248th RAOC Deploys to Macedonia
[The 248th Returned from Macedonia in December of 2000]
Story by SSG Jeff Clayton & Photos by MSG Cal Vandervest - Posted Oct, 2000
|
Forty-one members of the 248th Operations Center (RAOC), headquartered in Port Orchard, were deployed on 22 July 2000 in support of an ongoing NATO mission in the Balkan region. The unit is supporting the ongoing peacekeeping mission "Operation Joint Guardian", and will spend about 6 months at Camp Able Sentry in Macedonia, supporting the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
These are not the first Washington Guardsmen to be deployed to the region since Operation Joint Guardian was initiated in June 1999. The 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD), from Camp Murray, just completed a mission in Kosovo to provide Public Affairs support Task Force Falcon. The 141st Air Refueling Wing, based at Fairchild Air Force Base, WA, supported air operations last year in Yugoslavia. Washington National Guard Units have been deployed to Bosnia as well.
|
LTC John M. Shaughnessy, the Commander of the 248th RAOC: "It's never an easy thing to leave our families and jobs, but we've trained hard and we're well prepared. We owe a lot of thanks to our families and friends out there who have supported us through this challenging time of transition."
|
Camp Able Sentry (CAS) is located on the Petrovic Air Base southeast of Skopje, Macedonia. The camp itself is 72 acres and can house up to 600 permanent party and roughly 2,100 transient personnel. It truly embraces the Total Army concept, with active duty personnel working alongside National Guard and Reservists, DoD civilians, and contractors. The services represented are the Air Force, Army , Navy and Marines. In addition to supporting U.S. Forces, the camp supports other nations of KFOR as they move in and out of theater. The Camp motto is CAS Can!, and - day in and day out - they prove it.
This will be the home of the 248th RAOC for 6 months.
What is a RAOC? The short answer: it's a command structure for an organization that really only exists during actual, 'real world' operations... the Corps 'rear area'. Therefore, RAOCs are normally National Guard units. Due to the nature of the Balkan mission, RAOCs are needed to handle the 'rear area'.
|
The Army is composed of Corps, and each Corps is composed of 2 or 3 Divisions and an array of non-divisional units that work directly for Corps, or are attached to Divisions as necessary. The Corps is responsible for a huge portion of the battlefield. In fact, short of a full-scale war, the Corps Headquarters is often the highest level of Army command in any given conflict. During a large-scale war, Corps are further grouped into Armies. The Corps Commander is a Lieutenant General (3 stars). I Corps is headquartered at Fort Lewis, WA. The Balkans falls under the responsibility of the V Corps, headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany.
In the Corps rear area, the Deputy Commanding General (DCG) - a Major General (2 stars) - commands rear battle operations and the support necessary to conduct the forward battle. He works out of the Rear Operations Center (ROC) and has control over (among other assets) four RAOCs. The rear is divided in four sections, each controlled by a RAOC.
The modern battlefield differs from the battlefields of WWII and Korea in many ways, but one of the most significant is its 'depth'. Beginning with the Vietnam War
hostilities were no longer confined to a clear demarcation between friendly and enemy forces. In Peace and Stabilization Operations, such as Operation Joint Guardian, there is no 'shooting war' at all, and the entire Corps area of operations is, in a sense, a 'rear area'.
Each RAOC has four sections:
Command / Headquarters - In addition to obvious command functions, this section is responsible for maintaining an ongoing analysis of the condition of the RAOCs section of the Corp rear area for its impact on current and future operations. In the freewheeling turmoil that characterizes the modern maneuver battle, the rear area can become the forward area in a big hurry.
Operations - Synchronizes resources within the RAOC area of responsibility to support the rear area commander's intent; plans and controls rear area security operations and manages terrain within the RAOCs area of responsibility.
Plans - Develops and synchronizes the use of terrain for potential future operations, develops and maintains base defense plans, and maintains contingency plans to jump forward or rearward to establish a new RAOC area of responsibility.
