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A single company

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Carl Spackler

Carl Spackler

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Accoring to the Hartford Courant, Colonel John Whitford has called the approx. 100 men stationed at Rentschler field with supply distrbution orders "A fairly decent sized operation".

http://blogs.courant.com/uconn_football/

Are you kidding me? A single company of men off loading, and loading trucks for supply distribution?

A single company?

Two universities athletic departments, approx 40,000 cash paying football fans, in need of distraction after a natural disaster (anyone remember the rally around the Saints a few years ago).

All of that, outweighed by a single company of national guardsmen that are not capable of re-deploying their supply redistribution orders to another site.

General George S. Patton's ghost better be among that company of men.

Methinks Colonel Whitford is covering somebody's ass. Perhaps somebody like a governor.

Because a single company of men, with simple supply chain moving orders, better be able to move their distribution center, and re-deploy elsewhere and then return to the same location, if they have to, in an area the size of the ENTIRE state of CT if necessary all within 48 hours without any problem.
 
This is much ado about not much. If they can't get their stuff done by Sat/Sun? Different story.

Spackler just wants to make this political and blame Malloy. Did it in the other thread, doing it here.

Towns in need will send trucks to Renstchler, and the Guardsmen are loading those trucks. In some cases, Whitford said, trucks are going out to the towns that cannot send a truck.

"It's a fairly decent-sized operation," Whitford said.

Well, clearly we need Major General Spackler on it, since he knows more about this than Whitford. I get on the military about bloated bureacracy more than most, but I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a guy running the operation over a guy behind a keyboard. At least through Friday.
 
You're wrong. If the size of that military unit reported is accurate, that unit should have a captain sitting right in the middle of a chain of command such that they can pack that operation up and move it anywhere in the state and have it up and running again in 6 hours or less, and they don't need an airfield and 40,000 seat facility. They can run an operation that size out of an empty warehouse, and the people looking for the supplies most definitely will find them wehrever they are. As for empty warehouses, you can find them all over the place in the greater hartford area.

This most definitely is somebody's political statement, and it was a mistake.

If it's actually a large operation, it's a differnt story. But 100 men?
 
FYI: I'm pretty sure the UCMB consists of at least 100 individuals, probalby a lot more, and they can pack up and move all their equipment pretty quickly. It' doesn't take an entire day.
 
Carl Spackler said:
You're wrong. If the size of that military unit reported is accurate, that unit should have a captain sitting right in the middle of a chain of command such that they can pack that operation up and move it anywhere in the state and have it up and running again in 6 hours or less, and they don't need an airfield and 40,000 seat facility. They can run an operation that size out of an empty warehouse, and the people looking for the supplies most definitely will find them wehrever they are. As for empty warehouses, you can find them all over the place in the greater hartford area.

This most definitely is somebody's political statement, and it was a mistake.

If it's actually a large operation, it's a differnt story. But 100 men?
Expand ...

I don't know much about military supply logistics or "political football". But are you really going to ask 100 men, who sleep on cots in the concourse, to stop loading relief supplies, forego their sleep, and move to another location - and then back again 24 hours later ... so you can attend a football game? Why don't you gather 100 of your best friends and go move their operation for them.

Personally ... I'm not sure I know a good way out of this dilema ... but I certainly wouldn't put more of a burden on our national guard troops.
 
.-.
Carl Spackler said:
You're wrong. If the size of that military unit reported is accurate, that unit should have a captain sitting right in the middle of a chain of command such that they can pack that operation up and move it anywhere in the state and have it up and running again in 6 hours or less, and they don't need an airfield and 40,000 seat facility. They can run an operation that size out of an empty warehouse, and the people looking for the supplies most definitely will find them wehrever they are. As for empty warehouses, you can find them all over the place in the greater hartford area.

This most definitely is somebody's political statement, and it was a mistake.

If it's actually a large operation, it's a differnt story. But 100 men?
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It should take a lot less time then that if they know what there doing
 
In a different political environment, I don't believe this situation is allowed to happen. Thats all.

