Moving out

So long apartment! The next time we move, I'll know better than to put ten days between our final pack up and the day we leave the apartment. But for now, we've got five days in a hotel -- complete with actual bed and fold-out sofa for the kids.

CLC3: Looking back

As I look back over the past six months, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I learned a lot and became a  more ... "secure" in being a captain. I also understand better what the staff functions are and how they interact. And from phase 1 I at least know what references are out there in case I need to look something up.

On the other hand, I regret that there wasn't more to learn. In phase 2, especially, we wasted a lot  of time going over unit capabilities without any sort of overarching purpose. I remember drifting through blocks of instruction thinking, "Ok, that's nice trivia to know, but why should I bother trying to remember this?"

I've heard it said that this situation is because the branch commandants (generals) are responsible for the material we study, rather than the ALU colonel. That might explain why we had to study inter-magazine distances and maintenance site selection, despite the fact we will (with a 99% probability) *NEVER* have to do those things.

And while the LEX and the ICOS were good exercises, they focus the course exclusively on the SPO shop. Very little of the course addresses three other staff jobs a logistics captain might likely hold -- S-4, S-3 (in a combat sustainment support battalion), and company commander.

Concern about the last position is dismissed out of hand because "the next location you'll be at will have a week-long company commander's course." Right -- 20 weeks for staff, but only one week for command. OK.

Yet of all these complaints, the single, most glaring oversight in the development of this course is the dearth of case studies. If the Army is serious about officers being real "leaders," there has to be a greater emphasis on situational decision making. It's one thing to have regulations (even if very few know them), but how do you balance the ethics of a real leadership decision?

So here I am, going off to my new position, with the sneaking sense that I'm only somewhat prepared to be a SPO in a CSSB.

Support Operations Course: Day 10

Well, today was the big day. We came in at 7:00 to practice, then began our brief with the colonel at 8:00. By 9:00, our group was done, the colonel had given his input, and the second group started.

We got our certificates around noon, a copy of which I turned in to the administrative folks along with my SOLE certificate and my CLC3 certificate. After that, I went to Burger King for lunch with one of my classmates (a guy who's been in all three periods with me -- phase 1, 2, and SPO), cleared another place (only three left!), and then went home.

My time with TRADOC at Fort Lee is finished.

P's 5th Birthday

P's birthday came at an unfortunate time, though you wouldn't know it from his great attitude. Having had all our stuff packed up, we didn't have wrapping paper, scissors, or matches for a candle, and the only tape we had was the packing sort.

Nevertheless, he enjoyed the gift we got him and the quick stop we made at the closest Dairy Queen.

Support Operations Course: Day 9

This morning half of us fine-tuned the synchronization matrix, while the other half waited for materials to build our "terrain model." I put that in quotations because our final result doesn't so much model the physical terrain (i.e. elevation) -- it's just a big map on the floor of a conference room.

We practiced a little bit to prepare for our final brief tomorrow morning, then called it a day at about 3:00.

What is ICOS?

This post is for those people who are waiting for their CLC3 date and wondering what the capstone exercise is. Unfortunately, CLC3 is *not* about preparing you for command -- it's about making you a capable logistics *staff officer*.

In the Individual Concept of Support (ICOS), you are a Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) Support Operations Officer (SPO) responsible for sustaining an entire armored brigade combat team. You have to understand what your parent brigade's requirements are in terms of all classes of supply, medical services, and mortuary affairs, and you have to have a coherent plan showing how you provide those services.

You have to create three products:

1. A Microsoft Word-based "logistics estimate," which is a huge, memo-like worksheet showing your calculations on capabilities, requirements, potential shortfalls, and how you plan to mitigate those shortfalls.
   


2. An Excel-based "synchronization matrix," which shows day-by-day or hour-by-hour what you're going to provide, to whom, where, and using what assets. Typically (though there's no official format) the columns are for the time points and the row are for either units or classes of supply.
   


3. A PowerPoint-based presentation that ties everything together and includes some extra "just to check that you got the idea right" slides on what the S-2 (intelligence) and S-3 (operations) would create.

In my opinion, the best experience you could have to prepare you for this would be to have worked in an armored brigade combat team's (ABCT's) BSB SPO shop. Then you've already done most of this. Second best -- if you've worked in a BSB's Alpha company. Then you would have at least seen the battalion level kind of support.

