Europe garrisons create 'all-star team' to support Saber Guardian

By Ms. Jaclyn Pennoyer (Grafenwoehr)July 14, 2017

Novo Selo, Bulgaria Team
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Augmentees at Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria prepare for the grand opening of Saber Guardian 17 on July 11, 2017. Almost 20 Army professionals from installations across Europe volunteered to harness their knowledge and individual areas of expertis... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Maria Diaz trains U.S. Soldier
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Installation fitness coordinator Maria Diaz from USAG Wiesbaden teaches U.S. Soldier functional fitness moves during a morning class at Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria July 14, 2017. A group of about 20 Army professionals from installations across ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
MWR Staff Work With Contractors to Improve MWR Facilities
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – IMCOM-Europe augmentees Joseph Walker, an MWR facility manager from USAG Rheinland-Pfalz, and Robert Thompson, an MWR budget analyst from USAG Bavaria, work with local contractors to improve the MWR facilities. A group of about 20 Army professionals ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

NOVO SELO TRAINING AREA, Bulgaria -- A group of about 20 Army professionals from installations across Europe recently volunteered to support two forward operating sites in the Black Sea region during Saber Guardian 17.

The 19 augmentees -- a term that has garnered a great deal of respect at the two communities, according to visiting senior leaders -- came from six Army garrisons in Europe, each bringing a diverse range of skillsets and installation expertise to the two Black Sea installations, Camp Mihail Kogalniceanu in Romania and Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria.

"This augmentee team is a breath of fresh air," said USAG Ansbach-MK/NSTA garrison commander Lt. Col. Tracey Smith, who recently took command of the two rapidly growing bases. "Since arriving, the team has worked incredibly well together and elevated the level of enthusiasm experienced by our Soldiers here."

Camp MK and NSTA, both operation hubs and primary staging sites for Saber Guardian 17, are transitioning into permanent installations with critical missions in a region where multinational military readiness and enhanced interoperability between U.S. forces, allied and partner nations is critical.

Although personnel have slowly filled permanent positions at the two sites since last June, the installation's leadership recognized the need for augmented support during the robust summer exercise schedule. The anticipation of several thousand additional troops, as well as a spike in multinational exercises in the bases' footprint, called for expedited and enhanced life support services, said David Tiedemann, operations lead for USAG Ansbach-MK/NSTA.

USAG Ansbach pushed the message out to all Army garrisons in Europe, specifically requesting for personnel who specialize in installation operations, morale and welfare programming, human resource functions, emergency services and public affairs. The augmentees came from garrisons Ansbach, Bavaria, Benelux, Italy, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Wiesbaden.

After several hours of travel from their home garrisons, the augmentees started almost immediately, said NSTA site director Julia Sibilla. In some cases, augmentees took matters into their own hands, initiating their own ideas, engaging colleagues on cross-functional projects and working late hours to extend program operating hours.

"The augmentees quickly got to work and created sub-teams that have been able to serve the community," Sibilla said. "It's like a team of champions -- an all-star team of Army Installation Management Command professionals from Europe who have come all the way here and work really well together."

Thomas Corcoran, NSTA's one-man MWR program manager, said his program expanded four fold almost instantly with the addition new staff members.

Within a matter of days, Maria Diaz, an installation fitness coordinator from USAG Wiesbaden, helped organize installation-wide runs and began offering functional fitness classes five days a week. One of her classes drew a multinational crowd of almost 50 military and civilian personnel. Diaz also met one-on-one with several Soldiers to provide sports nutrition counseling and help them refine their workout routines.

Another MWR augmentee, Joseph Walker from USAG Rheinland-Pfalz, completely revamped the MWR center, repurposing unused inventory to create a fully-functioning video game room, small movie theater and expanded reading section for the deployed service members.

"As a former Soldier, I know how important it is to have a place to just relax and unwind. This is my way of giving back," Walker said, adding, "We haven't stopped since we got here. This is a high-speed team. We're just trying to be as creative and resourceful as we can with what we have."

The MWR team also improved the bases' fitness centers by moving equipment around to provide more ease of use and repairing damaged machines. Robert Thompson, an MWR budget analyst at USAG Bavaria, traveled back and forth between the two installations -- about a 5 to 6-hour drive -- to make adjustments to many of the cardio machines and other gym stations before Saber Guardian 17 officially kicked off July 11.

Other garrison augmentees who specialize in operations and exercise planning were also instrumental in providing seamless base activity and life support, Sibilla said. The operations team quickly expanded housing arrangements for incoming troops at both installations and coordinated with various command elements to accommodate back-to-back senior leader visits and large-scale events throughout the exercise.

"The best part about something like this," said Anne-Marie Flores, emergency operations officer at USAG Italy, "is that it forces you to do something different and to work with other people who have different experiences and skills. It's eye-opening to see how they do their job."

Flores helped streamline base access procedures at NSTA, but she also filled many roles supporting the augmentee and command teams, including operations, administration and legal support. Flores refined several standard operating procedures for emergency services and aggregated relevant legal documents and military regulations to determine discrepancies between the various command elements at Camp MK and NSTA.

Even the site post office -- normally run by one person -- was able to grow and offer more services during the exercise. Postal experts Vinson Kelley from USAG Wiesbaden and Peter Marcantonio from USAG Italy helped Demetrius Palmer, the permanent postal officer, develop standard mailing procedures and transform the small deployment-like satellite station to a sustainably fuller garrison post office.

"It's really neat to have so many different people from different backgrounds come together and work," Sibilla said. "I've enjoyed throwing curveballs at them as a group and then watching them figure it out, rise to the occasion and exceed expectations."

Camp MK and NSTA Command Sgt. Maj. Ernest Peterson, who helped bring the team on board, was also impressed with the team's combined productivity and authentic enthusiasm.

"They've been able to do so much in such a short amount of time," he said. "There's a bunch of synergy here."

Related Links:

USAG Ansbach

Saber Guardian 17

Installation Management Command-Europe

Camp MK/NSTA job opportunities