Seriously, an operation this size? When I got the news, I thought the entire Army National Guard not already deployed somewhere along the coastline, or at least a major part of both that and the airwing was gathered at the complex - at least a 1,000 - probalby several thousand guys centrally located and operations - but 100 guys - supply line redistribution?

Come on people. The governor is the commander in chief of these guys, and he made a bad call.

Supply redistribution managed by 100 guardsmen doesn't need in an emergency situation doesn't need to occupy a space that can be producing the kind of revenue that thursday nights game would have.
 
UConn4ever said:
It should take a lot less time then that if they know what there doing
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We're talking about army national guard, a gave 6 hours or less generously. You can drive across the entire state diagonally in 3 hours.
 
Would be interesting to understand how many trucks they are loading daily to see how complex an operation they are manning
 
This whole thing is ridiculous. I heard there were two tractor trailers there today and 18 on the way tomorrow. They could run the operation at the old Showcase theater up the road. I understand the seriousness of the situation, however this is not the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
 
.-.
TMB4405 said:
This whole thing is ridiculous. I heard there were two tractor trailers there today and 18 on the way tomorrow. They could run the operation at the old Showcase theater up the road. I understand the seriousness of the situation, however this is not the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Expand ...

Legit source or are you stirring the pot?
 
I know there are military around here, at least there were before. I'd like to hear their opinions. I think that there was either a blatant disregard for the interests involved around the university of connecticut and fordham university by the governor's office, or somebody compeltely dropped the ball in the governor's office. It all depends on the reported size of that unit being accurate.

At that size, if you've got 30 man crews working three 8 hour shifts, that's technically, 240 man hours per shift running 24 hours a day. You can move a hell of lot more than I can guarantee those 100 guys are moving in 24 hours. You can do it a hell of lot more efficiently out of a warehouse that's got rows of loading docks for the trucks to back into and roll up and roll out.

I'd like to know how many hours they've been lying around in those bunks and playing cards on the concourse.

Look - I'm not minimizing the tragedy that has struck our state in anyway, and what thousands of thousands of people are ahving difficulties with across the state.

But no matter how I look at this, given the information I've got, it's a terrible call that the governor's office made.
 
According to the governor, during his press conference this afternoon which occurred the same time this story leaked....he had no idea if the game was postponed or not.

I gave whoever's decision this was the benefit of the doubt. I suggested the Showcase up the street, but admitted I didn't know how large of an operation it was. 100 guys? They could keep those 100 guys there, keep operations running, and still have the game, just schedule the last trucks to be loaded to leave by about 6:30. They'll be fine.
 
New Britain Stadium has a large parking lot. Whoever made the decision to use the Rent is not to bright. This could have a major affect on UConn's season.

Read John Silver's blog. He nailed it.
 
What's done is done. Emergency response plans and operation centers like this are planned years in advance. The only order is "GO." The Rent is perfect for this for all the reasons mentioned in the various threads. It's unfortunate that its one of the few game weeks. That being said, if someone with the appropriate initiative recongnized the conflict, it would have been very easy to relocate this operation once the initial thrust was over to one of the backup sites. That person should not have been the Governor, as he was rightly busy on other matters. I suspect they will wrap up their work or divert any incoming supplies to alternate sites and the game will go on Saturday. If not, then anyone who wants to bitch, can do so unabashedly.
 
The governor is the commander in chief of CT National Guard, and I find it hard to believe that somebody made the call of cancelling this game without him knowing about if first, and I'm not sure that if he didn't know about it - and somebody else made the call, that would make me feel any better about it. The guy is supposed to be informed about things like what the State national guard operations in time of emergency are doing.

I hope the game gets rescheduled quick.
 
.-.
Kgun7 said:
I don't know much about military supply logistics or "political football". But are you really going to ask 100 men, who sleep on cots in the concourse, to stop loading relief supplies, forego their sleep, and move to another location - and then back again 24 hours later ... so you can attend a football game? Why don't you gather 100 of your best friends and go move their operation for them.

Personally ... I'm not sure I know a good way out of this dilema ... but I certainly wouldn't put more of a burden on our national guard troops.
Expand ...

