FORT POLK, LOUSIANA – Every year the Army sends 10 to 12 rotations of active-duty, reserve and National Guard units to the Joint Readiness Training Center here in order to conduct realistic, stressful, joint and combined arms training in order to validate their ability to mobilize or deploy their forces.
For the Soldiers the 30 days at JRTC starts with three long days of getting the equipment they will need to successfully complete their rotation to “the box”, as it is called.
While the Soldiers bring some of their equipment with them, other equipment, ranging from vehicles to basic issue items, are issued to the units through the Army’s pre-positioned stock program by the men and women of the Logistics Readiness Center.
The APS program allows Soldiers to fly directly into a theater or a training center and fall directly on to the equipment they will need to fight or train with. This program saves the units time and money, as they are able to move quickly in and out of theater, or in this case, the training center.
The Fort Polk LRC has two missions. The first, like all LRCs, is to support the installation and the garrison command team by providing baseline services such as food service support, ammunition support and all classes of supply support at the Central Installation Facility.
The second mission is to provide logistics support for JRTC. It is this dual mission that makes the Fort Polk LRC different from other installation LRCs because they have to balance the needs of the garrison with the demands of JRTC.
“About 80 percent of our workload is JRTC,” said Tim Corlew, Plans and Operations Chief, LRC-Polk.
To assist with the workload LRC employs approximately 700 contractors as well as government employees to plan, coordinate and execute the logistical requirements needed to support the combat training center mission.
“Through the use of the ASC Division Logistics Support Element, it’s impressive to see the readiness effects of an integrated AMC effort we are delivering during JRTC rotations,” said Maj. Gen. Daniel Mitchell, the commanding general of Army Sustainment Command.
Mitchell conducted a site visit of the LRC March 1 and 2 to talk to the employees and find out if there are any issues that he needed to be aware of.
“The LRC is responsible for moving mountains in support of the FORSCOM JRTC mission,” said Corlew. This mountain includes: Conducting nearly 32,000 maintenance work orders per year on equipment that needs to be fixed or refurnished, issuing over 47 million rounds of ammunition and 3.8 million gallons of fuel to allow the Soldiers to train, keeping Soldiers fed by issuing 3.7 million MREs annually, and issuing over 32,000 pieces of equipment at CIF and 61,000 items from the Installation Supply Support Activity issue.
The LRC is also responsible for supporting multi-modal transportation missions that support equipment and personnel arriving at JRTC by air, rail, line haul and barges, as well as planning, coordinating and executing transportation assets to move approximately 41,000 Soldiers a year through the training area.
Mitchell was pleased with the partnership and integration between the government employees as they provided support to the Soldiers going through JRTC and those stationed at Fort Polk.
“We are seeing great partnerships between ACOM and ASCC units and AMC units leading up, during the post training that generates and sustains readiness for the Army,” said Mitchell. “DLSE’s are a true enabler on the battlefield.”
The LRC falls under the 404th Army Field Support Brigade, which is part of the Army Sustainment Command.
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