CHAPTER 6
Other Logistics Support
The TAACOM has the duty to provide other logistics support to units in support of operations in the COMMZ. This support includes local transportation, field services, NBC support, procurement services, EOD support, reception and preparation of reinforcements, and noncombatant evacuation operations.
TRANSPORTATION
In the COMMZ, the transportation command commands most transportation units to include motor transport, terminal operating, rail, medium lift Army helicopter transport, terminal transfer, and aviation maintenance units. Line haul TRANSCOM units generally operate from the ports forward to TA and corps locations. TRANSCOM units operate ports, terminals, and rail and inland waterway systems throughout the COMMZ. TRANSCOM units are normally tasked by movement control teams, which control highway traffic movement on an area basis and by air terminal movement control teams, which operate at large Air Force terminals. MCTs and ATMCTs are agents for the TA movement control agency.
The TAACOM is a heavy user of TRANSCOM services through its supply and maintenance activities. Coordination for transportation services is effected between materiel management activities and the MCA or its MCT agents. If supplies must be moved from a TAACOM GS supply activity, the TAACOM requests transportation through its MMC to TRANSCOM MCTs operating in the area. The MCTs have contact either directly or through their parent regional movement control teams with the MCA.
When air movement support is needed, air terminal movement control teams are specifically structured to operate at large Air Force terminals to provide the necessary control and coordination for rapid clearance of materiel through the air terminal. TAACOM requests air transportation through its MMC to ATMCTs operating at the nearest major air terminal. The ATMCTs communicate directly with the MCA.
The MCA has visibility over all movements within the COMMZ and into and out of the corps. Even though the TAACOM MMC deals directly with MCTs, the ACofS, services, is responsible for overall TAACOM transportation requirements. That staff element monitors all transportation activities within the assigned area and coordinates with the TAACOM MMC and the TAMCA.
There are only three TAACOM units which control any significant transportation assets. In all three cases, these assets are for internal, local use. The TAACOM petroleum battalion is assigned a medium truck company (petroleum) which transports bulk fuels to DS petroleum supply units, Both the TASG and the ASG are normally assigned a medium truck company for local hauls. The companies are directed by transportation offices within the directorate of services. Support group users of these resources place their requirements with those transportation offices.
FIELD SERVICES
Field services include graves registration, airdrop, clothing exchange and bath, laundry and renovation, bakery services, and salvage. Because some of these services are provided only during wartime, a large portion of the Army's field services are provided by reserve component units that will be brought into the theater. Field services are required for health, sanitation, welfare, and morale purposes. Provisions must be made at the outset for their performance by Army or other resources.
DIRECT SUPPORT FIELD SERVICES
Field services in direct support of the user are performed in the TAACOM area much as they are in the corps rear. They are provided on either a task or area basis, generally by the S&S companies assigned to the ASG S&S battalions. Field services provided by the units are laundry, light textile renovation, bread baking, clothing exchange and bath, salvage, and graves registration.
DS airdrop support is provided by an airdrop supply company assigned to an S&S battalion of the TASG. The airdrop supply company provides parachute packing and airdrop rigging. It assists, as required, in the loading and ejection of equipment and supplies from aircraft. It also performs limited maintenance on parachutes and airdrop equipment and provides technical assistance in airdrop equipment recovery and assistance.
In a developed theater, the requirements placed on some field services activities will be moderate. This is because bath and laundry facilities, textile renovation, and baked bread will be available through HNS, purchase, or contract. Even some aspects of graves registration services may be available through non-Army resources. Maximum use should be made of such local assets.
The DS field services provided by the ASG S&S resources are normally performed on an area basis. Customer units located in a specific area are served by a specified S&S company. Laundry is delivered to the S&S unit and picked up by the customer unit. Light textile items to be renovated are handled the same way. Bath points may be set up at central locations, or bath teams may be tasked to operate in a using unit's area. Bread is normally delivered to the class I issue point for distribution with rations. The collection and evacuation of deceased personnel to a GRREG point in the S&S company area is normally a unit responsibility. GRREG personnel may, however, collect remains and assist units in all aspects of graves registration. The S&S company also has a limited salvage collection and classification capability within its class II, IV, and VII section. Evacuation of salvage to the salvage collection point is the responsibility of the unit having or finding the material. FMs 10-63,10-267,10-280, and 10-286 contain detailed information on the field services discussed above.
GENERAL SUPPORT FIELD SERVICES
The GS providers of field services in the TAACOM are assigned within the TASG. The salvage function is performed by a collection, classification, and salvage company assigned to the intermediate (GS) maintenance battalion. Laundry and renovation and GS airdrop services are provided respectively by the laundry and renovation company and the airdrop equipment repair and supply company of the S&S battalion. These units normally work in support of the supply system and do not directly support the user.
