FSS member holds integral part while deployed

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ave Pele
  • Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs
LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan --  War is a chaotic business - yet within that chaos, order must be maintained. For the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, that responsibility lies with the S1 shop - the Army's term for the personnel section.

The S1 shop is responsible for manning, staffing, personnel movement, and the administrative and personnel needs of every warrior on the PRT. A key wartime duty of the S1 section is taking accountability during base attacks. In addition to these core responsibilities, S1 handles the mail, processes requests for leave and pass, and has volunteered to organize several morale events for the unit.

The Laghman PRT is a unique organization made up of Soldiers and Airmen from the active and reserve components, as well the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard. Each service component has various requirements for dealing with personnel issues, which makes the S1 shop vital to ensuring administrative issues are handled properly, said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Jonathan Carpenter of Augusta, Ga., PRT first sergeant.

Leading the S1 section is Air Force Master Sgt. Lovea Anderson from Orlando, Fla., and assigned to 17th Force Support Squadron as the Military Personnel Section Superintendent. Sergeant Anderson said her favorite part of working in the S1 shop is the daily interaction with Soldiers and Airmen requiring S1 services.

"It's rewarding to help a customer solve their administrative issues," she said. "Good customer service is not determined by a particular mission or location. It's a necessary tool for any customer service representative."

As platoon sergeant for the headquarters element, Sergeant Anderson also performs the vital base defense function of creating and managing all additional duty schedules for headquarters personnel, such as tower guard duty and manning the base entry control point.

Tech. Sgt. Cherese Holloway is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and is assigned as a fitness programs supervisor at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and Senior Airman Denisse Mendivil is from Phoenix, and is assigned to the knowledge operations management at Luke AFB, Ariz. Sergeant Holloway and Airman Mendivil make up the rest of the S1 team.

Sergeant Holloway said it has been challenging and rewarding learning about Army culture and their standard operating procedures.

"We have been able to adapt, remain flexible and handle things well," she said.

PRT members said they have been very happy with service provided by the S1 shop.

"When I'm out on a mission the last thing my Soldiers or I need to be worrying about is paperwork," said Army Sgt. Brian Henson Jr. of Bowman, S.C., a Laghman PRT Security Forces team leader. "It's nice to know that the staff of the S1 shop has our back and handles any administrative issues we might have, so we can concentrate on what matters most when we're outside the wire."