Do you got a $5MM check to cover the lost revenue of the game? If not, maybe the National Guard company should check out the showcase cinema up the street.
 


TMB4405 said: ↑
Legit source or are you stirring the pot?
I heard this from the Gov himself at the 5:33 update. I think I heard correctly.
​
 
This is not a large operation. It could be run out of the Hartford Armory. In fact, the Hartford Armory has a better communications and logistics capability.
 
FUBAR. that's what all of this.

Just the first bump of adversity for the team to face in 2011.

The game better get rescheduled quick, and conveniently and with a lot of kowtow. Idiot politicians. Even more importantly, the 100 guardsman living in the open air concourse of Rentschler field better get put to work doing something useful besides operating forklifts. They've got the kind of heavy equipment that's useful in repairing infrastructure like roads, bridges and utility poles, and removing downed trees.
 
I'd like to see a legitimate link and reference to that comment that there a total of 20 trucks that have come into, or are scheduled to arrive at Rentschler for unloading and redistribution in the period of the next 24 hours. With the crew the size reported to be there, and having rescheduled something that can potentially cost the univeristy of connecticue millions of dollars, It better be a lot more than 20 trucks.

100 men operating efficiently can unload 20 trucks, distribute and get all those supplies to multiple locations all over the state in, my generous estimate again - less than 6 hours. They could run the operation out at the end of the runway in daylight, and clear weather without having to even set up any shelter.

I've got to stop thinking about this. Good night all. I hope that by the time I'm up and at em tomorrow, we've got a game to play on Saturday.

FUBAR.
 
Carl/Waylon in a previous life.

“If everybody's thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking.”
​
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

 
.-.
Husky7793 said:
Carl/Waylon in a previous life.

“If everybody's thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking.”

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

Expand ...

Waylon is now nelsonmuntz
 
Carl Spackler said:
I'd like to see a legitimate link and reference to that comment that there a total of 20 trucks that have come into, or are scheduled to arrive at Rentschler for unloading and redistribution in the period of the next 24 hours. With the crew the size reported to be there, and having rescheduled something that can potentially cost the univeristy of connecticue millions of dollars, It better be a lot more than 20 trucks.

100 men operating efficiently can unload 20 trucks, distribute and get all those supplies to multiple locations all over the state in, my generous estimate again - less than 6 hours. They could run the operation out at the end of the runway in daylight, and clear weather without having to even set up any shelter.

I've got to stop thinking about this. Good night all. I hope that by the time I'm up and at em tomorrow, we've got a game to play on Saturday.

FUBAR.
Expand ...

I completly agree I was in the marines for 4 years and i know for a fact that 100 men with a little encouragement from their CO in the form off screaming could easily unload 20 trucks in a short period off time and if all the supplies are on pallets all it takes is one guy driving the other telling him where too put it. its really not that hard gentlemen. If its true that there is only 20 trucks their is absolutely no excuse why this stuff cant be unloaded and given out to the people who need it way before Thursday are state isn't very big. Then again its the national guard we are talking about so I am probably wrong.
 
Carl Spackler said:
I'd like to see a legitimate link and reference to that comment that there a total of 20 trucks that have come into, or are scheduled to arrive at Rentschler for unloading and redistribution in the period of the next 24 hours. With the crew the size reported to be there, and having rescheduled something that can potentially cost the univeristy of connecticue millions of dollars, It better be a lot more than 20 trucks.

100 men operating efficiently can unload 20 trucks, distribute and get all those supplies to multiple locations all over the state in, my generous estimate again - less than 6 hours. They could run the operation out at the end of the runway in daylight, and clear weather without having to even set up any shelter.

I've got to stop thinking about this. Good night all. I hope that by the time I'm up and at em tomorrow, we've got a game to play on Saturday.

FUBAR.
Expand ...

I'd personally like you to go to all of the families who still have no power, no way to refrigerate food, no way to pump water into their house, no way to flush a toilet or cook food, and explain to them that it won't take "that long" to move an entire base of operations, because really, let's face it, this whole postponement is super inconvenient for you, and you were really looking forward to some football.

Can it be moved? Sure. Do I find sad that you're so willing to waste half a day moving an operation so you can watch football a couple of days earlier?