If assigned, the GS laundry and renovation company provides its services in support of large volume operations, such as the laundry requirements of the MEDCOM hospital system or extensive stocks of soiled clothes obtained in clothing exchange and bath operations in the corps area. Normally, repaired and washed items are returned to the supply system rather than to the user.
The collection, classification, and salvage company collects salvage from the TAACOM and corps, identifies and classifies it, and disposes of it according to MMC instructions. Some items are returned to the supply system. Some are sent as-is to maintenance units for repair or rebuild. Some are cannibalized for parts. Some are retrograded to CONUS, and some are relegated to the DLA property disposal facility in the theater.
Property disposal operations are provided in the COMMZ by the Defense Logistics Agency which will assign the required personnel and equipment to the theater. DLA's function in this area is to insure that materiel excess to US or allied needs is collected, cared for, and disposed of in accordance with economic and other considerations. Materiel destined for the DLA PDO activity comes through the S&S salvage and the maintenance system. At each level, materiel may be siphoned off as being economically repairable or usable as is. Materiel is evacuated from division back to corps to the COMMZ. Its final Army destination is the collection, classification, and salvage company assigned to the TASG of the TAACOM. The cc&s company transfers what cannot be used by the Army to the DLA PDO. This activity will make materiel available to other services, HN, and allies. It further insures that materiel usable to theater forces is not evacuated out of the theater and that valuable material is either evacuated or safeguarded in theater. Close coordination between MMCs and salvage organizations at all levels is necessary to insure that maximum use is made of all material and that requirements are satisfied.
GS airdrop services are provided by specialized airdrop equipment repair and supply companies assigned to the TASG of the TAACOM. These units
- Maintain the theater stockage of airdrop equipment.
- Provide intermediate maintenance to using units and reclaim
airdrop equipment.
- Provide parachute packing, temporary storage, and rigging of
supplies and equipment for airdrop or for ejecting supplies from
aircraft in flight.
- Perform maintenance on and provide
DX for personnel parachutes used by Army aircraft crews.
- Provide technical assistance in recovery and evacuation of airdrop equipment.
NBC SUPPORT
NBC support is provided to the TAACOM by an assigned or attached NBC unit. This may be initially a battalion, expanding to a brigade as requirements expand. The NBC unit is generally structured to provide decontamination, NBC reconnaissance, and smoke support. The decontamination elements can provide equipment and terrain decontamination. These critical units are expected to be in high demand. Their services will be provided on a system of priority of need and importance of the function being performed by the recipient of the services. Personnel decontamination will remain an individual and unit responsibility.
The NBC units are used to--
- Perform chemical and nuclear target analysis.
- Prepare friendly nuclear and chemical strike warnings.
- Determine the radiation service category for division and
corps units.
- Receive and analyze NBC reports.
- Perform NBC attack vulnerability analysis.
- Disseminate NBC contamination warnings.
PROCUREMENT SERVICES
Support requirements cannot always be best met through normal supply channels. Local procurement of available subsistence, POL, construction materiel, and other resources may be a better alternative. Personnel services may also be best acquired through contract. To meet these requirements, the TA commander will normally establish a theater contracting agency that will provide policy, procedures, and guidance to purchasing and contracting officers at the different levels.
The theater contracting agency may establish purchasing and contracting teams at the corps, TAACOM, and TAMMC. If not established by the theater contracting agency, such teams may be appointed by the command requiring their services.
Requests for supplies and services are submitted to the MMC by customers. If it is determined that these requirements can be best satisfied by purchase or contract in theater or offshore, the purchasing and contracting teams will execute the purchase or contract. Funds are approved and provided by the comptroller at the parent headquarters of the MMC. The purchasing and contracting teams must comply with existing operation plans for the theater and existing host nation support agreements providing for HN assistance in local procurements. The teams must also comply with other agreements providing for direct and indirect support of US forces and with all statutes and regulations affecting acquisitions. Advice on changes in statutory or regulatory requirements caused by wartime conditions should be obtained from the supporting staff judge advocate activity. The comptroller will be consulted, when required, to ascertain if funds are available and to insure that spending limitations are not exceeded.
EOD SUPPORT
EOD support is designed to detect, identify, render safe, recover, evacuate, and dispose of items of unexploded US and foreign ordnance. This includes conventional, improvised, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that have been fired, dropped, or placed in such a manner as to constitute a hazard to personnel, installations, materiel, or operations. EOD service support in the theater of operations is composed of teams organized, staffed, and equipped for specific missions/functions.
