ARMY AL&T
As the newest CSB with the largest contingent of CCOs in the U.S. Army Expeditionary Contracting Command (ECC), an essential 412th CSB task was to ensure the readiness of its CCOs and their ability to deploy fully prepared to provide contracting support from the start. COL Jeff Morris, 412th CSB Commander, shared his guidance and the intrinsic need for brigade-level predeployment training of its CCOs. Morris looked to the 901st Contin- gency Contracting Battalion (CCBN) to develop a realistic training event that prepared Soldiers for deployment into theater as members of JCC-I/A. Although that is a relatively simple mission statement, it carried a lot of implied tasks. At the very top level, there is the requirement to provide the latest training on critical warrior tasks they will need in theater, as well as mission-specific contract training. “Although I have no doubt that any of the battalions could have excelled in this effort, I gave the mission to LTC Tonie Jackson because he is the senior battalion commander today,” Morris stated.
Jackson, Commander, 901st CCBN, Fort Hood, TX, and his staff had recently redeployed from OEF/OIF. Assigned to JCC-I/A, Jackson and his staff possessed the most up-to-date knowledge of the changes and trends in requirements for OEF/OIF. Upon his return, Jackson realized that there was a need to change the way contract- ing support was conducted both at home and when deployed. His vision for the changes was in “Bold Shift,” the initial transformation concept that evolved and subsequently led to the creation and implementation of the Contingency Contracting Exercise, later named OBI. OBI was the 412th CSB’s showcase comprehensive pre- deployment exercise for all deploying CCOs in support of JCC-I/A’s mission. Jackson stated, “There needs to be a change in the way contracting support is conducted. Bold Shift is a dramatic
The MSTC was one training aid that provided CCOs very realistic training in a simulation environment. Left to right: SFC Doug Collins, 902nd CCBN; MAJ Jim Clift, 901st CCBN; LTC Tonie Jackson, 901st CCBN; and SFC James Illes, 412th CSB, train using the MSTC. (U.S. Army photo by Gale Lynne Smith, Public Affairs Specialist, ACC.)
change in how we conduct contract- ing support to the warfighters. This is a paradigm shift from the way we used to train our CCOs and how we sup- port warfighters prior to and during deployments.”
OBI helped prepare 30 CCOs from across the ECC for the upcoming deployment rotations to gain confi- dence in their ability to conduct their wartime mission and validate their competency in 51C Soldier’s Manual of Common Tasks (SMCT), as well as a number of Abbreviated Warrior Trainings (AWTs) with an emphasis on Theater-Specific Individual Readiness Training (TSIRT). SFC Wanda Knight, 410th CSB, went to the predeployment exercise with the expectation “to learn more about the contracting aspects of the deployment arena and to get a refresher on my medical skills, to make
sure that I’m able to take care of myself and help my battle buddy.”
Experienced CCOs, such as SFC James Illes, who for the last 2 years has served on the 412th CSB staff, sought to get an update on current changes in contracting as well as rein- force his warrior tasks. “For me, this is more of a refresher,” said Illes. “I’ve been working on the brigade staff for the past couple of years, so this will basically reinforce my medical readi- ness as far as being able to save a fellow Soldier’s life, and also reinforce any contracting changes that came about. … So in keeping up with the local changes in policy and contract clauses and things of that nature, this is really going to be training in epic proportion for me and the other CCOs who are training here with us.”
OBI was the 412th CSB’s showcase comprehensive predeployment exercise for all deploying CCOs in support of JCC-I/A’s mission.
JULY –SEPTEMBER 2010 79
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