Adequate logistics support is vital
to any combat operation and must continue under all conditions.
Sustainment under NBC conditions maybe even more difficult than
other aspects of military operations.
When developing his plan, the commander
balances requirements against limited resources. His challenge
is to accomplish the mission with the assets given to him. Logistical
considerations often drive the courses of action open to a commander.
Logisticians assist the commander
in making the best use of available resources by following the
sustainment characteristics of Army operations. They are anticipation,
integration, continuity, responsiveness, and improvisation. These
characteristics apply to operations under NBC conditions as well
as to any other. Chemical staffs and units must understand and
observe them while planning their operations.
Sustainment planners foresee future
operations as accurately as possible and accumulate assets needed
to accommodate any likely contingency. NBC defense and smoke operations
feature high consumption rates of fuel, fog oil, decontaminants,
water, and protective clothing. They require a commitment of logistical
resources to sustain operations.
Tactical and operational plans must
fully integrate logistic considerations. Include additional requirements
for NBC defense, recon, smoke, and smoke into the overall plan.
Protection of supplies and equipment is included. The effects
of contamination on MSRs, supply points, and fixed sites are incorporated
into overall planning.
Committed forces must continuously
receive supplies and services to maintain fighting strength. Operations
under NBC conditions cause additional needs, such as more decontaminants
or water. Modify operational procedures to control/minimize
contamination.
The sustainment system
must react rapidly to crises or fleeting opportunities. It must
keep pace with the shifting of units around the battlefield. Awareness
of battlefield NBC hazards also ensures needed logistic support
is provided in uncontaminated areas.
CSS organizations must improvise
to meet unforeseen emergencies. Degradation of CSS operations
under NBC conditions will cause the need to alter work schedules
because of increased times needed to handle contaminated
supplies and equipment. Logistic planners may fabricate expedient
covers and shelters to protect critical supplies from contamination.
Logistics commanders will prioritize to accomplish mission-essential
tasks.
When incorporating NBC considerations
into the sustainment characteristics, it becomes apparent that
the sustainment system must accomplish three complementary tasks:
protect itself and sustainment resources in order to continue
operations; provide the support needed by units operating under
NBC conditions; and provide the support that chemical units need
to accomplish their battlefield missions. Field expedient supply
and equipment must also be considered due to limited and sometimes
inadequate supplies of mission critical items.
The manner in which the logistics
system supports a particular chemical unit is based on a variety
of factors. These factors include the unit's parent organization,
its location in the theater of operations, and the command or
support relationship under which it is operating. chemical units
must then develop this organization and relationship with all
possible supporting units or higher headquarters.
The CSS organization provides sustainment
support to chemical units at each echelon as described below.
Army Service Component Command
The Army Service Component Commander
(ASCC) is responsible for preparing, maintaining, training,
equipping, administering, and supporting Army forces assigned
to a unified command. Chemical units operating in the COMMZ will
receive support from functional units (that is, logistics, personnel,
transportation, medical, finance, and so forth) as required.
Corps
The COSCOM normally sustains corps
chemical units, including corps units deployed in the division
areas. COSCOM units habitually locate near the division rear boundary
and in the division area itself; they provide responsive support
to corps chemical units and other units that operate in the division
rear. Corps chemical units sometimes operate too far forward in
the division area for COSCOM units to render effective support.
In this case, the chemical unit must coordinate support requirements
through its parent unit, with COSCOM units and the division support
command (DISCOM).
Division
The DISCOM sustains the division's
chemical units. The division and corps G4s coordinate required
augmentation.
Brigade
The DISCOM provides CSS elements
in the brigade support area (BSA) to sustain the brigade. Chemical
unit assets in the brigade area may receive support through the
BSA or from the parent chemical unit. The brigade chemical
officer, working with the S4, coordinates brigade support if required.
The command or support relationship
under which the chemical unit operates establishes responsibility
for its support. However, this must be clearly stated during the
planning phase of an operation.
