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Joint Forces come together to provide life sustainment needs

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Helena Owens
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

The Joint Special Operations Forces Support Detachment- Kuwait serves as the lifeline to the special operations force’s men and women on the ground throughout the area of responsibility.

They supply support in every aspect by delivering those men and women food, weapons, ammunition, fuel, funds and more.

“We provide the power projection platform capabilities to the places and people who need it most in our community through getting the stuff and things where they need to go,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Leanne Babcock, Special Operations Command Central - Forward officer in charge of intra-theater movements. “We make sure the operational side of the house can connect with the tactical side in order to fulfill their sustainment needs.”

The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing aides the JSSD-K by providing means of moving cargo, basic life sustainment needs, contracts and more.

“We can’t do our job without the support of the 386th Wing,” said U.S. Army Maj. Juan Salas, JSSD-K commander. “They are an essential part in everything we do here.”

The 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron also plays a big part in aiding the JSSD-K. After all inspections have been finalized and all paperwork has been processed, the ELRS loads the cargo onto aircraft to support the JSSD-K mission and other joint partners.

 “We are always happy to help support our joint partners,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Angela Petersen, 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron commander. “As Air Force Central Command's primary tactical airlift hub for resupply missions, we provide full-spectrum logistics to deliver combat power to support the joint warfighter and our coalition partners in the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.”

The JSSD-K is located on Camp Sparta and serves host to personnel from Special Operations Command Central-Levant, Supply Central-Levant, SOCCENT Forward HQ J4 and Task Force 3. They have a very wide range of areas they are responsible for supporting.

“This is the heartbeat of logistics for the special operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility,” said Salas. “We cover a massive AOR. Anything that is special operations related comes through here.”

Being that the JSSD-K is so diverse, having a representative of each branch is vital to the communication processes. It makes joint operations go more smoothly and gives each branch of service a chance to learn from one another.

“The JSSD-K gives us a chance to work with our sister services and be a translator to them as an Air Force member,” said Babcock. “If you haven’t gotten a chance to work in a joint operation setting this is the best place to do it.”

The JSSD-K is a key part in allowing the 386th AEW to continue being the theater gateway in U.S. CENTCOM operations