Third would be if you've been in a Forward Support Company (FSC) for some kind of maneuver battalion. You would have been out there as a minion of the SPO shop executing their planning.

On the opposite end, you could be like me -- having worked in a modular sustainment brigade and never having spent a day on battalion staff before coming to CLC3. In you're in that situation, I recommend you talk to as many classmates as you can to find out what you have to do.

Support Operations Course: Day 8

Today was fairly easy, all things considered. We started at 9:00 and finished up our concept of support brief.

The 1st brigade team presented first, and did so individually (I don't really understand why the instructor went around to each person in that group separately, but OK). We briefed after lunch, and afterward we started work on the synchronization matrix.

I left a little early (4:00) because P's birthday was today, and I still need to pick up his birthday present.

Support Operations Course: Day 7

Today we focused on the concept of support presentation. As the "battalion commander," I've been routing responsibility for the presentation through the two people who would normally be in charge: the battalion XO (in charge of the S-2 and the S-3) and the SPO (in charge of the sections that cover the classes of supply). Like me, both those guys just finished CLC3, so they know what to look for.

And I'd bet they scored better than me on the ICOS, too.

It's been working pretty well, but it doesn't leave me with a lot to actually *do*. I suppose that's the intent of the role I'm in, but I feel a little uncomfortable just being "the supervisor."

We finished by rehearsing the presentation. I listened to everyone's part, gave some feedback, and then we were done by 5:00.

Support Operations Course: Day 6

Because of the snowstorm yesterday, we had a two-hour delay to the start of class.

Of course, I didn't find out for sure about this until 8:55, so I had a choice -- either go home and then come back later (wasting one hour in transit) or find a way to kill time.

So I started my out-processing. The two hours I used today will save me the same amount of time next week. Good deal.

Once we got started, we went over the Logistics Estimate Worksheet (LEW) and then started on our group project. (The instructor dropped the confirmation brief for time's sake.)

As the "battalion commander" for this task, I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be doing, but I give direction to the subordinate battalion executive officer (BN XO) and support operations officer (SPO) roles, who then filter stuff down to the rest of the class.

Over the weekend, I tried out the long jump to see if I could finish the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (GAFPB) test before I go to Korea -- unfortunately, I'm still about a foot and a half short. This was really discouraging.

On the positive side, I've learned how to swim fairly competently through lessons I took at the YMCA, so with some more practice I could do the 100m in 1:55. However, I'll have to contact the German Army sergeant major to find out if there even *is* a liaison officer in South Korea who can administer the long jump test.

If not, I'll either have to call it quits or find some way to make it back to the U.S. before November -- just to jump 15 feet.

What's the price of gas here?

I saw this in Maryland a while back. It really bugged me.
Is it $3.16? Nope -- you paid with a credit card. Sorry you couldn't see that sign from the road.

꽃샘추위 - Cold, jealous of the flowers

I would not have expected a snowstorm to come through on March 24, but sure enough, one did. My wife taught me the above expression for occasions like this, when snow interrupts in early spring. It's times like this I wish I had a better zoom and a steadier hand.

Support Operations Course: Day 5

We started today with a test on the first week's instruction. It was only 40 questions, but we had 90 minutes to do it. I finished in about 30, and then used the next 2.5 hours to go swimming, get a haircut, and get lunch.

In the afternoon we got our scores (I got an 88%), went over the questions, and then got an introduction to the group concept of support we'll tackle next week.

This being the second time that I had seen that "lecture," I was really irritated. When I first saw it a couple weeks ago, the speakers contradicted each other, weren't synchronized in what they covered, and didn't understand what our own instructors were teaching us.

I didn't really grasp that until after everything was over, and what I remembered from that brief almost seemed like a dream. This time, however, I saw the same thing -- a bunch of people who are not our graders talking about this big project like it was an elephant: one person describes the trunk, another the hide, and a third the leg.

At the end, most of the people in the classroom were even more confused than in the beginning. It didn't really help anyone. I'd have said something to our instructor, but as a Friday, we were released soon afterward (3:15ish).  I'll wait for a more opportune time to address my grievances.

All packed up!

