Phantom Lifeline
The Army's III Corps earned its nickname, "The Phantom Corps," during World War II by hitting the enemy when and where it was least expected to do so. Currently headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas, the corps depends on its 13th Corps Support Command to serve as a "lifeline" during deployments. The COSCOM provides virtually all logistical support for the corps.
The annual Phantom Lifeline exercise tests the COSCOM's ability to successfully accomplish its mission as a lifeline to III Corps. A massive effort conducted on a grand scale, the joint exercise involves all components of the nation's armed forces, including the Coast Guard.
Phantom Lifeline 2000 -- conducted at several sites across Texas but centered at Camp Bullis, near San Antonio -- saw 13th COSCOM troops deployed for two weeks in one of the largest peacetime operations the unit has ever conducted. Operations at the Texas ports of Corpus Christi and Beaumont replicated the actual stages of deployment by sea for the COSCOM, and Camp Bullis represented their destination, a fictional land called Crayola.
Phantom Lifeline 2000 covered 600 miles, from Corpus Christi and Beaumont to Camp Bullis, located outside San Antonio. More than 4,000 service members from the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Texas National Guard, as well as various reservists, carried through the two-week exercise. Corpus Christi and Beaumont acted as civilian seaports to receive equipment for the operations.
In addition to proving the COSCOM's ability to provide logistical support, the exercise also employed and validated the unit's complex information and communication automation systems. If these systems didn't work well during the exercise, they would have to be redesigned. As it turned out, one of the lessons learned from the exercise was the need for backup systems, in case primary systems fail.
Phantom Lifeline 2000 validated all the training conducted by the support command's soldiers during the previous year, said BG Jeanette Edmunds, the 13th COSCOM's commander. The exercise demonstrated the complexity of preparing for and executing a full-scale deployment.
More than 30 COSCOM units deployed and provided virtually all types of supply and support, including laundry and fabric repair, vehicle and generator maintenance, construction engineering, chemical decontamination and smoke operations. Medical support for the exercise included a corps support hospital, a forward surgical team and aeromedical evacuation, and even veterinary services for food safety.
The exercise scenario called for a deployment to a country threatened by aggressive neighbors, recent natural disasters, and its citizens' growing distrust of their government. Dissidents demonstrated against the American presence and carried out terrorist attacks. The Air Force and Marines played a critical role in the evacuation of civilian and military casualties.
The air piece is the hardest. The COSCOM had to synchronize Fort Bragg parachute riggers jumping in, marines coming from Fort Worth and San Antonio, Air Force personnel coming from San Antonio and another unit coming from New Jersey. And they all came in at the right time.
In addition to military units, the exercise was also supported by civilian agencies, Steffenhagen said. COSCOM soldiers worked closely with local police, the Texas Department of Transportation, civilian port authorities and even local labor unions.
The joint training and military readiness exercise "Phantom Lifeline 2001" involved the entire l3th Corps Support Command's 11 battalions and other elements based at Ft. Hood, Killeen, Texas.
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