Proposed reshaping will standardize MTMC units

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (USTCNS) --- In the near future, the military transportation units of the Military Traffic Management Command may be more uniform in size and composition.

The proposed changes in existing MTMC units are sweeping in scope.

The ideas for the changes have come from MTMC's commanders themselves. At the same time, the changes reflect reduction in layering and the great use of computer automation.

The proposal calls for changes in the size and structure of most of the Military Traffic Management Command's 25 transportation unit locations in the United States and around the world. Implementation of the proposal could begin in the next three-to-four months and would be complete by Sept. 30, 2001.

"These proposals reflect our efforts to reshaping our military transportation assets to reflect the mission we face today," said Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, commander.

No final decision has been made by Privratsky, pending input from both MTMC employees and union partners.

A decision is expected no sooner than mid-June.

Since the end of the Cold War, changes to MTMC's structure have been incremental in nature.

Currently, the Military Traffic Management Command's battalions vary in strength from 19-to-84.

"The irony is," said Privratsky, "one of our hardest working battalions in Bahrain, Southwest Asia, has the smallest strength of any of our units."

The proposed reorganization will focus on two major Military Traffic Management Command organizational structures:

· MTMC twin command groups: The 598th Transportation Group, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the 599th Transportation Group, Wheeler Army Air Field , Hawaii.
· MTMC's operational battalions, companies and detachments in the United States and around the world.

The groups will be reorganized to near-similar structures and job titles. The 598th Transportation Group will lose 29 positions while the 599th Transportation Group will lose three positions.

Under the proposal, MTMC battalions will be reorganized into standard 26-member organizations. The battalion's subordinate company and detachment units will also be affected.

The Battalion Evaluation Group selected 26 as an optimum number for a water port concentrating on the core missions of terminal operations and traffic management.

As a consequence of this change, most MTMC water port locations will decrease in size -- a few will increase in size.

Overall, MTMC strength at worldwide port locations will decline by four officers, 37 soldiers, 94 civilians and 64 foreign nationals.

Several themes are at work in the proposed strength reduction. These include:

· The consolidation of Resource Management and Personnel & Logistics work at MTMC Headquarters from subordinate headquarters locations, and

· The return to the Army's warfighter force of as many as 28 soldiers in the rank of private first class to sergeant.

· The consolidation of liner documentation at MTMC's Deployment Support Command, at Fort Eustis, Va.

The consolidation of finance, personnel and supply work at MTMC Headquarters means the reduction of at least 44 jobs in Resource Management and 14 jobs in Personnel & Logistics in the command worldwide.

The return of lower ranking soldiers to the force was a specific recommendation of the Battalion Evaluation Group which made many of the reorganization proposals.

"We all feel their place is in the regular force," said Lt. Col. Prescott Marshall, 834th Transportation Battalion; Concord, Calif.

"At the private first class to sergeant level," said Marshall, "a regular unit assignment is in the best interest of the Army and their own career development."

Marshall was one of four members of the Battalion Evaluation Group. Other members included: Lt. Col. Kathleen Pedersen, 835th Transportation Battalion, Okinawa, Japan; Lt. Col. Kevin Davis, 831st Transportation Battalion, Southwest Asia; and Lt. Col. Mike Schiller, 841st Transportation Battalion, Charleston, S.C.

The proposed changes also include several major reconfigurations to MTMC units. These include:

· The 596th Transportation Group, Beaumont, Texas, would convert to a standard battalion. The organization will drop in size from 42-to-26. Reductions include two soldiers and 15 civilians. The new unit commander will be a lieutenant colonel in lieu of a colonel. One officer will be added to the organizational structure.

· The 842nd Transportation Battalion, Fort Monmouth, N.J., will convert to a company. The organization will drop in size from 32-to-17. Reductions include one officer and 15 civilians. The new unit commander will be a major -- in lieu of a lieutenant colonel. One soldier will be added to the organizational structure.

· The 956th Transportation Company, Anchorage, Alaska, will convert to a detachment of the 833rd Transportation Battalion, Seattle, Wash. The unit commander's position will be eliminated.

Other MTMC port units will gain in strength.

As an example, the 831st Transportation Battalion, Bahrain, Southwest Asia, will gain 12 positions -- two soldiers and 10 nine civilians. The 839th Transportation Battalion, Livorno, Italy, will gain nine positions. The unit will gain one civilian and 11 foreign national workers -- it will lose one officer and two soldiers. (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

EDITOR'S NOTE: FOR A SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO MTMC'S WORLD-WIDE UNITS SEE THE 26 MAY EDITION OF THE WEEKLY USTRANSCOM NEWS SERVICE AVAILABLE BY SUBSCRIPTION (SEE SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE)