Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

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CHAPTER 9 A REAR DETACHMENT COMMANDER IN OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR Lieutenant Colonel Sherrie L. Balko ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND PURPOSE It is hard to know where to begin to thank the many great soldiers and Americans who helped me survive my year’s tenure as a Rear Detachment Commander. I chose not to use names in this paper beyond those in the following paragraph, because my accounting talks in generalities about the members of the detachment and does not go into specific situations. There also were many personnel changes over the course of the year, and I did not want to accidentally forget someone. That said, I would be remiss if I did not thank some of the key leaders who shouldered most of the burdens, had more than their fair share of face time with me, and served at least half of the deployment in the rear detachment. My subordinate commanders, Diane Fortini, Rich DuBreuil and Scott Baier were absolutely awesome. I only hope that their next assignments were a bit more fun. My staff, who were significantly underpaid for all the responsibility they had, Maria Drew, Brian Dockery, Scott Pearson, Tony Hale, Wendy Rivers, Mo Cashman, and Derryk Julien, kept the brigade in the game. My right-hand man, Sergeant Major Johnson, kept me squared away and let me know when I was getting ready to do something dumb. A special thanks goes to Lisa Stein, who did a lot more then the title “secretary” would suggest. She kept the Headquarters afloat and the paperwork moving, even when the rest of us went to the field. I also want to acknowledge Jeanne Slupik 233
and Steve Walker, commanders of the two battalions that did not deploy. They were always there when I needed some help, and they overlooked most of the errors my junior staff made. They were true team players and good friends. Last, some very special ladies who not only took care of the families, but also made it their mission to look after me: Deb Culbert, Anne Premo, Hattie Graham, and Kelly Tate were the epitome of great Family Support Group Leaders. These folks and many others were all part of the success story told in this monograph. I will never be able to adequately thank them for their dedication and tireless efforts. It was a wild ride and I am glad they were aboard. This monograph is an accounting of the life of the rear detachment commander of the 22d Signal Brigade, V Corps, United States Army Europe during the brigade’s deployment as part of Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR (OJE). It is not a diary, instead it is a look at key aspects and certain events of the year-long deployment and describes how the various elements of the rear detachments managed them. If the reader has never had an opportunity to serve in one, especially overseas, it will be an eye-opener. The intent of this paper, then, is to share my experiences, observations, and lessons learned with others who may find themselves in a similar situation or are trying to develop a plan now for future rear detachments. THE WARNING ORDER They say timing is everything. Well, that was very true for the 22d Signal Brigade’s leadership early in October 1995. The warning order of a possible deployment to Bosnia came as the brigade’s key leaders and staff were gathered together at an off-site during the 3-day training holiday for Columbus Day. The brigade commander had to absent himself to attend the V Corps briefing, and, when he came back late that night, he officially broke the news. Elements of the brigade, under the command of the 1st Armored Division, would be deploying to Bosnia-Herzegovina, if and 234
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WARRIORS IN PEACE OPERATIONS Edited
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CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
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FOREWORD The Personal Experience Mo
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seldom practiced. The actual practi
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BATTALION COMMAND I assumed command
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all training, maintenance, and othe
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company training and log efforts, a
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the USAREUR staff was thought up an
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new times. Ops Center at the battal
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like the Jewish exodus wandering ar
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marvelous job of coordinating the e
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it. They did not want us there or n
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containers as well. I told him I un
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promptly chambered a round in his p
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techniques, we found the railhead a
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answer. He quickly made himself and
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Tacsat systems with two independent
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CHAPTER 3 THE BLUE FALCONS IN BOSNI
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monograph. My omission of such elem
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their advance around the safe haven
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unusual. In today’s environment,
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He also provided his timeline for J
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Within about an hour I was reminded
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eter. Even along these paths, I had
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for deployment. The pre-deployment
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a rehearsal for leaders, using a ve
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• Heavy weapons platoon from E Co
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The Blue Falcons exited the aircraf
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esponsibility for the base security
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sandbagged for force protection. Th
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Weather continued to deteriorate ov
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east-west roads crossing the Zone o
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needed from his forces. This coordi
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This COP was manned by a reinforced
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attalion commander was executing a
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creativity in accomplishing every a
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On February 11, TF 3-325 began coor
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their security. Hence, the title em
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deployed with the battalion to the
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at a confrontation going on at a ch
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he was deadly serious. I was convin
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As I reflected on the emotions I wa
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three times. The first time some ke
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pressure, intensity, and rigor of a
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gaining the sense of teamwork and s
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from 4-67, and now three tank plato
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Although the setup had changed in t
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trains per day to that point, thus
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soldier why there were differences
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One piece of frustrated cargo defin
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soldiers who deployed into an area
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support. After several false starts
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Group leaders, who were not paid pr
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Another lesson I learned was the ve
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We also developed a rotational gunn
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CHAPTER 5 COMMANDING A FIELD ARTILL
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Target Acquisition Battery (B/25 FA
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Rather than the anticipated three w
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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY HEADQUARTERS
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usiness taking their husbands away
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transportation, shopping, and perso
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were required to carry these 12 rul
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The remaining combat elements of Ch
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As we departed Baumholder, I felt c
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140
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Figure 7. 1st Armored Division AOR.
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forcing Service Battery to expend a
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Zvornik to regain control of the se
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likely a key storage site for a mec
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deployment. When offered the opport
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was due to retire from the Russian
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equipment for turn-in both at Baumh
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assume the FSG advisor role for the
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assigned weapons. It was a great co
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This created a daily stop at every
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(at all times) and constant reporti
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CONCLUSION The opportunity for batt
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A. He did not countermand the major
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CHAPTER 6 THE 28TH TRANSPORTATION B
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deactivation of the 53rd Transporta
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factors allowing us to stay ahead o
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drivers could not operate a motor v
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tied up with A/DACGS, CSCs, EAGLE E
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heat I received from the families b
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Page 185 and 186: When I split my battalion headquart
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Page 191 and 192: Drivers were also beginning to show
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Page 201 and 202: along with a myriad of situations t
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Page 205 and 206: INITIAL SUPPORT OPERATIONS, ISB Aft
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Page 209 and 210: commander while assigned to the 1AD
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Page 215 and 216: military. As early as 1993, some si
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Page 221 and 222: actions—all at the same time. Onc
Page 223 and 224: eing, load-bearing equipment (LBE)
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Page 227 and 228: was ours. Once we received this add
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Page 233: • Treated 19,899 Outpatients •
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Page 239 and 240: could do to change it now. The good
Page 241 and 242: THE SUBORDINATE REAR DETACHMENT COM
Page 243 and 244: to Grafenwoehr for deployment-speci
Page 245 and 246: Those were some of the major missio
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Page 251 and 252: Fortunately, we never had to deal w
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Page 255 and 256: AFTERWORD Dr. Douglas V. Johnson II
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