Military

INITIAL FOCUS

During the early phases of a contingency operation, sustaining base commanders must focus on the following critical responsibilities: supporting deployed units, mobilizing soldiers and units, preparing units and soldiers for deployment, and reinforcing the military personnel division (MPD).

MOBILIZATION

Unit mobilization presents an extraordinary challenge for the MPD to build unit data bases. Under SIDPERS 2.75, the data base includes the authorized strength file (ASF), organizational master file (OMF), and TACCS personnel file (TPF) for each unit. Establishing the OMF and ASF often requires manual input.

Although there are some automated information sources, they are not entirely reliable. SIDPERS 3.0 and future automation objectives will streamline the process; however, where these capabilities do not exist or are inoperable, the MPD must prepare to manually input required data.

DEPLOYMENT

During mobilization and deployment, the MPD must assist commanders in the soldier readiness review process. Whenever possible, the MPD should assist commanders in correcting deficiencies to make soldiers deployable. The MPD must account for and manage soldiers who cannot deploy with their units. In those instances where soldiers' non-deployable status is long-term, the MPD will assist commanders to employ or discharge them, as appropriate.

During the soldier readiness review process, the MPD will copy critical documents (for example, DA Forms 2A and 2-1, officer records brief, DD Form 93, SGLI form, and DA Form 873) from the soldiers' military personnel records jackets (MPRJ) and place them in a deployment folder. The MPD will furnish these folders to the unit commander for delivery to the supporting personnel detachment/personnel services battalion (PSB) in the theater of operations. The MPRJs are kept at the MPD or PSB (rear).

Army civilians will carry an extract of their official personnel file to the supporting personnel management center (PMC).

SUPPORTING DEPLOYED UNITS

The contingency size and nature will determine what part of the military personnel system deploys. If personnel units deploy, they do so incrementally, as described in Chapter 23, Deployment. This splits responsibility for providing personnel support to the deployed force between deployed personnel units and the parent installation.

The parent installation will retain responsibility for managing the deployed units' SIDPERS 2.75 data bases, controlling and maintaining their MPRJs, and providing other services associated with the sustaining base.

SPLIT OPERATIONS

Divided personnel support during contingency operations requires a tailored support package for divisions. Each PSB must prepare to provide support from the sustaining base and the theater of operations. A discussion of PSB split operations is in Chapter 23. The personnel group commander will determine support element composition at both locations. Additionally, USAR personnel unit resources may be activated to reinforce the MPD.

MANPOWER

Sustaining base commanders must prepare to augment their work force as the workload increases and as personnel units withdraw from the integrated MPD. Functions generating workload increases are mobilization processing, soldier readiness processing, replacement operations, and data base management.

In addition to local options for work force augmentation (for example, temporary over hire and borrowed military manpower), installation commanders report Reserve Component unit and/or personnel augmentation needs to the MACOM commander.