GARKALNES, Latvia – The sun is shining, soldiers are working, and Latvian citizens are unloading a train.
A shipment arrived by train July 7, 2016, containing M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles (BFV), M1114 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), and M977 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) for the soldiers assigned to 3rd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment. Soldiers assigned to 386th Transportation Detachment, 39th Transport Battalion, are the movement control for 3rd Battalion.
“Movement control,” said 2nd Lt. Craig Longmire, a native of Fairfax Station, VA, a transportation officer assigned to 386th Transportation Detachment, 39th Transport Battalion, “is key not only in coordinating movement itself, but acting as mediator between U.S. forces and host nations to maintain and build a working partnership between the two.”
US Army reservist Staff Sgt. David M. Nabinger, native of Detroit, MI, a Civil Affairs Specialist assigned to B Co., 457th Civil Affairs Battalion, working for 386th Transportation Detachment, said, “Being civil affairs in a movement control job allowed me to effectively coordinate with civil, military, and contractor elements from the U.S., Latvia and Germany.”
“It’s a great experience working with both the host nation movement control units as well as being a mediator between them and the maneuver units.” Sgt. Michael Atkinson, a native of Vallejo, CA, a Transportation Management Coordinator assigned to 386th Transportation Detachment, 39th Transport Battalion, said as he was walking to his car at the end of the day, “The opportunities we have as transporters to facilitate the movement requests echo the capabilities the U.S. Army can provide to foreign nations.”
The soldiers of the 386th Transportation Detachment provide movement control for 3rd Battalion whose soldiers are training with their Latvian allies in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve which is being conducted in Eastern Europe to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region.