A chemical unit in direct or general
support of another unit depends upon its parent organization
for sustainment. Prior coordination can alter this to fit the
situation. For example, an ASCC chemical unit performing a task
in the corps area could receive support from the COSCOM instead
of the ASCC.
A chemical unit under the OPCON of
another unit continues to receive support from its parent organization,
but the supported unit could provide some assistance through prior
coordination. For example, a chemical company in an OPCON relationship
could receive rations or POL from the unit they are supporting.
OPCON relieves the maneuver commander of formal responsibility
for chemical unit sustainment. However, frequently it is simpler
for him to provide common classes of supply (for example, fuel
and rations). Logistics planners coordinate and ensure that the
CSS structure is in position to make this a viable option.
A chemical unit attached to another
unit receives its support from that unit. This support usually
requires detailed coordination by the logistics planners;
they must ensure that the chemical unit receives
repair parts and other maintenance support needed to keep it operational.
Relevant OPLANs define support relationships for nonroutine support.
Logistics support for NBC readiness
involves two levels of concentration. The fist is CSS for NBC
defense of all units. This is the supply and transportation of
adequate stocks of chemical defense equipment to support the operation.
The second is sustainment of chemical units--smoke, decon, and
recon organizations. At both levels, support for the chemical
mission involves analysis of maneuver force responsibility, tactical
considerations, and staff coordination.
A chemical unit attached to a maneuver
force identifies the resources needed to accomplish the mission;
it passes that requirement to the maneuver staff S4/G4. The S4/G4
then coordinates with the supporting CSS elements to fill the
requirement.
The materials and transportation
needed for chemical missions often compete with the requirements
of other units. The maneuver staff satisfies competing demands
based upon the commander's priorities. The resource-intensive
nature of NBC defense and smoke operations must be a key consideration
for the staff in resolving those demands.
CSS elements must deliver materiel
as far forward as possible. This delivery enables chemical units
to minimize the time spent on trips to the rear to load and transport
materiel forward in their own vehicles. This minimization is particularly
critical for chemical units operating in the forward brigade areas.
CSS operators assist this minimization by transporting material
to the forward supply points.
A chemical unit basic load enables
them to start their mission without waiting to pick up supplies;
however, the basic load may not be sufficient for the entire mission.
Chemical units must be able to task organize their forces to execute
missions specified in the OPORD. For example, decon platoons maybe
involved with resupply of smoke platoons if smoke operations are
the priority effort. Logistics planners start pushing supplies
(for example, fog oil) forward as soon as they identify a requirement,
even if the exact quantities are not immediately known. That way,
the supplies begin to arrive before the unit exhausts its basic
load.
The rapid pace of combat operations
may consume materiel faster than the ground transportation system
can replenish them. For that reason chemical units may occasionally
need support by aviation assets to deliver critical materiel directly
to using units.
The chemical staff planner's involvement
in sustainment operations begins with an order from higher headquarters.
The chemical staff planner prepares a staff estimate for the chemical
unit(s), providing prioritized input into the order and to the
G4/S4. The logistical channels such as G4/S4, DISCOM, and BSA
start their planning, coordinating, and pushing supplies forward.
Once the basic planning is done,
the chemical staff officer coordinates with the logistics section
to ensure operational needs will be met. Some items may
be command regulated and require release from the higher headquarters.
Changes in mission often require a shift in the priority given
to certain units or for particular items of equipment.
As units execute the plan, the chemical
staff coordinates with the logistics staff element to track the
logistical status of both units and missions. In particular, they
assist as needed to solve problems of supply or delivery that
threaten the successful completion of critical tasks. Combat losses
and breakdowns of key equipment continuously force adjustments
to the original plan.
Personnel and logistics units will
sustain, man, arm, fuel, fix, move, and protect our force. They
sustain our soldiers, enabling them to continue to fight under
NBC conditions. CSS operations are crucial for ensuring retaliatory,
NBC battlefield management, and force protection actions are accomplished
successfully.
Support control elements will assist
in informing all personnel of contamination hazards.
