In this age of joint operations, the U.S. Army and Air Force collaborated on a 32-ton airdrop March 16 to put supplies in place to build Combat Outpost Summers.
The 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, enlisted the help of the Air Force for the airdrop, known as Operation Togo, and Army aviation for a sling-load operation, known as Operation Congo.
The battalion motto “Maintain the Line!” evokes combat logistics patrols transporting fuel and supplies, but the “Maintain” battalion also leverages air power to minimize risk by taking Soldiers off the road.
Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., secured the future site of COP Summers and prepared to receive supplies and engineers for its construction, as part of Operation Marne Rugged.
The 703rd BSB’s mission was to provide all necessary supplies and equipment to build COP Summers.
“Operation Togo was a complete success and great first step in future operations with the USAF,” said Maj. Carl Brosky, 703rd BSB executive officer.
The Plant City, Fla., native was the drop-zone safety officer for the operation and conducted on-site training for proper recovery of the parachutes.
Critical supplies were dropped from a C-17 Globemaster at 3,000 feet. All 36 chutes opened and 100 percent of the supplies were usable for the COP Summers build.
Riggers from the 824th Quartermaster Company at Balad built the container delivery system bundles and loaded the C-17.
Following the retrieval of the 36 containers from the drop zone, Soldiers of Co. A, 2-69th Armor Regt. and Co. A, 703rd BSB worked together to break down the bundles of supplies and used 100 percent of the cargo for perimeter construction and supply stocks. A total of 32 tons of supplies were dropped, providing a surge of essential supplies within the first 24 hours of COP Summers’ establishment.
The 703rd BSB continued aerial operations March 22 in support of COP Summers by sling-loading two 20-foot containers with more than four tons of supplies.
The main purpose of the sling-load operation was to reduce at least one combat logistics patrol, thus lowering risk to Marne Soldiers.
“Soldiers really exceeded all expectations and I am proud of their determination during this combat operation,” said 1st Lt. Erich Steffens, Company A executive officer from Wayland, N.Y. “The training for this operation really paid off for us.”
DVIDS