Yes. Yes, I do.
 
Irish Loop said:
I'd personally like you to go to all of the families who still have no power, no way to refrigerate food, no way to pump water into their house, no way to flush a toilet or cook food, and explain to them that it won't take "that long" to move an entire base of operations, because really, let's face it, this whole postponement is super inconvenient for you, and you were really looking forward to some football.

Can it be moved? Sure. Do I find sad that you're so willing to waste half a day moving an operation so you can watch football a couple of days earlier?

Yes. Yes, I do.
Expand ...
+10
 
Last time I check, Rentschler was a pretty big place with acres of parking. How hard would it be for them to move their operation to the very back part of the parking lot where the RV's park. For one game the ycould let the RV's park elsewhere and that would make plenty of room for a 100 man operation. Leave one lane open for the transport od supplies only. It may be a bit of an inconvenience for both fans and the Guard, but it would be for 4-5 hours and better than moving game day.
 
.-.
Take emotion out of this for a second, I have, since the moment I read that the operation is 100 men large.

Of course I want to see UConn play in person. I've been waiting since Jan. 1st, along with approx 40,000 other people. I understand that a natural disaster just happened, and my heart bleeds for the people that have lost everything, and I trully feel sorry, especially for the people that do not have insurance, and have no basic survival skills. If there were a military force capable of strking the U.S. in such a way as to disrupt the energy supply to the east coast, the country would be in deep . Luckily, there isn't, and the DOD knows it's weakness.

But take emotion out of it, and understand that size of this operation at Rentschler and what it may be doing seems to be completely out of proportion with the the use of te facility, and the financial losses that the state university can potentially incur due to the decision to cancel this game, with no plan to reschedule in place.

also ask yourself if a facility the size of the Rentschler field, is necessary for an operation this size. the location is ideal, but so are many others, that would be more efficient. Something with a row of loading docks for trucks for instance within easy access of the three major highways crisscrossing the state.

If this company of men is moving truckload after truckload of supplies, hour after hour, 24 hours a day - it makes sense, if they're not, and they've been moving a couple trucks a day out of a facility the size of Rentschler? There's a big problem.

and the problem, in that case, is not that some football fans are inconvenienced, or the university may lose millions, its that the people in need aren't being serviced properly in time of need, by the CT national guard.
 
Carl Spackler said:
Take emotion out of this for a second, I have, since the moment I read that the operation is 100 men large.

Of course I want to see UConn play in person. I've been waiting since Jan. 1st, along with approx 40,000 other people. I understand that a natural disaster just happened, and my heart bleeds for the people that have lost everything, and I trully feel sorry, especially for the people that do not have insurance, and have no basic survival skills. If there were a military force capable of strking the U.S. in such a way as to disrupt the energy supply to the east coast, the country would be in deep . Luckily, there isn't, and the DOD knows it's weakness.

But take emotion out of it, and understand that size of this operation at Rentschler and what it may be doing seems to be completely out of proportion with the the use of te facility, and the financial losses that the state university can potentially incur due to the decision to cancel this game, with no plan to reschedule in place.

also ask yourself if a facility the size of the Rentschler field, is necessary for an operation this size. the location is ideal, but so are many others, that would be more efficient. Something with a row of loading docks for trucks for instance within easy access of the three major highways crisscrossing the state.

If this company of men is moving truckload after truckload of supplies, hour after hour, 24 hours a day - it makes sense, if they're not, and they've been moving a couple trucks a day out of a facility the size of Rentschler? There's a big problem.

and the problem, in that case, is not that some football fans are inconvenienced, or the university may lose millions, its that the people in need aren't being serviced properly in time of need, by the CT national guard.
Expand ...

You talk about 100 men as if they are sitting around a campfire playing a harmonica and waiting for another truck to load with toilet paper. These National Guardsmen require food, sleep, toilets, cover, beds, electricity, communication, and machinery. With what was forecasted - and more importantly with what is still going on - the logistics to move them now is not easy.

I can understand the complaints about why that site was chosen in the first place ... but now is not the time to disrupt their mission.
 
