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CSSD 44 support troops during Battle Griffin 2005

Marine Corps News

Story Identification #: 200538123539
Story by Marine Forces Reserve

VAERNES AIR STATION, Norway – (Mar. 8, 2005) -- There’s some truth to the saying, “The grunts get the glory, the wing gets the girls, but the support element wins wars.”

Combat Service Support Detachment 44 is helping the Marines of Marine Air Ground Task Force 25 make the most out exercise Battle Griffin 2005.

“What good is a rifle without rounds, or an airplane without bombs,” asks Maj. Gary L. Backstrom, logistics officer with MAGTF-25. “Without the CSSD, fighting a battle and being able to win a war would be almost impossible.”

CSSD 44 provides logistical support for the 1,300 Marines and sailors attached to MAGTF 25 in a variety of ways.

“As supply, we provide the cold weather issue Marines need to stay warm out in the field,” said Lance Cpl. Ojibwa D. Miller, a warehouseman with CSSD 44. “All the Goretex field jackets, cold weather fleece, white cover-alls, and even the cold weather boots- we supplied those. Where would the Marines be without them?”

Even away from base, the CSSD still keeps MAGTF Marines at fighting strength.

“Bullets don’t fly without supply,” said Lance Cpl. Frank Lamar, a warehouseman with Rations Co., CSSD 44. “If in the exercise we needed ammo, we’d pass out the ammo. But for this exercise, chow is the big deal. You’ll never see a Marine go hungry because we didn’t issue it.”

The Marines didn’t just provide for Marines, the CSSD worked closely with Norwegians to help provide for host nation attachments, using a host nation support battalion, said Backstrom.

Although convoys are the most well known way of getting supplies to the frontlines, the combat service support element isn’t limited to ground travel. Air delivery specialists with 2nd Beach Terminal Operations, 4th Landing Support Bn., get gear wherever it needs to be.

“The CSSD specializes in getting cargo across a battlefield,” said Capt. Robert C. Hawkins, executive officer of CSSD 44. “We’ll go the way we have to, whether by land or by air. Our air delivery specialists can make sure supplies get air dropped to a certain destination.”

Wherever MAGTF-25 needs supplies, CSSD 44 is ready, willing and able to support in “every clime and place.”