[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 1 (January–February 1970), pages 16–17.]
WHAT DO YOU NEED, SOLDIER? A shower and some new boots? Or, maybe, cigarettes and a bond allotment for the family back home? How about a haircut and parts for your jeep? Whatever it is, the Super Contact Team probably has it, And they take it all to the field.
Devised by Major General F.K. Mearns while commanding the 25th Division, and set into action by Brigadier General William G. Gleason when he was assistant division commander in early 1968, the Super Contact Team is, in a sense, a miniature, portable base camp. Items are stored and transported in CONEX containers which may be airlifted or loaded on trucks depending on the situation.
Under control of the Division Support Command, the Super Contact Team takes major support services, normally available only in the base camp, to the men in the field. The team travels wherever it is needed—usually to the soldiers who have been in the field the longest. Representatives from personnel, finance, the Army Post Office, and the legal office travel into the rice paddies to solve the soldiers' problems on the spot.
One of the main attractions is an Army exchange (PX) provided by the 25th Supply and Transportation Battalion. Operated out of two CONEX containers, the PX offers not only the essential items, such as shaving cream, razor blades, soap, and toothpaste, but also candy, cookies, canned fruits, potato chips, corn curls, cigarettes, and a cross section of current magazines. Then there is usually up to 35 gallons of ice cream.
Quartermaster supply is next on the list of favorites. All of the normal items in supply, such as fatigues, boots, socks, and underclothes, are stocked.
One of the remarkable features of the Super Contact Team is the portable shower. The shower consists of a rubber tank holding up to 10,000 gallons of water, two shower heads which can accommodate up to 10 men at a time, and a heating and filtering tank. The shower is compact enough to be transported in a CONEX container and can be set up in an hour. If the team travels to the field location by convoy, 5,000 gallons of water are taken along to augment the water resources in the area.
Arms, communications, and motor specialists members of the team take parts and tools with them to perform up to third echelon maintenance on weapons, signal equipment, and vehicles.
A barber from the 25th Medical Battalion accompanies the team to give the finishing touch to the newly clothed and freshly bathed soldier.
Dental needs are taken care of by the "101st … Group.” This portable denial clinic is complete with its own water supply, generator, compressor, padded chair, high-speed drill, and fan. Once on a … base, it is ready to serve patients within 45 minutes. The facility cuts combat-time loss from days to hours.
Colonel James W. Atwell, former commander of the Division Support Command, commented, “Without doubt, the Super Contact Team has increased morale among field troops and filled a very necessary gap in our support functions.”
Recently added to Super Contact Team operations are two model-type rest and relaxation areas for the use of men who come in from the field. For 48 hours the men enjoy Super Contact Team treatment which includes eating a steak dinner and swimming in a luxurious pool.
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