CAMP ADAZI, Latvia ¬-- The 21st Theater Sustainment Command, based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, is providing the bulk of logistical support for the U.S. Army Europe-led, multi-national training exercise Saber Strike 2012, taking place here through June 22.
Providing the wide variety of expert and professional logistics support needed to meet the demands of a field training exercise with about 1,300 participating soldiers from five different partner nations seems a daunting task indeed.
The 21st TSC deployed much of its Special Troops Battalion along with functional providers from several other subordinate units to Camp Adazi, Latvia, to run the operational element, known as the mayor cell, for Saber Strike, thus accomplishing that formidable task.
With nearly 60 Soldiers working around the clock in the mayor cell, the 21st TSC is assisting in the exercise by providing or coordinating everything dealing with life support from fuel, ammo, communications, rations and transportation to laundry services, billeting, finance, maintenance and medical support to over 550 service members from more than 10 different military units to include Army, Air Force and Marines.
"The mission of the 21st TSC here is to provide all the logistical support to the service members who are participating in Exercise Saber Strike 2012," said Cpt. Eunice H. Sorrell, the company commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 21st STB and a Seattle native. "It's an incredible feeling to know that because of our support, the U.S. Forces that we're providing logistics for can go out and train and take part in training without any worries that they are taken care of with all their life support needs."
Another capability that the 21st TSC is providing is real-world security analysis and force protection measures. The force protection's job is to ensure U.S. Forces and military equipment are secure and ensure personnel are aware of their surroundings and the threat level in the local areas.
"Our job here is important because all the military assets here are far away from their home stations, regardless of whether we live in the states or in Germany," said Staff Sgt. David P. Miller, the force protection/anti-terrorism non-commissioned officer for the exercise control cell and a native of Monterey, Calif. "We don't want service members getting complacent and expecting things to be the same as they are at their home bases, so it is our job to ensure that proper security measures are taken and force protection procedures are implemented."
"I think taking part in this exercise is a great opportunity and it's good to see all the nations come together and train with one goal in mind; making our world a safer place," said Miller. "And I am glad to be able to do my job and in-turn, keep them safe while they train."
In order to plan for an exercise of this stature the 21st TSC started preparing for it more than three months in advance. Three weeks prior to the mission, meetings were held two times and in some cases three times a week to ensure everyone taking place was on the same page.
The 21st TSC started deploying its support personnel May 31, prior to the exercise beginning June 11, and will remain in Latvia well after the exercise end date.
"I think that the Soldiers here have done an outstanding job supporting our warfighters while they train," said Sgt. 1st Class David M. Miron, an electronic maintenance supervisor for the 21st STB and a native of Dearborn, Mich. "I'm proud of each and every one of them and it's because of our support personnel that this mission is a success."
Saber Strike 2012 is a multi-national, tactical field training exercise that involves more than 2,000 personnel from the U.S. Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, the 4th U.S. Marine Division, the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian armed forces, with contingents from Canada , Finland, France and the United Kingdom.
The exercise, led by USAREUR, is designed to enhance joint and combined interoperability between the U.S. Army and partner nations, and will help prepare participants to operate successfully in a joint, multi-national, interagency, integrated environment.
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