Reserve Units/Personnel

 

I am serving as the Rear Detachment Commander for the 4^th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) (ESC).  While the 4^th ESC HQ is focused on the COVID-19 mission, I am focused on maintaining readiness and managing mission critical activities and events for non-mobilized units organic to the 4^th ESC.  We can’t lose our focus on readiness.  Of course, COVID-19 impacts how we normally conduct business, but it does not prevent us from conducting individual training and taking care of our Soldiers, civilian workforce, and families.  It is a critical time for leaders to engage more frequently with Soldiers to ensure their well-being and aggressively get after individual readiness and mandatory training in a virtual environment.  We are working in a constrained environment, but our Soldiers and civilian workforce are adapting quickly in this unique environment.

COL Nathele J. Anderson
Distance Class of 2016

 

Normally I serve as the officer in charge of the 4th Sustainment Command’s Early Entry Command Post, a mobilized group of 35 Soldiers who work directly with Army North to respond to any crisis and support exercises. Currently, for our COVID-19 response, I am the Support Operations Officer. Basically, I’m in charge of all the support operations or logistics operations that stretch outside the command. My team plans every sustainment activity, in every area of interest, throughout our operational area. This is a National pandemic that affects everyone. It’s different from something like a hurricane response where you can circle specific areas on a map. We are providing a nationwide response for a nationwide threat, so we have to be ready to go anywhere. I am super proud of my team; they have been working long hours and long days. We have to work quickly, and this team can do that. If I walk out and say, “hey, we might have a new area of interest,” it doesn’t take very long and we have a complete concept of support, even if we never have to use it. I am almost complete with my Army War College studies — heading into my electives now — but I just finished up Strategic Campaigning I and II back to back. I now have a better understanding of how, at the strategic level, they’re planning the concept of support, and why they bring forces on the way they do. It is really great to be able to understand myself and then relate to my Soldiers what’s going on at levels well above us.

COL Russ B. Chambers
Distance Class of 2020
Support Operations Officer, 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

 

I am the Chief of Staff at the 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) (ESC). My role in day-to-day operations and during the COVID-19 response is to synchronize all the efforts of the disparate staff functions — everything from personnel to logistical planning to operations — and also provide courses of action to our commander, BG Sue Henderson (DDE ’14) for her decision making. When I joined the Army, I never envisioned myself being mobilized within the continental United States to fight a disease or a virus, but this is real, this is homeland defense. We are an instrument of federal power, and here we are in a servant role, serving the needs of the population. Sure, this is a different kind of battlefield, but it is still defense. After our unit’s response to Hurricane Dorian last year, I think we were ready for this response. We learned from our challenges, we had a plan, we implemented it here, and because of that we are coming together better as a headquarters and staff. This is our Warfighter; this is a real-life Warfighter. We’re enabling those who are saving people’s lives, and I think everybody here at the 4th ESC can take some credit for that. We all played a role in getting the right instruments — in this case physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and the life-saving equipment they use — to the right place at the right time.

COL Bruce E. Jennings
Distance Class of 2013
Chief of Staff, 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

 

Todd Erskine, RES ‘15

I was the Deputy Commanding Officer for the 451st Sustainment Command out of Wichita, Kansas, and I got a call asking if I would be able to mobilize with the 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) (ESC), as their Deputy Commanding Officer (DCO) to support COVID-19 operations. Having spent time in the 4th ESC as a battalion and brigade commander, having worked with BG Sue Henderson (DDE ’14) and her team, and the fact that there was a real need, I quickly said yes. I’ve been here almost from day one and since being here, I have helped focus our team on the COVID-19 response to ensure that BG Henderson’s priorities are aligned with the Commander of Army North’s priorities. Our mission is to provide logistic support as a part of the COVID-19 response, and we’ve had folks spread out all over, literally from the West Coast to the East Coast. Our job is to ensure that we are providing the best support we can provide in support of our Nation at this time of need. I had a boss who always used to say, “Erskine, think about who else needs to know.” It’s all about communicating the commander’s priorities across our formation. Everybody, every person on the team has a piece of that, whether its strength reporting, battle tracking, or making sure that we have the required medical supplies. So, in essence, it’s communicating and making sure that we’re synchronized. By doing this, we’re making sure that we are moving the ball down the field as a team. We have a great unit with a storied history, and when called upon, we have provided the support we’ve been asked to provide. There’s nothing more important, in my humble opinion, than making sure we take care of the home front. It is the call to service and the ability to not just sit on the sidelines, but to help the Army Reserve and our total force respond to COVID-19. That’s what we do! We bring all our power to bear on the problem set, and for me, it has been very rewarding.

COL Todd L. Erskine
Resident Class of 2015
Deputy Commander, 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

 

Matt has been deployed to the Mission Training Complex at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) to provide mission command of medical units providing support to U.S. civilians during the COVID-19 outbreak. He is a member of the 807th MEDCOM (Deployment Support) Operational Command Post.

COL Matthew P. ‘Matt’ Novak
Resident Class of 2017
807th Medical Command (Deployment Support)

 

 

 

Steve has been deployed to the Mission Training Complex at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) to provide mission command of medical units providing support to U.S. civilians during the COVID-19 outbreak. He is a member of the 807th MEDCOM (Deployment Support) Operational Command Post.

COL Steven A. Severyn
Distance Class of 2013
807th Medical Command (Deployment Support)