By Sgt. Liane Hatch
3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Spc. Beatrice Dande, with the 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, paints boxes March 2, 2019, as her unit prepares to open a new Supply Support Activity at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. (Photo by Sgt. Liane Hatch)
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — When Soldiers with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team deployed to Kuwait early this year, their packing lists were fairly standard: weapon, uniform, boots — whatever had been issued to them. But for the Soldiers of the 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd ABCT, 4th Infantry Division, there was a bit more to it; they had to deploy an entire Supply Support Activity (SSA).
SSAs are storage locations within the enterprise that stores thousands of products to meet the needs of supported units. Supply Soldiers use SSAs to store and safeguard materiel to ensure proper distribution to units. Up until now, units incoming to Camp Buehring, Kuwait, fell in on an already up-and-running SSA. That wasn’t the case for the 64th BSB, 3rd ABCT.
Rather than deploy to Kuwait with an SSA waiting to be handed off, Soldiers with Alpha Company, 64th BSB, 3rd ABCT, were the first to pack up their home-station SSA inventory and bring it along for the journey.
Though Camp Buehring did have a functional SSA already, the switch to a new Authorized Stocking List (ASL) system required different needs.
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Pfc. Michell Pacheco, with 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, sands a piece of plywood as part of preparations for a new Supply Support Activity at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Soldiers built the new SSA from scratch in approximately six days. (Photo by Sgt. Liane Hatch)
“Every different Brigade Combat Team has a unique ASL specific to its unit, and a generic SSA in theater doesn’t necessarily accommodate that unique need, so the Army has moved to a system where, instead of having one here, units will bring their own with them,” said Capt. Kevin Langer, commander, Alpha Company, 64th BSB, 3rd ABCT.
And rather than trying to establish the new SSA while the old one phased out, Langer said his Soldiers were tasked with building a new one altogether.
While the standard for building an SSA is approximately 30 days, the 64th BSB completed the task in about six, Langer said.
“Our Soldiers have done everything,” said 1st Lt. Jean Bies, platoon leader, SSA Soldiers. “We fell in on the building, and that’s it. They’ve painted everything, built storage bins, organized how it’ll be set up … They built it all and that gives them a lot of pride in their work and in their accomplishments.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Idel Bigio, SSA’s Incoming Accountable Officer, who has been working in logistics and supply for 16 years, agreed.
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Soldiers with 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, build a new Supply Support Activity at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Julian Joyner)
“This is the best SSA setup I’ve ever seen,” he said. “The Soldiers have done outstanding work here.”
Leading up to departure, the Soldiers were able to practice deploying their home-station SSA to become more proficient.
“The ASL was fielded to us sometime in the spring, shortly after we got back from our rotation in Europe, so we brought it along for training events: Piñon Canyon (Maneuver Site) and (National Training Center),” Bies said. “We got to practice bringing the containers and setting up functional SSAs.”
Bigio said he was proud of the work the Soldiers have accomplished.
“It’s very impressive and I think this system will be a lot more effective for us,” said Bigio.
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Soldiers with 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, build a new Supply Support Activity at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Julian Joyner)
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Soldiers with 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, build a new Supply Support Activity at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Julian Joyner)