FORT DEVENS, Mass. -- During a briefing with Maj. Gen. Michael J. Terry (left), commanding general, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Fort Shafter, Hawaii, Silver Scimitar is discussed with exercise director Col. Robert Kay (center), 3rd Human Resources Sustainment Center. This year, the exercise brings together over 500 Soldiers from around the country with civilian and military instructors from a range of organizations. The Adjutant General Corps is striving to validate Silver Scimitar, a process through which an exercise is certified by U.S. First Army and then used to train deploying Human Resources Soldiers. The validation serves to shorten the mobilization process, and gets the Soldiers, and their critical skills, to the battlefield quickly. (photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jo Hoots, 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

 

 

8th HRSC Sharpens Skills with Silver Scimitar
January 31, 2012
By Spc. C. Terrell Turner , 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT DEVENS, Mass. -- Soldiers from the 8th Human Resources Sustainment Center, an active duty unit from Fort Shafter, Hawaii, may soon be trading their tropical beaches for the wind and sun blasted sands of Kuwait as they prepare for a deployment overseas.

At Silver Scimitar 2012, the 8th HRSC is being trained by the 3rd and 14th HRSCs. The 14th HRSC is also providing subject-matter-experts as trainers and observer controllers, many of whom are currently deployed to Kuwait and are on temporary orders to serve as instructors during the exercise. Their knowledge represents the latest in human resources doctrine and practices, and provides the "boots on ground" experiences vital to the training.

Silver Scimitar brings together Soldiers from the active Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve for intensive hands on training in human resources operations. Both civilian and military instructors volunteer from all Army components and multiple agencies within the Department of Defense to share their knowledge and experience with exercise participants."This exercise is the Adjutant General's version of [the National Training Center] and [Joint Readiness Training Center]," said Sgt. Maj. Jerome Rice, Directorate Sergeant Major of 8th HRSC. "I believe all HR Soldiers need to come through this [training] because there is nothing more than getting hands-on assistance or knowing who you're going to fall in on, or what you're actually going to do in theater."

Rice noted his repeated visits to Silver Scimitar exercises throughout the years as providing him with the expertise he uses to give his Soldiers tools for success.
"This is my third rotation here. It's definitely given me an insight on what I need to train my Soldiers back at home station. Each year we progress. This year is more hands-on than doctrine, and I think having Soldiers touch a tangible object or system during training makes them retain things a lot faster."

Col. Lynn San Nicolas, 8th HRSC director, has also been to Silver Scimitar before and sees the growth of the event and the inherent value it provides to her Soldiers.

"I participated in Silver Scimitar in 2007, when it was at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and that was a very rudimentary exercise," said San Nicolas. Back then, she said, instruction mostly involved PowerPoint slides and little hands-on training on the systems. "A lot of classroom slides, and … constant doctrine over and over and over. When they got into the systems training, it was maybe 10-to-15 people huddled around one computer watching this system worked by a subject matter expert. Fast forward five years to 2012, and each soldier is sitting behind a system, actually working on the system themselves."

The Soldiers have been preparing for their deployment for some time now, and this recent training has put them in a very good position to maintain their success.

"At first I didn't know what my job was going to be downrange," said Sgt. Loini Paaga, Replacement Staging Onward Movements Sergeant, 8th HRSC. "Here I'm learning what our actual job will be. It was good training coming here, and valuable. After meeting the people from downrange who came here to teach us what they did, I would be interested someday in coming back here and training Soldiers."

 

FORT DEVENS, Mass. -- During Silver Scimitar 2012, Soldiers from the 8th Human Resources Sustainment Center, an active duty unit from Ft. Shafter, Hawaii, practiced their skills in a scenario-based exercise to test their ability to track troop movements and coordinate information with other teams. Pvt. Jakeisha Evans (left), Staff Sgt. Sara Morales-Smith (center), and Spc. Cheryl Harper (right) are part of the Replacement, Staging and Onward Movement teams, or RSOs. They provide visibility and analysis to monitor and assist the flow of troops in a combat theater, making sure Soldiers can get to where they're going in country. "If they are coming in or going out, we monitor the traffic to make sure they are getting where they're supposed to be because, sometimes, if we don't monitor that, they will get lost in the system," said Lt. Col. Priscella Lewis, RSO Division Chief, 8th HRSC. (Photo by Sgt. David Turner, 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Casualty Operations Evolves to Meet Current, Future Needs
January 31, 2012
By Sgt. David Turner , 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT DEVENS, Mass. -- In the community of human resources professionals who provide essential services to troops on the battlefield, perhaps none are more critical than casualty operations specialists. They track casualties from the front lines all the way until the casualties exit theater, and the work they do goes far beyond that.

To carry out their responsibilities, they must stay up-to-date on Army doctrine and current procedures. For HR Soldiers preparing for upcoming deployments, Silver Scimitar 2012, a U.S. Army Reserve Command-sponsored, multi-component training exercise, gave them the chance to hone skills for an ever-changing environment.

"We have a huge responsibility," said Staff Sgt. Atavis Taylor, a human resources specialist with the 14th Human Resources Sustainment Center, based at Fort Bragg, N.C. During Silver Scimitar 2012, Taylor and Chief Warrant Officer Stacy Malloy teach a course in casualty operations to human resources Soldiers from all components: active Army, Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve.

"We're [providing quality assurance and quality control for] the reports that are going to basically tell the story for the families as to what happened to their loved ones," said Taylor.

"We have to get that story right," said Malloy.

While the 14th HRSC is currently deployed to Kuwait, 14 of their Soldiers are participating in Silver Scimitar 2012 as trainers, sharing their expertise and experiences with the Soldiers training here, some of whom will replace them in theater.

