FORT HOOD (Now designated Fort Cavazos), TEXAS – As increasingly more units are supporting European Deterrence Initiative rotational deployments in Eastern Europe, the 259th Movement Control Team (MCT) just completed a nine month rotation in July 2021.
While deployed, the 259th MCT fell underneath the 53rd Movement Control Battalion (MCB) with the mission to provide movement control capabilities across the Atlantic Resolve-North (AR-N) area of operations (AO) in order to enable uninterrupted freedom of movement and to extend the operational reach of all U.S. and allied forces within the AR-N AO. The unit’s area of responsibility included Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, northeastern Poland, and Ukraine, and they worked to ensure all U.S. forces were able to move freely, quickly, and efficiently across all of Europe in order to complete their mission. By providing in-transit visibility (ITV), route synchronization, and maintaining communications with host nations, the sustainers and warfighters they supported were able to provide security for our NATO allies in Europe.
MCTs are modular units with 21 Soldiers assigned, and are designed to split into Branch Movement Control Teams (BMCT) consisting of four Soldiers. This allows the MCT commander to flex their Soldiers to multiple locations as the battlefield changes. This ability allows MCTs to support multiple missions and units in more than one location to include supporting across country borders. This modularity allowed the 259th MCT to send teams to multiple countries at the same time to support numerous units. At one point during the deployment the company had BMCTs spread across Europe, from the Netherlands to Estonia.
“It is important to note the success of our mission lies directly with each Soldier within the 259th Movement Control Team,” stated Capt. Christine N. Boyd, the 259th company commander. “The company would not have been successfully without all of their hard work and experience. Our Soldiers dedication ensured our bond with our host nation allies continued to grow and strengthen contributing to our mission success. We thank them and their families for their sacrifice and service.“
One of the keys to success is maintaining and strengthening the relationships with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies. While deployed, the Charger team ensured constant communication with the National Movement Control Centers (NMCC) in their AO. These virtual and face-to-face connections were important to ensure all U.S. units were meeting the requirements of each Host Nation for movement. Part of building and strengthening relationships included participating with their Lithuania host nation partner’s ceremonies, as their company was able to represent the U.S. in multiple joint ceremonies with our partners, to include the Restoration of Lithuania Day and the Lithuanian Freedom Defender Day. Additionally, 259th MCT Commander was chosen to represent the U.S. during the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Logistics Command. By joining our host nation during their ceremonies, they displayed a continued commitment to our NATO allies and partners.