Two of the four primary military
police missions-battlefield circulation control (BCC) and area
security-are essential to support missions under NBC conditions.
BCC involves route recon and/or surveillance, MSR regulation,
straggler and refugee control, and information dissemination on
NBC warnings or reports. Area security involves area recon, NBC
detecting and reporting, and areas damage control.
Highway regulating point teams from
the movement control element will use NBC and intelligence reports
to monitor contaminated routes and regulate traffic on MSRs. As
necessary, they will recommend diverting supply convoys to alternate
routes. Coordination is made using the services of the Joint Movement
Control Center (JMCC).
With prior coordination logistics
units may provide or assist resources for smoke, decon, and recon
units. Operations on an NBC battlefield may require increased
fuel because of the increased time to conduct battlefield movement
in MOPP. Additionally, supply companies will issue fog oil. Chemical
units that require large amounts of fog oil may request transportation
assets to deliver the fog oil to a designated site. However, higher
priority movements, such as fuel or ammunition, may delay movement
of fog oil.
Support units cover equipment and
supplies to protect them from NBC contamination. Outerwraps and
containers help to protect truck cargo and reduce the spread of
contamination. While surface transport can cross contaminated
areas, the situation may require that critical supplies (rations,
emergency medical equipment and supplies, ammunition, and fuel)
be flown over contaminated areas. The G3 will make the decision
based on METT-T and the commander's intent.
Support elements will aid in returning
NBC casualties to duty. Cargo vehicles used to deliver supplies
to forward supply points can be used to evacuate casualties to
medical treatment facilities. In an emergency, cargo trucks
can be used to transport soldiers from targeted areas to safe
areas. As required, transportation assets will be used to move
replacement personnel and to return soldiers to their parent unit.
Transportation assets may also be used to move personnel and equipment
to reconstitution sites in the rear area.
Support from logistics units enables
forces to continue their mission performance for extended periods
under NBC conditions. Specifically--
- Class II points operated by supply
units will issue protective masks and overgarments as well as
protective shelters to help prevent or limit casualties from NBC
warfare. Supply units will normally package protective clothing
as complete sets of MOPP equipment to support a predetermined
number of soldiers. Decon supplies maybe issued in preconfigured
"push" packages.
- Field services units will provide
laundry, shower, and clothing repair service to supported units.
- Water supply units will purify NBC
contaminated water for use as potable drinking water and provide
nonpotable water for decon of personnel and unit equipment. Water
purification operations, however, will not occur in areas where
vapor or liquid agent contamination hazards are present. Units
must use their organic equipment to transport water.
- Contaminated remains will be recovered
and decontaminated for return to CONUS.
The decision to reconstitute a unit
will be made at corps or EAC level. The large-scale infusion
of personnel, equipment, and supplies involved in reconstitution
is approved and controlled at the level that has the resources
to perform reconstitution.
Normally, units will withdraw to
a reconstitution site in the rear area that is safe from enemy
interdiction and harassment . Theater-level assets will be used
to return the units to combat-ready or mission-ready status. Personnel
replacements will come from the replacement system, medical returns,
and redistribution assets.
The surface transport system will
continue to move fuel, ammunition, rations, and medical supplies
as far forward as possible to supply distribution points.
Mortuary Affairs Decontamination
The Army Component Commander, in
coordination with the Joint Mortuary Affairs Officer, will establish
the necessary task force to support a mortuary affairs decon collection
point (MADCP) (Figure 8-1). The MADCP will be task organized with
a mortuary affairs unit and decon unit. The size and scope of
the MADCP is dependent on the threat and tactical situation. Much
of the necessary equipment to operate the MADCP is located in
operational project stock (OPS) in CONUS and will be deployed
to the theater of operations as necessary.
Chemical personnel at the MADCP will provide general decon support and technical assistance. FM 10-63, Handling of deceased Personnel in Theaters of Operation, and the annex to JP 4-06, Joint Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Mortuary Affairs in Joint Operations Provide detailed information on the set-up and operation of the MADCP (Figure 8-2).
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