16th Sust. Bde. team trains for evacuation operations

By Staff Sgt. Lynne Lantin
16th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

Spc. David Stone, a nodal network systems operator-maintainer with the 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, and a member of the noncombatant evacuation operations tracking system team inputs a mock evacuee into NTS during training on Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany, March 23. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Lynne Lantin, 16th Sustainment Brigade public affairs)

BAMBERG, Germany - A 12-Soldier team from the 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, attended a two-day training event on Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany, March 22-23, to learn how to use the noncombatant evacuation operations tracking system.

The NTS, used by all branches of the military, identifies and tracks noncombatants, nonessential military personnel and third country nationals during an evacuation operation in the event of a natural disaster, civil unrest or war around the globe. The NTS allows the user to record and track noncombatant evacuees until they are repatriated or their record is closed out for other reasons.

"It is fairly simple. There are several components that come together as a system" said Spc. David Stone, a nodal network systems operator-maintainer with the 16th Sust. Bde., and a member of the NTS team. "It has a computer, a scanner, a passport reader, a surge protector and transformer. We input evacuees into the NTS so they can be repatriated, and go to a safehaven."

The 16th Sust. Bde. NTS team completed training on the newly acquired systems under the guidance of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command�s 1st Human Resources Sustainment Center out of Kaiserslautern, Germany.

"My trainers did an excellent job" said Chief Warrant Officer 4, Allan Amos with the reception, staging and onward movement section of the 1st HRSC."I think this time the Soldiers really had an opportunity to do the hands on, and I�m quite sure the 16th Sust. Bde. is ready to take over this operation."

More training events and a mock evacuation exercise are planned for later this year said Amos.