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CAMP ADAZI, Latvia — The 21st Theater Sustainment Command, based in Kaiserslautern, provided the bulk of logistical support for the U.S. Army Europe-led, multinational training exercise Saber Strike 2012, which took place here and ended today.
They provided a wide variety of expert and professional logistics support needed to meet the demands of a field training exercise with about 1,300 participating soldiers from five different partner nations.
The 21st TSC deployed much of its Special Troops Battalion along with functional providers from several other subordinate units to Camp Adazi, Latvia, to run the operational element, known as the mayor cell, for Saber Strike, accomplishing that formidable task. With nearly 60 Soldiers working around-the-clock in the mayor cell, the 21st TSC assisted in the exercise by providing or coordinating everything dealing with life support from fuel, ammo, communications, rations and transportation to laundry services, billeting, finance, maintenance and medical support to more than 550 service members from more than 10 different military units, including Army, Air Force and Marines.
“The mission of the 21st TSC here is to provide all the logistical support to the service members who are participating in Exercise Saber Strike 2012,” said Capt. Eunice H. Sorrell, the company commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 21st STB. “It’s an incredible feeling to know that because of our support, the U.S. forces that we’re providing logistics for can go out and train and take part in training without any worries that they are taken care of with all their life support needs.”
Another capability that the 21st TSC provided was real-world security analysis and force protection measures.
Force protection’s job was to ensure U.S. forces and military equipment were secure and to ensure personnel were aware of their surroundings and the threat level in the local areas.
“Our job here is important because all the military assets here are far away from their home stations, regardless of whether we live in the states or in Germany,” said Staff Sgt. David P. Miller, the force protection and antiterrorism noncommissioned officer for the exercise control cell. “We don’t want service members getting complacent and expecting things to be the same as they are at their home bases, so it is our job to ensure that proper security measures are taken and force protection procedures are implemented.”
“I think taking part in this exercise is a great opportunity and it’s good to see all the nations come together and train with one goal in mind — making our world a safer place,” Miller said. “And I am glad to be able to do my job and in-turn, keep them safe while they train.”
In order to plan for an exercise of this stature, the 21st TSC started preparing for it more than three months in advance. Three weeks prior to the mission, meetings were held two times and, in some cases, three times a week to ensure everyone was participating and on the same page.
The 21st TSC started deploying its support personnel May 31, prior to the exercise beginning June 11. They remained in Latvia well after the exercise end date.
“I think that the Soldiers here have done an outstanding job supporting our warfighters while they train,” said Sgt. 1st Class David M. Miron, an electronic maintenance supervisor for the 21st STB. “I’m proud of each and every one of them and it’s because of our support personnel that this mission is a success.”
Saber Strike 2012 is a multinational, tactical field training exercise that involves more than 2,000 personnel from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment; Pennsylvania National Guard; 21st Theater Sustainment Command; 4th U.S. Marine Division; the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard; Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian armed forces; and contingents from Canada, Finland, France and the U.K.
The exercise, led by USAREUR, is designed to enhance joint and combined interoperability between the U.S. Army and partner nations.
It also aims to help prepare participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, interagency, integrated environment.
