Supporting the fight: the FSB

Army Logistician, July-August, 2004 by Steven M. Leonard

Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations, published in June 2001, documented the Army's shift in its fundamental warfighting doctrine to encompass an evolving operational environment that reflects contemporary threats. The traditional battlefield framework was expanded to recognize the nonlinear, noncontiguous operations that have characterized conflict since Operation Desert Storm. Conducting combat operations in this environment would test the mettle of any armed force, and supporting operations in the same environment would stress the limits of even the finest logistics system in the world.

From the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, coalition logisticians surged sustainment across Iraq, straining to meet mounting requirements as combat forces pushed forward at an unprecedented pace. Armored columns from the 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized) and the I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) advanced on Baghdad with little resistance, while light infantry forces from the 82d Airborne Division secured key routes for follow-on forces. The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), led by its 2d Brigade Combat Team (BCT)--the "Strike Brigade"--leapfrogged across 1,200 kilometers of Iraqi desert while fighting a succession of urban battles that cleared the major cities for future stability and support operations.

The 526th Forward Support Battalion (FSB), whose slogan is "Best by Performance," was tasked with supporting the Strike Brigade during this operation. Support missions came early in the deployment--before most of the battalion's equipment arrived--and continued at a rate unparalleled in the history of combat logistics.

Preparing for War

As the 101st Airborne Division began preparing to deploy in January 2003, 526th FSB began its own effort to prepare for a war that most certainly would assume an urban flavor. The FSB support operations officer (SPO) presented a professional development class on supporting urban operations, drawing on the lessons of Russian forces in Afghanistan and Chechnya and focusing on the unique requirements of light infantry forces engaged in sustained urban combat.

Planners from the Support Operations Office and maintenance company designed special repair parts packages to support the anticipated increase in the use of small arms, crew-served weapons, and missile systems associated with urban operations. Forecasted increases in class IX (repair parts) customer wait times drove the decision to configure battle-damage assessment and repair kits as well. Ultimately, these efforts would sustain the readiness of critical combat platforms as the Strike Brigade proceeded across more than 1,200 kilometers of battered Iraqi highways.

After completing its deployment to Kuwait in early March, the BCT consolidated operations at Camp New York and began final planning and preparation for combat. On 18 March, the FSB forward logistics element (FLE) moved forward as part of Task Force (TF) Sinclair to tactical assembly area (TAA) Carla on the western Iraqi border. There, the FLE established a logistics release point to support the division as it moved into enemy territory. The FLE provided critical sustainment to forces that were staging in attack positions before crossing through breach lanes along the border.

Within 48 hours, over 2,700 vehicles had processed through the logistics release point en route to their attack positions. During that time, the FLE issued more than 27,000 gallons of fuel, nearly 5,000 cases of meals, ready to eat, and 5,700 cases of bottled water to replenish unit basic loads, repaired 127 vehicles, and provided level-I medical treatment for forces passing through the TAA. More importantly, the efforts of the FLE were essential to ensuring that the division maximized the combat power it projected on D-day.

On 20 March, the first day of coalition combat operations the FLE reintegrated with the FSB and prepared to move into Iraq. Within a week, the BCT began moving from Camp New York to TAA Strike near An Najef, Iraq.

Combat Operations

On arrival in An Najef, the Strike Brigade assumed the division main effort--a role the BCT would maintain even after President Bush announced the cessation of offensive operations on 1 May. On 29 March, the 2d BCT initiated Operation Eagle Strike II in the An Najef area with a bridge seizure north of the city and then proceeded to sweep south to clear the city of enemy forces. While supporting operations from the brigade support area (BSA) at TAA Strike, which was 20 kilometers west of the city, the FSB positioned a medical-heavy FLE on the northern edge of An Najef. This FLE augmented the capabilities of the brigade main effort battalion aid station (BAS) and reduced ground evacuation time for casualties.

At the BSA, a lack of external transportation support forced the FSB to download all the available light medium tactical vehicles in the battalion to meet the mounting truck requirements of the brigade. Because the FSB was faced with a rapidly evolving operational situation along already extended lines of communication, "outside-the-box" solutions soon became the norm.