I love how everyone is making bold statements about the University "losing millions" if the game is played on Saturday. So, the difference between 35K on Thursday and 29K on Saturday equates to "losing millions"? The Rent is a PUBLIC facility, and is designated as a disaster relief center. They are doing disaster relief there (the scale of the operation is of no consequence). The facility does not belong to UConn.
 
have you ever seen the guard in action? I've known a lot of national guard guys over the years, there's a lot of time spent doing not much else aside from packing up your gear, driving around the state, and then unpacking it, and then doing it all over. the days they get to go out on real combat exercises and fire weapons are pretty exciting for them. I'm not disrespecting anyone who has put on a uniform, in any regard or branch of service. I'm grateful, eternally to everyone that does it. But we are not talking about combat soldiers in the line of fire here, or a supply division that is charged with keeping those guys out there on the lines geared up with what they need to stay alive. We're talking about a small unit of men, that are more than used to packing up all their gear and driving all over the state and loading and unloading trucks. It's what they do. I'd bet the guys out there geared up after this storm would love to be out on the roads, fixing bridges, removing trees, and all that stuff, rather than operating forklifts.

This whole mess is about a what I think was a very bad decision made by the commander of the CT national guard. If Rentschler was supposed to be a central staging location for the entire guard ops, and coordinated with federal resources, that's what it should be doing.

With the weather that was forecasted? These guys are sleeping in an open air concourse. If that stadium had gotten wiped out, they'd be sleeping on the parking lots and fields. I don't think shelter for the guys involved is a high priority in this mission.

As for complaints about the choice of location? I've never made one. The location is a perfect choice for staging large scale military operations within the state of CT.

The key words being "large scale". Based on what I can tell about the size of the operation, they could have continued all operations on site, while the game was going on.

The 100 guys would have had to pack up their bunks for the day.

It's what the buzz word would be called - proportional response. The decision making around this whole thing seems completely out of proportion, and as long as the game is rescheduled and there isn't too much of a financial hit to anyone (organization, business, institution) involved with this game happening, it's chalked up as a major learning experience and political bomb avoided.
 
Carl Spackler said:
have you ever seen the guard in action? I've known a lot of national guard guys over the years, there's a lot of time spent doing not much else aside from packing up your gear, driving around the state, and then unpacking it, and then doing it all over.
Expand ...

Carl Spackler said:
I'm not disrespecting anyone who has put on a uniform, in any regard or branch of service.
Expand ...

Really? Because it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing.
 
It's not a disrespect. Any guard people out there? Tell me I'm wrong. The weekends you've got duty, are usually spent packing up your gear whatever your speciality is, driving somewhere in the state, unpacking it, setting up for some kind of operation, then breaking it all down again and driving back to your post over a 48, maybe 72 hour period. packing up everything you've got, and traveling to a new location, and unpacking it to set up for a mission, is nothing new or difficult for these guys.

The guard is a perfect organization for what they need to do. These guys should be out sandbagging around flood areas. Cutting down and removing trees and any other obstructions on roads making them impassable. Helping stabilize damaged roads and bridges with the heavy equipment they've got available. Trucking supplies all over the state.

I hope that the majority of them are out there actually doing those things. I wonder if they are.
 
.-.
Just so I'm clear, in case anyone actually ever served in the line of fire reads this, I know that the guard gets deployed in harms way, and has regularly in the past and there are CT soldiers in the national guard overseas right now. Nothing I've written disrespects taht. These men train the same way, and face the same dangers as everybody else that puts on the uniform. They've got different missions when they're on home soil than regular Army or Air Force. That's all. In this situation, they're deployed for one of those types of missions.

These guys, I would hope, are well trained enough, and coordinated enough, that if the order came to pack up and start the supply chain going somewhere else, they'd be doing it quickly, get teh communicatiosn and logistics squared away, and get it done within a matter of hours, because those same 100 guys, might just end up having the exact same mission, on an airfield somehwere in Iraq or Afghanistan, and the ability to pack up and move at a moment's notice, might mean a hell of lot more than a football game getting played.

I hope an announcement comes soon.
 
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