VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. –
More than 110 Virginia Army National Guard logisticians from across the state attended a two-day Virginia Army National Guard logistician training workshop Aug. 29-31, 2022, at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The workshop allowed for logisticians from various disciplines to receive instruction from subject matter experts in a face-to-face environment.
This workshop also facilitated “crosstalk and in-depth discussions to improve tracked metrics at the state and National Guard Bureau levels and streamline logistical operations around the state,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Charles D. Grietzer, the Virginia Army National Guard surface maintenance supervisor.
Topics discussed included state active duty operations, managing excess property, Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss, very-small-aperture terminal operational requirements for setting up a network a field environment, missing maintenance plans on various types of equipment, fixing Unliquidated Obligations and a Supply and Services division brief which included operational briefs from Central Issue Facility, Supply Support Activity, Transportation Management Branch and Commodities Management Branch.
The facilitators for the brief came from the Virginia Army National Guard G4 fulltime staff, including the Surface Maintenance Manager, Supply and Services and their subordinate branches, Material Readiness Branch and Sustainment Automation Support Management Office.
In addition, personnel from the United States Army Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia, provided a presentation on the customizable real time reports available on property book, unit supply and maintenance operations available through the Commanders Actionable Readiness Dashboard website.
"This is a great opportunity for CASCOM to partner with the Virginia Army National Guard and provide this live demonstration and present the capabilities C@RD can do for the Guard," said Maj. Michael W. Thomas, a C@RD functional analyst with the U.S. Army Sustainment Center of Excellence. "We can help them to look at those readiness challenges, get their hands wrapped around them and then take those solutions back to their individual organizations.
"This is also an opportunity for us to establish relationships across the field and find out what challenges the Guard are having and provide them with tools to assist with fixing that as well."
The workshop required an enormous amount of coordination and hard work from the Virginia Army Guard staff.
“I would be remiss if I didn't mention the G4 operations section for providing support from start to finish to ensure we had everything we needed from buildings, projectors, snacks, coffee, toilet paper, paper towels and trash bags,” Grietzer said. “These may seem like insignificant items, but they are critical to have a successful event.”