Supporting the First Stryker Brigade in Iraq - Army Logistics ...

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LOG NOTES
Base Closure Assistance
In his article, “Base Closure Planning,” in the
March-April 2004 issue, Lieutenant Colonel Leslie J.
(Chip) Pierce does a good job of covering many
details of military organizations in transition. It’s
obvious that he’s learned many lessons in drawdown.
I’ve had command of one unit during an inactivation
and two installations during a base realignment and
closure (BRAC) process. I have a somewhat different
view on closures and realignments.
I agree with Chip’s comment in the box on page 28,
“If the Army is serious about taking care of its soldiers
[and Department of the Army civilians] and their families,
especially during periods of turbulence and
change, it must ensure a smooth transition during base
closure.” I believe that in order to prove that the Army
is serious about caring for the people involved, special
teams must be trained to provide command and control
of installations during a BRAC. These realignment
and closure teams must have the ability to do
what is necessary to close an installation regardless of
what a parent organization may say. They also must
have the latitude to coordinate actions with many
organizations during a realignment.
Each team should include a BRAC commander, an
environmental expert, a property expert, a security
expert, and a top-notch personnel expert. This is all
the expertise needed on a BRAC team. The team
would be assigned to a targeted BRAC installation
and would not leave until the closure or alignment
was complete.
The merits of having teams that are trained to provide
command and control during the turmoil are
obvious. Usually, the first people to “jump ship” in
the midst of closure are the most marketable
employees. Normally, these employees are in critical
positions and they understand how the personnel
system works. Thus, they manage to take care of
themselves and move out early, which can have a serious
impact on the closure process as a whole.
The realignment and closure teams would be trained
to arrive at the installation and immediately assume
the duties of, or provide transition for, key personnel
who are preoccupied with taking care of their families
and themselves. (By law, BRAC is a 6-year process,
although it can be executed in less time.) The teams
would become intimately familiar with property,
processes, and people fairly quickly and would know
how to take care of Government personnel and their
families during the process. The teams would be
trained to address many other details, such as handling
violence in the workplace, theft, and mission degradation,
until closure or realignment.
With BRAC 05 possibly looming on the horizon, the
Army must quickly develop a strategy for taking care
of the people who have devoted their lives to supporting
Army programs. Failure to take care of these people
consistently and successfully will result in failure
of the Army as an organization.
LTC Thomas S. Schorr, Jr.
Independence, Missouri
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WORLDWIDE LOGISTICS
TRAINING WORKSHOP SCHEDULED
The Army Materiel Command Logistics Support
Activity (LOGSA) 2005 Worldwide Logistics
Training Workshop will be held 7 to 11 March
2005 at the Sparkman Complex at Redstone Arsenal,
Alabama. The workshop will provide updates
and workshops on current and emerging capabilities,
policies, and procedures; hands-on computer
training on the Army’s logistics capabilities; problem-solving
of logistics issues and concerns; helpdesk
support; professional development; and
information-sharing. For more information,
call (256) 313–6698 or send an email to
marcia.byrnes@us.army.mil.
JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2005