1889th Regional Support Group (1889th RSG) command team, Montana Army National Guard, case their colors during the Task Force Integrator Transfer of Authority ceremony April 17, 2024, in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The color casing signifies the end of the unit’s mission to provide support for Combined Joint Task Force – Operations Inherent Resolve. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maliyah Williams) VIEW ORIGINAL
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- At the end of their nine months spent in the Middle East in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), the 1889th Regional Support Group “Task Force Big Sky” out of Butte, Montana handed over authority for the Task Force Integrator mission in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait to the 272nd Regional Support Group, out of Lansing, Michigan.
“It isn’t the things that we have done that make me proud of how we have accomplished the mission,” said TF Integrator commander Col. Michael Moreni. “It is the way in which we did it.”
TF Integrator deployed to theater last August, prepared to support those who were conducting security and counter-Da'esh operations as their Base Operating Support - Integrator (BOS-I) cells.
“This deployment has been quite the experience,” explained Moreni. “It is really the tale of two missions, one before and one after October 7.”
Shortly after their arrival in theater, things changed drastically as the first attacks on coalition forces since March 2023 occurred. This change called for quick action.
New mission requirements led to Moreni sending several soldiers to Erbil Air Base and Al-Asad Air Base, where their new focus was on force protection. With support from the staff at Camp Arifjan and base partners, the bases were transformed into fortresses of cement and steel with bunkers that could fit every individual on base.
“Those locations are not recognizable from what they looked like in October.”
Highlighting the changes made during their deployment, Moreni explained some of the transformation that took place.
TF Integrator set up over 5200 T-walls, positioned over 11 miles of HESCO barriers, emplaced over 200 c-channel bunkers and filled and positioned over 470,000 sandbags. Working with another unit, they moved, elevated or otherwise adjusted radars and other force protection countermeasures throughout the deployment.
Over the course of their deployment, base populations fluctuated as personnel requirements changed and TF Integrator ensured that everyone had what they needed for base services.
According to Moreni, his unit had “the unique opportunity to touch almost every service member attached to OIR and get the chance to make people have a better experience here.”
TF Integrator secured every soldier a bed to sleep in, ensured they were able to eat three meals a day, had access to hot showers, had vehicles to drive and badges ensuring they could enter the locations necessary to do their jobs. They had the capabilities to fix soldier’s computers, track housing requests and helped make temporary arrangements feel more normal and like home.
Moreni said that he is proud of the soldiers and the work they did with a complex mission.
“It is difficult to accomplish tasks in the Army when you have no command support relationship with anyone,” he said. “The only way to accomplish things is with the strong relationship that TF Integrator has forged with every partner we have encountered. People will help you do things if you treat them with respect, are professional, do your job with a smile on your face and thank them for their help. You could not have done this better.”
With that, Moreni and Command Sgt. Maj. Dale Mortieau, the TF Integrator command sergeant major neatly rolled up and cased the colors, signifying the end of the unit’s mission. Directly following the casing, the 272nd RSG’s command team, Col. Jeffrey Austhof and Command Sgt. Maj. James Robins unfurled their unit colors and assumed the TF Integrator mission.
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