"We always teach schoolhouse doctrine first," said Malloy. "That's the baseline; it gets us to war and it get us home. But we also want to teach reality, how it's really being done on the battlefield.

"Over the years casualty operations have evolved, and what doctrine teaches, doesn't look the same downrange," Malloy added.

Malloy and Taylor have both had multiple tours of duty in combat, and have taken part in Silver Scimitar several times. By participating as instructors, Malloy and Taylor not only get to train their future counterparts, but have a hand in developing the exercise. That helps influence the future of HR doctrine.

Chief Warrant Officer Cynthia Johnson-Owens, a casualty operations division human resources technician with the 8th HRSC, based at Ft. Shafter, Hawaii, said she appreciated getting such fresh and relevant training. She and her Soldiers are preparing to replace the 14th HRSC in Kuwait.

"It's very beneficial to have them come back and train us on what's going on," Johnson-Owens said. "You don't ever get away from the guidance on how it's done, but it's just in how it's done; that's what they bring to us."

Lt. Col. David Housh, chief of senior leader training at the Soldier Support Institute at Fort Jackson, S.C., said training is in a constant state of development.

"We are all sustainers, so we are constantly evolving," Housh said.

Housh and other subject matter experts from a variety of fields helped provide the complete picture during the exercise. The SSI is the home of the Adjutant General corps, and lessons learned in-theater often help update the training they provide for HR Soldiers.

For Housh, seeing Soldiers refresh their knowledge of AG doctrine is satisfying; it not only reinforces what they've learned, but brings it into sharp focus.

"It's amazing," said Housh. "When we can get to that level, people say 'I didn't know that - now I got it.' That light bulb goes on [and] we love it."

 

FORT DEVENS, Mass. -- Staff Sgt. Atavis Taylor (right), Casualty Operations 2nd Shift Officer-in-Charge, 14th Human Resources Sustainment Center, assists two Soldiers from the 8th HRSC in assembling the Very Small Aperture Terminal System during Silver Scimitar 2012, the annual training exercise that prepares human resources Soldiers for overseas missions. The VSAT can establish a data connection with other VSATS and network architectures established in theater providing connectivity almost anywhere on the battlefield. When backup communications systems fail, it allows HR Soldiers to continue to transmit vital information on casualties and personnel issues, providing them another tool to take care of Soldiers and accomplish the mission. (Photo by Spc. C. Terrell Turner, 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

VSAT keeps HR Soldiers combat ready
January 29, 2012
By SPC C Terrell Turner  , 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT DEVENS, Mass. - Battles can be won or lost in the blink of an eye, making technological connectivity on today's battlefield more crucial than ever. In a rapidly changing combat environment, the ability for human resources units to establish, maintain and exchange reliable communications with leaders and other units about casualties, personnel issues and other information is vital.

During Silver Scimitar 2012 training exercise, Human Resources Soldiers, assigned to casualty operations received training on how to operate the Very Small Aperture Terminal, a portable satellite system that can data-connect with other VSATs and with network architectures established in theater. It provides critical connectivity in an austere environment when other options are not available, and has been used to support Army operations since at least 2003.
"Using VSAT has been a great experience. When our casualty assistance center communications went out several times in Kuwait, we had communications backup within minutes," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Stacy Malloy, Human Resources Technician, Casualty Operations Division, 14th Human Resource Sustainment Center.

Malloy is currently stationed in Kuwait and on temporary orders to Silver Scimitar. He's one of a number of instructors and subject matter experts who have dealt with the technology while deployed and can share valuable lessons learned with Soldiers participating in Silver Scimitar. He recalled the HR mission prior to the fielding of the VSAT and the significance of this technology for his Soldiers.

"Before this system, we worked through the G-6 [chief information officer] and they would provide static IP addresses," he said. "We weren't able to do it on our own. Now this [technology] allows us to go anywhere and have communications; send emails, send casualty reports and [have] more capabilities through VOIP [voice over internet protocol]."

While not all of the Soldiers training at Silver Scimitar have used the VSAT, many are familiar with it. "I was first introduced to this system in 2006," said Spc. Ronaldo Fajardo, a human resources specialist assigned to 8th Human Resources Sustainment Center based in Fort Shafter, Hawaii. "I haven't had a chance to use it and these skills are temporary. If you don't use the knowledge, you lose it."

To get the hands on experience needed, Soldiers assembled and disassembled the satellite system and learned about its capabilities.

Despite not having operating the system, Fajardo was much more comfortable with using it after receiving the training. "I like it," he said. "It's like plug and play. Once you follow the instructions, it's pretty easy to put up."

Soldiers appreciated both the depth of the instruction and the subject matter expertise of the instructors.

"I think the training was outstanding. They provided detailed information in order for us to perform our job when we are in theater," said Staff Sgt. Tyra Thompson, casualty operations noncommissioned officer, 8th HRSC. "I have used the system before. The HRSC conducted multiple training events on how to set up and tear down the VSAT. I would definitely feel comfortable [with] setting up the system in the field."

 

 

FORT DEVENS, Mass. -- During the daily battle update briefing at Silver Scimitar 2012, leaders from over 20 active Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve units review the day's training on Jan. 24. Silver Scimitar 2012 is a multi-echelon, multi-component human resources exercise that brings together military and civilian experts in the field to train HR Soldiers to set up and run everything from theater level postal services, to company level personnel operations. Col. Lynn San Nicolas, director, 8th Human Resources Command left), and Sgt. Maj. Jerome S. Rice, the 8th HRSC Sgt. Maj., take notes on sustains and improves for the day's training. (Photo by Sgt. David Turner, 214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)