiple rocket launcher mounted on a standard Army Medium Tactical Vehicle truck frame.
"The AFSBn-Qatar APS-5 Issue ROC Drill was a great example of Army Sustainment Command working with adjacent units in a forward deployed environment," said Capt. Shameka Long, operations officer, 401st AFSBn-Qatar. "The issue of APS-5 to a unit is a key task in the unit's CENTCOM reception, staging, onward movement, and integration process."
The drill was held to demonstrate how government personnel along with contractors would conduct an issue plan.
"The equipment issue cannot be performed in isolation of the rest of the process, so to be successful we really had to involve Area Support Group-Qatar, Camp As Sayliyah Department of Logistics, and United States Army Medical Materiel Agency. Each group provided valuable insight into how they worked in order to support the overall plan," Long said.
Participants included the 401st Army Field Support Brigade command team, and members of Area Support Group-Qatar; 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment; Department of Logistics; and U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency.
The most challenging aspect of the drill was the realization that so many limiting factors of the issue timeline are out of AFSBn-Qatar's control, Long said.
"There are key actions from the Gaining Tactical Unit and adjacent units on Camp As Sayliyah that can either make the mission a success or grind it to a halt," Long said. "As a result, one of the key outputs of the drill is an External Standing Operating Procedure that addresses those key actions."
The AFSBn-Qatar has not conducted a large scale, rapid issue of equipment in several years. These drills give the battalion and other participants an opportunity to keep their skills fresh and identify new challenges in a controlled environment.
"The dedicated focus from so many experienced logisticians and planners, both inside and outside the battalion, helped to refine the overall process and define what it looked like to conduct this operation quickly and safely with 100 percent property accountability and high standards of customer service," Brock said.
The drill spanned more than three hours and took participants through several different warehouses containing equipment necessary to the joint warfighter.
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