The movers came on Wednesday and took all our furniture. Right now, the only things we have are those we'll either throw away, give away, recycle, or take with us.

I thought the kids would be bored, but apparently they don't have any problems entertaining themselves.

Support Operations Course: Day 4

Today we started off with the ammunition block that we missed yesterday, and then reviewed for our normally scheduled Thursday quiz. We broke for lunch shortly after 11:05, then started back up at 12:30.

After lunch, we did the quiz and then read over the operations order for next week's group exercise. Lucky me -- I'm in the "2nd brigade" group, the same one my team did for the LEX. That's nice, because I was picked to play the role of the BSB commander. I may not remember a lot about the process that we went through, but I have some idea of what to expect in my group.

We finished off the day by reviewing for the test tomorrow. From the looks of things, it won't be that hard.

Why I don't trust D. Rodman with diplomacy

"Maybe I'll run into the Gangnam Style dude while I'm here."
-Dennis Rodman tweeting during his trip to North Korea about South Korean rap star Psy. (Source)

"It's not even a palace, it's more like a fortress. It's just insane."
-Dennis Rodman on Kin Jong-Un's headquarters (Source)

"His country and his people love him. I love him, he is an awesome guy" (Source)

Moving Day!

Last week, we sent off a couple hundred pounds of "unaccompanied baggage" -- things we want to have available as soon as we move into an apartment. Today, movers came and picked up the rest of our stuff.

Support Operations Course: Day 3

Again, we started off with a quiz at 9:00, went through blocks of instruction, and finished around 4:30. There's not that much more to say about the day.

One thing, though -- we went through the slides so slowly that one block (ammunition) has to wait until tomorrow. We'll have to do that block before we can do the scheduled quiz.

I'll say this for the course -- at least it's relevant to my future job. I have one classmate who's going on to a recruiting command position in Oregon (we signed up for the class before we got our assignments). He's got even less reason to pay attention.

Old toys

Before I head off to Korea, my father drove down with some boxes for me: all the childhood toys I'd had in New Jersey while I was little. My grandmother had boxed most of my things up back in 1989, and this was the first time I'd seem them in over 20 years. Some things were OK for my kids to play with, like my Tonka truck. Others, like my foot-tall Han Solo, had decades of mold growing on the soft plastic parts that nearly rendered them safety hazards. Still others were so worthless I really don't understand my grandmother spent so much time wrapping them up. Take these for example:

The Halls truck is a simple piece of plastic my grandfather had received from a trucker as a desk ornament -- nothing at all important. I've never wanted it, and I really don't know what to do with it, but it was something my grandfather gave me anyway. And the McDonald's comb -- was it really worth wrapping up in newspaper?

Still, seeing the level of attention that my grandmother gave to my old toys is very touching. It's been nine years since she passed away, but I was sincerely moved to see how much she cared for my things. The newspapers -- from 1989 -- had not been touched at all since she last held them, and as I sorted through everything it brought back my favorite memories of her.

In another sense, I feel bad that my family was paying for these things to be stored for so long. Though my father and grandfather have repeatedly told me, "those will be worth some money some day," I really don't think any money I get can cover the cost of having stored them.

So now, on the eve of my move to Korea, what should I do with them? Bring them to Korea (and try to sell things off from there) or put them in storage again? I decided on the latter, figuring another two to three years isn't going to hurt anything, and I might as well make use of the government storage option. After all, the government's going to pay to store my washer and dryer for another three years anyway -- why not have those old toys keep them company?

Support Operations Course: Day 2

We started today at 9:00 again with a quiz on what we learned yesterday. After that, we went over a whole bunch of PowerPoint slides. Some things were interesting, but on the whole it's a rehash of the things we learned in CLC3.

The hardest part is staying awake in class. The instructor was quite clear that we are not to do anything else on our computers than follow along, so that's what we do. However, the instruction is basically reading from the slides, with classmate elaboration on some points. I can follow along, but sometimes my eyes stay closed a couple second at a time.

In some ways, the instructor reminds me of my first accounting class from community college -- that professor also had slow cadence, soft tone, and less-than-exciting material in a PowerPoint format.

Ugh.