EOD elements--
- Reduce the hazards of domestic or foreign explosive ordnance
that threaten personnel, equipment, or property.
- Train other military personnel and civilians to act as
explosive ordnance reconnaissance agents.
- Support the US Secret Service and other Federal agencies
responsible for presidential and VIP protection.
- Advise and, when authorized, assist civil authorities. (See AR
75-15 for authorization information.)
- Examine, identify, and report new and unusual explosive
ordnance for technical intelligence purposes
- Destroy unserviceable ammunition.
- When authorized, give EOD support to
common carriers of DOD-owned shipments of explosive ordnance.
- Train police, fire, and public officials in EOD, bomb, and bomb
threat search procedures.
- Help emergency response teams render safe or dispose of
improvised explosive devices.
- Stay aware of shipments of Army nuclear and chemical weapons.
Take action when such weapons are involved in an accident or
incident.
TAACOM EOD support is provided by an EOD control center detachment and its subordinate operational detachments within the COMMZ. The EODCC commander serves as the TAACOM staff EOD officer under operational control of the ACofS, SPO. The operational detachments are assigned on the basis of eight per TAACOM under the command and control of the EODCC.
The EOD operational units are allocated to the TAACOM and attached to an area support group or other designated units for administrative and logistical support. Additional EOD units may be authorized on the basis of the anticipated threat. An EOD detachment is capable of responding to approximately 50 routine incidents per day.
The EOD organization must be informed rapidly of the presence of unexploded ordnance or toxic munitions. This requires that military personnel be selected and trained to recognize and report the presence and type of unexploded ordnance in their areas of operation. These personnel are designated as explosive ordnance reconnaissance agents. Each combat, combat support, and combat service support unit in the theater will have a minimum of two such personnel trained by the supporting EOD unit.
EOD RESPONSE
There are two ways to establish EOD services, centralized and decentralized.
Centralized
This procedure depends completely on good communications within an EODCC's area of operation. All EOD incident reports are channeled to one location within the area. Here the EODCC, coordinating with the TAACOM being supported, sets priorities for the threatened friendly targets. The EODCC also assigns EOD incidents to subordinate EOD detachments dispersed throughout the area. The EOD detachment then sends a response team to the incident.
Decentralized
This procedure is less dependent on total area communications. The TAACOM area supported by the EODCC is subdivided into smaller functional areas. They are supported directly by the subordinate EOD detachments. The subareas do require a central communications point to channel and prioritize EOD for the EOD detachment. RAOCs and area support groups help the EOD unit prioritize threatened friendly targets. The EOD detachments send teams to the incident sites based on these priorities.
With decentralized service, the EODCC will not be notified of incidents until after the EOD units are notified. In some cases, the EODCC will not know until the incident is over. This will happen, for instance, if communications are bad. Rather than direct managing the EOD incidents, the EODCC monitors these incidents for exception data or trends. The EODCC can then reallocate EOD resources based on these trends as well as on the priorities of the area commander.
In an emergency, EOD units may take requests for assistance from the RAOC or other agencies in the unit's operating area. The unit responds to these emergencies in accordance with established priorities. It tells the EODCC of any emergency requests and of its response capability.
ON-SITE TEAMS
The EODCC may dispatch EOD on-site teams to support units in the COMMZ. On-site teams of two or more members may be detached for 48 to 72 hours. They are formed from and remain under the control of an EOD unit.
On-site teams may be temporarily attached to units other than their parent unit for rations, quarters, and logistical support. This may occur when the assigned area is large and the incident rate is high or when specific operations require on-site support.
EOD PLANNING
Where there are forward-deployed forces, EOD operations during peacetime are usually organized under a centralized command that provides EOD services by area. During transition to war, these EOD assets are assigned to TAACOMs, corps, and separate divisions based on unit allocation rules and war plans. These major commands are not usually responsible for EOD operations in peacetime.
Thus transition to war will be difficult if planning has not been incorporated into the war plans. Each TAACOM, corps, and separate division should have the "who, what, when, where, and how" of EOD support written into its war plans down to the company level.
EOD COMMUNICATIONS
EOD units have limited short-range communication capabilities with which to establish internal networks and to interface with the agency supported. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an area central point of contact responsible for the management and prioritization of friendly targets. This central point can be the SPO, RAOC, or tactical operations center. All EOD incident reports are channeled to this central point within the TAACOM area. There the incident will be prioritized after coordinating with the EOD representative. This representative is an EOD or an EODCC commander. These procedures and communications networks to support a large area must be planned and coordinated to prevent undue losses from ordnance incidents. EOD units must have access to long-range radio, telephone, and messenger services.
