Soldiers train together for WAREX

Spc. Justin Horrocas, 719th Movement Control Battalion transportation management movement specialist and native of Fall River, Massachusetts, monitors convoy movement during Warrior Exercise Artic Lightning at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey Jan. 10-31, 2015. The purpose of the training is for units to practice their technical discipline and warfighting functions while operating in a hostile environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Pascual Flores/Released)

Soldiers train together for WAREX

Soldiers from the 719th Movement Control Battalion out of Boston, Massachusetts, monitor convoy movements during Warrior Exercise Artic Lightning at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey Jan. 10-31, 2015. Active duty Soldiers of the 573rd Movement Control Team from Fort Carson, Colorado and Reservists from the 719th MCB utilized the Portable Deployment Kit to track convoy movements from Fort A.P. Hill to JB MDL, during this year’s WAREX 78-15-01. (U.S. Air Force photo by Pascual Flores/Released)

Soldiers train together for WAREX

Published Feb. 6, 2015
By Pascual Flores
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Army active duty and Reserve Soldiers from Fort Carson, Colorado, and Boston, Massachusetts, conducted joint training on the Portable Deployment Kit, as part of the 78th Training Division Warrior Exercise Artic Lightning at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Jan. 10 to 31, 2015.

The 78th Training Division's mission is to organize and host WAREXs and Combat Support Training Exercises to train and assess U.S. Army Reserve units as they progress through the Army Force Generation cycle.

The WAREX incorporates approximately 4,000 service members, mainly from the U.S. Army Reserve and numerous aviation and special operations units from the active duty Army and Navy Reserve, from four military installations; Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, JB MDL, New Jersey, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and Joint Readiness Training Center, Louisiana.

The active duty Soldiers of the 573rd Movement Control Team from Fort Carson, Colorado and Army Reservists from the 719th Movement Control Battalion from Boston utilized the PDK by monitoring convoy movements from Fort A.P. Hill to JB MDL, during this year's WAREX 78-15-01.

"The PDK is still being issued to reserve units and is meant to be a deployment kit for tracking anything moving in theater by Radio Frequency Identification tag," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Gould, 719th MCB transportation coordinator, from Colchester, Connecticut.

For the 58 Soldiers from the 719th MCB, working with active duty service members is nothing new, as this is their fifth consecutive Combat Support Training Exercise and Warrior Exercises.

"Our unit has served in Iraq and Afghanistan at the corps level," said Gould, a 17 year military veteran. "We have previously worked and co-located with active duty service members."

The PDK is packed in a 56 pound suitcase containing a laptop, handheld reader and satellite dish for transmission of data and a handheld printer for printing military shipping labels in a tactical environment.

"The key piece of the system is the Iridium card that transmits data to a real-world server," said Gould. "Every piece of equipment leaving or entering the United States has to have an identification tag on it, whether it is a container, vehicle, helicopter or pallet."

Since 2005, the Army has been using RFID tags to rapidly move cargo in and out of forward operating areas.

"We came with these systems to JB MDL and this provides us with a good opportunity to train on mission control team specific functions," said Army Capt. Morgan Falosak, 573rd MCT detachment commander, from Pinehurst, North Carolina. "To actually be able to work with the MCB and higher headquarters provides good exposure for my Soldiers and allows them to see how the rank structure works when they are deployed."

At a cost of up to $30,000 each, the PDK eliminates the need of a docking station and can read up to 1,000 tags at once.

"In theory, this exercise shows how it is supposed to work in theater," said Gould. "To see it actually executed is pretty amazing. The process of getting it to work was really overwhelming."