Afghanistan: North Carolina Guard members train Marines, civilians

By Army Maj. Matthew Devivo

113th Sustainment Brigade

CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan  - Hundreds of Soldiers from the 113th Sustainment Brigade, a North Carolina Army National Guard unit called to active duty last year in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, are deployed here for a short time in order to conduct sustainment and redistribution operations.

 Their deployment has been highly productive in assisting coalition forces in setting conditions for the responsible drawdown of forces in Afghanistan in accordance with U.S. government directives.

The unit has Soldiers serving throughout the Middle East.

 One small group of Steel Warriors stationed with U.S. Marines here was recently recognized for their outstanding achievement in support of Marine efforts in vehicle and equipment consolidation and disposition.

 After the team arrived here, the Marine officer in charge of the camp noted that most of the civilian contractors and Marines were not licensed to operate some of the vehicles, including the mine resistant ambush protected trucks so crucial to operations in Afghanistan.

Part of the camp’s duties involved moving mine resistant ambush protected vehicles to and from the sort yard, wash racks and outbound staging areas, and this resulted in delays in the process and a loss of valuable time.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Kendall Cheek, a member of Company B, 113th Sustainment Brigade, developed a training plan and presented a driver training course to the Marines that was approved, adopted, and put into place.

With the success of the Steel Brigade’s training sessions at Camp Dwyer, the team went on the road to Camp Leatherneck, where more Marines and contractors waited to be licensed. The team had trained an additional 77 service members and civilians at the end of April.

More classes are being scheduled at Camp Dwyer organizers said.

 Marine Col. Christopher Michelsen, commander of Marine Corps Logistics Command (Forward), presented letters of appreciation to the 113th Sustainment Brigade team of Army Staff Sgt. Dirkson Sanders, Sgt. 1st Class Kendall Cheek and Spc. Raymond Frederick, recognizing them for their efforts to make the process flow more safely and efficiently.

“These Soldiers have put in many hours of hard work to support our mission,” Michelsen said.

 “Their cooperation and coordination is an example of joint operations between services and our team’s dedication to ensure mission success.”