ShadowSpear Special Operations: The GSB: the support behind the force meeting unconventional logistics requirements in Iraq The GSB: the support behind the force meeting unconventional logistics requirements in Iraq ================================================================================ Senior Master Sgt. Laura Dermarderosiansmith on 25 August, 2008 09:32:00 BALAD, Iraq – They entered the fight as a dark horse, but in the few months they have been in Iraq, they are advancing to the frontline. The 10th Special Forces Group Support Battalion is small and one of five throughout the Army, but its ability to meet the mission requirements of an elite, special operations fighting force is standing out. Lt. Col. John D. Kuenzli, the GSB commander, refers to his battalion as a dark horse because many in the Special Forces community don’t even know what the GSB is or why it exists. As the war in Iraq highlights some of the logistical and overall support challenges that face these Special Forces groups, Kuenzli’s dark horse is overtaking those challenges. In Iraq on their second deployment with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colo., supporting Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula, the GSB is also redefining itself for the future. "We're reaching out into areas that we think are farther than what support elements during previous rotations have done," said Kuenzli, "because the missions we saw coming in front of us -- the mission analysis on our end -- looked like that was what we were going to need to do for CJSOTF-AP." And what they do is everything in logistics and troop support for the three -- soon to be four -- 10th SFG battalions; and the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and civilians that make up CJSTOF-AP. The GSB, explains Kuenzli, was designed to meet the requirements of the Special Forces community by incorporating more logistics leadership and capability, adding that it’s a strange organization for anyone that isn’t familiar with today’s Army formations. The group support battalion is a multi-functional logistics organization that is uniquely qualified to train, sustain and deploy with Special Forces. Under its leadership are several support detachments and platoons that fall into three categories: combat support, combat service support and combat health support. Various functions such as engineering, training, transportation, logistics, services, medical, communications, maintenance, and military intelligence are areas supported by the GSB’s Soldiers. From a support perspective, one of the easiest ways to remember this is to think about it in terms of “move the force, man the force, arm the force, fuel the force, fix the force, and sustain the force,” said Kuenzli. “It’s an old doctrine, but when you do those things, you’re covering all the bases of logistics and support.” Approximately 340 Soldiers currently support missions with different support packages to meet the Special Forces requirements at Fort Carson, Iraq, Africa and Germany. They have approximately 140 Soldiers supporting 10th SFG at Fort Carson, and approximately 170 supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in several locations throughout Iraq, from Mosul to Basrah, as well as an intermediate staging base in Kuwait. In addition to a small contingent supporting Special Forces training in Eastern Europe and Africa, they have a team in Germany that serves as an intermediate staging base for Special Forces Soldiers traveling to and from, or operating in, that part of the world. In Iraq, the GSB has a large and complex logistics support role to fill. They not only meet the needs and the requirements for CJSOTF-AP headquarters, they also meet the needs and requirements of Special Forces teams and warfighters across the battlefield. This may seem insurmountable given the deployment environment, but the GSB has already proven there hasn’t been a challenge they couldn’t meet. The reason for that is simple says Kuenzli, “It’s not an option to leave those guys out there unsupported.” The nature of Special Forces operations requires logistics support that is often unique and unconventional. For the GSB, logistics planning means thinking beyond what is typical and finding solutions to support the missions. Currently, they are developing the capability to swap out humvees from remote locations because of routine supply and maintenance issues detracting Soldiers from concentrating their efforts on the mission. “That’s not a conventional tactical support battalion mission or function, but it certainly meets the need here with CJSOTF-AP,” said Kuenzli. “Rather than trying to force the conventional peg into that hole, we can figure out how to reshape the peg … We can let our Green Berets keep operating while we figure out how to fix their humvees back here.” Most recently, they successfully conducted a sling load operation where they had two helicopters airlift backup generators to a location near the Syrian border. With only one road in and a bridge that was out for two weeks, transporting the generators by conventional methods would not reach the Soldiers within a reasonable timeframe to sustain their operation if their sole power source failed. “Again, it’s never an option to say we can’t support. The only option is to figure out how to meet the requirement. Then, we can train our Soldiers for the task and be better prepared for the next mission,” said Kuenzli. Like many of the Army officers in his position, Kuenzli has worked in supply, maintenance and transportation, and has an understanding of each of the singular functions within the GSB. “We are very fortunate to have the leaders in this battalion that have a good mix of conventional experience and Special Operations experience. Combine that with young Soldiers that are motivated to perform their roles in support of Special Forces and you get a very agile and capable unit,” said Kuenzli. In total, the battalion possesses abundant logistical and operational knowledge to provide not only the best possible support for 10th SFG, according to Kuenzli, but to guide the future of the GSBs throughout Army Special Forces groups. Based on the experience and knowledge within the GSB, these Soldiers are setting a standard of support in anticipating the needs of the warfighters. The sling load operation was an example of diversifying and expanding their logistics capability to meet future requirements in case other methods of transportation are impractical or unavailable. The GSB has also prepared different contingency support packages for various situations. Bare-base kits consisting of tents, generators and air conditioning for operations in areas that have no life support; unit-configured emergency ammunition kits that are ready to drop to a team stuck in a fight; and equipment and weapons kits to outfit entire teams in the event of a team house fire or other catastrophe