An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IN THE NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS | Jan. 25, 2017

AMC, Reserve Components collaborate to succeed during Operation Patriot Bandoleer

By Ms. Elizabeth Behring U.S. Army Materiel Command

An ongoing, real-world joint mission between U.S. Army Materiel Command, Army National Guard and the Army Reserve has paved the way to a future in opportunities that ensure the Army and its Reserve Components will continue to work together in support of Total Force development and integration.

Task Force Golden Patriot is mostly comprised of Soldiers from the RC who are charged with conducting operations in support of Operation Patriot Bandoleer, which commenced Jan. 17 at Military Ocean Terminal Concord in California, roughly 30 miles from San Francisco.

Soldiers here are overseeing the transportation of Class V (ammunition) from MOTCO to various specified locations across the United States, in order to assist the retrograde of contingency operations in support of Army Sustainment Command, a subordinate of AMC, said Maj. Gen. Beth Austin, AMC Assistant Deputy Commanding General, Army National Guard.

"This is the first large force from all three components, and we're going to keep growing. I'm very proud of the California National Guard and the other states that are supporting this mission, particularly while operating in a semi-tactical environment. The Soldiers should be very proud of the work they've done leading up to this operation," Austin said.

Other task forces have successfully conducted Operation Patriot Bandoleer on the east coast, at the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, North Carolina. While missions there are expected to continue, Maj. Gen. Kurt Ryan, commander, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, said he hopes MOTCO will become another location to continue the mission.

"We are committed to using MOTCO, not just for the ammo port, but also as a place to train military police, for example. It's a great location for them to practice static defense," Ryan said.

Austin received a concept of operations brief from Lt. Col. Jimmy Wiley, dual-hatted as the 834th Transportation Battalion commander and MOTCO commander, and his team, on the overall mission at MOTCO, relative to the download of the current ammunition vessel.

She was joined by Ryan; Maj. Gen. Les Carroll, commander of the Army Reserve's 377th Theater Support Command in New Orleans; Brig. Gen. Steven T. Eveker, commanding general, Deployment Support Command in Birmingham and the deputy commander for mobilization for SDDC; Brig. Gen. John Lathrop, commander of the California Army National Guard's Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos; and Army Sustainment Command's Tim Fore, lead coordinator and executor of Operation Patriot Bandoleer.

Later, Austin visited the Task Force Battalion Operations Center, the vehicle loading and staging areas, the vessel cargo unloading site, and attended the Task Force Brigade Battle Update Brief. She then visited with Soldiers and provided input and shared experiences from previous OPB events, relayed the value and importance of their missions and shared initiatives to grow the scope and scale of similar operational mission support opportunities by the RC to AMC.

"Patriot Bandoleer is not only supply, security and maintenance missions. Continue to stand tall and continue supporting the entire Army," Austin told the Soldiers.

Operation Patriot Bandoleer is scheduled to be complete Jan. 30.