Support Operations Course: Day 1

Today I started the two-week Support Operations Course (phase II -- phase I is online). The course is designed to prepare NCOs, warrants, and commissioned officers to serve in battalion and brigade SPO (support operations) shops. Since that's what I hope to in Korea, I figured it would be a good use of time.

And as I found out today, the second week will spent designing a concept of support similar to the one I flubbed in CLC3. I'm happy about that -- maybe I can do a better job this time and redeem my logistics self-confidence.

As the first day, the morning was pretty easy. We did self-introductions, went over the schedule, and took a diagnostic test. After lunch, we went over the structures of the generic armored brigade combat team, a sustainment brigade, and the support operations shops. We also went over the military Decision Making Process (MDMP), and then finished at about 4:30.

Lunch with two ladies

We went up to D.C. to visit friends there before we take off for Korea. This picture is from the restaurant where we had lunch.

CLC3 Day 98: Graduation

We went in today at 8:00 to practice our rehearsal; when things went well, we took a break until the official ceremony kicked off at 9:50. I thought about going home to pick up my family, but my two year-old would have had a hard time sitting in a chair doing nothing. I ended up hanging out in the hallways chatting with a half-dozen of my classmates.

Here's the present we got for our instructor, referencing the troubles we had during the LEX. We thought he did a great job shielding us from the worst levels of silliness during the exercise, where we had to "build the plane while in flight."

Although we had four 1st time ICOS NO-GOs (including me), my class was well represented in the honor positions. Of the 18 other people in my class, one was the Distinguished Honor Graduate, we had the top international student, and three more were Honor Graduates. On top of that, we had two more on the President's List.

I'd have liked to have been in one of those seats as well, but I have found great consolation in the fact that outside of this environment *nobody cares* how you do here. It's kind of like, "what happens in TRADOC stays in TRADOC," but in a sadly apathetic sense.

The ceremony finished by about 11:30. Afterward, we said our goodbyes to each other, and went on our way. I'm no longer an 88A Transportation Officer. Now I'm a 90A Logistician.

CLC3 Day 97: 2nd presentation

Well, I'll be graduating on schedule, at least.

After four hours of sleep, I got into the classroom and turned in my second three ICOS products -- the presentation, the log estimate, and the synch matrix by the 8:00 deadline. Unfortunately, for my second presentation, I got one of the more difficult graders.

The underlying problem was that my plan had no basis in reality. That's not surprising, considering 1.) I've never been in a BCT, 2.) I've never been on battalion staff (so I don't really know what the SPO shop really does, and 3.) We never learned how BCTs actually work. We learned what equipment they have, sure, but how do they resupply when they're in the middle of a operation? I had to guess on a lot of this stuff.

This underlying problem showed itself in every class of supply -- the pattern in which I planned to resupply the maneuver units, the lack of mission configured loads to resupply artillery rounds, and the assumption that we wouldn't need a forward surgical team. "How are you going to evacuate wounded?" my grader asked me.

"By rotary wing medevac," I answered.

"And if air conditions are black? You don't have a backup plan," he replied. It was five hours by ground to the next level of care -- far too long for someone to survive. I could only concede the point.

Even my transportation scheme was messed up -- a particular embarrassment for a transportation officer. I didn't show how many fuelers or cargo trucks my plan would need, or even if the road could handle the traffic I had planned.

In sum, it was a painful experience. At the end, my grader asked me, "You seem like a smart guy. What happened?" I could only explain that I simply have no idea what I'm doing, and this was the best I could do. If this was my first attempt, he said, he'd have failed me, but since this was my final chance gave me a passing score.

So I'm *still* not at a decent level, but I'm not worth failing, either. The broader Army's just going to have to deal with a rotten logistician. Luckily, I'm going to another sustainment brigade, where my lack of BCT competence might stay unnoticed a bit longer. :-(

It was a rough start, but the day got better. I got my evaluation, which was decent, and in the afternoon we rehearsed for the graduation ceremony.

What a day.

CLC3 Day 96: Redoing presentation

I spent the whole day redoing my ICOS presentation -- I started by looking at what kinds of products my classmates had come up with, then adapted my products to their formats. Basically, we had to make three things: a logistics estimate in Word, a synchronization matrix in Excel, and a presentation in PowerPoint.

