TALLINN, Estonia -- “All right, HAZ-DECs, this is how we are going to do it; let’s start from the front and work back pallet by pallet,” Eric Gustafson says as his sergeant pulls up the hazardous materials declaration documents from a laptop computer.
Sgt. Carson Boekhoven, Marine Forces Europe strategic mobility non-commissioned officer, and Gustafson are on an Estonian military installation looking at a seemingly endless line of armored personnel carriers and pallets stacked high with ammunition, parts and other military cargo.
A group of Estonian military officers stand close by and ask about the arrival time of the first of several aircraft—eager to see this gear delivered to their comrades in Afghanistan.
For Gustafson, Boekhoven and the other Marines of the Marine Forces Europe Strategic Mobility Office, this current mission is much larger in scale than the 47 other missions they’ve completed in the past 18 months.
A lot larger.
According to Gufstason, the SMO team has supervised the movement of more than 945 short tons of coalition vehicles and supplies during 12 separate missions this year. A short ton is 2,000 pounds.
During this mission in Estonia, the SMO team is supervising the movement of 308 short tons, the team’s largest single movement in recent history.
Since their arrival here, Gustafson says his team has provided a variety of assistance to the Estonians, who currently has a reinforced mechanized infantry company deployed to Afghanistan, such as liaison between U.S. Transportation Command, load planning, hazardous materials declarations, and flight scheduling.
Due to the size of this movement, the team has faced some challenges with getting everything that needs to go to fit safely on the allotted aircraft.
“It’s like doing ten huge, three dimensional jigsaw puzzles all at once,” Gustafson says as he pulls up a computer program that allows him to build load plans and configure the gear so that it will all fit safely on the aircraft.
A 40,000-pound armored truck with 5,000pounds of repair parts in its bed is proving to be especially tricky to fit into the load plan.
“Can we take some air out of the tires?” asks Boekhoven.
“No, no, no—never—it will bounce too much if you do that,” Gustafson replies.
An Estonian transportation officer offers a suggestion, and the three commence with a twenty-minute problem solving session that ends in the successful configuration of the load plan.
“That’s how these things go,” Gustafson says as he puts the laptop away
The Bigger Picture
The things Gustafson refers to are coalition deployment-support missions—tasked through U.S. European Command in support of U.S. Central Command—to get NATO and other coalition partners to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.
Gustafson said the SMO team focuses on four major areas when they are on a strategic lift mission: deployment planning, cargo preparation/pallet building, standard operating procedures for hazardous material declaration, and the science behind load planning.
“The goal is to get all the equipment and supplies that they need to complete their mission, ensure the safety of the aircraft—and provide training,” Boekhoven said. “But the training portion is the most important aspect of what we are doing.”
“It’s a holistic approach,” Gustafson added. “We are here to do all the standard liaison part of the mission, but by focusing on the training aspect, we are enabling our partners and increasing their capabilities.”
To give an example, Gustafson likened the entire process to that of the Marine Corps’ approach to training. By utilizing the troop leading steps and empowering non-commissioned officers, Gustafson said the Marine Corps creates leaders who can accomplish any mission.
The troop leading steps—begin the planning, arrange reconnaissance, make reconnaissance, complete the planning, issue orders and supervise—are commonly referred to as BAMCIS.
The composition of the team is important. Gustafson, a retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer 3 and embarkation officer with more than 20 years of experience, pairs up with the senior host-nation transportation or logistics officer.
Then, depending on the size of the mission, one or more of the SMO NCOs will work with their host-nation counterparts, and what unfolds is an example of the Marine Corps’ approach to empowering NCOs to accomplish the mission.
“I teach them the deployment planning process and management of their resources,” Gustafson said. “The NCOs teach the execution part of the process.”
The end result is not only the correct personnel, equipment and supplies getting where they need to be, but both partner nations walk away with an enhanced understanding of the difficulties associated with scenario-based throughput and an opportunity to improve small-group leadership.
“It a shared learning experience,” Boekhoven said. “Each of the countries we work with is at a various stage in their deployment processes. Some have long established systems and really only need our liaison support with [U.S. Transportation Command] and others are in the beginning stages of developing their process, so we work with them to share our skills and approach to training.”
“It’s all about them defining their best-business practice,” Gustafson said. “We are here to lend our experience, but the most important thing we bring to the table is our approach to problem solving and management of mission execution.”
BAMCIS is Everything
Every good NCO knows the six troop leading steps; and the Marine Corps uses these steps to teach and train on all levels and in all situations.
“Any situation, or anything you are doing, we stress the use of this process [BAMCIS] to teach our Marines to lead and complete a mission,” Gustafson said.
Gustafson said the process starts right away, when they receive a mission tasking from CENTCOM, via EUCOM.
“We look at what [assets] we need to have to accomplish the mission and start formulating our plan,” Boekhoven said.
Next, the SMO team contacts the U.S. Embassy in the host country to coordinate with the coalition partner. Through this step, Gustafson said the team is able to get a better-defined picture of a course of action.
“At this stage, we are looking at what capabilities the host nation has, what their requirement is, and what steps we are going to have to take to provide them the assistance they need,” Gustafson said.
Then the SMO team travels to the host nation to meet with representatives from the requesting unit to discuss the plan and develop a timeline.
“Based on the size and scope of the mission, we will show up anywhere from two days to one-week before the aircraft is scheduled to arrive in order to complete our planning based on the resources that are available and the needs of the requesting unit,” Gustafson said.
When it comes to issuing orders and supervising, Gustafson said his team prefers to stand back and let the host nation take charge.
“This is where that cross-training comes into play,” Gustafson said. “By issuing the order and taking ownership of the process, they gain confidence in their business process as it is developing.”
Strategic Mobility Partnerships as a Force Multiplier
According to Gustafson, the SMO team has been able to work with several of the same nations on more than one occasion, and the Marines see that with each visit, they are needed less and less.
“This stuff works,” Gustafson says. “BAMCIS is the key because of the demanding restraints associated with strategic lift. Our planning has to be solid, but flexibility is a must.”
Overall, Gustafson said that while the work he and his Marines do with partner nations does benefit them as they build their capacity, more importantly it crucial to the war effort.
The value of getting troops and supplies to the battlefield goes without saying, and the work done by the MarForEur SMO shop is working to make that happen in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“When it comes down to it, we are working with our allies to directly support the war,” Gustafson said.