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NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka Team Played Key Role During Talisman Saber 17 Exercise

16 August 2017
Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Yokosuka played a key role during the Talisman Saber 17 (TS17) exercise in the Shoalwater Bay Training and Mount Bundy Training Areas near Australia.
Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Yokosuka played a key role during the Talisman Saber 17 (TS17) exercise in the Shoalwater Bay Training and Mount Bundy Training Areas near Australia.

The combined U.S. and Australian training exercise in July provided an important opportunity for the command to plan and conduct combined task force operations to improve combat readiness, interoperability and test new technology.

Personnel from across the NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka enterprise, including Site Marianas, Site Sydney and Reserve units, worked side-by-side over a 24-day period to support the large scale, biennial exercise comprised of more than 33,000 troops.

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka's Site Marianas was instrumental in coordination and transportation of ships cargo to Townsville, Australia, where much of the logistics execution for the exercise took place. Personnel from Site Marianas, the Global Logistics Support Enterprise Logistics Readiness Team (ELRT), USS Ronald Reagan Beach Det., the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the U.S. Navy Reserves were on hand to ensure that cargo was palletized, segregated, staged and ready to load at moment's notice.

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka Site Marianas Site Director Cmdr. Frederick Skinner said the Guam team remained synchronized and on point during exercise operations.

"For more than 30 days, the team consolidated and built pallets and transported over 205,000 pounds of cargo for the units participating in the exercise," said Skinner. "I was proud of the efforts of the combined [FLC Yokosuka] Site Marianas, Reservist and ELRT team members that contributed to the overall success of Talisman Saber."

The process of cargo consolidation began in mid-June at the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Guam Marianas compound and culminated at the conclusion of the exercise. A total of 25 Commander, Fleet Air Forward C-130 and C-40 aircraft were loaded at Andersen Air Force Base in preparation for the exercise. Cargo had to be accompanied to ensure that the material was certified for the upcoming aircraft load. Once it was certified, the team was able to transport it to the 734th Air Mobility Squadron where it was placed onto a cargo loader and then physically pushed onto the aircraft by the ELRT.

"One of the great things about our Navy is that we have multiple different assets to use around the world to accomplish our mission," said Lt. Brent Cohen, Site Marianas logistics support officer. "From military aircraft to replenishment ships, it's really incredible the resources we had to ensure the success of the mission."

During the exercise, the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy Combined Logistics Support Element (C-LSE) stood up a material processing center (MPC) in Townsville that included active and Reserve Sailors and Marines from Yokosuka and a combined team of active duty ELRT Sailors from each of the NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Centers that participated.

Detachment personnel supported 25 port visits at five different ports throughout the exercise area of operation, including Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane and Sydney.

A total of 512 pallets of cargo was processed through the MPC for load out or turned over to the various beach detachments. Along with the more than 86,000 pounds of mail processed, there were 629 items handled by a mobile node established in the Townsville region. A team of technicians was also in charge of offloading 60 pallets or tri-walls of used hazardous materials in Yokosuka, Japan from Talisman Saber exercise afloat participants.

"Considering active and Reserve personnel from four different FLCs came together in Townsville to form a single cohesive team, responsible for simultaneously supporting both a carrier strike group and an expeditionary strike group, is amazing," said Lt. Massoud Koleini, liaison officer at NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka Site Sydney. "The numbers and statistics do a good job of illustrating their accomplishments. However, the intangible piece - their work ethic, enthusiasm and initiative during the exercise - is my big takeaway. It's the reason for our success."

During the exercise, NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka had the largest group of Reserve personnel the command has ever committed to the exercise. Talisman Saber 17 was a key event for Reservists. They were part of the ELRT team embedded alongside their active duty counterparts that provided trained logistics expertise and services to customers as part of the event.

"We'd been involved in the planning stages for months in advance of the exercise," said Lt. Cmdr. Eric Gardner, director of Reserve operations for NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka. "The capabilities and expertise brought to the fight by our Reserve force played a significant role in a successful exercise. Having them on board certainly makes us better as an enterprise."

In addition to the traditional boots on ground support NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka provided to the exercise, Talisman Saber 17 created a prime opportunity to incorporate and test some new technologies the command has developed to gather metrics and address logistics issues in real-time.

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka leveraged features of the newly fielded Logistics Playbook to increase real-time collaboration and data collection and capture lessons related to logistics support. The online tool housed on the Intellipedia Wiki site proved invaluable as a means of sharing logistics information throughout the exercise.

"The Intellipedia site we utilized during Talisman Saber was extremely effective for planning, training and gathering current mission execution information," said NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka Commanding Officer Capt. Jeffery Davis. "A fundamental challenge in logistics is being able to ensure all logisticians - regardless of their experience and location - are able to quickly access information needed to support their mission. Talisman Saber provided us the opportunity to utilize a new tool for collaborative data sharing in real-time. We were able to submit data and updates within the Logistics Playbook to create a more integrated logistics picture, something that is critical during an exercise the size and scope of Talisman Saber."

As the Logistics Playbook continues its transition into the logistics common operating picture, it will have a broader impact on logistics operations, reducing logistics information asymmetry and improving logistics execution.

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka is one of eight fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support (GLS). Headquartered just 26 miles south of Tokyo, it is the western Pacific region's largest U.S. Navy logistics command, networking more than 14 sites with a mission to deliver supply and logistics solutions that enable deployed maritime warfighter readiness in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of approximately 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.

NAVSUP provides U.S. naval forces with quality supplies and services. With headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and employing a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel, NAVSUP oversees logistics programs in the areas of supply operations, conventional ordnance, contracting, resale, fuel, transportation, and security assistance. In addition, NAVSUP is responsible for quality-of-life issues for naval forces including food service, postal services, Navy Exchanges, and movement of household goods.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

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

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