WEBVTT 00:05.290 --> 00:06.980 - My name is Major Ben Birtles, 00:06.980 --> 00:10.240 I'm assigned to the 839th Transportation Battlion 00:10.240 --> 00:11.330 through SDDC. 00:11.330 --> 00:13.370 We're headquartered out of Livorno, Italy 00:13.370 --> 00:15.603 and here we are in beautiful Volos, Greece 00:15.603 --> 00:17.800 workin' with the third cab 00:17.800 --> 00:20.690 and so they are part of the regionally aligned force 00:20.690 --> 00:22.070 that is in this area 00:22.070 --> 00:23.830 and also up in Romania. 00:23.830 --> 00:28.830 Their job is to partner with our foreign nations 00:29.260 --> 00:34.260 and to help to provide security for this area. 00:34.920 --> 00:36.880 And, so, more specifically what we're doing 00:36.880 --> 00:38.560 is we're downloading the Ark Endurance, 00:38.560 --> 00:40.300 the vessel that brought in all of their equipment. 00:40.300 --> 00:41.820 They're gonna be here for about nine months 00:41.820 --> 00:45.300 and they're bringing in about 670 pieces of equipment. 00:45.300 --> 00:46.430 So we're currently performing 00:46.430 --> 00:48.270 three operations simultaneously. 00:48.270 --> 00:50.100 So we're workin' here in Volos, Greece. 00:50.100 --> 00:51.870 We're workin' in Constanța, Romania 00:51.870 --> 00:53.640 and we're workin' in Rota, Spain. 00:53.640 --> 00:56.700 So our teams are fully engaged right now workin' in each 00:56.700 --> 00:57.686 of those locations. 00:57.686 --> 00:59.970 We'll have a little bit of downtime after that 00:59.970 --> 01:02.150 to reset, enjoy the holidays with the family, 01:02.150 --> 01:03.730 continue goin' to planning conferences, 01:03.730 --> 01:05.770 workin' towards African Lion 20, 01:05.770 --> 01:07.570 workin' towards Defender 20, 01:07.570 --> 01:08.970 the speed deployment project 01:08.970 --> 01:12.230 that our SDDC Headquarters has give to us. 01:12.230 --> 01:14.770 Defender 20 is very similar to the old Reforger. 01:14.770 --> 01:16.220 Return of forces to Germany 01:16.220 --> 01:18.890 that was conducted 20 some odd years ago 01:18.890 --> 01:21.830 so this'll be the largest division movement 01:21.830 --> 01:23.460 into Europe in the last 20 years 01:23.460 --> 01:24.744 so this is a huge operation. 01:24.744 --> 01:26.990 Our sister battalion, 838, 01:26.990 --> 01:30.270 up in northern Europe will be playing a major role in it 01:30.270 --> 01:32.340 but we're definitely gonna be assisting them all the way. 01:32.340 --> 01:34.600 The benefit to what we're doing. 01:34.600 --> 01:36.120 So I'm with SDDC, 01:36.120 --> 01:38.450 the Surface Distribution and Deployment Command, 01:38.450 --> 01:42.500 and our responsibility is to get the cargo, 01:42.500 --> 01:45.180 the equipment, the vehicles, the aircraft, 01:45.180 --> 01:47.070 the containers in the right place 01:47.070 --> 01:48.400 at the right time so. 01:48.400 --> 01:50.660 This is a great training opportunity for my soldiers. 01:50.660 --> 01:52.277 It's what we do on a regular basis 01:52.277 --> 01:56.740 and it allows them to hone and refresh their skills. 01:56.740 --> 01:58.900 We're workin' with a lot of other partner teams. 01:58.900 --> 02:00.070 The Movement Control teams, 02:00.070 --> 02:02.560 the Aviation Maintainers, 02:02.560 --> 02:04.521 the Supported Units, the host nation. 02:04.521 --> 02:07.240 Office for Defense Cooperation, the embassy. 02:07.240 --> 02:08.990 A lot of different people have a hand 02:08.990 --> 02:10.270 in what's goin' on here 02:10.270 --> 02:13.830 and so having junior soldiers see what's going on 02:13.830 --> 02:16.060 and experience the process, 02:16.060 --> 02:17.190 they learn a lot. 02:17.190 --> 02:19.590 It helps to broaden them, helps them to learn 02:19.590 --> 02:23.800 what it takes to effectively deploy our unit 02:23.800 --> 02:26.580 and so as they become more senior in the ranks, 02:26.580 --> 02:29.851 they'll understand what it takes to do these things. 02:29.851 --> 02:32.740 The physical work, the effort that it takes, 02:32.740 --> 02:34.960 as well as the planning, the coordination, 02:34.960 --> 02:37.850 the resourcing, with a lot of different entities 02:37.850 --> 02:40.500 to come to a successful operation in the end. 02:40.500 --> 02:42.380 I spoke a little bit about 02:42.380 --> 02:43.800 the security cooperation. 02:43.800 --> 02:46.279 We're working with other NATO partners 02:46.279 --> 02:48.550 that we have bilateral agreements 02:48.550 --> 02:49.850 with the Hellenic Army, 02:49.850 --> 02:52.710 with the country of Greece, with other NATO partners 02:52.710 --> 02:53.650 throughout Eastern Europe, 02:53.650 --> 02:56.620 throughout all of Europe and they're the ones 02:56.620 --> 02:59.518 who support us in our trainin', in our exercises, 02:59.518 --> 03:01.988 couse on land, on military bases 03:01.988 --> 03:05.060 and really to instill these partnerships, 03:05.060 --> 03:07.140 these friendships, these relationships 03:07.140 --> 03:08.828 that allow us to be successful 03:08.828 --> 03:12.270 in deterring aggression and responding 03:12.270 --> 03:15.919 to natural disasters to providing humanitarian relief 03:15.919 --> 03:18.330 to sharing best practices as military, 03:18.330 --> 03:21.670 to learn how to work together as a team. 03:21.670 --> 03:23.970 So our communications platforms, everything that we have, 03:23.970 --> 03:25.090 we're able to work together 03:25.090 --> 03:28.260 and those are really important concepts in order 03:28.260 --> 03:30.483 to provide a safer and more secure future.