toring MK operations on behalf of
the command.
Army Doctrine Reference Publication 5–0, The Operations Process,
lays out the plans-to-operations
transition concept. However, this
concept is rarely applied correctly.
The MK planning effort at USAREUR ensured those who would
be managing execution were involved in planning from the start.
The deliberate transition briefing
included all planners from across
the staff. Additionally, the subordinate organizations directly involved
in execution were either present or
received the briefing via Defense
Connect Online.
During the weeks after the transition and before IOC, the USAREUR G–3/3 office provided
the command with continuous situation updates. Further, it participated in coordination meetings
with the 21st TSC and facilitated
support for the TSC-led rehearsal
of concept drill conducted before
IOC.
Lessons Learned
After nearly 90 days of planning
and coordination before the publication of the USAREUR operation
order, the OPT identified several
lessons learned that can be applied
to future ISB or passenger transit
center planning:
The planning effort should identify the mission command construct as early as possible.
The entire OPT should have an
understanding of the GFM process and the implications of time
in that process in terms of resourcing to meet a requirement.
Equipping efforts must be
worked early during planning to
link movement of existing materiel with its destination and
to establish contracts for equipment not in the inventory.
Antiterrorism, force protection,
and emergency management assessments must be coordinated
and completed quickly in order
Sgt. James Curtis, a computer information technology specialist with the 21st
Theater Sustainment Command’s Sustainment Task Force 16, troubleshoots a
satellite transmission terminal, Jan. 27, 2014, at MK Air Base. (Photo by Sgt.
Maj. Michael Pintagro)
to rapidly implement infrastructure improvements and commit
resources to mitigate force protection shortfalls.
The OPT must continuously
ask, “Who else needs to know?”
The OPT is a powerful planning
mechanism, but if the right players are not at the table with the
right questions being asked and
answered, it will prove ineffective.
Communication between combatant commands and component
commands via Defense Connect
Online and video teleconferences
is critical to enabling shared understanding and a unified vision.
The operational planning effort
to establish the passenger transit
center began in August 2013 with
Feb. 1, 2014, established as the
IOC date. Over that six-month pe-
riod, planners from tactical through
strategic levels coordinated and synchronized the continuously emerging requirements.
By February 2014, the passenger
transit center opened with all facilities functioning, the staff trained
and assembled, and a mission command element established. Within
weeks, it quickly became the principal transit node for the theater
because of the drawdown and eventual closure of the transit center in
Manas, Kyrgyzstan.
Maj. David L. Thompson is the support
operations officer for the 16th Sustainment Brigade in Baumholder, Germany.
He was the G–3/5 logistics plans officer
for U.S. Army Europe when he wrote this
article. He is a graduate of the Advanced
Military Studies Program.
SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2014 25