The endurance of Army forces is primarily a function of their sustainment, according to the U.S. Army.

Assigned to the 1st Theater Sustainment Command Operational Command Post is the 369th Sustainment Brigade, a historic unit in the New York Army National Guard, responsible for providing sustainment to the warfighter through management of logistics and support activities throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Spearheading sustainment with multilayered logistics support is the Support Operations section of the brigade, which is completely dedicated to the task of supporting troops in combat by actively improving the tactical readiness of warfighters.

According to the Army, the SPO conducts distribution operations, maintenance management, operational contract support and commodity management of general supplies, ammunition, fuel and water.

“The purpose of the SPO is to sustain the fight for each Soldier inside and outside of the brigade,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Javier Basilio, allied trades warrant officer with the 369th SB SPO.

The key words here are “each Soldier”.

There are a lot of camps, bases and other Army installations throughout Southwest Asia, the area of responsibility in which the 369th SB operates, and there are a lot of units with Soldiers operating there that have many needs.

“The ability of the sustainment brigade to conduct operations is so necessary because internally and externally, we all need to work together to make sure that the job is accomplished,” Basilio said. “If there is a unit that needs assistance, we want to facilitate that assistance through networking because every unit has a key job that is extremely important to the overall mission.”

The diversity of unit missions and the needs of Soldiers require responsive and flexible support capable of ensuring the warfighter’s ability to produce results whether that means supporting our coalition partners or fighting our nation’s wars.

This support is found in the battalions, namely the Combat Support Sustainment Battalion – the building block upon which the sustainment brigade’s capabilities are developed, according to the Army.

CSSBs through functional companies, detachments and teams, ensure that units have freedom of action, operational reach and prolonged endurance in their missions.

Examples of support and services provided by the CSSBs include maintenance, ammunition, supply, water operations, petroleum supply, aerial delivery, and mortuary affairs; but when the CSSB needs to support a particularly unique requirement, it can create a forward logistics element to minimize tactical pauses.

FLEs are not precisely defined through any Army publication because they are designed specifically for a purpose and tailored to support the warfighter.

One example of a FLE in action was through the 336th CSSB’s FLE, primarily organized through the 783rd Support Maintenance Company, a Puerto Rico National Guard unit.

Fuel, a significant resource for vehicles and generators, was one major way that the FLE helped many units, including fueling the brigade’s Tactical Action Center – South, providing continuity for headquarters operations in a remote location, far away from the main Tactical Operations Center.

Although fuel is important, “For the FLE, the real big-ticket item when it comes to working across task forces and across commands is maintenance,” said Spc. James “Jimmie” March, fuel specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 336th CSSB.

To ensure readiness of warfighters, their equipment must be properly maintained.

Soldiers with the SPO, Basilio, Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Vallo and Sgt. Darianna Walters, traveled to a work site used by the 12th Missile Defense Battery to identify maintenance issues, investigate the needs of different units to keep them operational and relay those specifics back to the FLE who will then take action.

Readiness of the 12th MDB is important for the security of U.S. military forces. The unit provides early warning support of long and medium range ballistic missiles in support of the Global Ballistic Missile Defense System, said 1st Sgt. Joshua Permanter, the battery’s first sergeant.

Capt. William Shiu, commanding officer of the 12th MDB, said that his battery provides the entire Arabian Peninsula protection against vulnerabilities.

“We appreciate the fact that we are supported so that we can help keep the USCENTCOM area of operations safe,” Shiu said.

Walters, a utilities equipment repairer with the SPO Material Readiness Branch, said that the SPO MRB tracks the status of all equipment, across theater, both internally and externally.

“Right now, we are focusing on the external side of things, and we are ensuring that any piece of equipment that is not mission capable is brought to mission capable status,” Walters said.

Walters assessed 12th MDB’s equipment and participated in a discussion with the unit’s leadership devoted to resolving readiness concerns.

Long term, this brigade’s SPO MRB is setting the groundwork for the future of sustainment brigades, said Vallo. “The goal is to keep everyone in the fight, both internally and externally.”

Across USCENTCOM, everyone in one way or another relies on the FLE, said 1st Lt. Andrew Milligan, commanding officer of the FLE and quartermaster officer with the 336th CSSB.

“From consistent support of Task Force Spartan to maintenance support for various classes of supply that need to be moved here, and support of the Air Force, the FLE covers down to get the job done,” Milligan said.

In the brigade, there is a wealth of understanding of all the things that go on inside of a unit to make sustainment successful, Basilio said, and that understanding mixed with helping external units, enriches the brigade with a shared understanding of the entire mission.

“Every different element has unique logistical concerns and when the brigade understands them, and the mission requirements of that element, the brigade can better facilitate a solution,” said Basilio.

Facilitating solutions are what the sustainment brigade is all about.