Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center (NAVSUP FLC) Bahrain held a leadership summit and training seminar for its Reserve unit senior leadership Feb. 21-25.

During the five-day meeting, four senior Reserve unit leaders met with NAVSUP FLC Bahrain active-duty staff, observed training, toured the facilities, and discussed the important Reserve Logistics Representative (RLR) certification program.

"With new reserve leadership on board, the summit provided a great opportunity for both the active and reserve leadership of NAVSUP FLC Bahrain to share challenges and operational requirements and to discuss how to work collaboratively as one force," said Capt. Danielle Pelczarski, commanding officer, Navy Reserve (NR) NAVSUP FLC Bahrain.

Ensuring continued success of the NAVSUP FLC Bahrain RLR certification program -- a curriculum geared to equip Reservists with skills and an understanding of how fleet logistics centers operate so that they can integrate into a command quickly and with minimal training - was a major topic of the summit. What makes RLR program so effective is that it is hands-on instruction doing real-world operational logistics work as a supplement to traditional classroom training. The operational environment enables Sailors to gain a greater understanding of the processes and topics covered during their training classes.

The end goal of NAVSUP FLC Bahrain's RLR program is to enable Reserve logisticians to report for duty in Bahrain or elsewhere in the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command area of operations fully trained and ready to immediately serve the operational mission. Ultimately, since the Sailors are also trained on skills applicable and standardized across all eight of the Navy's fleet logistics centers operating around the world, they can seamlessly augment any of eight organizations.

NAVSUP FLC Bahrain has worked closely with its Navy Reserve units to provide hands-on RLR certification training since the summer of 2015. Together, they collaboratively set qualification goals with reserve Sailors prior to arrival in Bahrain, which allows more time on site to focus on training.

The RLR program is designed to give Reservists from grades E-1 to O-4 specific experience they do not otherwise receive during their drill weekends.

"Our mission is to provide NAVSUP FLC Bahrain with qualified Sailors to meet their mission requirements, but we cannot do this alone," said Pelczarski. "We are collaboratively defining the best course of action with our active counterparts to identity the program's needs. We have identified certification requirements including on-the-job training and Navy Personnel Qualifications Standards (PQS) for apprentice, journeyman, and master levels."

As part of the RLR program, experts in various departments around conduct hands-on training. Once training in each area is complete, each reservist receives a signature on their PQS sheet to track their progress.

Sailors are benefitting from the individualized and hands-on nature of the training.

"Things that were harder to visualize and understand in the classroom suddenly made sense when we actually saw them happening," said Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Roger Wolters, a NR NAVSUP FLC Bahrain Sailor. "My goal is to learn as much about my rate as possible."

Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Sory Kante, also from NR NAVSUP FLC Bahrain agreed.

"Here in Bahrain we go over a lot of topics that we don't deal with every day because we aren't assigned to squadrons or ships," said Kante.

NAVSUP FLC Bahrain has more than 160 military and civilian personnel providing logistics support in the 5th Fleet area of operations. The command is one of eight fleet logistics centers worldwide in the NAVSUP Global Logistics Support (GLS) enterprise.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of more than 6,300 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.

For more news from Naval Supply Systems Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/.