The logistics estimate covers each class of supply -- how much is needed by each unit and how you'll supply it. Food, water, fuel, and ammunition are the simplest things to figure out, but there's also health care, transportation, construction materials, and maintenance. The maintenance portion, for example, requires you to figure out how many recovery vehicles you have, where they're at, how many vehicles you predict will break down, and how you will evacuate them for repair. It's a major headache, and my estimate clocked in at 20 pages.

The synch matrix is basically one big Excel spreadsheet, broken down into two-hour intervals, describing what logistics actions each unit will take over the 36 hour operational period. This was difficult for me because I have no idea how BCTs actually work (how do you refuel when you're in the middle of a battle?) but I gave it my best guess.

Finally, I redid my presentation, including a lot more detail than I had previously. By the time I was finished it was 2 in the morning. I can't believe how my work this actually was -- if I had realized what was required I'd have put a lot more work into it last week.

So not only am I exhausted, I'm also really irritated. No one breathed a word about what ICOS was until the end of the LEX, and the instructors were specifically told not to provide the grading rubric to the students (fearing that people would only do the minimum). Yet for those of us who have never seen or done anything like this before, it was like being told to run without ever having learned to walk.

CLC3 Day 95: Chinese DLPT, ICOS "retraining"

The Army may have dropped Korean from its list of critical languages (meaning no proficiency bonus) and indefinitely suspended all tuition assistance, but I still plan on study to reach the 2/2 level once I'm there.

Before going, though, there was the small matter of the Chinese DLPT I'd scheduled back in December. I'd picked a day that I thought I wouldn't be busy, and lo! the appointed day finally arrived.

I didn't expect to do "well," because I only studied it for a year (and that was six years ago), but I've learned nobody cares exactly what level you're at anyway -- they just look at your ORB and say "Wow, you know ____? That's cool."

In my case, that's a good thing, because I only got a 1 in reading and a 0+ in listening -- a far cry from the 2 I got in the State Department's oral test back in spring 2007.

In other news, this morning we did the exit PT test for the course, which hardly anyone was motivated for. Usually I like to post my APFT scores, but not this time -- the GAFPB has been my training focus recently, not the Army standards. I simply went through the motions and made sure I passed.

I also sat through a couple hours of ICOS retraining, which was only moderately helpful. Of the 120-something people in the course, 11 of us failed. Of the 11 that failed, 4 came from my team -- a more than 20% failure rate. The good news is that I now have a concept of what sort of layout I need to have, an idea of what I need to include, and a plan on how to get there.

I may only have one day to finish everything before turn-in on Friday, but I can do it.

CLC3 Day 94: ICOS fail!

Well, sure enough, I failed the ICOS -- and not just by a little. By *a lot*. I got a 46.

And not even 46%, but 46/120, or 38%. Pretty bad, but that was the risk I took. I had no idea what expectations were, what I was supposed to make, or anything. I made a guess based on what I would like to know, took a stab in the dark, and predictably missed.

"Didn't you ask for help?" Yes, some, but here are some comments that I heard along the way:

1.) According to the guidance, ICOS is an "individual exercise" to test what we've learned in the past six months.

2.) "Let's not make this harder than it needs to be." - one of the instructors.

3.) "There's no doctrinal format for what a logistics estimate should look like." - my instructor.

4.) "Don't copy other people's products -- we'll know."

So, with those things in mind, I charted my own course, developed my own estimates, organized my own brief that I thought demonstrated what I've learned, and went from there. We were not provided any grading rubric of any sort, so I had nothing to compare myself against.

Ah, but my grader had one.....

There were a couple points at which I thought, "People around me sure seem busy," and -- looking at the screen of the guy next to me -- asked, "do we have to do that?" I remember his answer: "No, I'm doing it this way because this is how we did it in my old unit."

Well, OK then. I guess I'm already done.

Even now, I don't know what exactly I need to fix -- I won't know that until my "retraining" brief tomorrow morning. Then I'll get a chance to do revisions before I present again on Thursday morning. If I pass, I graduate on Friday. If not, I fail the course.

No pressure.

The good news of the day is that we sold our second car.
I put it on Craigslist for $6000, and ended up getting $5800. Very fair, all things considered. I had debated whether to list it in early March (so there was no time pressure) or mid-March (so we'd have lower rental car costs), but I'm glad things worked out the way they did.

