Jake,

My name is Joe Callejas and I am an OC/T out of Fort McCoy. I have done 2 rotations at NTC as a rotational training unit (RTU) (one as a company XO and one as a BN S-4) and one as an OC/T with Team Wagoneer.

Think about the missions that you will have to complete and plan accordingly. Obviously having a ton of batteries for your NVGs is super important but it is usually not the small stuff that kills units, it is the big stuff. If you can get yourself to a place where you are thinking three days out you will be more than winning the battle. Three basic questions here: Do I have food and water (CL I)? Do I have Ammo (CLV)? Do I have fuel (IIIB)? Nobody lost a battle because of batteries. But I have seen units get slaughtered because they outpaced their logistics planning. But in a pinch I would have fuel and water cans, batteries, extra CLS bag supplies, chem lights, and extra BFA’s. Notice, almost all of that stuff had to do with CL I, CL IIIB, and CL V a.k.a Shoot – Move – Communicate (and Self – Medicate). Because NTC is now a force on force exercise, you need to look at ways to make your unit more mobile. For example, I tell all my units to bring lots of sand bags. Sand bags are easy to fill and can you help you bolster a hasty defense. Also, in a pinch you can leave them in place and coordinate to have them picked up by your FST and delivered to a forward position.

They key to NTC is coordinating with your troops and your FST to ensure that they are coordinating efforts to achieve the mission end state. When I was the BN S-4 me and the FST Commander/XO created the concept of support together because my job was to plan the support and their job was to execute it. But I did not want to plan for something that they could not physically support.

The OC/T in me will tell you to follow through with TLP process. Additionally, I am sending you the Power Point Slide from the Army LogisticsUniversity (ALU) for log planning. It will help you use TLP and MDMP to create A LOG Plan. I am also sending you the quick Logistics estimator. Play around with it and if you need help with it let me know. Also if you go to the junior officer forum I posted a

Concept of Support that is very detailed and should help you format yours. I used the Logistics Estimate Workbook (LEW) with my estimation calculations and have spent the last hour trying to find it for you to use. Unfortunately, the ALU took it off the Unit Sustainment One-Stop. But ask around because someone should have it (try the SPO shop in the Support Squadron). Also, I attached an Annex F (sustainment) to the forum and that was my sustainment annex from NTC (although it was for a SF line BN).

I hope this helps, feel free to call me. I have been to NTC a lot and I can walk you through a lot of this. Also, are you ready to order through G-Army while you are at NTC???? Have you done your dime washer tests???

BTW, I know I change my batteries once per rotation as an OC/T and I use my NVGs way more than the RTU does.

~Joe