WEBVTT 00:04.526 --> 00:07.349 - [Interviewer] How does your Command help support USARAF? 00:07.349 --> 00:10.677 - The 79th is the Theater Sustainment Command for 00:10.677 --> 00:12.760 all of Africa and USARAF. 00:14.067 --> 00:17.400 Our job is to provide logistics planning 00:18.064 --> 00:20.981 and capabilities for all of USARAF. 00:21.193 --> 00:25.360 Basically, today we do it through exercises because 00:26.522 --> 00:29.439 we're just in our initial start-up. 00:30.457 --> 00:33.845 As of September of 2017, we will be in initial 00:33.845 --> 00:35.863 operating conditions and we're continuing 00:35.863 --> 00:38.530 to build our capability forward. 00:38.757 --> 00:40.437 This will give us additional planning, 00:40.437 --> 00:44.187 live right collocated in Vicenza with USARAF, 00:44.191 --> 00:48.284 and at the same time we will continue to maintain a 00:48.284 --> 00:51.397 headquarters capability in California, 00:51.397 --> 00:53.347 in Los Alamitos, California. 00:53.347 --> 00:56.435 This capability allows us to both plan for major 00:56.435 --> 00:59.852 long-term operations as well as near-term 01:00.719 --> 01:03.802 logistics planning for all of USARAF. 01:04.190 --> 01:08.244 Within that, we will have the ability to not just 01:08.244 --> 01:12.193 do the paperwork planning and request for forces, 01:12.193 --> 01:16.360 but also to help USARAF determine what are the exact 01:16.411 --> 01:20.034 right types of elements to put forward to support 01:20.034 --> 01:22.819 any of their operations on the continent. 01:22.819 --> 01:24.571 - [Interviewer] Will this dual partnership help 01:24.571 --> 01:28.280 enable forces when they get on the ground here in Africa? 01:28.280 --> 01:30.447 - The short answer is yes. 01:31.303 --> 01:34.732 But quite frankly, we are a senior headquarters that 01:34.732 --> 01:37.815 provides the planning and the resourcing for 01:37.815 --> 01:40.982 the logistics capabilities for USARAF. 01:41.380 --> 01:43.130 To say that we're ... 01:44.665 --> 01:46.401 your question intimated more that 01:46.401 --> 01:49.068 it was an on the ground element. 01:50.030 --> 01:51.519 This is a much more senior headquarters. 01:51.519 --> 01:53.055 We're actually, well as you can tell, 01:53.055 --> 01:54.866 it's a two-star headquarters. 01:54.866 --> 01:56.894 So our job is to make sure that we bring the right 01:56.894 --> 02:00.699 resources, the right subordinate elements, to support 02:00.699 --> 02:04.866 any of the USARAF elements that are on the ground. 02:04.906 --> 02:07.476 We also have a commitment, or requirement, to support 02:07.476 --> 02:10.226 AFRICOM on the land capabilities. 02:10.569 --> 02:14.402 Whenever AFRICOM has a major land requirement, 02:14.727 --> 02:18.394 they will go to the ASCC, which is at USARAF 02:19.611 --> 02:21.011 with General Harrington. 02:21.011 --> 02:23.641 He will then come to me, from a logistics perspective, 02:23.641 --> 02:27.222 and say how can we best support this land requirement 02:27.222 --> 02:31.222 in all of Africa, and that's what we would plan. 02:31.803 --> 02:33.718 - [Interviewer] What role would you say that Reserve 02:33.718 --> 02:37.885 Soldiers have in supporting the total force, the Total Army? 02:38.162 --> 02:41.362 - In the total Army or in relation to USARAF? 02:41.362 --> 02:42.946 - [Interviewer] In relation to USARAF, I guess. 02:42.946 --> 02:47.021 - In supporting the total Army, it's just part of the Army. 02:47.021 --> 02:50.410 Quite frankly, if you understand the Theater Sustainment 02:50.410 --> 02:54.577 Command concept, each major theater combatant command 02:54.590 --> 02:57.423 has a Theater Sustainment Command. 02:58.169 --> 03:02.336 In Europe, you have the 21st Theater Sustainment Command. 03:02.610 --> 03:06.777 In the Pacific you have the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, 03:08.965 --> 03:10.309 and in Central Command, 03:10.309 --> 03:12.894 you have the 1st Theater Sustainment Command. 03:12.894 --> 03:17.003 AFRICOM, in Africa, was the only theater that did not have 03:17.003 --> 03:20.100 a Theater Sustainment Command directly associated with it. 03:20.100 --> 03:23.378 What I left out was, we also have the 377th currently 03:23.378 --> 03:27.545 allocated to Southern Command and we have the 167th, 03:27.734 --> 03:29.637 the National Guard Theater Sustainment Command 03:29.637 --> 03:32.137 that handles Northern Command. 