Area Damage Control - Provides planning coordination and direction for damage control to ensure the uninterrupted flow of supplies needed to sustain the Corps mission, and maintains contingency plans to assist the Plans Section in a jump forward or rearward to establish a new RAOC area of operation.
|
The 248th RAOC was deployed to the Balkans to support V Corps. In this instance the Corps "forward area" is the Kosovo province of Serbia, and its "rear area" is the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. LTC Shaughnessy paints a quick picture of the daily duties of the RAOC: "The real deal here is people! People and equipment are flowing through here like you wouldn't believe. In addition to the regular rotations of units in and out of Kosovo, we coordinate and facilitate Corp level video teleconferences [Camp Able Sentry has a state-of-the-art facility for this purpose] that are attended by dozens of General Officers, each arriving with a staff. There are Department of Defense and other government visitors through all the time, touring the facility, asking questions... we stay busy!" Three months into their deployment, the 248th RAOC, like the succession of Army National Guard RAOCs that preceded them, is highly rated by the Corps they support. They work seamlessly alongside their active duty counterparts.
So how does this transition from citizen soldier to 'full-timer' happen? For the 248th RAOC it began in December of 1999, when they got their first notice of the pending deployment. At that time, the 852nd RAOC (Arizona Army National Guard) was deployed to Camp Able Sentry and the 44th RAOC (Illinois ARNG) was preparing to train up to replace them.
|
The unit was informed of the pending deployment during their December drill. An 'Alert for Training' order was received on 2 February, indicating that they might be mobilized in June. On 10 February, this was narrowed down to 31 July. With a firm date for deployment, the unit's commander and his staff began to adjust the unit training calendar to prepare for the mobilization.
Late in April a 6-man "Leaders Recon" was sent to Camp Able Sentry. Their mission was to bring back valuable information about what to expect. They were hosted by the Guardsmen of the 44th RAOC (Illinois ARNG) whose experiences proved to be very helpful. They showed their guests everything between Skopje and Kumanovo, their mission, their living conditions, the improvements they had made, and the problems they faced.
The official order to mobilize - the Presidential Selective Reserve Call-up - came on 23 May. At that point an official notification was sent out to families and employers. This really turned up the heat on deployment preparations. Individual soldier skills were retrained, personnel and medical records were reviewed, everyone got shots, equipment was inventoried and prepared for deployment and briefings were given.
|
One significant difference between the National Guard and our active duty counterparts is that, in the Guard, a soldier or airman might serve for many years - perhaps an entire career - in a succession of assignments within single unit. The result is that strong ties are built between the members of a unit. Our Family Support Group (FSG) plays a big part in keeping the National Guard strong and in keeping families going while a spouse is deployed. The 248th's FSG is a great example of that support.
During the training prior to deployment, the FSG organized barbeques and other activities to further strengthen existing bonds, and to welcome new unit members into the extended family that is the 248th RAOC. They even arranged a group cruise on Lake Union and Lake Washington held on the 8th of July.
Although a lot of work had already been done during normal drill weekends and between drills by the unit's handful of full-time personnel, a 30-day block of activation for training began on 26 June. At this point the 'citizen soldiers' became part of the active duty Army for the duration of their mission, and the realization of what was to come really set in.
|
Following this intense individual and collective training the 248th finally said goodbye to families and friends, and boarded the plane for Fort Benning and final processing on their way to Macedonia on 22 July.
The 248th has been on the ground nearly 3 months now and they have certainly been busy! LTC Shaughnessy reports that Camp Able Sentry is a pretty busy place. In a recent e-mail to us he relates some the missions his Guardsmen have already performed. "We've got division commanders and their staffs coming and going, we host conferences for commanders throughout the region... in some ways this is sort of a conference center. The Secretary of the Army came through and was accompanied by 8 Generals and an Admiral! Battalion-size units move through here on their way into or out of Kosovo."
|
CPT Rick Jimenez, an officer with the 248th and a combat veteran of the Gulf War describes the creature comforts of Camp Able Sentry: " 'Quality of life issues' are extremely important here with constant improvements being made. Currently there is a new expanded Post Exchange, a cappuccino bar, an excellent gym, a recreation center with computer access, movies, video games and pool tables. Additionally there are outdoor and indoor basketball and volleyball courts and a horseshoe pit. Laundry and sewing services are free to all personnel and the Dinning Facility is open 24 hours for at least some type of late night snack."
Although the camp is not in a particularly 'hot' area, the residents do carry their weapons, and the camp certainly has a 'fire base' look and feel to it. The days are long - typically the soldiers work 12+ hour each and every day... there are no weekends or holidays. However, a career with the National Guard, especially with the downsizing of our military, brings with it the prospects of such a deployment.
|
These citizen soldiers answered the call, left their homes, seamlessly integrated themselves into an ongoing active duty military operation thousands of miles away, and are performing with the same level of pride and tradition that has characterized the National Guard for over 350 years.
 |
 |
|
|