FORT POLK, La -- Today's ever-changing global environment requires the U.S. Army's forces to be ready and able to deploy on short notice. This concept brought the 710th Brigade Support Battalion to the Port of Beaumont, Texas, to conduct a Sealift Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise.
On Oct. 24, more than 100 Soldiers from the 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), practiced their ability to rapidly deploy by alerting and moving the unit and 50 vehicles to the Port of Beaumont.
This exercise was conducted over a five-day period and was used to validate the unit's ability to rapidly deploy by sea in support of contingency operations locally and around the world.
"We wanted to test our abilities and make sure we had the right equipment prepared to deploy," said Lt. Col. Steven Clark, 710th BSB commander. "From here we will be able to use this to add on to larger deployment exercises at the battalion level and support the brigade for future deployment operations worldwide."
The training is important to the unit's readiness as it has been called into action to support without notice. Most notably, brigade support battalion Soldiers were called into action in 2005 to support the people of Louisiana after the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina.
"The purpose of this training is to improve our readiness," said Capt. Andy Wood, SEDRE action officer, 710th BSB. "One of the big things that we have lost over the last 10 years is the ability for the unit to deploy itself to any contingency around the world."
Soldiers on site focused on the loading and unloading of the ship, as well as sling load operations, field feeding, preventative medicine, maintenance inspections and improving working relationships with the organizations working at the Port of Beaumont.
"I think one of the best parts was it provided our NCOs an opportunity to train their individual Soldiers and teams on how to do something outside of their normal (military occupational specialty)," Clark said.
The exercise was considered a success by the unit's leadership as all of their objectives were met during the week.
"It went really well," Wood said. "Not only did it give us experience on how to move the brigade, but it also showed our Soldiers how their jobs apply on a global scale."
Key to this exercise's success was the support provided by the organizations at the Port of Beaumont, including the 842nd Transportation Battalion, Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and Maritime Administration.
"Everybody helped us, bending over backwards to ensure our training objectives were met and were able to support everything that we've done," Clark said. "This is a relationship we've been building for a couple of years. This is not the first SEDRE we've done, but every time we've improved on it and gotten better."
This is the third time in the past two years that 710th BSB has conducted a SEDRE, allowing the training to grow and evolve with each iteration.
"What we did this time that we did not do last time were the elevator and crane operations and how to do sling load operations, tying down the (storage containers) and loading them onto the ship from the truck," said Pfc. Tevin Campbell, a motor transport operator from Echo Forward Support Company, 710th BSB.
With the knowledge, skills and abilities Soldiers practiced during this exercise, the 710th BSB stands ready to rapidly deploy at a moment's notice in support of contingency operations around the world.
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