So, with our first car en route to Korea, we're renting.

Top and a cup

C got a new princess cup recently. It has a domed top with built-in straw.

She refers to it as her "top and a cup" and even has a designated gesture for it.

CLC3 Day 93: ICOS turn in

This morning our SGL inspected our dress uniforms so that we look OK for graduation. After that, we did an online survey of the logistics phase.

The biggest thing of the day, though, was our ICOS product turn-in at 2:00. I know a lot of people are sweating it, but I figure I did the best I could, and if they need me to do it again they'll tell me why. I'm not going to spin my wheels trying to figure out things that can't be figured out, especially when I've seen the level of thought that's been put into the course in general.

Without any personal experience to counter what I've learned in class, I don't think there's any benefit in making things more complicated than they need to be.

CLC3 Day 92: Staff Duty

I had staff duty from 1:30am to 4:30 am, which was rough because I couldn't force myself to sleep beforehand. Fortunately, the PT test that we were supposed to have got pushed back to Tuesday because of the storm.

So after working on my ICOS for a while, I took off at 3:00 and went to bed at about 7:30. Even better news: the company run that was scheduled for Friday got cancelled too.

CLC3 Day 91: Snow Day

I started on my PowerPoint slides today -- setting the agenda for the ICOS briefing I'll do on Monday. I've determined I'm not going to try to fill space with meaningless stuff. I'm just going to present what I have and what I think is most relevant.

If that causes me to have to redo everything and present it again, so be it, but I can't concieve of anything I'm missing. And after all, we've only got a 36 hour time period that we have to sustain this brigade for -- how badly can you go wrong when the only things you have to worry about are food, water, fuel, ammunition, medical supplies, and maintenance for a day and a half?

Because of weather conditions, we were told we could leave at 1:00, but 90% of the class stayed later anyway. I had to attend the 4:00 staff duty in-briefing because I have staff duty from 1:30am to 4:30am tomorrow morning.

Good thing the PT test got moved to Tuesday.

CLC3 Day 90: Drifting, SOLE

My Individual Concept of Support is drifting along without any big breakthroughs. It's a little difficult for me because I really don't understand what the end result is supposed to look like.

Some people are going all out, and have made some really impressive, beautiful products -- well-designed PowerPoint presentations that have a lot of information on each slide.

Copying people's products is clearly a no-no, so I'm going the opposite direction -- a much more minimalist approach. Partly, it's because I really have no clue what to put on the slides, or even how relevant the provided templates are. The other part is that I'm not going to generate content just for the sake of making things look important.

We'll see how that goes, I guess.

In other news, I received my International Society of Logistics (SOLE) certification. They gave me Demonstrated Senior Logistician (DSL) -- better than "DL" but less than "Demonstrated Master Logistician."

It's kind of funny because the congratulations letter said I'd get the official pin only once I get out of the Army. For $50, you'd think they could spare a pin now, but it's not really a big deal. I just wanted something to fill in more white space on my ORB.

CLC3 Day 89: Coming together

At this point I think I've figured out what I need to do for the ICOS brief. My first task is to come up with a logistics estimate, which is what the unit will *need* during the operation. From there I'll figure out how to get it to them.

The hard part is understanding all the facts and assumptions I'll have to make along the way.

Review: The Three Musketeers

I finished reading The Three Musketeers today. As with all things, the book is better than the movie (at least the 1999 and 2012 ones).

There are some significant differences with the movies -- Cardinal Richelieu is not so villanous, Constance is already married, and there's a salacious relationship between d'Artagnan and Milady de Winter. These get left out of the movies in order to simplify the plot and polarize the characters, but I enjoyed the level of complexity in the book.

The picture hyperlinks to the free Amazon Kindle version that I read.

CLC3 Day 88: Muddling through

We had a company run today for PT. Our team (classroom) showed up, but half of our class (cohort) didn't; I'm not sure why. According to some, they simply "didn't get the memo," though at this point that seems odd.

In the morning we received the brief that officially kicks off the ICOS (Individual Concept of Support) exercise. The general idea is to draw on our group experience during the LEX and do the same thing, but individually. We do our presentations next Monday.

So when we got back to the classroom, we basically muddled through