DEPLOYMENT
PLANNING
Reserve Component (RC) units execute deployments in support of a wide variety of missions. They deploy on training rotations to the Combat Training Centers (CTC) such as the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irvin, California and the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. RC units also participate in major exercises, such as REFORGER, and deploy on contingency missions around the world to conduct actual combat operations, provide disaster relief assistance, and to support other national objectives.
Deployments to training areas and major exercises need to be projected far enough in advance to allow adequate planning time by the unit, its higher headquarters and support activities. Deployments in support of contingency missions are short notice and provide considerably less planning time. In either case, RC units must develop comprehensive deployment plans and integrate deployment training and preparation into constrained training time.
Set RC Exercise Priorities
The Army's leadership needs to prioritize RC participation in major training exercises to avoid conflicting requirements. This will allow the Continental U.S. Armies (CONUSAs), the Major U.S. Army Reserve Commands (MUSARCs), the National Guard Bureau (NGB) and State Adjutant Generals, in coordination with U.S. Forces Command (FORSCOM), to determine which exercises are most valuable to the Army's overall training effort.
Early Notification Required
Normally, RC units are notified two to three years in advance of their selection to participate in a specific deployment. Often, however, a detailed mission is not provided until 7-9 months out--too late for proper planning.
- Active
Component (AC) exercise planners must be attuned to RC time constraints. RC
units cannot wait several months after notification for a specified mission.
They must plan and train toward a specific mission, such as:
- Build xx kilometers of gravel road in Central America
- Sustain a force of 600 personnel or 400 major end items of equipment
- Provide security, engineer, communications, medical, or veterinary support to a task force.
- EarIy notification [Div/Bde 5 years out; Bn/Sqdn or Sep Co 3 years out (FM 25-100)], with a specific mission, provides RC units time to plan and train on mission skills during Annual Training (AT) and Inactive Duty for Training (IDT).
- Short
notice/late notification impacts adversely on:
- Deployment ramp strength
- Critical mission skills
- Preparation and coordination time
- Soldier-employer relations
- Timely receipt of JCS fund cite
- Overseas Deployment Training (ODT) exercises often cut across a variety of RC units and necessitate new plans, clear command and control, and established staff relationships. These requirements become more acute in the planning time available to RC units.
Deployment Planning Group
The Deployment Planning Group develops the detailed deployment plan for the unit.
- The group is often established as soon as the unit is notified of a deployment mission. It is even better to have a Deployment Planning Group already formed as a standing committee to monitor the deployability profile of the unit.
- The
group's composition (FORSCOM Reg 55-1, Unit
Movement Planning)
includes:
- Unit Movement Officers (UMO) at each company
- Intermediate Unit Movement Officers at each intermediate command up to Division, Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) or State Area Command (STARC)
- A Unit Movement Coordinator at the installation/ARCOM/STARC level
- Stabilize planning group personnel. Different regulations and varying interpretations of DA guidance by Forces Command (FORSCOM) and the National Guard Bureau (NGB) demand continuity of the planning group from initial planning through completion of after action reports (AAR).
Planning Group Functions
The Deployment Planning Group provides institutional knowledge of deployment planning. It also:
- Reviews pertinent documents, regulations and past deployment AARs
- Identifies critical tasks, sets milestones and sequences events. It establishes a timeline by backward planning from STARTEX through POMCUS draw, in-country arrival dates, overseas convoy times, CONUS departure dates for personnel and equipment, air-rail-ship loading windows, convoy times to CONUS ports, and phases all training requirements.
- Provides continuity of effort from the planning phase through unit AAR
- Facilitates transition from the planning phase into the preparation and execution phases
- Establishes procedures to detect and correct deficiencies
- Ensures redeployment considerations are integrated into initial planning
- Continually refines the plan as additional information is received so that the plan becomes more specific to the deployment at hand
Additional Full-Time Support
Augment the Deployment Planning Group with additional full-time support (FTS) personnel to provide continuity.
- Tailor FTS soldiers to the unit's mission, involve them in initial planning, and retain them through completion of operations and AAR.
Funding
Funding for major exercises which require planning across more than one FY is a challenge for RC units. JCS funds for a specific FY exercise can be obligated only in the FY of the exercise. Planning beyond normal mobilization and ODT, therefore, is a resource burden to RC units.
Training Management
RC commanders have limited time to train. They can expect to have two days per month IDT, or 24 days per year, plus Annual Training (AT) of 15 days for a total of 39 days per year--certainly a greater challenge than that faced by their AC counterpart.
- RC
commanders must integrate deployment training with normal mission training.
