January 11, 2016  –   BELLE CHASSE, La. -- The Army's highest-ranking logistics leader visited the largest mission command headquarters in the Army Reserve.

Gen. Dennis L. Via, Army Materiel Command commander, visited the 377th Theater Support Command here, Jan. 9 -- a visit Via says was long overdue.

"Whatever mission our Army has in the future, we cannot do it without the total force," Via said during opening comments.

Much like AMC, the 377th TSC provides support to areas like activity sets, contracting, maintenance, transportation and air drop supply.

Maj. Gen. Les Carroll, commander of the 377th TSC, provided Via a command operations brief, explaining the unit's critical assets.

"We are your largest sustainment command," Carroll said. "We are responsible for 40 percent of the total Army's sustainment capability."

The 377th TSC is a multi-component headquarters with 37,000 Soldiers and civilians supporting 39 states. It is the largest two-star command in the Army and the largest mission command headquarters in the Army Reserve.

They sustain 56 percent of the Army ammunition capability, 64 percent of Army maintenance, 50 percent of the Army's watercraft, 20 percent of personnel services and more.

Partnership between the two commands is not a new concept. In some cases, reservists are able to train and utilize capabilities while saving AMC both time and money.

For example, eighteen Soldiers from the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, a subordinate organization to the 377th TSC, trained at Anniston Army Depot's Ammunition Limited Area in Alabama in August 2014. The Soldiers, most of whom had little experience in ordnance handling, learned from Anniston Munitions Center civilians how to properly reconfigure ammunition pallets belonging to the 75th Ranger Regiment.

"Through this mission, the Soldiers are able to do training during a real-world mission," said Sgt. First Class James Holloway, the ammunition manager for the 316th ESC.

Soldiers hand-stacked the ammo while removing excess rounds. This would normally be a time-intensive process for AMC employees at the depot.

Another example of the training and time saving benefits to both organizations was the nationwide move mission, which occurred in July 2015. The U. S. Army Joint Munitions Command partnered with the transportation companies under the 377th TSC in an exercise to move around 2,500 short tons of munitions from Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky to Anniston Munitions Center.

"The move was a cost-savings for the Army," Carroll said. "This was also a critical real-world training for the Reserve Soldiers."

Via left the 377th command staff with the reminder that AMC is a "supporting" command and available to help.

"I want to build on our partnership, learn to leverage and complement each organization," Via said, explaining this as a key to operating as a total force.

He urged them to leverage the Organic Industrial Base to refurbish their unique one of a kind parts; to work side-by-side with the headquarters staff resource management to quantifying the support they give to the Army; and identify assignment opportunities to put the right officers and noncommissioned officers in the right positions between the respective commands.

Via concluded his visit with the 159th Fighter Wing from the Louisiana Air National Guard where he received a flight operation brief from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans.