A good relationship between the brigade support battalion (BSB) and the forward support company (FSC) starts in garrison, and it is difficult. The BSB is assigned subordinate FSCs by its modified table of organization and equipment, but most FSCs in the Army are under the operation control of and are almost entirely integrated into their supported battalions.
There is a tendency for the FSCs to become "distanced" from the BSB, which limits the BSB commander's influence and undermines his authority as the senior logistician in the brigade combat team (BCT). This is mainly because those within the BCT do not understand the difference between command and support relationships. The BSB commander is the BCT's senior logistician and is responsible for sustainment planning, coordination, integration, and synchronization for the brigade, regardless of FSC command relationships.
ESTABLISHING TERMS OF REFERENCE
In garrison, the task organization and command relationship of the FSCs require analysis of BCT operations and the consensus of all commanders. With this in mind, the BSB commander should establish a memorandum of agreement that delineates roles and responsibilities and ensure that the agreement is supported by the BCT and the maneuver commanders.
This "terms of reference" document must clearly delineate who is responsible for what while in garrison and in the field. With only a few exceptions, FSCs receive the same support from their supported battalion as the supported battalion's organic companies.
TALENT MANAGEMENT
The BSB commander should have the authority (delegated from the BCT commander) for logistics officer management, while the BSB command sergeant major (CSM) should have the delegated authority for logistics noncommissioned officer (NCO) management.
Talent management and honest, accurate assessments of all subordinate leaders are critical to mission success and support flexibility. Many BSB commanders put their best Logistics Captain's Career Course graduates in the FSCs. The BSB CSMs do the same with senior NCOs; they accept risk with the internal BSB leader talent because they have more control to mentor less talented leaders.
Talent should be dispersed proportionately between the BSB and the FSCs. The BSB commander should make an effort to professionally develop logistics lieutenants and grow the next generation of logisticians. BSB commanders should rotate logistics lieutenants between supply, maintenance, and transportation jobs with the lieutenant's final year ending as a company executive officer or in a staff position. A second lieutenant should do a branch-specific job first, if possible, but position openings do not always align with new arrivals.
The goal should be for all logistics lieutenants to have three job assignments during their tenure with the BCT that include both time in the BSB and the FSC. This will make them well-rounded and ultimately better prepared to be multifunctional logistics captains.
TRAINING TOGETHER
The BSB should incorporate the FSCs into all battalion-level field training exercises so that the support relationships remain intact. BSBs should establish the brigade support area with its FSCs at least twice a year and practice the complexity of tactical distribution, sustainment synchronization at each echelon, and the science of control by establishing the field trains command post and combat trains command post and defining the skill sets and equipment (to include communications systems) that should reside at each location.
The BSB commander and CSM should establish and validate the sustainment tactical standard operating procedures to cover all sustainment echelons in the BCT. The BSB should provide resourced training packages for all sustainment Soldiers and oversee their professional development by mentoring and training all junior sustainment leaders. The BSB commander and CSM can host a "Sustainment University" that meets monthly and covers sustainment functions like reporting logistics statuses and preparing logistics estimates.
Another training event that works for logistics lieutenants is a logistics lieutenant "stakes" competition. Have logistics sergeants first class grade the lieutenants so that it is a training event for the NCOs as well. Have the lieutenants participate in 10 to 15 graded events such as setting up an OE254 radio antennae, conducting preventive maintenance checks and services on a humvee, and turning on and distributing fuel from a heavy expanded-mobility tactical truck fuel tanker. This competition will test mental toughness, physical fitness, technical and tactical proficiency but most importantly will build camaraderie among the logistics lieutenants and improve their skills in many areas.
TRAIN AS YOU FIGHT
While in garrison, do not allow FSCs to pick up fuel from main post. Make the distribution company issue it from the motor pool. This is how petroleum supply specialists in the FSCs develop working relationships with their fellow fuel handlers in the BSB.
The BCT should set up all of the very small aperture terminals and conduct tactical file transfer protocol between logistics information systems daily. It is easy to get tied to the Network Enterprise Center, which is not training as we fight.
Have all of the commodity maintenance technicians in the field maintenance company incorporate all of the low-density MOSs into monthly "fenced" MOS training. Training between the BSB and the FSCs is essential and requires coordinated efforts and agreements among commanders.
Build the BSB and FSC relationship in garrison with a memorandum of agreement between commanders that clearly outlines the terms of reference that define who is responsible for what. Then, most importantly, BSB and FSCs must train together. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lt. Col. Brent Coryell is the senior logistics trainer at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California. He holds a master's degree logistics management from Florida Tech, and a master of military art and science degree from the Command and General Staff College.
Capt. Christopher Devenport is a Logistics Captain's Career Course small group leader at the Army Logistics University at Fort Lee, Virginia. He served at the NTC as an observer-coach trainer for 17 decisive action rotations as both the assistant support operations trainer and the brigade support battalion S-3 trainer. He holds a bachelor's degree in education from the State University of New York at Oswego. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
This article was published in the September-October 2016 issue of Army Sustainment magazine.
Related Links:
Discuss This Article in milSuite
Browse September-October 2016 Magazine
Army Sustainment Magazine Archives
Browse Army Sustainment Magazine
The optimal employment of the forward support company in decisive action
Social Sharing