Mission rehearsal prepares logisticians for Afghanistan

The brigade's activities are crucial to the ability of front line troops to get the job done and during their six-month deployment brigade personnel will provide vital logistic support to the front line troops of Task Force Helmand, directly underpinning and enabling their mission.

The brigade has been preparing for the task for many months and the training has culminated in a final planning exercise this week using live information straight from Afghanistan.

This rehearsal, called Exercise Conplanex, will complete their training and confirm that the HQ is ready for the challenges ahead.

101 Logistic Brigade is formed of a variety of units and some 50 brigade personnel, including individual augmentees from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, are involved in the exercise, taking place in Aldershot, wearing desert combat uniforms in a mock-up of the working environment in Afghanistan.

Joint Force Support in Camp Bastion is composed of:

• a Close Support Logistic Regiment, which distributes supplies and conducts combat logistic patrols;
• the Theatre Logistic Group, which organises the movement of supplies from the UK to theatre and back;
• equipment support - to fix, service and maintain equipment;
• the Joint Force Medical Group;
• the Provost Group (Police);
• the Works Group, which carries out infrastructure development and contractor management;
• the Military Working Dogs Unit.

All these units will be under the direction of 101 Brigade Headquarters.

The brigade's role in theatre involves complex logistic processes and requires a detailed plan for ammunition, fuel, transport, prisoners of war, humanitarian assistance, rear area security and medical operations.

In addition, the brigade will also be responsible for the setting up of field hospitals and the evacuation of casualties from theatre.

With such wide-ranging responsibilities, Commanding Officer Brigadier Angus Fay explains that the pre-deployment training has been crucial.

He said:

"Across the piece for the brigade's units this has been a year's approach to bring ourselves up to readiness. It has included overseas exercises in Kenya and command post exercises where we put ourselves through a raft of scenarios so that we understand the situation in theatre.

"And of course a lot of soldier skills with weapon systems and vehicles in order to bring the force up to speed.

"I am utterly clear that in my 25 years of service it is the most sophisticated level of training I have ever been involved in. I think I can speak for everybody in saying we feel exceptionally well-trained and ready to take on this mission."

Now that the training period is coming to an end Brigadier Fay is concentrating on the task ahead.

He said:

"The support challenge in Afghanistan is significant.

"It is conducted at range in a land-locked country where we have to bring a lot of equipment and resources into theatre and then we have to distribute it within theatre and make sure the battle groups have what they want at the right time.

"That is our all day, every day challenge simply because of the terrain, environment and situation."

The brigade will be responsible for delivering logistical support to over 12,000 dependent personnel which includes not only British troops but also MOD civil servants, those of other government organisations, and contractors and troops of coalition nations working alongside the UK in southern Afghanistan.

In addition to the US personnel, the largest contingent of coalition troops working with the British are Danes, as well as smaller forces from Australia, Estonia and Macedonia.

A Logistic Brigade working so closely with other nations also brings challenges but, as Brigadier Fay explained, this too is an area of training that has not been overlooked:

"We have done a raft within training of multi-national engagement, ranging from starting up a relationship with our US counterparts who have been over to visit our training before they deploy through to exchanging teams with Copenhagen so that we understand what the Danish issues are and how we integrate that into our system and therefore make it more effective once we get there.

"It is all about our situational awareness when we get there."

Brigadier Fay's trust in the training was echoed by Petty Officer Mark Lavery, an information management specialist in 101 Logistic Brigade, who said:

"The training has been very good. We have had plenty of experience on all aspects of the job when we get out there, culminating in the exercise we are undertaking at the moment.

"We have all the training that we need and the proof will be when we get the job done out in theatre.

"I'm looking forward to going as it's something different. It makes a change to a ship and is a new challenge for me that I'm looking forward to."

Staff Sergeant Harold 'Pinky' Floyd, who has been with the brigade 12 months, added:

"The training has been good, it's been steadily progressive building up to now. We planned ahead so everything has been covered.

"We just want to get out there now and get on with the job."

The Headquarters will deploy to Afghanistan at the end of November with the final members going out at the start of December.

101 Logistic Brigade has quickly become experienced in its role, having deployed to every major operational theatre.

The brigade, which wears the Blackadder tactical recognition flash after the famous television series, was formed in 1999 from what was the Combat Service Support Group (CSSG).

The CSSG was the successor to the Force Maintenance Area which was already using the Blackadder flash following its formation in 1990 in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.