California Guard supports battlefield circulation

By Army Staff Sgt. Artur Taradejna

4th Sustainment Brigade

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq (6/14/11) – The demands on a Soldier are vast during deployment. Many Soldiers have duties to perform in addition to their regular job. Each of these duties is important to the overall success of the mission.

Army Staff Sgt. Rudolph Juarez, a motor pool non-commissioned officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 749th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, and Spc. Dave Fluker, a motor pool foreman with HHC, 749th CSSB, are part of the team responsible for maintaining security for Army Lt. Col. David Ceniti, the battalion commander of the 749th CSSB, while he conducts a battlefield circulation.

Battlefield circulation allows the command to see the progress of the 749th CSSB in its mission of providing sustainment during the reposturing of forces in Iraq.

The goal for the battalion commander during BFC is to get a boots-on-the-ground view of the missions for which he is ultimately responsible.

Ceniti traverses the battlefield by inserting himself and his team of Soldiers into a convoy. From this first-person perspective he is able to get total situational awareness of the mission when combined with the analysis done by the battalion staff.

In order for the commander be secure, Juarez and Fluker have gone through extensive training that gives them the ability to adapt to the needs of protecting principal personnel.

Prior to the deployment, Juarez and Fluker went through tactics and training that focused on small-element security forces. This training included responding to indirect fire and improvised explosive devices and qualifying with crew-served weapons on both un-mounted and mounted gunnery.

There were multiple culminating events where the team put all their newly acquired skills to use in realistic scenarios.

“You hope that nothing happens while you’re out with the colonel, he’s like a close member of the family,” Fluker said. “We’re just trying to do the best job we can and keep the big man happy.”