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CINCU, Romania – Tanks belonging to the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT), Idaho Army National Guard are positioned at the Romanian Land Force Combat Training Center (RLF-CTC) in Cincu, July 7, 2016 prior to the start of Exercise Saber Guardian 2016. The vehicles arrived in Romania on June 19 at the Port of Constanta and were shipped via railhead to Cincu. Saber Guardian is a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise, in the spirit of Partnership for Peace. It is designed to promote regional stability and security, while strengthening partnership capacity, and fostering trust while improving interoperability between Romania, the U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. The 116th CBCT is one of the U.S. units participating in the exercise, which will also include forces from 11 different countries.
Photo by: Staff Sgt. Corinna Baltos
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CINCU, Romania - A U.S. Soldier guides an M88 Hercules Recovery Vehicle as it backs-up along a dirt road in Viola, Romania July 5. The vehicle, belonging to the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT), Idaho Army National Guard is in Romania to be used during Exercise Saber Guardian 2016, which starts July 27. The 116th CBCT is one of the U.S. units participating in the exercise, which will also include forces from 11 different countries.
Photo by: Staff Sgt. Corinna Baltos
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CONSTANTA, Romania – Two American Soldiers walk through the Port of Constanta June 25. The Soldiers, members of the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT), Idaho Army National Guard, are in Romania to take part in Exercise Saber Guardian 16. Their equipment was shipped via rail from Idaho and Montana to Charleston Harbor, S.C. where it was loaded on a ship bound for Romania. Once the boat arrived in Romania it was offloaded by the Soldiers and shipped, again, by rail, to Cincu, Romania where the exercise will be held. Saber Guardian is a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise, in the spirit of partnership for peace. It is designed to promote regional stability and security, while strengthening partnership capacity, and fostering trust while improving interoperability between Romania, the U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. The 116th CBCT is one of the U.S. units participating in the exercise, which will also include forces from 11 different countries.
Photo by: Staff Sgt. Corinna Baltos
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CONSTANTA, Romania - A U.S. Soldier guides M1A2 Abrams Tanks through the Port of Constanta June 25. The tanks, belonging to the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT), Idaho Army National Guard, arrived in Romania June 20, 2016 after being shipped via transport ship from Charleston Harbor, S.C. After being unloaded from the ship, the tanks were shipped via railcar to Cincu, Romania where they will be used by the brigade during Exercise Saber Guardian 2016, which starts July 27. Saber Guardian is a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise, in the spirit of partnership for peace. It is designed to promote regional stability and security, while strengthening partnership capacity, and fostering trust while improving interoperability between Romania, the U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. The 116th CBCT is one of the U.S. units participating in the exercise, which will also include forces from 11 different countries.
Photo by: Staff Sgt. Corinna Baltos
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CINCU, Romania – Vehicles belonging to the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT), Idaho Army National Guard are positioned at the Romanian Land Force Combat Training Center (RLF-CTC) in Cincu, July 7, 2016 prior to the start of Exercise Saber Guardian 2016. The vehicles arrived in Romania on June 19 at the Port of Constanta and were shipped via railhead to Cincu. Saber Guardian is a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise, in the spirit of Partnership for Peace. It is designed to promote regional stability and security, while strengthening partnership capacity, and fostering trust while improving interoperability between Romania, the U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. The 116th CBCT is one of the U.S. units participating in the exercise, which will also include forces from 11 different countries.
Photo by: Staff Sgt. Corinna Baltos
CINCU, Romania -- In November of 1990, as the United States and its allies were preparing for war with Iraq, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Ernest T. Cook Jr. said, "Logistics is the hard part of fighting a war." While it may be the hard part of fighting a war, it is also the hard part of conducting an exercise; especially one half-way around the world.
Last fall the Soldiers of the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT), Idaho Army National Guard were notified that they would be participating in Exercise Saber Guardian 2016 in Romania.
Saber Guardian is a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise, in the spirit of partnership for peace. It is designed to promote regional stability and security, while strengthening partnership capacity, and fostering trust while improving interoperability between Romania, the U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. It will take place July 27-Aug. 7, 2016 at the Romanian Land Force Combat Training Center (RLF-CTC) in Cincu, Romania.
"Once we were assigned the mission, we were all over it," said Lt. Col. Jim Harper, executive officer, 116th CBCT. One of the first challenges the unit had was figuring out how to transport nearly 500 tanks and other heavy equipment over two continents and an ocean.
"Typically when you deploy; you fall into equipment," said Harper. "However, for this mission we are basically an expeditionary force, so we had to bring everything in."
That task of bringing everything in was given to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Steven Howell, brigade mobility officer, 116th CBCT. His first challenge was getting the equipment located in four states; Idaho, Montana Oregon and Nevada, to two staging sites in Helena, Montana and Boise, Idaho.
For Harper, who had recently coordinated the movement of 1,450 pieces of equipment to Fort Irwin, California for an NTC rotation, the challenges of shipping the equipment half-way across the world were daunting.
"The biggest challenge I faced was trying to find the right contact for our operation. Working stateside to move a unit overseas can be a challenge, but once we identified the right contacts they were extremely helpful."
Howell said the equipment, which was staged at the two sites by mid-April, was then loaded onto railway cars bound for the Port of Charleston. "We loaded the equipment staged in Montana onto railroad cars on April 23, and the equipment in Idaho on May 9."
The equipment left Charleston Harbor in early June and set sail for Romania.
"Upon the vessel's arrival in Constanta on 20 June we put into effect 24-hour operations with 52 soldiers," said Howell. "Those soldiers were responsible for offloading all tracked vehicles, staging and preparing equipment for onward movement by rail or line haul. We were able to offload the vessel within 36 hours which came as a surprise, as often the vessel offload is completed in 72 hours."
During planning, the unit projected the movement of equipment from Constanta to Cincu would take about 30 days due to the constraints of the Romanian rail company they were working with. However, upon arrival, they discovered that it was not the case and they were able to move the equipment twice as fast.
"We were expecting to be able to send one to two cars a week to Cincu," said Harper, but we were able to send eight cars in two weeks, which cut our time nearly in half."
