MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Monday, Sept. 30 started just like any other day for the Marines and sailors with the Station's Combat Service Support Detachment 36.
The unit held their weekly formation, just like they do every Monday, but on this particular day something was not right; there was a stack of 463L Air Pallets next to the formation.
The pallets were the beginning of the unit's unannounced embarkation readiness drill, announced by Lt. Col. Dale Houck at the end of the formation.
The unannounced embarkation readiness exercise was part of the 3rd Force Service Support Group's Force Deployment Planning and Execution program, which, for CSSD-36, incorporates four phases of planning and execution. The FDP&E phases include individual Marine readiness, the embarkation readiness exercise, a Combat Service Support Operations Exercise and a Field Training Exercise.
The emergency embark was the first performed by CSSD-36, and was designed so its troops would know what they would have to do, what gear they would have to take and what areas they would have to work on if there was ever an emergency where units aboard the Station would be forced forward deploy.
"The troops had to verify that every piece of gear that is needed is serviceable, accounted for and packed with all the necessary manuals and equipment," said Houck.
The exercise also provided an opportunity for Staff Sgt. Charles Fisher, CSSD-36 Embarkation Chief, to validate his load plans for the advance party and to see if his embarkation team was really prepared to execute a deployment.
Planning and loading embarkation information into information systems is difficult enough, but the actual process of getting people and equipment prepared, staged, and loaded is much more difficult, noted Fisher.
"When the exercise was launched, everyone dropped what they were doing and got everything done according to my manifest order," said Fisher. "No one ever knows how they will act during an actual contingency, but during an actual wartime situation I know we could rely on each others motivation to help us utilize our training to get the job done."
Not only did all the gear have to be quickly accounted for and ready to go, but all the Marines had to be ready and in a deployable status, according to Sgt. Tron McKay, CSSD-36 administration chief, who had to lead his admin crew in processing all the Marines and sailors who would be deployed.
"The first thing we did was create a check list to ensure the advancing party had all their admin and legal paper work squared away," said McKay. "We had to process all the Marines and sailors alphabetically rather then sectional at one-stop stations to ensure that every section could still operate."
Since CSSD-36 had never actually fully deployed as a unit before, and would be supporting Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 while deployed, they elected to incorporate Chief Warrant Officer Terry Alexander, MWSS-171 embark officer, in their planning process.
Since MWSS-171 had conducted embarkation exercises under Alexander's command, he was a key player in helping Capt. Michael Mastria, CSSD-36 operations and logistics officer plan the embark exercise, and was very pleased with the units performance.
"The troops are doing very well and got off to a very good start," said Alexander. "This training is very important to the unit because it lets them see what they are capable of if we ever had to deploy."
During the embark, the unit had to pack up all the needed gear and get all the Marines and sailors packaged for deployment, but was still ready to ship out around 5 p.m.; more than 16 hours ahead of their deadline.
The embarkation exercise helped improve the skills of the unit and also built camaraderie within, according to Pfc. Jorge Valdez, CSSD-36 embarker, who joined the unit only days before the exercise.
"The exercise was a very good learning experience," said Valdez. "Even though it is a small unit, we all worked really well together and got everything done fast. They really helped me out even though it was one of my first days of work."
The Marines and sailors of CSSD-36 definitely showed that they are some of the best the Marine Corps can offer, and hopefully will be taking the embarking to another level sometime in the future, according to Houck, who will be holding another embarkation exercise where the unit will include the main body as well as the advance party, as well as the CSSD Marines participating in the Fleet Assistance Program. During the future exercise the unit will actually load and move all the gear and Marines.
"They are a great team, they worked hard, they worked together and achieved a new level of confidence," said Houck. "I am confident that in an actual emergency we could have been out within 24 hours."