Following doctrine in FM 25-100, Training the Force, commanders:
- Analyze the mission
- Develop a mission essential task list (METL)
- Prioritize training requirements
- Develop a training program to fit the available training time
- Request additional training days, if needed
- Conduct training
- Assess training
- RC
units train to Army standards but their wartime missions must be specific,
allowing them to develop METL tasks which can be trained to standard. However,
it may be necessary to:
- Train on fewer tasks so standards are attained
- Spread training over longer periods
- Identify selected tasks for execution during post mobilization training.
- Environmental conditions are not wrapped into Army Mission Training Plan (AMTP) tasks or standards. It is difficult to train for desert or jungle environments during weekend IDT periods when home station is in White Fish, MN.
- Physical training is still an individual responsibility. RC commanders conduct periodic PT tests during IDT, but it is personal discipline throughout the year that keeps the RC soldier fit.
- Administrative requirements, such as preparation for overseas movement (POM) and medical requirements, eat up valuable RC training time.
Plan Commo Requirements Early
Determine communication requirements when deployment notification is received. Maintain commo with all activities and locations during the deployment.
- Prior arrangements are necessary for direct dial access (overseas or stateside) when placing nonsecure, routine or emergency calls.
- Establishing a 1-800 phone line requires a fund cite and 2-4 weeks advance notice to the long distance service company.
- If secure transmissions are necessary, secure telephone unit (STU) equipment is needed at both ends of the deployment. Request keying materials through COMSEC channels to the National Security Agency at least six months before departure.
- It is possible to link with Military Tactical Equipment using commercial servicing satellites. Consult your communications support activity.
- For deployments to remote areas, submit commo requirements as early as deployment notification allows through the appropriate RC channel.
Map Requirements
Identify map requirements when deployment notification is received. Allow at least 30-90 days for delivery depending on your unit's Force Activity Designator and Urgency of Need code.
- If
necessary, establish a map account by contacting:
Defense Mapping Agency Combat Support Center
Washington, D.C. 20315-0010
Telephone: AV 287-2495; Comm 1-800-862-0342
Liaison With Ports
In the historical example, the 40th Inf Div eliminated confusion at their POE by establishing a special port liaison team. The team coordinated the activities of division units, loading workers and port inspectors. This effort effectively streamlined the division's load-out.
- Plan liaison with each port through which personnel and equipment will be processed to schedule Predeployment conferences for deploying units in the preparation phase.
- Provide
unit liaison teams to Aerial and Sea Ports of Embarkation/Debarkation (APOE/SPOE
and APOD/SPOD) with detailed deployment information, including:
- The unit's Deployment Equipment List (DEL)
- Movement information (convoys, rail loads)
- Hazardous cargo data
- Vehicle key control procedures
- The port liaison team must have authority to make decisions based on established milestones.
- A language translator may be critical at certain foreign ports. Usually Transportation Terminal Units (TTU) have host nation personnel working with them. During deployment planning, determine (with POD/Theater reps) whether this requirement exists. This can be a "war-stopper!"
Document Review
Review these documents before coordination visits:
- AR 350-9, Overseas Deployment Training
- FORSCOM Supplement l to AR 350-9
- FORSCOM/ARNG Reg 350-2, Reserve Component Training
- Forces Command Mobilization and Deployment Planning System (FORMDEPS), Volume III, Part 3, RC Unit Commander's Handbook
- FM 55-10, Movement Control in a Theater of Operations (STANAGS 2155 and 2156)
- FM 55-65, Strategic Deployment by SurfaceTransportation
- FM 55-312, Military Convoy Operations
- Unit SOP and AARs from previous deployments
Recons Are Vital
Reconnoiter all APOE/SPOE, APOD/SPOD, rail sites and major assembly areas to avoid surprises.
- Coordinate recons with theater transportation personnel at port or the movement control activity.
- During planning, determine unique transportation requirements (mechanical handling equipment, container handling equipment, or specific movement documents). Ports in less developed countries may not have facilities for loading/off-loading.
- Include operations and logistics personnel in the recon party.
- The
recon party collects data important to the planning process, such as:
- Maps, sketches, photos of PODs, assembly areas
- Security requirements at each area
- Physical restrictions (overhead clearances or bridge weight limits)
- Access routes and traffic circulation
- Log support at sites, points of contact (POC)
AUEL/COMPASS AND DEL
The Automated Unit Equipment List (AUEL) contains movement characteristics of all unit equipment and is prepared from the unit's Computerized Movement Planning and Status System (COMPASS) report.
- Accuracy is important when submitting the AUEL for both deployment and redeployment. Refer to FORSCOM Reg 55-2, Unit Movement Data.
- Working with COMPASS editors at FORSCOM, the Unit Movement Coordinator can adapt the AUEL into a Deployment Equipment List (DEL) for any unit move, reflecting unit equipment actually being deployed.
