The role of the BSB distribution company is to plan, direct, and supervise supply distribution to the brigade. It conducts daily receipt, storage, and issue of supply classes I, II, III, IV, V and IX and transports cargo for the brigade. This unit is employed in the brigade support area and operates throughout the supported brigade area. 

Observations 

a. Units often fail to use H-hour sequences for distribution operations resulting in challenges achieving distribution in accordance with the distribution synchronization matrix. 

b. Most Alpha Distribution Companies struggle to protect themselves while conducting convoy operations causing desynchronization of BCT distribution. 

c. Alpha Company Soldiers struggle to conduct logistics tasks under limited visibility conditions inhibiting their ability to operate safely at night. 

d. Alpha Companies often fail to understand the impact of shifting JCR/JBC-P from prime movers to gun trucks, which disrupts their ability to communicate. 

Best Practices 

a. H-hour sequence distribution operations. The distribution companies that struggle to meet logistics package (LOGPAC) departure times rarely have established timelines for planning and preparing missions. Most company-grade leaders know the one-third / two-third rule for troop leading procedures (TLP), but few have a process for implementing it. H-hour sequencing LOGPAC preparations helps young lieutenants and their NCOs prioritize efforts by providing a simple checklist. Make a standard H-hour sequence and an emergency resupply H-hour sequence. Commanders can reduce the requirements in the emergency resupply sequence by establishing a distribution QRF by identifying Soldiers and equipment that remain in a ready status to execute LOGPACs. 

1. Always assign Assistant Convoy Commanders (ACC). A Convoy Commander without an ACC will most certainly face lapses in PCCs, PCIs, execution planning, and/or convoy briefs. Make sure Convoy Commanders know they can select their own assistant if one is not already identified. Teach Lieutenants early on that they can rely on their NCOs, and do not have to bear the burden alone. 
2. Communicate with receiving units prior to every mission. The strongest distribution companies require their Truck Master and XO to maintain daily communications with Field Trains Command Posts (FTCP) and Combat Trains Command Posts (CTCP). The FTCP can confirm CTCP locations, ensure CTCPs are tracking and ready to receive any LOGPACs scheduled for the day, and determine any changes to requirements. Contact CTCPs prior to every mission to establish a communication channel before sending Soldiers on the road. Ensure Convoy Commanders know the frequencies and JCR/JBC-P role names of every CTCP they will be supporting on their missions. 
3. While at home station practice the unit Tactical Standard Operating Procedures (TACSOP) in day-to-day operations. Treat every task like a mission. Submit stand-to-reports (STANREPs) to the S3 and relevant staff sections. Establish radios and JCR/JBC-P TOC kits in the orderly room to exercise RTOs and maintain radio communications with convoys, the battalion headquarters, and receiving units. Plot routes on JCR/JBC-P. Make these tasks second nature for Soldiers when it is time to fight. 

b. Every BSB TACSOP identifies convoy security roles, responsibilities, and battle drills, yet many units struggle to protect themselves while conducting tactical convoy operations. Distribution companies that excel at convoy security share common traits. Home station training and pre-convoy rehearsals are the biggest indicators of how successful a unit will be on the road. Take every opportunity to exercise gun truck maneuvers and battle drills; do not simply rely on situational training exercises (STX) to get repetitions. 

1. Train gun crews on proper maneuver techniques and how to react to contact to break away from convoys and maneuver to engage the enemy. Practice shifting turrets along routes in order to maintain 360 security while focusing specific systems on likely enemy avenues of approach. Practice placing gun trucks in positions of relative advantage to secure tactical halts and LRPs. 
2. Pre-convoy rehearsals are more than a box check. Practice scenarios and require crews to explain their role and walk through their actions as the scenario unfolds. Confer with S2 prior to every mission and tailor rehearsals to the situation. Rehearsals become more important when assigned gun trucks do not fall under the supported company. These Soldiers may not be familiar with the supported company’s standard operating procedures (SOP). Rehearsals give them the opportunity to synchronize with the rest of the formation. 

c. There are Soldiers in every formation that struggle to focus their night vision devices (NVDs). Some Soldiers give up and attempt to drive with blurry vision. Commanders should test their Soldiers’ ability to focus their NVDs by having them read a sign in the dark. When conducting blackout drive training choose nights with little to no illumination and nights with high illumination to help Soldiers understand the challenges and impacts of each condition. 

d. Often logistics prime movers drawn from Army Prepositioned Stock are unequipped with mounting kits compatible with current JCR/JBC-P models. If the distribution company has them installed in prime movers at home station, consider deploying organizational prime movers with JCR/JBC-P installed. Consider the impacts of using JCR/JBC-P in gun trucks if the unit trains with them in prime movers at home station. Which gun trucks are slated for perimeter security? This will affect gun crews’ work rest cycles and create gaps in perimeter security when they are on mission. If the battalion centralizes control of gun trucks under a single company, the JCR/JBC-Ps installed in those gun trucks may no longer be under the distribution company’s control. Effort must be made to ensure those trucks have updated overlays and points of contact for the receiving units prior to mission execution. Increasingly, units struggle to utilize JCR/JBC-P effectively. Operators must know how to communicate, create overlays, and navigate via JCR/JBC-P. These systems can malfunction for any number of issues. Teach operators to troubleshoot them at the user level. Use JCR/JBC-P for day-to-day tasks in order to improve competency. 

POC: CPT Christopher R Smith, Goldminer 37, BSB Distribution Company Trainer at christopher.r.smith3.mil@mail.mil

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