2008 Army Sustainment Magazine Archives
November-December 2008
Medical Logistics
Cover: On the battlefield, Army medical logisticians fill critical roles ranging from transporting medicine and blood to maintaining medical equipment. The articles beginning on pages 17, 20, 22, and 26 discuss a variety of medical logistics topics, including managing medical logistics, preventing injuries, and mentoring medical logisticians of allied forces. On the cover, two Soldiers prepare pallets of medical supplies and emergency shelters for delivery to the Republic of Georgia. Army medical logisticians play a key part in humanitarian efforts around the world.
September-October 2008
Logistics Visibility
Cover: Earlier this year, General Norton A. Schwartz designated 2008 as the U.S. Transportation Command’s “Year of Visibility.” The articles beginning on pages 2, 4, 6,and 10 focus on asset visibility and in-transit visibility, which are critical to Army logistics operations. To maintain communication and in-transit visibility, Soldiers in the field use radios and systems like Blue Force Tracker, Force XXI Battle Command Brigadeand Below, and Movement Control System. In the cover photo, a Soldier watches his Blue Force Tracker while communicating with other Soldiers in his convoy.
July-August 2008
Do Stryker Brigade Combat Teams Need Forward Support Companies?
Cover: The Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) is designed to be a rapidly deployable force, bridging the gap between the traditional light and heavy brigades. Unlike the heavy and infantry brigade combat teams, the SBCT does not incorporate forward support companies (FSCs) in its logistics structure. But should it? Would FSCs fill shortfalls in SBCT sustainment? Or would adding FSCs to the SBCT just make it heavier and less agile? In the articles beginning on pages 26 and 33, the authors offer opposing views on this question. In the cover photo, an SBCT artillery repairer with B Company, Brigade Support Battalion, 2d SBCT, 25th Infantry Division, wipes grease from an M777 155-millimeter howitzer during the weapon's annual servicing at Camp Taji, Iraq.
May-June 2008
Supply Support Activities in Iraq
Cover: In the modular Army, where logisticians often have to support many customers over a wide area, the supply support activity (SSA) is the crucial nexus between supplies flowing into the theater and support provided to the warfighter. The challenges faced by two SSAs in Operation Iraqi Freedom are discussed in articles beginning on pages 12 and 22. The cover photo typifies the demanding nature of work at an SSA, as the SSA movement control noncommissioned officer in charge of the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2d Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), inventories tires at the SSA yard at Camp Striker, Iraq.(Photo by SFC Angela McKinzie, 2d BCT, 10th Mountain Division, PAO.)
March-April 2008
Supporting a Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
Cover: The 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (Airborne), the Army’s first battlefield surveillance brigade (BfSB), has the critical mission of conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations in support of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 29th Brigade Support Company (BSC) is responsible for providing BfSB sustainment. The article beginning on page 26 describes how the 29th BSC used a mission readiness exercise to prepare to support the BfSB during deployment. On the cover, a senior maintenance technician demonstrates how to change a vehicle ball joint.
January-February 2008
Logistics in OEF VII: The 710th BSB
Cover: On the cover, Soldiers hook up sling loads to a CH–47 Chinookhelicopter at Forward Operating Base Blessing in Afghanistan. Because logisticians in Operation Enduring Freedom must sustain widely dispersed units while contending with poor or nonexistent roads, mountainous terrain, and a treacherous enemy, aerial resupply has become a critical facet of logistics operations, as the 710th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) learned during its deployment. Articles beginning on page 12 examine aspects of the 710th BSB’s experience.(Photo by SSG Marcus J. Quarterman, 982d Combat Camera Company.)
