THE 'PITCH AND CATCH' MOVEMENT APPROACH


FIGURE 2


HOW MOVEMENT CONTROL BATTALIONS WORK


A movement control battalion (MCB) is organized with four 21-Soldier movement control teams (MCTs) and 16 four-Soldier branch movement control teams (BMCTs). (Image by USAASC)


PITCH AND CATCH According to Army Technical Publication 4-16, MCBs provide support to units within a theater of operations, and they assist tactical units in gaining transportation support that comes from outside of the theater of operations. Within the U.S., III Corps’ divisions and brigades use the 49th MCB to provide in-transit visibility of personnel, supplies and equipment moving through the transportation system. It also provides assistance with the minutiae of military cargo shipping in the ramp-up to deploy- ment and while the cargo is in the deployment pipeline.


Te 49th MCB, with four assigned MCTs and 16 branch move- ment control teams of four personnel each, can potentially cover 16 deployment sites. (See Figure 2.) Tis has allowed the 49th MCB to conduct “pitch and catch” operations with deploy- ing cargo. For instance, in October and November 2019, three branch movement control teams at Fort Hood, Texas, staged at the installation’s commercial trucking yards and railroad loading sites to send cargo to Fort Irwin, California, during a 3rd Cavalry


Regiment National Training Center rotation. Te branch move- ment control teams provided the regiment visibility of its combat power build, before the start of the exercise and then again on return to home station.


While the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and the Army field support battalions remain focused on running the day-to-day operations at ports, railheads and convoy yards, MCBs directly support the corps’ subordinate units as custom- ers. As such, while the 49th MCB headquarters is located at Fort Hood, the MCTs deploy and operate wherever III Corps units need them.


For the ramp-up to the Defender-Europe 20 exercise (planned to be the largest training exercise in Europe in 25 years), the 49th MCB deployed teams to Fort Bliss, Texas, supporting the 1st Armored Division; to rail and sea nodes at the Port of Beaumont and Port Arthur, supporting the 1st Cavalry Division; and to Fort Hood’s railroad locations and airports, supporting multiple III


116


Army AL&T Magazine


Summer 2020


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172