FORT IRWIN, Calif. — As more than 3,800 National Guard members arrive for their rotation at a sweltering desert location known as the National Training Center, the 184th Sustainment Command, Mississippi Army National Guard, will oversee every logistical aspect of the NTC event to provide support for the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team.
"Right now the 184th is bringing Soldiers into NTC so they can work on getting their equipment drawn and building combat power," said 1st Sgt. Jason Dykes, the first sergeant of 184th Sustainment Command.
The 184th Sustainment Command leads Joint Task Force-Magnolia during the 155th's rotation at NTC this year.
Joint Task Force-Magnolia is comprised of the 184th Sustainment Command, 66th Troop Command, and Joint Force Headquarters of the state of Mississippi and is here to support one of our home units going through this NTC rotation," Dykes said.
The 184th Sustainment Command was chosen to lead JTF-M because of their personnel's specialties and knowledge.
"The 184th was selected because of our skill sets that we can bring to the table," said Lt. Col. Paul Boler, the operations officer of the 184th Sustainment Command. "Due to the complexity of the mission it was an obvious choice that we perform mission command over sustainment operations because we provide logisticians from the lowest enlisted to the highest-ranking officer that can positively affect the mission."
A joint task force is a group of units from multiple branches that come together to achieve a common goal or complete an operation.
"A task force is a combination of forces that have come together to support an operation," said Boler. "In this case, there are multiple units from across the United States that have come together with different skill sets to support the brigade's NTC rotation."
The purpose of the JTF-M is to support the 155th ABCT focus on their training at NTC without worrying about sustainment issues that could affect the training process.
"We're covering all the logistical issues the brigade may have while here," said Dykes. "With us being the senior level logistical command we have the personnel in place that can handle any issues so Soldiers in the brigade can focus on their training requirements."
As a logistics unit, the 184th provides combat support such as transportation and supply to other units in a theater of operations.
"Our role at NTC is to assist the 155th ABCT with RSO, or Reception, Staging, and Onward-Movement; mayoral duties; and white cell operations to take away the training distractors so the 155 can focus on building combat power to have a successful NTC rotation," said Dykes.
White cell support is meant to assist with a unit's process of RSOI which is the transition of personnel and equipment arriving in a training zone to becoming a fully-operational force.
"The white cell support is mission command-oriented. We track the brigade's RSOI progress, allowing my commander to make decisions to improve their progress," said Boler. "The mayoral cell provides support to Soldiers who are staying in the rotational unit bivouac area."
The 184th has shown success with sustainment efforts previously, such as the Multi-Echelon Integrated Brigade Training, which required the movement of approximately 4,000 Mississippi National Guard personnel and 800 vehicles to Fort Hood, Texas in 2016. The unit is one of 13 U.S. Army sustainment commands and only one of two in the National Guard.