Name: Cpt. Dena Pollard
Job title: Battalion Operations Officer
Assigned: Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux, 405th Army Field Support Brigade
Location: Eygelshoven, Netherlands
Experience: I’ve been working at AFSBn-Benelux for 10 months. Before coming here, I was a logistics operations officer with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado. I also commanded a Forward Support Company at 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., for 17 months. Before that, I served at Camp Casey, Korea, for a year as the deputy support operations officer for the 70th Brigade Support Battalion, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. And before commissioning I was an Indiana National Guard enlisted Soldier for four years serving as a motor transport operator. I have 11 years of Army service, total.
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Family: My family is very important to me. My mother, Diana – who made me who I am today – passed away about 10 years ago, but I still have my father, David, and my four younger siblings – Daniel (29), Bryanna (18), Blake (15) and Bryce (12). I’m not home as much as I’d like to be. I’ve been to Kuwait, Korea, Honduras and now Europe, but my dad and my siblings have never missed a birthday or a holiday or anything. No matter where I go, no matter what the occasion or the situation, my family’s support means the world to me. I’m super grateful to them.
Q: Can you explain what your duties are at AFSBn-Benelux?
A: I’m responsible for synchronization, planning and coordination for both Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 sites under the command and control of AFSBn-Benelux. That’s the Zutendaal APS-2 site and the Eygelshoven APS-2 site. For example, I recently returned from a pre-deployment site survey in Estonia, where our battalion will assume mission command of an Equipment Configuration and Handoff Area as part of an upcoming exercise there. During the PDSS, my team and I conducted a site survey and walk-through of the life support area where we will be staying, and we coordinated with the gaining tactical unit to synchronize operations and coordinate efforts in order to be best prepared for the exercise. In preparation for the exercise in Estonia, I helped lead the PDSS, walk-through of the LSA, and all the in progress reviews and meetings.
Q: Why is the AFSBn-Benelux mission so important?
A: The work we do here at the Eygelshoven and Zutendaal APS-2 sites affects so much. It affects our relationship with our host nation workforce as well as our NATO Allies and partners – especially our host nation allies – the Netherlands and Belgium. Here at Eygleshoven where the battalion headquarters is located, I work with an extremely talented and dedicated Dutch Ministry of Defense workforce every day. Beyond the extraordinarily important APS-2 mission we are responsible for, it’s also about building relationships and building bonds. Our APS-2 mission is about trust – the mutual trust we have with the Soldiers who deploy to Europe and draw these APS-2 sets and a much broader, big-picture mutual trust we have with our Allies and partners here in Europe.
Q: What do you enjoy about your job, and what motivates you?
A: For multiple reasons, I love serving in the U.S. Army. The first thing that comes to mind is comradery. The Army is a very small close-knit community made up of different people from all over the world with different backgrounds and different experiences. I love being a part of this, and I love helping to build the team. The other reason I love what I do is the challenge. Every position I’ve held in the Army has been different than the ones before so I’m constantly learning and I’m constantly being challenged. And I love a good challenge.
AFSBn-Benelux and the 405th AFSB: Located at Eygelshoven, Netherlands, and Zutendaal, Belgium, AFSBn-Benelux is charged with providing and coordinating receipt, transfer, storage and maintenance of APS-2 to enable commanders to conduct unified action and a full range of military operations in support of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and joint forces. The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.