- Use
the DEL as the database to:
- Determine number and type of railcars needed
- Determine marshaling/staging area requirements
- Generate Logistics Marking System (LOGMARS) labels
- Determine outsize/oversize equipment requirements by mode of transportation
- Determine commercial transportation requirements
- Determine railcar blocking/bracing requirements
- Develop convoy organization and call forward plans
- Substitutions,
additions, or deletions to the DEL can delay development of accurate stow
plans by the TTU at the port. Cutoff dates for changes to the DEL defend on
whether the process is automated:
- With the Transportation Coordinator-Automated Command and Control Information System (TC-ACCIS), changes can be made up to the day of departure.
- If the DEL is done manually through FORSCOM, changes made less than six weeks prior to deployment may not get processed in time to produce a printout.
POMCUS/PERL
Continually review POMCUS (Prepositioned Materiel Configured to Unit Sets) hand receipts and PERL (Prepositioned Equipment Requirements List) so that equipment in POMCUS isn't shipped from CONUS.
Air Deployment Planning and Training
Airflow planning is a key factor in meeting prescribed in-country arrival times, drawing POMCUS and establishing onward movement/convoy schedules.
- Submit
initial airflow requirements 90 days in advance of the unit's departure date.
- Submit Special Assignment Airlift Mission (SAAM) requests 90 days prior (at least 30 days prior for five percent discount). The Air Force will accept requests up to 11 days prior (See AR 59-8).
- Submit Joint Airborne/Air Transportability Training (JA/ATT) requests 90 days prior with final dates and missions locked-in 30 days prior at the JA/ATT conference.
- Train
adequate numbers of air load planners and hazardous cargo certifiers:
- FORSCOM Reg 55-1 requires each unit and intermediate command have at least one UMO (E-6 or above) appointed on orders. Get the UMO qualified to plan aircraft loads.
- Get at least one person in each deployable unit qualified to certify hazardous cargo air shipments.
-
Air, Surface, and Strategic Deployment training programs are available through:
Joint Strategic Deployment Training Center
U.S. Army Trans and Avn Log Schools
ATTN: ATSPQ-JSD
Fort Eustis, Virginia 23604-5363
Telephone: AV 927-2039/5682/4953
Comm 804-878-2039/5862/4953
- UMOs
review these references before air deployment planning:
- AR 59-8, DOD Common User Aircraft
- AR 220-10, Preparation for Overseas Mvt of Units
- FM 55-9, Unit Air Movement Planning
- FM 55-12, Movement of Units in AF Aircraft
- TM 38-250, Preparation of Hazardous Materials for Shipment in Military Aircraft
- MAC PAM 55-41, Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) Load Planning Guide
- Changes to the airflow package occur right up to the day of departure. For multiple APOEs, plan ground transportation to move troops and equipment on short notice if changes affect departure times/airfields.
OCONUS Movements
Commanders and staffs must know the process of submitting movement requests to overseas theaters. For Europe, these standard agreements (STANAG) are especially important:
- STANAGs 2155 and 2156 are execution documents, prepared and approved on-site. Submit them to the theater Movement Control Team when desired movement times are determined.
Physical Security
Identify critical points where special security measures are needed. Use CONEXs or MILVANs at:
- POE/POD, railheads and wash sites to secure individual weapons (with appropriate racks) and personal equipment during equipment processing
- Staging/marshaling areas to secure ammunition, repair parts, maintenance and other equipment
Local Holidays
Determine local holidays of the countries through/to which the unit will deploy. Consider these, as well as U.S. holidays, during deployment planning. Equipment processing at POEs, PODs and railheads may be delayed if scheduled on top of holidays. The gaining command assists in port/rail scheduling.
Local Customs
Local customs of some Mid-East countries can affect duties of female personnel. In some cases, women are prohibited from driving and are required to wear long-sleeved garments. Mid-East officials may refuse to deal with females in leadership roles. Determine restrictions in the planning phase.
Family Support Program
Establish a family support program to assist the soldier's family. This sustains morale and the unit's combat effectiveness. Key components are:
- Information briefings and newsletters
- Guidance on powers of attorney and wills
- Unit/family assistance interface, including emergency notification procedures
- See DA Pam 360-525 for Family Support Programs
Redeployment Planning
Plan the redeployment just as carefully as the deployment and exercise movements. More loss and damage to unit equipment occurs during redeployment.
- Plan unit liaison teams for redeployment POEs and PODs just as for the deployment . This minimizes loss and damage and helps in identifying unit equipment when in doubt.
- Give RC units priority during redeployment (at wash racks and during rail and air loading) so they can redeploy within their ODT dates.
- An advance party "on the ground" at CONUS APODs is useful in case of last minute delays or rerouting of aircraft.
Table
of Contents
Historical
Perspective
Deployment
Preparations
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