03:33.711 --> 03:36.310 AFRICOM was the one major one that was missing it, 03:36.310 --> 03:39.024 so they stood up the 79th, or we are in the 03:39.024 --> 03:40.873 process of standing it up to be a Theater Sustainment 03:40.873 --> 03:43.614 Command, and we will support them. 03:43.614 --> 03:47.391 I don't really look at it as, in what manner does the 03:47.391 --> 03:50.060 Reserve support it, we're just part of the Total Army. 03:50.060 --> 03:53.759 Every single one of our sustainment commands has a 03:53.759 --> 03:56.621 area of the world, and some happen to be active duty, 03:56.621 --> 03:59.179 some are guard, and some are reserve. 03:59.179 --> 04:00.929 - [Interviewer] Okay. 04:02.998 --> 04:05.090 So in your perspective, being here during ALPS, 04:05.090 --> 04:08.519 what was one of the things that you gained the most from? 04:08.519 --> 04:11.037 Experience wise or just knowledge. 04:11.037 --> 04:13.460 - The greatest thing that we got out of this 04:13.460 --> 04:15.293 is really the relationships. 04:15.293 --> 04:18.779 Quite frankly, especially as you're dealing on the 04:18.779 --> 04:22.227 African continent, there are significant inroads that 04:22.227 --> 04:25.506 need to be made with developing them and helping them 04:25.506 --> 04:27.722 develop what their capabilities are, 04:27.722 --> 04:31.775 their capacity, especially in the area of logistics. 04:31.775 --> 04:33.604 But it starts with relationships. 04:33.604 --> 04:37.767 More so here than in most theaters, because without trust, 04:37.767 --> 04:39.921 without building the trust so that they understand 04:39.921 --> 04:42.510 that we're truly here to help them, because it's in our 04:42.510 --> 04:46.302 best interest for them succeed, we don't succeed. 04:46.302 --> 04:48.885 What we're doing right here ... 04:49.409 --> 04:51.408 So that's why it's not really what did I learn the most, 04:51.408 --> 04:53.147 it's what did I gain the most. 04:53.147 --> 04:57.314 Which is really the ability to talk to these people freely, 04:58.518 --> 05:02.685 openly, and to have continued communications afterwards. 05:02.989 --> 05:05.947 We see this with all of the senior officials here. 05:05.947 --> 05:07.248 There's some really good relationships 05:07.248 --> 05:08.998 that have been built. 05:09.818 --> 05:12.475 Be very easy to pick up the phone and talk to each other 05:12.475 --> 05:15.959 about questions that they may have in the future, or that 05:15.959 --> 05:19.892 we may have if we need to understand an area of operations 05:19.892 --> 05:23.714 within Africa and how we can help them or just how 05:23.714 --> 05:27.428 we can help ourselves as we're bringing units into an area. 05:27.428 --> 05:29.564 It's very convenient now to be able to pick up the phone 05:29.564 --> 05:33.279 and talk to them and understand what's going on on the 05:33.279 --> 05:36.263 ground and what they're gonna need or what we're 05:36.263 --> 05:38.653 gonna need in order to succeed. 05:38.653 --> 05:41.395 - [Interviewer] Do you have an additional question? 05:41.395 --> 05:42.674 - [Man] I've got one more. 05:42.674 --> 05:43.507 - Yeah. 05:43.507 --> 05:47.630 - [Man] How do you see the Reserves and the missions 05:47.630 --> 05:51.181 they support in Africa to increase the readiness 05:51.181 --> 05:53.053 of the Reserve Soldier? 05:53.053 --> 05:55.021 - That's a great question. 05:55.021 --> 05:58.221 One of the issues we've had over years, and this isn't 05:58.221 --> 06:01.732 just Africa, but it's probably mostly in Africa, 06:01.732 --> 06:05.899 has been the issue with being tasked for one or two 06:06.490 --> 06:08.823 people to just do something. 06:08.937 --> 06:11.986 What that tends to do is it tends to consume our readiness. 06:11.986 --> 06:14.175 So we send people away, we break up an organization, 06:14.175 --> 06:18.342 we break up a structure, just to meet a requirement. 06:18.445 --> 06:21.223 What we're pursuing, one of the biggest advantages of 06:21.223 --> 06:24.817 having the Theater Sustainment Command collocated with 06:24.817 --> 06:27.009 USARAF, is the ability to turn 06:27.009 --> 06:29.759 those taskers into true missions. 06:30.300 --> 06:31.792 Rather than one or two people, turn it into 06:31.792 --> 06:33.875 a five or 10 man section. 06:34.050 --> 06:38.133 If I take it from a 20 person education team to a 06:38.401 --> 06:40.151 company of some type. 06:41.169 --> 06:44.285 This allows us to build our readiness, while at the same 06:44.285 --> 06:46.088 time supports their needs. 06:46.088 --> 06:50.255 It also helps us combine funding so that, basically, 06:50.890 --> 06:52.615 yeah it may cost a little bit more, 06:52.615 --> 06:54.681 but we actually get readiness out of it. 06:54.681 --> 06:57.791 By doing that, we turn taskers, which are readiness 06:57.791 --> 07:01.958 consumers, into missions, which are readiness enhancers.