RECEPTION AND PREPARATION OF REINFORCEMENTS
In the COMMZ the TA is responsible for receiving, equipping, and assisting deploying units to achieve an operational readiness posture. As designated by the TA commander, elements of the TAACOM will provide supply and maintenance support; and the TRANSCOM, in coordination with the TAMCA, will provide lift capability and movement assistance. The TA assumes operational command of all deploying US Army units as they arrive at the theater aerial port of debarkation.
Augmentation personnel will normally arrive by air. Their unit equipment is normally planned to arrive by ship. The TAACOM can expect to be heavily involved in helping to clear APODs and sea ports of debarkation and in matching unit equipment to unit personnel. During reception, the CSS units of the TAACOM must be prepared to function in a dual capacity. They will be deeply involved with receiving staging units while concurrently providing support to units engaged in combat.
When unit commanders determine that they are fully operational, both in required strength and operational readiness, they submit a readiness report to TA. The TA issues movement orders and/or other guidance, as appropriate, to include designation of ASGs for support along the LOC. Units conducting convoy operations to tactical assembly areas must plan for maximum self-sufficiency while en route. This includes security, maintenance, recovery and evacuation, refueling, subsistence, and medical support.
When fully operational, each unit must submit a presence report through the TA to the HN. In some instances the HN has the responsibility for RAP under the HN agreement. Therefore, the possibility exists that US tactical units passing through the COMMZ could be diverted for a rear area combat operations level II or III mission. In most cases US commanders are responsible for RAP in their areas. The diversion of US units by the HN for a RACO mission must be coordinated with TA headquarters and the gaining allied command for which these units are destined.
A TAACOM ASG is designated by TA to provide specific logistics support and services for each arriving US Army unit. The support provided is the responsibility of various directors of the ASG. The director, materiel, arranges for--
- Essential supplies and services until a normal operational
posture is achieved.
- Supply support to include class I, II, III, IV, and IX, as it
pertains to those units drawing pre-positioned materiel
configured to unit sets.
- Map issue.
- Backup intermediate (DS) maintenance,recovery, and evacuation services.
- Transportation from ports to POMCUS storage sites or marshalling
areas as required.
- Rail tiedown material as required.
- Troop facilities (within existing resources).
- Movement from POD to final destination.
- Coordination for non-transportation related specified HN support services.
- Reception services at port of debarkation.
- Essential administrative services until a normal operational posture is achieved.
- A single point of contact (marshalling area control group commander) for deploying units.
- Limited communications services (land line, radio teletypewriter,
and FM radio each designated marshalling area site.
NONCOMBATANT EVACUATION OPERATIONS
In most theaters in which there are forward-deployed forces in peacetime, there are a considerable number of noncombatants who must be evacuated before or as hostilities begin. These include service members' dependents, US Government employees, and other personnel. The importance of evacuating these personnel as quickly as possible cannot be emphasized too strongly. Relieving service members of the psychological stress of worrying about their families at the onset of hostilities, especially in a potential NBC environment, is of primary importance at all levels of command. Extensive, detailed planning and active participation in rehearsals are necessary to minimize evacuation time and insure service members that their families will be safe and well cared for.
The plan to conduct NEO should be as carefully considered as any combat operation. It is the responsibility of TAACOM commanders at all levels from the TAACOM commander down to the lowest level. The NEO plan should be in the form of an annex to operation plans. The NEO annex and the responsibility for the details of its execution at the TAACOM level are normally delegated to the ASGs. Based on the TA NEO plan, ASG commanders make, document, rehearse, and execute their own plans in support of the plan of the TAACOM.
The NEO plan of any unit should become SOP. At the ASG, it should include information on--
- Assembly areas.
- Documentation requirements (birth certificates, marriage
certificates, shot records, identification cards, and
passports).
- Transportation procedures.
- Supply of food.
- Financial assistance.
- Emergency medical care.
- Destination.
- Methods of accountability to insure that all noncombatants are accounted for.
Normally, the quicker the evacuation, the smaller the drain on logistics resources. Once the evacuation is completed, all transportation resources can be used to support the battle, and materiel and equipment normally used to support the community can be used for purely military purposes.
Although the basic requirements of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and medical care may have to be provided through the ASG, the source of this assistance should not be restricted to military resources. School buses can be used for transport, dependents can assist in administrative tasks, and limited food and other supplies can be provided by the noncombatants.
The principal military responsibilities should be--
- Security coordination.
- Priority of movement.
- Establishment of evacuation routes.
- Supply of specified items.
- Medical care.
- Plans and coordination for strategic transportation.
06-03-1996; 09:18:49
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