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554th Quartermaster Battalion (Petroleum)

The staff of this new Iowa Army National Guard battalion, with soldiers transferred from various branches, received special training condensed from the Petroleum Officer Course by the Petroleum and Water Department of the US Army Quartermaster Center and School, Fort Lee, VA. The staff spent their first Annual Training, 5-19 Apr 97, at Fort Lee.

As a new battalion with headquarters in Newton, IA, the 554th had officers and senior noncommissioned officer (NCOs) transfer from various branches including Ordnance, Armor, Infantry, Engineer, Military Police and Transportation. Their training was specially tailored to create a basic foundation of knowledge on petroleum and water operations.

The 554th Battalion Commander, a Quartermaster, came up with the Annual Training approach while at Fort Lee for his Pre-Command Course. The battalion's executive officer approached the Petroleum and Water Department's director about the feasibility. The director thought the battalion commander's idea could be supported and recommended that the 554th coordinate directly with the Advanced Petroleum and Water Division (APWD) at Fort Lee.

The acting chief of APWD and the battalion's executive officer met in February 1997 to discuss the structure of the 554th so that APWD could make recommendations on training topics. The resulting training schedule included an overview of petroleum operations; petroleum and water organizations and missions; petroleum and water in a theater of operations; petroleum accountability; petroleum, oils and lubricants (POL) requirement computations; and familiarization with POL and water-related equipment. The training built up to an operations order (OPORD) exercise based on the Annual Training instruction.

Several APWD staff members conducted the training. The personnel of the 554th found the instructors extremely professional in their presentations. They were also impressed by the willingness and eagerness of every member of the APWD staff to offer assistance, not only during the time the 554th was at Fort Lee, but also telephone assistance once the 554th had returned to home station as well. Members of the 554th were overwhelmed by the courtesy, knowledge and cooperation of all the APWD instructors.

Members of the 554th also participated in other events while in VA. At Fort Lee, they received a 49th Petroleum Group operational brief. Most of the 49th Petroleum Group was deployed to New Mexico for Exercise Roving Sands '97, and the 554th used the OPORD for that exercise to train on the deliberate decision-making process.

As an educational yet relaxing method of spending a Sunday morning, the 554th conducted a staff ride of the Petersburg National Battlefield. This required study of the doctrine and weapons in use at the time and research on the leaders involved. The discussion's focus was the period of June 15-19, 1864, which preceded the lengthy siege of Petersburg. This was a novel experience for the Iowa Army National Guard group that provided added knowledge and appreciation of US heritage.

Overall, the Annual Training was a success. It enabled the staff of the 554th to take major strides in their development, while establishing a rapport with the functional experts at both the APWD and the 49th Petroleum Group.