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BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Commanders and first sergeants with the 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, joined together to conduct command team training at the Rheinlander Club Sept. 5 and 6.
Teams came from Baumholder, Kaisers-lautern, Grafenwöhr and Vicenza, Italy.
The training was designed to educate and inform command teams on current requirements, initiatives and overall operations, and promote team building through open forum discussions.
Col. Darren Werner, commander of the 16th SB, supervised the training event.
“The intent was to bring all of our company and battalion command teams together so I could share vision and information, and also to hear from them the challenges they are having with regards to training,” Werner said. “In addition, we (were) also focused on the (sexual assault prevention and response program) and equal opportunity.”
Each day of training was filled with presentations from subject matter experts.
“The knowledge of the briefers was very beneficial, and I got to see what problems other command teams were having and what solutions were found,” said Capt. David Cook, the commander of 66th Transportation Company, 39th Transportation Battalion, 16th SB. “Now I can go back to my company and step it up.”
Soldiers from 16th SB recently returned home from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan and moved from Bamberg to Baumholder.
“The training was also an opportunity to give our command teams a visual of where the brigade staff, commander and sergeant major are and how they can interact with us,” Werner said.
“It’s good to get everyone together,” said 1st Lt. Justine Nixon, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 18th Command Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th SB. “Face-to-face interaction with brigade staff and other command teams is good, because a lot of us have not met each other, and it is easier to reach out if you can put a face to a name.”
In addition to the presentations, there were also scheduled events for socializing.
“It was a good brainstorming opportunity to come up with new ideas about training outside of our normal training room meetings, which can be rushed sometimes,” said Sgt. 1st Class Arvil Lord, the first sergeant for HHC, 18th CSSB.
A foundation of team building was achieved by the end of the two day training event.
“Leaders were able to come together from different units throughout Germany and learn about each other, and learn what each team brings to the fight,” said 1st Sgt. Arnold Caldwell, the first sergeant for 1st Inland Cargo Transfer Company, 18th CSSB.