that could cause complete equipment loss – these are some of the contingencies for which the GSB remains ready to support. Maintaining an agile and ready posture doesn’t come naturally remarked Kuenzli. Training is important in a small, yet multi-functional organization such as the GSB. The Soldiers in the battalion have a military occupation specialty like every other Soldier in the Army, but as GSB Command Sgt. Major Pete Smith explains, most Soldiers with a certain MOS will rise through the ranks training in broader support functions than their specific MOS involves. The sling load operation was a prime training opportunity on various levels and demonstrated to some young Soldiers the practical application of their training in the battlefield. “For a lot of the Soldiers within the 10th Special Forces Group Service Support Company [maintenance, supply, fuel, water and transportation], this is their first time deploying … first time exercising something they’ve been training on at home station,” said Smith. “And, it’s a great opportunity to put some of the things they’ve learned to use here.” Spc. Britney Hale is a Soldier who exemplifies what Smith and Kuenzli say about the diversity of their mission and the people who support that mission. Hale, who has been in the Army for two years, is a water treatment specialist. Although she hasn’t specifically trained in sling load operations and landing zone signals at this stage of her training, they are tasks she can be called on to perform eventually, as in this case. After several blocks of training and rehearsals, she and the rest of the team were fully prepared. -more- Lt. Nathaniel Rice, sustainment platoon leader, pointed out that in a training environment some Soldiers feel that they don’t always know how their job contributes to the mission. In Hale’s case, according to the lieutenant, “She learned that she actually did control where that helicopter went and she was able to get that helicopter on course.” Being the landing zone signalman for the sling load mission is the closest she’s come to performing her MOS in Iraq, she explained, because the drinking water is being managed by civilian contractors. “Out here,” she adds, “the scope of my job ranges and basically becomes what is needed at the time.” Demonstrating the flexibility of GSB Soldiers, Hale also works in the camp mayor’s cell managing the bed-down requirements, contracted labor support, safety and maintenance of the entire CJSOTF-AP camp in Balad, Iraq. For some 10th SFG Soldiers, training is highly specialized. The GSB provides the support to sustain these non-standard training programs through the 10th SFG Operations Training Company. The OTC consists of a cadre of Green Berets hand-selected by the group command sergeant major, to develop training capabilities that “sharpen the tip of the speer” as Kuenzli puts it. The trainers in the OTC keep Special Operations Soldiers at the cutting edge of their special warfare skills. Some of these programs include: high altitude training, maritime operations, sniper training and foreign language proficiency. One of the OTC’s most successful programs is the Special Operations Multipurpose Canine (SOFMPC) program. This program trains dog handlers to employ dogs that are trained for more than just single function tasks, such as sniffing for drugs or attacking enemies. The OTC’s dog teams are an operational enabler to Special Forces teams and are having great success in Iraq. During this rotation, the GSB has taken on a new role and mission: teaching Iraqi Special Forces and Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics units how to build a logistics-sustainment capability. They created the Logistic Task Force Logistics Trainer and Advisor Teams which combines their logistics and support personnel with their Iraqi counterparts. Over the past few years, the overall training of the Iraqi forces emphasized actual tactical operations. With the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, however, the Iraqi military is learning to be self-sustaining in all areas of a fighting force. The LTF LTAT is just another example of a mission the group support battalion didn’t train for before they came to Iraq. Kuenzli praises his junior leaders who were able to develop the program to meet a mission requirement: training the Iraqi military to be logistically self-sustaining. He noted that the program is experiencing great success as there are notable improvements in the Iraqis maintaining their equipment, stocking supplies and training their own Soldiers to do the same. For the GSB, the mission still doesn’t stop here. The GSB’s group support company provides the signal and communications support, military intelligence support, chemical decontamination, and tactical holding facility support for CJSOTF-AP headquarters. These mission-enabling functions are met by detachments – each aware of the critical nature of their individual missions. In many ways, this rotation is a learning environment for the GSB leaders as well. They are supporting more diverse missions with less people. Kuenzli states that they are manned for what they are authorized by the Army, but given the realities of the support mission and what he envisions for the future, they will need to grow in number. A conventional brigade’s support battalion is roughly 1,300 Soldiers-strong and has a relatively small, defined battle space in one location, he explains. In comparison, his battalion is 340 Soldiers-strong and simultaneously supports multiple geographic regions around the world. In the two months that 10th SFG has been in Iraq, they have: conducted seven airdrop missions; transported 28 RG-33 tactical vehicles; coordinated travel for nearly 5,000 personnel to include 35 detainees; palletized approximately three million pounds of cargo and conducted 10 convoys hauling roughly 25,000 pounds of cargo. Maj. Mike Rivera, GSB executive officer said, “we go wherever our Green Beret brothers are in the battlefield, regardless of the environment.” That statement demonstrates the logistics capability of the GSB when supporting the warfighters in the fight, and forecasting the future of the GSBs. “I want the GSB to be the only support unit they ask for, or expect to see backing them up,” said Kuenzli as he explains how he wants Special Forces commanders or operators to view the GSB when they get ready to deploy. “There might be other support units out there –logisticians, generally, mutually supporting each other -- but I want them to know we are the beginning and the end to their support.” There’s a saying: ‘to the victor goes the spoils.” But in this case, if the dark horse comes through everyone will be sharing in the spoils: the GSB is becoming the end all support for its supported units; the warfighters’ needs and requirements are being met; and, the Iraqi Special Forces are learning to be logistically self-sustaining.