Keeping the camp at Puslatpur 5, Indonesia running during Super Garuda Shield 2024 is quite the task. From dawn to dusk, the mayor cell works behind the scenes to maintain the readiness and capabilities of the installation for all U.S. military personnel during the multinational exercise.
1st Lt. Christian Trimarchi is the executive officer for Headquarters Company, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. Working at the forefront of this task during Super Garuda Shield for two years now, he’s developed an aptitude for this line of work.
“The day to day is pretty busy, me and my NCOs get an early start. We start the day off by looking at van management for the day, making sure all personnel get to where they need to go. We then make sure everything is going well with our contractors, making sure breakfast lunch and dinner are good.”
Along with his other responsibilities, Trimarchi has his hands full, and the work comes with its challenges. The base is occupied by over 440 personnel from several countries. When asked about challenges, he said, “Working with other nations has been a lot of fun. This is my third pathways mission. Of course you see normal issues especially with communication – sometimes we have differences in the way our units perform in our day to day tasks – but overall we are out here for the same goals. We are all out here for the same mission. We are focussing on interoperability.”
Trimarchi spoke of his experience working with the Indonesian National Armed Forces, some of whom he met on past missions. “Out here on this Indonesian site, we’ve had a lot of good interactions with the TNI [Indonesian National Armed Forces].” Trimarchi also added “Through the help of our interpreters, we have maintained and been able to grow these relationships especially with the fact that the same units are coming out here year after year.”
When asked if he had anything to add, Trimarchi said this: “My favorite part about coming out here to do this exercise has been working with the foreign soldiers. You get to see a lot of how their lives are different, but how we are all soldiers - we have the same overall tasks and way we get after certain tasks and how we are trying to move toward the same goal: strengthening the profession.”
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