Embedded 'Logistics
Warrior' Reporter
A First in Combat Service Support
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A freelance photojournalist from Iowa, the first fully embedded reporter in a combat service support training exercise, witnessed traditionally "support" Soldiers successfully take on combat roles and repel the enemy during a Logistics Warrior Exercise at Fort Lee, VA. Nathan Kreuter spent most of his time last spring with one squad in the four-day unit maneuver exercise.
Allowing him to move around unescorted, said Kreuter, helped the Soldiers become accustomed to his presence as if they were deployed together. Many of the Quartermasters had been in the Army only a few months. The Logistics Warrior Exercise is a critical portion of training cycles for initial entry Soldiers, junior and senior noncommissioned officers and commissioned officers who work together as they would in the field. Quartermasters receive hands-on training and realism with military occupational specialty training (MOS), blank ammunition, artillery simulators, smoke grenades and actual opposition forces. Soldiers moved to, operated and protected a forward logistical base during Kreuter’s coverage of the Logistics Warrior Exercise.
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I gained a lot of respect for the Quartermaster Corps, the Corps that carries the load, but receives little coverage from the outside" said Kreuter, "I hope I can help to change that someday soon. I always ask the same three questions from Soldiers I meet. Where are you from? Why did you join the Army? What is your MOS and why did you choose it? I’ve never had the same answers from anyone, ever." – Information from Travis Edwards, Fort Lee Public Affairs Office
